These 30 Easy Summer Dinner Recipes are perfect for warm, sunny days when you want to get in and out of the kitchen in a hurry!
During the summer, no one wants to be in the kitchen slaving over a hot stove or oven for hours making dinner. Quick and easy is the name of the game!
So today I’ve gathered up some of my favorite dinner recipes that are just that and perfect for summer. Many of them can be made in just 30 minutes.
I’ve got main-dish salads, sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, tacos, pasta, pizza, ribs, and lots more. You’ll find chicken, beef, pork, seafood, and a few meatless options too.
There’s something here for everyone!
And except for one recipe (the ribs…but they’re a summer classic and totally worth it), you won’t have to turn on the oven to make dinner.
Some are cooked on the stove top, some on the grill, and some in the Instant Pot or slow cooker. And there are even a few that don’t require any cooking at all.
Let’s get right to the list!
30 Easy Summer Dinner Recipes
Main Dish Salads
Don’t you just love a big salad? Add some meat or other protein to that big salad, and you’ve got yourself one fabulous lighter dinner!
Asian Chicken Salad With Sesame-Ginger Dressing
This quick and easy Asian Chicken Salad With Sesame-Ginger Dressing is a delicious main dish salad that's fresh, full of healthy ingredients, and packed with flavor and crunch. It's perfect for lunch or a light dinner!
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Big Mac Salad
This quick and easy Big Mac Salad has all the flavors of the classic McDonald's burger but in a big bowl of salad. It's an irresistibly delicious 30-minute meal!
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Classic Chef Salad
This easy Classic Chef Salad has it all: crisp lettuce, ham, turkey, cucumber, tomato, hard-boiled egg, and cheddar cheese. Top it with your favorite dressing for a delicious and satisfying lunch or light dinner!
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Black Bean Taco Salad
This easy Black Bean Taco Salad is filled with healthy veggies topped with cheese, sour cream, salsa, and tortilla strips. Seasoned black beans take the place of meat for a deliciously light meatless meal!
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Greek Salad with Chicken
This quick and easy Greek Salad with Chicken and a homemade Greek dressing is fresh, crisp, delicious and filling enough to be enjoyed as a meal all by itself!
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Honey Mustard Chicken Salad (With Homemade Dressing)
This easy Honey Mustard Chicken Salad is one of my favorite main dish salads. Lettuce and veggies are topped with grilled chicken and a delicious homemade honey mustard dressing for a hearty and satisfying lunch or dinner salad!
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Sandwiches, Burgers & More
We love doing sandwich night at least once a week in the summer. And for me, “sandwiches” also includes burgers, hot dogs and even tacos!
New England-Style Shrimp Rolls
These easy New England-Style Shrimp Rolls – fresh, cool shrimp salad served on warm and buttery toasted buns – are perfect for a summer lunch or dinner, and they're ready in just 30 minutes!
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Ham and Turkey Club Sandwich
This Ham and Turkey Club Sandwich is piled high with ham, turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and a homemade honey-mustard mayonnaise. It's perfect for lunch, but it's also substantial enough for a quick and easy dinner!
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Turkey Sloppy Joes
Ready in about 30 minutes, these homemade Turkey Sloppy Joes are a little sweet, a little spicy, and a lot of delicious! A great recipe when you need to get dinner or lunch on the table fast!
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Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Chicken
This Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Chicken is fall-apart tender, juicy, flavorful, and super easy to make. Pile it on buns for delicious sandwiches that are perfect for a simple weeknight family dinner or feeding a crowd!
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Double Smashed Burgers With Cheese
These Double Smashed Burgers With Cheese are so quick, easy, and incredibly delicious, it's the only way I ever make homemade cheeseburgers!
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Sausage, Pepper and Onion Burgers
These Sausage, Pepper and Onion Burgers with sauce and cheese are quick, easy, incredibly delicious, and ready to eat in under 30 minutes!
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Black Bean Burgers With Chipotle-Lime Mayo
These spicy Black Bean Burgers With Chipotle-Lime Mayo are not just for vegetarians. They are so delicious that I’ll bet even meat-eaters won’t miss the meat (I don’t!). You might even find yourself craving these instead of regular burgers!
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Homemade Chili Cheese Dogs
When you're craving comfort food, these Homemade Chili Cheese Dogs with a simple but super flavorful from-scratch chili sauce topping are a quick and easy fix that's ready in about 30 minutes!
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Instant Pot BBQ Pulled Pork Tacos
These Instant Pot BBQ Pulled Pork Tacos are everything you love about a classic pulled pork sandwich – tender pork, barbecue sauce, and crunchy slaw – put in a soft flour tortilla instead of on a bun! A little different, a lot of delicious!
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Grilled Shrimp Tacos
These quick and easy Grilled Shrimp Tacos with a fresh, tangy cabbage slaw and a cool, creamy, spicy chipotle-lime sour cream are so good, everyone will be coming back for more!
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Other Summer Dinner Favorites
And, of course, you still need some simple and delicious “regular dinner” recipes to cook throughout the summer months. They’re all winners!
Shrimp Boil Packets (Grill or Oven)
Shrimp Boil Packets are easy and delicious, can be made on the grill or in the oven, and are great for a summer dinner or get-together…and the clean-up is a snap!
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Honey Mustard Grilled Pork Chops
These Honey Mustard Grilled Pork Chops are an easy and delicious summertime dinner, but they're so good that you'll want to make them all year long!
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Oven-Baked BBQ Pork Ribs
These Oven-Baked BBQ Pork Ribs make it super easy to get tender, fall-off-the-bone ribs that are full of flavor every single time!
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Garlic Chicken With Green Beans and Tomatoes
This Garlic Chicken With Green Beans and Tomatoes is a super simple and delicious dinner that you can have on the table in only 30 minutes!
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Farfalle Pasta With Zucchini, Spinach and Tomatoes
This Farfalle Pasta With Zucchini, Spinach and Tomatoes is a quick, easy, flavorful, and super satisfying meatless meal that's perfect for a light summertime dinner!
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Chicken Piccata
This easy homemade Chicken Piccata – thin boneless chicken breasts served in a sauce of lemon juice, butter, capers, white wine, shallots, and garlic – is incredibly delicious and ready in just 30 minutes!
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Stuffed Zucchini Boats With Sausage and Tomatoes
These Stuffed Zucchini Boats With Sausage and Tomatoes have a crispy parmesan cheese and panko breadcrumb topping and are an easy and delicious summer dinner!
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Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps
These Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps are quick, easy, full of flavor, and ready in less than 30 minutes. Serve them as the main course for dinner or lunch or as an appetizer!
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Chicken Milanese With Mesclun Salad
Chicken Milanese With Mesclun Salad is a super flavorful, quick and easy 30-minute dinner for any night of the week, but it's also fancy enough for guests!
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Skillet Chicken Fajitas
These Skillet Chicken Fajitas – full of super flavorful chicken, peppers, and onions – are so quick and easy, you can have a fabulous Mexican dinner any night of the week in just about 30 minutes!
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Quick and Easy Egg Roll Bowls
These Quick and Easy Egg Roll Bowls are a delicious one-pan dinner full of meat and veggies that's ready to eat in less than 30 minutes!
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Mexican Rice and Black Beans
This Mexican Rice and Black Beans is an easy, delicious and inexpensive one-pan meatless meal that'll have you coming back for more!
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Shrimp Scampi With Angel Hair Pasta
This easy Shrimp Scampi With Angel Hair Pasta is an Italian-American classic that's made with just a few simple ingredients, is full of fabulous flavor, and is ready in 30 minutes or less!
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Flatbread White Broccoli Pizza
Flatbread White Broccoli Pizza is a quick and easy meatless dinner for any night of the week. It's ready in less than 30 minutes, and it's a fun and delicious way to eat your broccoli!
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I have most of these meals on repeat all summer long. I hope you found a few that you’d like to try!
And you know what? These recipes aren’t just for summer. You can make any of them any time of the year!
Don’t forget to check out my Side Dishes and Salads pages for some yummy recipes to serve alongside these dinners.
Thanks for visiting today!
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