15 Summer Dinners I Make When I Don’t Feel Like Cooking.
Sharing 15 of my favorite summer dinner recipes I make when I don’t feel like cooking! Quick and easy meals that everyone loves – ones that are perfect to make when it’s super hot outside.
My favorite summer dinner recipes are here!
There are many more nights in the summer where I just don’t feel like cooking dinner. Like at all.
Mostly because it’s hot, we’ve been out and about all day, it’s a million degrees, the heat has zapped our appetites and… it’s hot. Did I mention it’s hot? The sun can be draining and before I know it, it’s 5PM and we’re all starving and need something quick on the table.
Regardless of if I want to cook or not, corn and tomatoes are ALWAYS a staple here in the summer! Sometimes I make them fancy, sometimes not. Some of the recipes below don’t require any cooking and some come together fast – think summer comfort food that we all love. These are some of the oldie but goodie recipes on the blog!
Would love to hear your favorite summer dinner recipes below!
15 Favorite Summer Dinner Recipes
This is one of my favorites – every time of year! It has so much flavor and crunch. While it does require actual cooking, it comes together so super quickly. It’s a wonderful quick summer pasta and leftovers taste great too.
I’ve rambled about this salad forever but it’s just SO good. It’s a great meal prep salad to have in the fridge, and makes any meal come together quickly. If you haven’t prepped it ahead of time, it doesn’t requite any cooking. I love to eat this with toasted sourdough or even thrown on a bed of lettuce. Or in a pita!
Stone Fruit Caprese with Basil Vinaigrette
Any and all forms of caprese salad are a serious go-to in this house, especially once our tomatoes are peaked. Adding stone fruit to this gives it a fancy boost and uses up more seasonal produce too. The basil vinaigrette is something you can make a day ahead of time too.
Grilled Corn, Tomato Avocado Salad with Chimichurri
There is nothing better than corn, tomatoes and avocado! Throw the corn on the grill and then toss these delish ingredients together. I love them drizzled with chimichurri but truly you could use any dressing you love here.
Blueberry Summer Salad with Creamy Balsamic
My blueberry salad is perfection. The almonds take a few minutes to make, but since it’s the only part of the salad that requires cooking, you can do it! Or just use some toasted sliced almonds instead. The creamy balsamic is a delish dressing to prep ahead for the week.
This is an oldie but goodie. Just like the squash pasta up above, it’s a dish that comes together quickly. It can be a clean out the fridge meal too! Summer herbs, vegetables, anything you’ve got.
Smoky Chicken Salad Stuffed Avocados
If I REALLY don’t want to cook, stuffed avocados are on the menu! I love the chicken salad version, but any cool, chilled salad will work in the avocado.
Grilled Garlic Butter Pizza with Tomatoes
The way I make this happen easy on summer weeknights is to use my favorite store-bought pizza dough! Comes together SO fast then – throw the dough on the grill, cover with the garlic herb butter and top with tomatoes. It’s incredible.
Weeknight Burst Tomato Burrata Pasta
This quick and easy tomato burrata pasta is SO good. It takes a few minutes for the tomatoes to burst, but it all happens in the skillet and doesn’t require turning on the oven. So so delish.
BLT Chopped Salad with Corn, Feta and Avocado
One of the classics here on the blog! If you want a cooling, refreshing salad for summer, this one can’t be beat. If you throw it on your meal plan, you can cook the bacon ahead of time and store it in the fridge.
I absolutely LOVE this meal!! Sometimes if I’m prepared ahead of time, I’ll grill the potatoes on the weekend for the week ahead. You can, of course, grill them on a weeknight for dinner, but they do take a while to grill – even though it’s downtime for you. You can top these with anything! I love using my homemade ranch and pickled onions but really, throw anything on them. Rotisserie chicken! Pesto! Leftover veggies!
Cheeseburger Chopped Salad with Dill Pickle Vinaigrette
There isn’t much I love more than my cheeseburger salad. My favorite way to make this meal happen? If we make burgers on the weekend or one night for dinner, I’ll always grill extra. A few days later, those leftovers become this salad. The dressing is drinkable.
Tomato Picnic Toast with Blue Cheese Mayo
This is more often a lunchtime plate for us, but if it’s super hot and we’re not that hungry, it makes a wonderful light dinner. I love a little toast dinner!
Spinach Burrata Omelet with Avocado Greens
Can’t go wrong with eggs – and this is the perfect way to make them feel special for dinner. Burrata and spinach in the omelet with greens on the side. Toss some garden herbs in too!
Grilled Sourdough with Heirloom Tomatoes and Honey Drizzle
More tomatoes, more toast. But it’s a classic. And tomatoes are only good for a few weeks!
8 Comments on “15 Summer Dinners I Make When I Don’t Feel Like Cooking.”
This is me. I don’t want to cook right now. Too hot. I just want to eat fish tacos, grilled chicken (my husband’s job – heh), and zucchini pasta, and all the salads.
Thank you for this post! I love the ideas for myself, and I’ll share with my very busy Mother of two young children daughter!
This post was so timely – it is 94 and humid and I can’t fathom too much cooking (but I am hungry). Plan on making both the Summer Skillet Gnocchi and the BLT Chopped Salad this week.
I used to CONSTANTLY eat the smoky chicken salad stuffed avocados (it’s a great lunch)! I’m glad you mentioned them because they are going to have to make a comeback. I’m also a big fan of the roasted summer vegetable mac & cheese and the grilled buffalo chicken caesar salad is probably our favorite summer meal.
This looks so good! A perfect cool, fresh dish for hot summer days! I love this recipe and now I’m going to make it using the variations. Thank you for reminding me how much I love this recipe.
Mercer Lynda
https://www.kitchenfolks.com
really great recipe i must try soon this Best Food
Your title is extremely misleading. Everyone of these recepies requires cooking.
Omgosh, every one is fabulous! I’m trying them all during the rest of our Minnesota summer, ( I better hurry up), and tomatoes and sweet corn are so yummy right now. I love your site and make you meals often! THANK YOU💖💖😁