Summer is here and if you are looking for more summer dinner ideas then look no further! We’ve got a variety of meal ideas from salads to quick pasta dishes and more. Here are dozens of delicious recipes for you to enjoy al fresco.
Summer can be a busy and chaotic season with lots going on. That’s why we’ve put together so many of our best summer dinner ideas to inspire you and give you more ideas to work with this season.
7 Layer Salad
The 7 ingredients in this salad are iceberg lettuce, frozen peas, hard boiled eggs, cheddar cheese, red onions, crispy bacon, and homemade dressing. This salad is delicious, fresh and best of all cold—perfect for summer!
Pinwheel Sandwiches
These sandwiches are made with tortillas, cream cheese, ranch dressing, bacon, cheese, deli turkey, salami, and spinach. It’s finger food that is perfect for any party or dinner.
Lentil & Tempeh Lettuce Wraps
Lettuce wraps made with lentils, tempeh, garlic, cilantro, green onion, egg, pepper jack cheese, and cumin. This is one of those super quick dinner ideas.
Stuffed Peppers
Stuffed peppers are: filling, inexpensive, simple ingredients and come together in around 30 minutes. Made with bell peppers, ground beef, shallot, garlic, Spanish rice, chili powder, and cheddar cheese.
Pineapple Fried Rice
Rice made with pineapple, tofu, bell pepper, peas, carrots, soy sauce, brown sugar, and green onions. An easy recipe that takes less than an hour to make.
Red Beans and Rice Veggie Burgers
Burgers made with red kidney beans, brown rice, protein powder, celery, soy sauce, onion powder, cumin, garlic powder, ghee, and flour. This a great higher protein plant-based option.
One-Pot Red Wine Pasta
Pasta with white onion, garlic, vegetable stock, red wine, and fresh basil. A great dinner for those nights you don’t want to do dishes.
Creamy Broccoli Pasta
Pasta made with broccoli, fettuccine, basil, garlic, heavy cream, egg yolks, and parmesan cheese. Not sure what to make for dinner? This is an easy dish that tastes delicious.
Toasted Ravioli Salad
Salad made with salad greens, ravioli, cucumber, bell pepper, balsamic dressing, and a hard boiled egg. This is a quick dinner idea for those nights you are not sure what to make.
Taco Dip
This dip is made with cream cheese, sour cream, taco seasoning, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and black olives. It’s a creamy, cold dip everyone will love.
Marry Me Chicken
This recipe is called “Marry Me Chicken” because once you make this recipe for someone they will want to marry you. It includes chicken breasts, flour, breadcrumbs, garlic, chicken stock, whipping cream, parmesan cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, and herbs.
Stuffed Crust Cast Iron Pizza
This is an easy deep dish cast iron pizza dough recipe that tastes delicious. The ingredients are dry yeast, white sugar, olive oil, flour, string cheese, pizza sauce, and mozzarella.
Cookie Dough Dip
A no-bake Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip recipe that everyone will love. It’s made with cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, whipped topping, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips.
The Best Fruit Pizza
This recipe calls for sugar cookie dough, cream cheese, coconut flakes, strawberries, and fresh mint. This pizza will have you thinking, “Where has this been all my life?!”
Whipped Feta Dip
This dip is incredibly easy to make at home. The ingredients are feta cheese, cream cheese, garlic, olive oil, green onion, honey, and almonds.
Strawberry Ravioli with Balsamic and Basil
Ravioli made with strawberries, flour, eggs, ricotta cheese, mozzarella, garlic, and balsamic vinegar. This recipe is slightly sweet.
Easy No-Bake Key Lime Pie
This pie is made with vanilla wafers, butter, cream cheese, instant vanilla pudding, milk, lime juice, lime zest, and white sugar. This easy no-bake key lime pie is the perfect warm weather treat, being super simple to make and totally delicious.
Ambrosia Salad
This side dish is made from whipped topping, vanilla yogurt, coconut flakes, pineapple tidbits, mandarin oranges, maraschino cherries, almonds, pecans, and mini marshmallows. If you’ve never had ambrosia salad before, it’s a creamy fruit salad that might sound a bit odd based on the ingredients, but don’t knock it until you try it!
Jello Poke Cake
A flavorful, moist cake made with a white cake box mix, Jello, and whipped topping. With just a few simple ingredients and some creativity, you can create a delightful and nostalgic treat that everyone will love.
Mason Jar Salad
The main pros to the mason jar salad are twofold: first, you can make all your lunches for the whole workweek in one sitting and your worries of what to eat everyday for dinner are already solved. There are so many amazing salads you can make like black bean and corn salad, tomato mozzarella salad, quinoa and sweet potato salad, and Greek chicken salad.
Chocolate Hummus
This recipe includes chickpeas, tahini, cocoa powder, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and milk. This makes a really fun and surprising addition to any dessert board or snack plate!
Wendy’s Frosty Recipe
Who doesn’t love a Wendy’s Frosty? This copycat recipe includes chocolate milk, sweetened condensed milk, and whipped topping.
BBQ Sauce
This sauce is everything I love in a BBQ sauce—sweet and savory, thick and super flavorful. It includes tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, honey, molasses, garlic powder, red paper flakes, onion powder, cayenne, paprika, and apple juice.
Mint Mojito Recipe
The best at-home mint mojito recipe made with homemade simple syrup, rum, lime juice, and club soda. Sipping a mojito always tastes like vacation and feels like summer all year round.
Red Pepper Sauce
This sauce is made with bell pepper, yellow onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, vodka, tomato paste, whole milk, parmesan cheese and pasta water. It’s easy to make, filling, and there are probably about one million different ways to change up the sauce or other ingredients so it’s never boring.
Affogato
This Italian dessert is made with with espresso and ice cream. If you like iced lattes, you will love affogatos.
Aperol Spritz
A delicious drink make with Prosecco, aperol, and sparkling water. This will become your favorite warm weather cocktail.
Green Goddess Salad Dressing
A quick and easy vegetable packed green goddess salad dressing made with basil, mint, cilantro, chives, spinach, garlic, shallot, lemon, lime, cashews, and apple cider vinegar. It’s a super fresh and flavorful slaw that could be eaten all on its own or added to all sorts of things.
Easy Taco Soup
This simple tomato taco soup with homemade tortilla strips, red onion, garlic, ground beef, taco seasoning, black beans, diced tomatoes, vegetable stock, and milk can be customized in a number of different ways, especially through what items you serve on top.
Paloma Cocktail
If you love a margarita but sometimes find them too sweet, a classic Paloma might be your perfect drink. Made with tequila, grapefruit juice, lime juice, agave nectar, and sparking water.
Homemade Pretzel Pizza Bites
These pretzel bites filled with pizza toppings are a hit for the summer. They are made with butter, sugar, dry yeast, flour, mozzarella pearls, baking soda, fresh herbs, and marinara sauce.
Tropical Smoothie
This tropical smoothie recipes combines the flavors of pineapple, mango, banana and coconut for a creamy and delicious smoothie. It’s packed with nutrients and tastes amazing.
Easy Calzone Recipe
Want the easiest way to make a homemade calzone? Try this one with frozen bread dough, red sauce, ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, and egg.
Orange Julius Recipe
A copycat recipe that tastes just like the iconic Orange Julius. It’s made with orange juice concentrate, milk, sugar, vanilla extract, and ice cubes.
Easy Vodka Sauce
A simple pink sauce made with tomatoes, cream, vodka, garlic, and whipping cream. Vodka sauce is the perfect blend of a tomato sauce mixed with a creamy element.
Best Pea Soup
A light and refreshing soup recipe made with peas, chicken stock, red pepper flakes, thyme, shallots, and garlic. This soup is on the thinner side and tastes bright and refreshing.
Kalimotxo (Calimocho)
If you’ve never tried red wine and Coke, today you are in for a treat. I love an easy cocktail recipe and this one is unique!
Honey Mustard Dressing
This honey mustard dressing is so simple to make with only six ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen! The ingredients are dijon mustard, honey, mayonnaise, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, and apple cider vinegar.
Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Brussels sprouts made with olive oil, butter, sea salt, and lemon. They are so delicious and good for you.
Lemon Vinaigrette Salad Dressing
Delicious dressing made with lemon juice, garlic, mustard, honey, thyme, vinegar, and olive oil. You can whip up your own batch of creamy lemon vinaigrette in just five minutes.
Caesar Salad Dressing
Caesar salad dressing is actually really easy to make and requires only a handful of ingredients like garlic, egg yolks, mustard, anchovies, olive oil, and red pepper flakes.
Chicken Alfredo Recipe
Chicken alfredo made with chicken breast, fettuccine noodles, whipping cream, garlic, and parmesan cheese. This meal takes less than 30 minutes to make from start to finish and feels like restaurant quality.
No-Bake S’mores Icebox Cake
Too hot to bake something? This no-bake S’mores Icebox cake requires no oven and is made with graham crackers, mascarpone cheese, heavy cream, confectioners sugar, chocolate, and marshmallows.
The Best No-Bake Banana Cream Pie
A delicious no-bake banana cream pie recipe made with pie crust, milk, vanilla extract, whipping cream, Nilla Wafer cookies, and bananas. It’s so easy and so delicious that you will be totally sold on the no-bake pie idea!
Mai Tai
This drink is one of the most famous tiki cocktails of all time. Mixed with rum, orange liqueur, fresh lime juice and orgeat (a nuanced almond syrup), this recipe is fresh, balanced and dare I say … perfect.
Chipotle Sauce
This chipotle sauce has only five ingredients (chipotle peppers, sour cream, mayo, cilantro, and honey) and takes literally minutes to make. While simple, it’s very flavorful and spicy and will add a lot of interest to any dish you add it to.
Tzatziki
If you have never had tzatziki sauce before, it’s like a savory, fresh tasting dip or spread made of Greek yogurt, cucumber, garlic, vinegar, and dill. It’s flavorful, easy to make and packed with protein and probiotics as a big bonus to the delicious flavor it adds to a meal or appetizer.
Pizza Dough
This easy pizza dough recipe has just five basic ingredients, which include white sugar, dry yeast, flour, salt, and olive oil. It can be ready to bake in about an hour, and is that perfect blend of hand-tossed where it’s not super thick but also not thin crust.
Easy Broccoli Salad
This broccoli salad is crunchy, creamy, and flavorful, made with broccoli, cranberries, and almonds. It also has a delicious dressing made with shallot, mayo, apple cider vinegar, honey, dijon mustard, and cayenne. This is a great side dish to go with whatever you are making for dinner.
Classic Pea Salad with Bacon
This delicious, creamy bacon pea salad recipe is the perfect picnic food. Made with frozen peas, mayonnaise, sour cream, white vinegar, bacon, red onion, and cheddar cheese.
Eclair Cake – No-Bake
This no-bake eclair cake is the perfect dessert to make when it’s too hot to turn your oven on, or when you just don’t feel like baking. Made with instant pudding, milk, whipping cream, graham crackers, and chocolate chips.
Air Fryer Cauliflower
If you are looking for an easy and delicious way to prepare cauliflower, then you must try this air fryer cauliflower recipe. Seasoned with olive oil, garlic powder, and cayenne.
Deviled Eggs Recipe
Deviled eggs have got to be one of the most addictive appetizers of all time. If you’ve never had them before, they are simply hard boiled eggs cut in half and the yolks are mixed with mayo, dijon, and vinegar; then piped or spooned back into the egg half.
Rice Pudding
This rice pudding recipe does contains arborio rice, vanilla extract, cinnamon, milk, half and half cream, and white sugar. Rice pudding is a wonderful and comforting dessert in the winter, as it is warm and filling.
Best Deli-Style Tuna Salad
What I love about this deli-style tuna salad recipe is it’s flavorful, has the right amount of crunch, and is colorful. Ingredients include canned tuna, mayo, apple cider vinegar, honey, sharp cheddar, peas, carrots, and red onion.
Creamy Black Bean Dip
This dip is a great to take to a summer BBQ. It’s made with black beans, cream cheese, garlic, onion, cilantro, and tomatoes.
Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Shot
When you combine vanilla vodka, pineapple juice and grenadine, you will create this beautiful gradient shot that tastes just like pineapple upside-down cake.
Queso Recipe
This homemade queso recipe is made from real cheese, butter, evaporated milk, and cornstarch. It’s then flavored with spices and fresh ingredients like garlic, cilantro, and chives.
Grasshopper Pie
This pie is a creamy mint chocolate no-bake dessert that is perfect for the summer. Made with a crumb crust, marshmallows, milk, mentholmint, creme de cacao, heavy whipping and food coloring.
Simple Cucumber Salad
Cucumber salad is a simple, cold salad that is easy to make, and it’s flavorful and downright refreshing. Ingredients include mini cucumbers, ginger, garlic, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame seeds, and chives.
Egg Salad Recipes
A classic egg salad made with simple ingredients like eggs, mayo, dijon mustard, dill, chives, and cayenne. This recipe is perfect for a picnic.
Pigs in a Blanket
Pigs in a blanket is probably the most adorable appetizer name of all time, right? The idea is simple; hot dogs (or other pork sausage) rolled in bread and baked.
French Onion Dip
This homemade French onion dip is creamy, decadent and the perfect blend of savory with a little sweet. To make this dip you need an onion, garlic, chives, cream cheese, sour cream, mayo, mustard, and celery seeds.
Homemade Ranch Dressing
Make your own ranch with buttermilk, mayonnaise, sour cream, chives, dill, and lemon juice. It’s perfect for salads, dipping vegetables, and things like chicken tenders.
Easy Chicken Salad with Grapes
A simple chicken salad recipe made with grapes, canned chicken, red onion, almonds, mayo, apple cider vinegar, dijon mustard, and honey.
Easy (Air Fryer) Seasoned French Fries
This recipe calls for potatoes, ghee, salt, paprika, garlic powder, pepper, and onion powder. It’s also way more healthy than deep fried French fries.
Corn Dip
This is a cold, creamy dip made with just five ingredients (Southwest corn, green onions, mayo, sour cream, and pepper jack cheese). It’s perfect for a picnic, boat day, or really any party spread.
The Best Fruit Salad
This delicious fruit salad is made with orange juice, honey, orange zest, lime zest, lime juice, lemon juice, strawberries, grapes, bananas, raspberries, blackberries, kiwi, and clementines. It’s the perfect fruit salad for a summer brunch, picnic, or BBQ.
Fruit Punch
This fruit punch recipe will definitely quench your thirst. Made with cranberry juice, pineapple juice, orange juice, lime juice, and ginger ale.
Broccoli Slaw
This broccoli slaw is simple but oh-so-good! The ingredients are broccoli slaw veggies, almonds, mayo, rice vinegar, mustard, honey, and poppy seeds.
Easy Baked Beans
Easy baked beans are made with bacon, onion, bell pepper, garlic, paprika, chili powder, apple cider vinegar, BBQ sauce, dijon mustard, tomatoes sauce, and navy beans. This recipe is saucy, flavorful, and super simple.
Creamy Pasta Salad
A creamy, mayonnaise-based pasta salad recipe that has rotini pasta, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, frozen peas, cucumber, carrot, onion, mayo, sour cream, lemon juice, dried garlic, and dried parsley. It’s the perfect side dish for barbecue season and summer gatherings.
Simple Macaroni Salad
This macaroni salad is super easy to make and requires no fancy ingredients. All you need is macaroni noodles, broccoli, bell pepper, red onion, eggs, mayo, sour cream, red wine vinegar, sugar, milk, and dijon mustard.
Best Classic Potato Salad
This creamy and classic potato salad is the perfect side dish to bring to a summer BBQ or picnic. To make, you need russet potatoes, red onion, bell pepper, chives, hard boiled eggs, rice vinegar, mayo, mustard, and sweet pickle relish.
Sheet Pan Totchos
Totchos are made with tater tots, Mexican blend cheese, ground beef, garlic powder, corn, black beans, sour cream, green onions, cilantro, and avocado. They are an ultimate extremely easy family meal.
More Recipes to Try:
- Summer Cocktails – Limoncello Spritz, Strawberry Daiquiri, Pimm’s Cup.
- Mocktails – Virgin Pina Colada, Virgin Margarita, Virgin Mojito.
- BBQ Recipes – Our best side dishes for BBQ season and the 4th of July.