36 Quick and Easy Summer Recipes For When It’s Just Too Hot For the Stovetop
There’s nothing more fun than a summer spent down South, but there’s also nothing hotter. When the temperature starts to spike, the last thing you want to do is stand over a hot stovetop and heat up the entire kitchen at dinnertime. To keep your house cool, your wallet safe from too many dinners out, and your family dinners on track, we rounded up the best summertime dinner ideas for hotter-than-hot days.
These recipes take minimal effort, make use of handy kitchen hacks that save time, and taste like a family favorite waiting to happen. With refreshing shrimp-topped salads, no-fuss pita sandwiches, slow-cooker spectaculars, and sheet-pan dupes for grill classics, you won’t need to touch that stovetop. Dinner tonight? Done!
Lemon Vinaigrette Pasta Salad with Field Peas
Recipe: Lemon Vinaigrette Pasta Salad with Field Peas
Pick whichever pasta you prefer and combine with an easy honey-lemon vinaigrette and fresh veggies for a side dish that goes with anything.
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Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos
Recipe: Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos
This taco night classic just got way easier by being able to make it all in your slow cooker, which leaves you ample time to savor the summertime breeze outside.
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Chicken Caesar Salad Sandwiches
Recipe: Chicken Caesar Salad Sandwiches
Use that rotisserie chicken to the bone with these delicious sandwiches that are perfect for lunch or dinner. The chicken salad mixture can be made a day ahead for extra ease when assembling your sandwiches.
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Steak-and-Bell Pepper Salad
Recipe: Steak-and-Bell Pepper Salad
This savory salad is delicious and hearty enough to enjoy for a quick summer dinner on the patio. Toasted sourdough croutons and juicy steak take it from basic to super special.
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Heirloom Tomato and Chicken Toss
Recipe: Heirloom Tomato and Chicken Toss
This colorful dish might be the prettiest no-cook recipe we’ve ever seen. There isn’t a better way to show off produce that’s fresh from the farmers’ market. Our test kitchen recommends serving this salad with a side of crusty bread to soak up all the tomato and dressing goodness.
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Slow-Cooker Pork Tacos with Fresh Tomato Salsa
Recipe: Slow-Cooker Pork Tacos with Fresh Tomato Salsa
Let the slow cooker do the work on the pork, and throw the tacos together with a healthy salsa recipe when you get home for dinner.
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Creamy Broccoli Slaw
Recipe: Creamy Broccoli Slaw
Because every easy summer main dish needs a hard-working side, and that's exactly what this creamy, crunchy slaw is here to do.
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Tropical Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Recipe: Tropical Chicken Lettuce Wraps
These healthy lettuce wraps are no-cook and all good. The light chicken salad mixture brings both heat and sweet for a 15-minute recipe that’s anything but boring. Serve in lettuce wraps, wheat wraps, or over a bed of greens.
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Easy Egg Salad
Recipe: Easy Egg Salad
Southerners do love to smear up an egg salad sandwich on the go, so pack up a basket of these to eat outside on your porch or at the park.
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Watermelon Gazpacho
Recipe: Watermelon Gazpacho
We didn’t know a five-ingredient recipe could look and taste fancy, but this chilled soup is proving otherwise. If watermelon is your favorite summer fruit, this recipe is a unique, fun, and delicious way to prepare it.
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Shrimp Cobb Salad with Bacon Dressing
Recipe: Shrimp Cobb Salad with Bacon Dressing
The only thing you have to prep for this salad is the bacon, and once you taste this dressing, you won’t mind the few minutes you spent cooking it. This light recipe feels so much more indulgent than it is.
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Greek Grilled Chicken Pita
Recipe: Greek Grilled Chicken Pita
This is worlds away from that boring deli chicken sandwich, while still being easy enough to whip up on the busiest of days.
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Tuna Pasta Salad
Recipe: Tuna Pasta Salad
This isn't your great-aunt's tuna salad, and thank goodness for that. Packed with fresh arugula, cherry tomatoes, and some pickled peppers for a pop of heat and color, this tuna pasta salad is a crowd-pleaser.
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Instant Pot Crack Chicken
Recipe: Instant Pot Crack Chicken
Made with a winning combination of pepper Jack cheese, sour cream, chicken, and bacon, this family-friendly recipe is what we turn to when we need something comforting and no-fuss.
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Slow-Cooker Pork Roast with Carrots, Turnips, and Potatoes
Recipe: Slow-Cooker Pork Roast with Carrots, Turnips, and Potatoes
A boneless pork loin makes for an inexpensive and satisfying meal, especially when paired with all-time classic veggies like potatoes and carrots. Set the slow cooker and forget about it.
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Pickled Shrimp and Vegetables
Recipe: Pickled Shrimp and Vegetables
This zingy dish just tastes like summertime. Okra and sweet peppers add color and flavor to classic pickled shrimp.
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Chicken Noodle Bowl with Peanut-Ginger Sauce
Recipe: Chicken Noodle Bowl with Peanut-Ginger Sauce
Would you believe us if we told you these beautiful noodle bowls only require the use of your microwave? Time to see for yourself! You’re going to make this easy one-bowl recipe all the time.
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Salmon Bagel Sandwiches
Recipe: Salmon Bagel Sandwiches
Stay cool with this recipe that you can eat from brunch to dinner. Cook the salmon ahead in the slow cooker and assemble the best bagel sandwich you’ve ever had.
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Wedge Salad with Turkey and Blue Cheese-Buttermilk Dressing
Recipe: Wedge Salad with Turkey and Blue Cheese-Buttermilk Dressing
This homemade salad will be so much more satisfying than the pre-packaged one from the store.
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Slow-Cooker Carnitas Tacos
Recipe: Slow-Cooker Carnitas Tacos
Using this convenient shortcut to typically skillet-toasted carnitas, you can broil the meat on a sheet pan to brown and crisp the entire batch at once before popping in a slow cooker until oh-so tender.
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Marinated Tomato-and-Herb Salad
Recipe: Marinated Tomato-and-Herb Salad
When it’s too hot to cook, we look to our farmers’ market baskets and get creative. This chunky tomato salad will be your new favorite side dish to throw together.
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Chilled Radish-and-Avocado Soup
Recipe: Chilled Radish-and-Avocado Soup
This refreshing summer soup gets a peppery bite from radishes, hot sauce, and chile powder that is wonderfully balanced out by creamy avocados, tangy whole buttermilk, and a little honey for sweetness.
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Field Pea Fattoush Salad
Recipe: Field Pea Fattoush Salad
This salad makes the most of your summer peas. Bright and fresh in flavor from mint and lemon, it gets great added crunch from both the crisp romaine and toasted pita.
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Oven-Roasted Corn on the Cob
Recipe: Oven-Roasted Corn on the Cob
Don't worry about bringing a big 'ole pot of water to boil—because this easiest-ever recipe makes your corn perfectly tender and steamy right in the oven. No tongs required.
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Sheet Pan Hanger Steak and Vegetables
Recipe: Sheet Pan Hanger Steak and Vegetables
When it's just too hot to fire up the grill outside, this sheet pan supper will satisfy your family’s desire for steak.
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Air Fryer Coconut Shrimp
Recipe: Air Fryer Coconut Shrimp
Your frying skillet has no place here. Get all the crunch and crispiness of fried shrimp in just 30 minutes with this mess-free recipe that uses your air fryer.
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Sheet Pan Fajitas
Recipe: Sheet Pan Fajitas
Get all the fun of Taco Tuesday without having to tend to a hot skillet for an hour. Pop in the oven and you're ready to go in less than half an hour. Minimal hands-on time is always a plus.
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Instant Pot Potato Salad
Recipe: Instant Pot Potato Salad
Imagine having your favorite Southern potato salad recipe ready in just half an hour with all the tangy, creamy, dill-infused flavor you could desire. Potatoes and eggs cook together in your Instant Pot in minutes for what we like to call the ultimate prep hack.
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Creamy Pesto-and-Shrimp Penne with Peas
Recipe: Creamy Pesto-and-Shrimp Penne with Peas
Pre-peeled shrimp, frozen peas, and store-bought pesto makes this tasty pasta come together in a jiff. Just like that, you have a hearty summertime dinner up your sleeve.
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Air Fryer Okra
Recipe: Air Fryer Okra
You already know and love our pan-fried okra recipe. This one goes out to those who don't even want to go near the stovetop. A little dredging is all it takes before heading into the air fryer.