Our 20 Best New Dinners to Make This Summer
These new recipes are full of tasty fruits and veggies that reach peak deliciousness in the summer. Take advantage of the crispest cucumbers, juiciest tomatoes and tastiest citrus in these recipes that are perfect for warm weather. Whether you love to spend the summer grilling out or staying in, these meals will be a source of culinary inspiration all season long. Recipes like our Sheet-Pan Poblano-&-Corn Chicken Fajitas and Chicken-Quinoa Bowl with Strawberries & Pecans are delicious ways to bring a seasonal twist to your dinner table.
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Sheet-Pan Garlic-Soy Chicken & Vegetables
This easy dish comes together quickly and is cooked all on one baking sheet. Putting the pan in the oven while it preheats makes it hot enough to lightly sear the chicken and vegetables, adding texture and flavor and also reducing the cook time. Chicken thighs emerge from the oven succulent and coated in the savory sauce (with less salt because of the low-sodium soy sauce) and fragrant from the garlic, ginger and scallions. We recommend serving this with brown rice or whole-wheat noodles.
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Salmon Rice Bowl
Inspired by the viral TikTok trend, this tasty bowl makes for a satisfying lunch or dinner. With a handful of healthy ingredients, like instant brown rice, heart-healthy salmon and lots of crunchy veggies, you'll have a filling and flavorful meal in just 25 minutes. Looking to cut down on carbs? Try swapping in riced cauliflower in place of the brown rice.
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Sheet-Pan Shrimp Fajitas
Fajitas make an excellent weeknight meal. These come together faster than ever, using quick-cooking shrimp and veggies all on one sheet pan so you can focus on family rather than cleanup.
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Cucumber Sandwich
This creamy, crunchy cucumber sandwich recipe strikes a lovely balance between decadent and light. The cream cheese-yogurt spread complements the crisp refreshing cucumber while the hearty flavor and texture of the whole-wheat bread holds everything together. Removing the crusts makes it more delicate than your average sandwich.
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Beef Suya Tacos
Suya, grilled skewers of thinly sliced meat spiced with ground peanuts, ginger and chiles, originated with the Hausa and Fulani people in northern Nigeria, but they are now a popular street food, wrapped in newspaper to go, throughout the country. Nigerian American chef Simileoluwa Adebajo, owner of Èkó Kitchen in San Francisco, created this dish one day when she sliced suya hot off the grill and placed them in fresh tortillas made by a friend with a cooking school in Mexico. For the best flavor, Adebajo recommends making your own tortillas, but here we use store-bought for simplicity.
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Sheet-Pan Poblano-&-Corn Chicken Fajitas
These sheet-pan poblano-and-corn chicken fajitas are seasoned with mild ancho chile powder, paprika and cumin. The chicken and vegetables cook on a sheet pan under the broiler so you can forget working over a hot stove or grill to get dinner on the table fast. Plus, with only one pan, cleanup is a breeze!
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Sesame Kohlrabi & Chicken Salad
Kohlrabi (a bulbous vegetable related to broccoli and Brussels sprouts but with a milder, sweet flavor) and almonds add crunch to this crowd-pleasing salad. Baked tofu or shrimp can be used instead of the chicken.
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Chicken-Quinoa Bowl with Strawberries & Pecans
This simple chicken grain bowl makes a perfect family dinner. Let everyone customize their meal by portioning the greens and grains into bowls, then serving the remaining ingredients buffet-style so eaters can pick and choose what they want to top theirs with.
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Tacos Gobernador
Rick Martinez's cookbook, Mi Cocina, explores Mexican regional cooking. This recipe comes from the chapter on Pacífico, where his family is from—a region known for its culinary focus on fish, shrimp and octopus. These buttery shrimp tacos were first created by Eduardo Angulo, the owner of Los Arcos in Mazatlán.
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Eggplant Meatballs
These eggplant meatballs are a creative way to enjoy eggplant! They are packed with savory flavors that are sure to please just about everyone. Cooking the eggplant prior to forming the vegetarian meatballs is a quick way to release moisture to help hold them together.
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Crab Bisque
This lighter version of crab bisque is still plenty rich and velvety thanks to lightly thickened half-and-half in place of the more traditional heavy cream. The crab topping with lemon and parsley makes this easy bisque company-worthy while helping to balance the flavors.
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Cod Fish Tacos
Let your oven do the work for these quick and simple cod fish tacos. Broiling the cod allows the fish to stay moist and flake easily once finished. Hot sauce adds a punch of acidity and mild heat, while sour cream makes a creamy slaw that adds crunch to the taco.
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Baked Crab Cakes
These baked crab cakes are brimming with chunks of crabmeat and just enough fillers to hold them together. Not firmly packing the crabmeat helps them stay tender and flaky. They're perfect for a light, summery lunch.
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Lemon-Garlic Grilled Cod
This lemon-garlic grilled cod features charred lemon and garlic oil that adds an extra dimension to the moist and flaky fish.
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Lemon Crab Pasta
Earthy, savory miso complements the flavor of the sweet crab perfectly in this quick and easy lemon crab pasta dish. A punch of garlic adds depth, and lemon adds some sunshine, while parsley refreshes and brings a pop of color. While you could substitute whole-wheat pasta for added fiber, regular pasta allows the flavors of the crab and lemon to shine.
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Lemon-Garlic Grilled Tilapia
Learn how to grill tilapia with this quick recipe. A flavorful garlic-butter mixture coats the grilled tilapia while charred lemons add a boost of acidity and brightness. Serve alongside rice and green beans or use the fish as a filling for tacos.
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Black Bean–Stuffed Chiles Rellenos
These stuffed, battered and lightly fried chiles are a bit of a project, but worth it! If you have any left over, you can maintain their crispness by reheating over medium heat in a nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, carefully turning occasionally. Look for queso Oaxaca in the specialty cheese section—it's a superb melting cheese.
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Chicken Caprese Sandwich
This chicken caprese sandwich has all the classic flavors of a caprese salad with an added boost of protein from grilled chicken. Using store-bought grilled chicken makes assembly quick and easy. This sandwich for one is made in a skillet, but would work equally well in a panini press if you have one on hand.
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Cheesy Spinach-Zucchini Lasagna
Thanks to jarred marinara sauce and oven-ready lasagna noodles, this labor-of-love kind of meal can be ready in about an hour.
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Roast Salmon with Kumquat-Pineapple Chutney
Bird's eye chile, also known as Thai red chile, adds a punch of heat to this chutney. If your store doesn't have one, a serrano will work too.