30 Best Summer Vegetable Recipes

These summer vegetable recipes star veggies like corn, tomatoes, eggplant, and zucchini. Try one to make the most of the season's best produce!

These summer vegetable recipes are my unofficial summer cooking bucket list. They’re the dishes I come back to every July and August, when zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, corn, and more are in full swing and I want to make the most of them. If you’re looking for ways to use your latest farmers market haul or garden bounty, I think you’ll love these summer vegetable recipes too. Most of them are super simple—think quick sautés and salads you can throw together on a weeknight. A few are a little more involved (looking at you, tomato galette), but I think they’re well…

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Cucumber Tomato Salad

This cucumber tomato salad is a refreshing summer side dish! A tangy vinaigrette brightens juicy tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, onions, and herbs.

summer / salads

This cucumber tomato salad recipe is the simplest summer side dish! Making it is as easy as tossing sliced cucumbers, juicy tomatoes, crisp onions, and herbs with a tangy 5-ingredient dressing. I make some version of it every week in the summer, changing up the herbs to use what looks best in my garden or tossing in fun add-ins like avocado or cheese. Bright and refreshing, it pairs well with almost any meal, from fresh summer pastas to veggie burgers off the grill. Whether you make it as written or make it your own, this recipe is a great one…

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Best Potato Salad

Learn how to make potato salad with this easy recipe! The perfect BBQ side dish, it's creamy and flavorful, made with tangy pickles, celery, and mustard.

This potato salad recipe is hands down the BEST I’ve tried. It’s creamy, it’s tangy, and it’s flecked with savory herbs, crunchy celery, and (optional, but delicious) hard-boiled eggs. I’ll be bringing it to every cookout and BBQ we attend this summer. It’s essentially the classic potato salad that appeared at every picnic and potluck throughout my childhood, but it has a few key twists. First, I add diced dill pickles for crunch, and I also mix a splash of pickle brine into the creamy mayo and mustard dressing. The extra burst of acidity really makes the potatoes pop. Fresh…

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Grilled Halloumi Salad

This halloumi salad is a cheese lover's dream! It features fresh veggies, croutons, and a tangy Greek dressing, plus lots of smoky grilled halloumi.

Cheese lovers, this grilled halloumi salad is for you! It stars salty, squeaky halloumi cheese, a goat and sheep’s milk cheese that hails from Cyprus. The #1 thing you should know about this cheese is that you can cook it! Its high melting point and firm texture make it perfect for grilling and roasting. I mean, grilled cheese?! Yes, please! This simple salad is one of my favorite ways to use grilled halloumi. The smoky, salty cheese plays off hearty croutons, crisp cucumbers, juicy tomatoes, and a tangy Greek dressing. It’s sort of like a cross between a classic Greek…

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Easy Fruit Salad

This easy fruit salad recipe is a perfect summer side dish! Kids and adults love this one—it's made with colorful fruit and a bright honey-lime dressing.

This classic fruit salad recipe has become one of our go-to summer side dishes. It’s fresh, it’s colorful, and—best of all—it’s kid-friendly. Our kiddo has always loved fresh fruit, so when I want to bring a dish to a gathering that I know he’ll go for, fruit salad wins every time. I call for a vibrant blend of pineapple, mandarin oranges, blueberries, strawberries, grapes, and kiwi in this recipe, but I want to say up front that this fruit salad is super flexible. I’m sharing some of my go-to subs and swaps below, but honestly, almost any fruit tastes delicious with…

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Caprese Pasta Salad

This Caprese pasta salad recipe is perfect for summer picnics! It's super bright and fresh, filled with tomatoes, basil, and a light balsamic dressing.

This Caprese pasta salad recipe is practically summer in a bowl! As you can probably tell from its name, it’s a delicious fusion of two summer favorites: pasta salad and Italian Caprese salad. If you ask me, it’s a match made in heaven. A classic Caprese salad is bursting with fresh summer flavor, thanks to the famous combination of creamy mozzarella, juicy tomatoes, and aromatic basil. But it isn’t as packable as pasta salad, a staple at picnics and potlucks. This easy Caprese pasta salad recipe combines the best of both. You get all the fresh flavor of a Caprese…

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35 Easy Memorial Day Recipes

Our best Memorial Day recipes! We've rounded up summer salads, sides, dips, desserts, and more—everything you need for a delicious cookout.

The unofficial start of summer is just a few days away—it’s time to plan your Memorial Day menu! I’ve rounded up our best Memorial Day recipes below. They include fresh appetizers, salads, side dishes, drinks, desserts, and more. They’d all be perfect for a Memorial Day cookout…and cookouts all summer long. I know I’ll have many of these recipes on repeat this summer. I hope you also find some you love! Memorial Day Appetizer Recipes Antipasto Platter Bring an Italian vacation to your own backyard with this aperitivo-inspired platter! It’s loaded with marinated mozzarella balls, gigante beans, olives, and more.…

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Red Potato Salad

This red potato salad recipe is a picnic-perfect side dish! Tossed in a tangy mustard dressing and loaded with fresh herbs, it's bright and flavorful.

Potato salad skeptics, get ready—this red potato salad might win you over! Unlike a classic creamy potato salad, it doesn’t feature a mayo-forward dressing or hard boiled eggs. Instead, this red potato salad is ultra-bright and fresh, tossed in a zingy mustard dressing and loaded with savory herbs and crunchy celery. Bring it to your next picnic, and you’ll bring home an empty bowl (I promise!). I love this salad because it actually gets better as it sits, making it a perfect make-ahead side dish for potlucks and picnics. I’m looking forward to making it on repeat this summer. I hope…

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Strawberry Spinach Salad

This strawberry spinach salad is filled with pecans, feta, and a tangy poppy seed dressing. Perfect for spring or summer, it's simple and fresh.

This strawberry spinach salad is perfect for spring and early summer. It starts with a base of fresh spinach—one of the first vegetables to appear at my farmers market each spring—and is topped off with juicy strawberries, crisp red onion, toasty pecans, and salty feta cheese. My sweet and tangy poppy seed dressing ties it all together. I think it’s fair to say that this combination is pretty classic (doesn’t Panera have a strawberry poppyseed salad on its menu?), but I still wanted to share this recipe because it’s so simple and fresh, with a wonderful pop of sweetness and color…

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Caesar Salad

This classic Caesar salad recipe features crisp romaine, crunchy croutons, and Parmesan cheese. A creamy, tangy homemade dressing ties it together.

salads / vegetarian

This Caesar salad recipe is classic and delicious. It features a base of crisp romaine lettuce topped with crunchy croutons and plenty of shaved Parmesan cheese. A creamy, tangy homemade Caesar dressing ties it all together. I’ve shared Caesar salad recipes with extra add-ins and other twists in the past (looking at you, kale Caesar), but this classic Caesar salad is the one I make most often. I love it because the ingredients are SO simple and the creamy dressing is easy to stir together (no raw egg yolk here!). It’s the perfect side salad for dinner parties or holiday gatherings. Even…

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Homemade Caesar Dressing

This homemade Caesar dressing recipe beats any store-bought salad dressing I've tried. With a mayo base, it's creamy, tangy, and easy to make.

A great Caesar dressing is the secret to a great Caesar salad! This Caesar dressing recipe is my favorite. I love it because it’s easy and delicious. Unlike a traditional Caesar dressing, which is made with an emulsion of raw egg yolk and oil, this one has a mayo base. It’s super simple to stir together (and it doesn’t contain raw eggs!). Still, it’s rich, creamy, and packed with tangy, savory, umami flavor. Try it on your next Caesar salad, and you’ll never get a store-bought Caesar dressing again! Trust me, this homemade version is so much better. Caesar Salad Dressing…

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