When temperatures approach 80 degrees, it’s okay to use the word “cook” loosely. This time of year, dinners are often prepared on the fly, after a day in the park or by the pool. THE New York Times Kitchen The recipes below follow the unwritten rules of summer cooking: They should be brilliant and quick, with no oven required.
Find more summer dinners at New York Times Kitchen.
In this six-ingredient recipe, Ali Slagle uses a simple technique to achieve flavorful results. Simply resting well-seasoned, just-grilled meat on top of fresh summer produce creates juicier, softened vegetables without any additional cooking.
Is it even summer if you haven’t casually hosted a chain taco dinner? Yewande Komolafe pairs cumin-cayenne shrimp with lime-marinated slaw for tacos full of verve.
Recipe: Shrimp Tacos
If you have to turn on the stove, it’s best to streamline as much as possible. That’s what Ali Slagle does here, throwing lentils and orzo into the same pot of boiling water to turn on just one burner. All other elements of this vibrant vegan salad, including the zucchini, are left raw, so there is a variety of textures and temperatures.
This Seville-style gazpacho from Julia Moskin makes the perfect lunch or dinner on days when turning on the stove feels sacrilegious. This chilled, creamy (but no cream!) soup takes a cool 20 minutes to blend, season and strain.
Few recipes rival the simplicity of a cold pack of silken tofu draped in a vinaigrette that comes together in just seconds. While the beauty of this dish is how little work it requires, Hetty McKinnon has plenty of suggestions for improving it: add fresh herbs, garnish with crunchy peanuts or fried shallots, or serve with something delicious. spicy, like kimchi, pickled mustard. root or prickly radishes.
A well-dressed salad can make a light but hearty summer meal. “This adds to the chorus of people who say this dressing is great!” ” one commenter wrote about the umami-rich blend of cashews, garlic, mustard, miso paste, and caper brine in this recipe from Becky Hughes. If it’s too hot to turn on the oven for the toppings (crunchy chickpeas and rustic croutons), you can make them quickly on the stovetop.
A satisfying way to prepare fresh summer tomatoes is to grate them. Tejal Rao seasons what is essentially a no-cook sauce with coconut oil, mustard seeds and curry leaves to create a fragrant base for lightly fried nuggets of paneer.
Recipe: Tomato paneer
As one reader wrote, this recipe from Ali Slagle is “fantastic for a hot summer day.” The cooking required is minimal. Simply crisp the chickpeas and peanuts in a pan for five to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Everything else is child’s play without heat: just a little grinding, a little chopping and a little dressing.
Tuna salad recipes are incredibly personal. Some skip mayonnaise altogether, while others rely heavily on celery and onion for added crunch. Naz Deravian fills it with fresh herbs and pickles for brighter, tangier bites. The tastiest element in this sandwich might just be the topping of crushed, salted potato chips, which make every bite taste like summer camp.
You can treat this Melissa Clark Shrimp Salad two ways: with the shrimp left whole for an elegant dinner salad on top of your favorite lettuces, or roughly chopped to incorporate into sandwiches similar to tuna salad. The choice is yours!
Recipe: Shrimp salad
Kay Chun takes the punchy flavors of Vietnamese green papaya salad and applies them to an abundance of produce for a refreshing salad that’s just as good on its own as it is as a side. Mangoes, snow peas and avocado tossed in a fish sauce vinaigrette sit atop crisp lettuce leaves, for textures ranging from refreshing crunch to meltingly creamy.
Hetty McKinnon takes a no-cook tomato salad to new heights with a crunchy topping of sunflower seeds, pepitas, almonds, pistachios, oat granola and sesame seeds seasoned with chili flakes. Canned chickpeas and feta add protein and make this a satisfying but light dinner.
When in doubt, arrange your favorite fruits and cheeses on a plate and call it dinner. The flavors here are an integral part of the Iranian table, so much so that a perfect bite of herbs, nuts, salty cheese and flatbread has a name in Persian: loghmeh. Do just like Naz Deravian, or use her recipe as a template and incorporate whatever fruits or vegetables work best for the market.
Recipe: Naan-o Paneer-o Sabzi (bread, feta and herb platter)
A crunchy BLT with perfectly ripe tomatoes is a summer no-brainer, so let us tempt you with a less obvious suggestion: turn the sandwich into a pasta. This version of the Colu Henry classic keeps the seasonal vibe with cherry tomatoes and will only take you 30 minutes to prepare.
Just like a Bomb Pop or a platter of watermelon slices, tomato toast is a quintessential summer food. Follow Melissa Clark’s lead and dress yours with sardines, sliced onions, and torn basil, and you’ve got yourself a classic pantry meal.
A few pantry and refrigerator staples—garlic, soy sauce, black vinegar, red pepper flakes, green onions, and herbs—do a lot of work in this deceptively simple dish from Hetty McKinnon. Hot oil is poured over large noodles, and the toppings – yo po mian means “oil-sprinkled noodles” – extract complex flavors from simple ingredients with virtually no cooking.
Recipe: Yo Po Mian
Darun Kwak’s kimchi bibim guksu is spicy, adaptable and quick to assemble. Bibim guksu, meaning “mixed noodles” in Korean, doesn’t usually include kimchi, but, in this case, you’ll be glad it’s there to add spice and heat.
Recipe: Kimchi Bibim Guksu
Mayonnaise is the secret ingredient in this tangy grilled chicken recipe. Ali Slagle spreads it on boneless, skinless chicken, which flavors the meat, promotes browning, and keeps the other seasonings—grated ginger and lime zest—from burning on the grill.
Recipe: Ginger Lime Chicken
This tuna salad, adapted by Tejal Rao from chef Scarlett Lindeman, isn’t the kind to slide between two slices of white bread or spread on a Ritz cracker. It’s bright, fresh and juicy, worthy of the best tuna in oil you can find. Refreshing cucumbers and creamy avocado complete a meal prepared for those evenings when you decide not to cook.
Yasmin Fahr must have clearly had summer weekday evenings in mind when she developed this warm garlic and herb salad. The dish comes together in just 15 minutes, giving you plenty of time to pull out a few patio chairs, whip up a spritz, and enjoy dining al fresco.
Recipe: Spicy shrimp and chickpea salad
The beauty of a big bowl of rice vermicelli is that it’s good at any temperature: hot, warm, “left on the counter for 30 minutes” or cold. In this recipe from Geneviève Ko, the noodles, accompanied by slices of pork chops, carrots and a ton of tender herbs, are tossed with fish sauce, maple syrup, shallots, chili , garlic and lime juice.
Using the best produce and seafood that summer has to offer means you don’t have to do much when it comes time to cook them. These Seared Scallops and Tomatoes from Lidey Heuck are a perfect example, requiring little more than shallots, garlic, wine, and lemon juice to really shine.
Orzo is a hugely underrated pantry player and deserves a spot on your dinner list. Kay Chun uses it as the base of a salad inspired by the flavors of piperade, a Basque dish composed of pepper, onion and tomato compote. Finishing the dish with crumbled feta adds a welcome brine.
Recipe: Orzo salad with peppers and feta
Inspired by potato salad, this chickpea salad from Lidey Heuck is lighter and has more protein. Stack a few scoops of leafy greens, like you would tuna salad, or spread a thick layer between two lightly toasted slices of sourdough for a picnic-ready sandwich.
This soy milk noodle dish is popular during the summer in Korea, and for good reason: It’s a cold, refreshing five-ingredient soup that you can make in half an hour if you plan ahead. The prep work comes down to an overnight soak of soybeans, which serve as the base for a rich, nutty broth. From there, this Kay Chun recipe is a breeze.
Delicately poached fish a la Alison Roman won’t have you sitting on the stove too long. Any variety of white, meaty fish – cod, haddock, pollock, halibut, flounder – will taste delicious when cooked in tomato broth seasoned with fish sauce.
“One of the best flavor-to-effort ratios of any meal I’ve made,” one reader wrote of this popular and highly adaptable stir-fry from Ali Slagle. Although his chicken and asparagus combo is foolproof, you can easily replace it with cubed pork and green beans, or tofu and peas.
Put those seasonal steak tomatoes to work in this nostalgic recipe from Francis Lam. Barely scrambled eggs are added to a ginger-tomato sauce, creating a savory and tangy final dish. Serve it over steamed rice or with a piece of generously buttered toast.
