Simple Summer Dinners for Families: Delicious Meals Everyone Will Enjoy

Simple summer dinners are fantastic for feeding the family (or more!) on a hot summer evening when you just don’t feel like thinking too hard about dinner. This list of easy summertime dinners featuring fresh produce and nutritious, easy-to-cook grains and proteins provide well rounded, nutritious meals.

These 10 simple summer dinners would set you up well for a 1-2 week meal rotation if you are looking for quick summer meals for your family. Choose the ones that sound appealing and start trying them out!

Chicken Meals:

• Grilled Chicken and Veggie Skewers with Quinoa
• Chicken and Avocado Wraps with Fresh Veggies
• Crock Pot BBQ Chicken Sliders with Cole Slaw and Pickles
• Caprese Salad with Grilled Chicken
• Pesto Chicken Sweet Potato Pile Up Salad

Beef Meals:

• Taco Pile Up Salad
• Pizza Focaccia
• Grilled Beef Tacos with Fresh Salsa

Fish or Pork Meals:

• Salmon and Roasted Veggie Sheet Pan Dinner
• Sausage Stir Fry with Rice

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The Origins of this Simple Summer Dinners List:

I often find pulling summer dinners together a bit of a chore.

So over the summer (I’m writing this on the 4th official day of autumn), I’ve developed this list of simple summer dinners to draw inspiration from for my weekly meal plan. Last winter, I did a similar thing creating a list of simple, healthy, and wholesome winter dinners to cycle through for our meal plan.

This list is designed to, first of all, give me quick and easy meal options to make and serve! But that’s not the only criteria I included.

I also wanted a list of simple summer dinners my family could utilize that are:

• budget-conscious summer dinners, drawing on seasonal produce we’re producing in our garden or available at the grocery store or farmer’s markets!
• healthy and nutritious dinners, featuring whole foods and real ingredients
• flavorful and interesting summer dinners
• adaptable summer dinners that can are flexible and can be created with what I have on hand

A Note About the “Per Serving” Section of these Simple Summer Dinners:

In this post I wanted to give you a framework for simple summer dinners, while also providing you with flexibility and scaleability.

So, I’ve provided a “per serving” section on each meal, with a break down of how much of each ingredient are needed for a solid, adult-size serving. As such, this isn’t a “recipe” post, but if you’re willing to be a tiny bit adventurous, it’ll get you started making some tasty simple summer dinners.

I personally like to make sure I add an extra serving in case someone is especially hungry. So if cooking for 6 adults, I like to plan 7 portions.

If you’re ready to get inspired, read on for my simple summer dinners line up and enjoy a no-fuss, done-for-you brainstorm of easy summertime dinners!

Hot and Filling Simple Summer Dinners

While there are some nights that I’d be perfectly happy with a cold smoothie filled with frozen fruit, I have a feeling if I actually did that for a dinner, I’d have hungry children at my bedside at 2am!

Sometimes it is necessary to make meals of substance, I suppose!

These meals are perfect for days when you’re craving something warm and filling but don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen.

1. Grilled Chicken & Veggie Skewers with Quinoa (a classic option for a Simple Summer Dinners list!)

Protein: Chicken
Veggies: Zucchini, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes
Grain: Quinoa

The Basics: If you have bamboo skewers, start them soaking in water at least 30 minutes before you need to use them. Cut chicken breasts and veggies into chunks, then spear them on to skewers. (Metal skewers are also a great option if you’re looking to take your BBQing to the next level!)

Rinse the quinoa and start it in a pot, and grill the skewers for 10-15 minutes, or until the chicken’s juices are clear when cut. Alternatively, you can also bake the skewers in the oven.

Serving Sizes Per Person:
Chicken: about 100 grams (3.5 ounces)
Quinoa: 50 grams dry (1/4 cup)
Veggies: about 150 – 200 grams (1 – 1.5 cups – 6-8 ounces)

Flavor Options: For added flavor, marinade the meat. You can pull together a simple marinade by mixing 2 parts oil, 1 part acid and spices or herbs of choice or other flavoring ingredients. Some ideas to consider:

• Greek Inspired: Mix olive oil and red wine vinegar with oregano, thyme, garlic, and parsley. Salt and pepper to taste.
• Sweet, Sour and Spicy: Mix sesame oil and rice vinegar with ginger, honey, garlic, soy sauce, and sriracha.
• Mexican Inspired: Mix avocado oil and lime juice with spices like garlic, cumin, paprika, and cilantro. Salt and pepper to taste.

Do Ahead Tips and Alternatives:

1. Chop your chicken and marinade it ahead of time. Store the chicken in the fridge until you’re ready to skewer it.
2. Chop your veggies in advance and store in the fridge
3. Cook the quinoa with herbs or spices, or replace the liquid with stock.
4. Swap out the veggies as needed – you could try eggplant, onion, pineapple, mushrooms, summer squash, etc
5. No skewers? No problem – just arrange chicken and veggies on a sheet pan and bake!

2. Chicken & Avocado Wraps with Fresh Veggies (a quick and easy summer dinner)

Protein: Grilled chicken
Veggies: Lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, bell peppers, avocado
Grain: Whole wheat wraps

The Basics: Chop/slice the veggies, grill (or bake, if you don’t have a grill) the chicken (either whole breasts or sliced into strips), pile the fillings into wraps and enjoy!

Serving Size Per Person:
Chicken: 100 grams (3.5 ounces)
Wraps: 2 (depending on size – I usually use 8-inch sizes)
Lettuce: 50 grams (1.75 ounces – 1/2 cup)
Tomato: 75 grams (2.6 ounces – 1/2 cup)
Cucumbers: 75 grams (2.6 ounces – 1/2 cup)
Bell Peppers: 90 grams (3.1 ounces – 1/2 cup)
Avocado: 75 grams (2.6 ounces – 1/2 cup)

Flavor Options: For added flavor, marinade the meat! Mix 2 parts oil with 1 part acid (vinegar, wine, or lemon/lime juice) and add herbs or spices as desired. Get creative with your own, or check out this roundup of 21 different marinades for inspiration.

You could also add sauces or dressings to your wrap creations to increase the flavor, such as Italian dressing, salsa, honey mustard, ketchup and mayo, peanut sauce, tzaziki, or a creamy balsamic dressing.

If you have grated cheese, cream cheese, or cottage cheese, that would also add some extra flavor.

Do Ahead Tips and Alternatives:

1. Prep and marinade your chicken in advance
2. Prep your veggies in advance
3. Swap out veggies as desired (ie: spinach or bok choy or massaged and finely chopped kale for lettuce, picked beetroot for tomatoes, grated carrot for bell peppers, chopped sugar snap peas for cucumbers, etc)

3. Salmon & Roasted Veggie Sheet Pan Dinner (a healthy and nutritious summer meal)

Protein: Salmon
Veggies: Broccoli, carrots, sweet potatoes, bell peppers, green beans
Grain: Optional side (quinoa, wild or brown rice, or my sourdough herb and garlic focaccia)

The Basics: Preheat the oven (or the grill!) and start your grain (if using). Prep your meat and veggies (dice your carrots and sweet potatoes small so they bake at the same rate as the other veggies). I suggest arranging your veggies on one sheet pan, and your salmon on another.

Dress with sauces/spices as desired, and toss your veggies with your oil of choice. Start the veggies first, and then add the salmon when the time is appropriate (salmon bakes pretty fast). Serve up, and enjoy.

Serving Size Per Person:
Salmon: 100 grams (3.5 ounces)
Veggies: 200 grams (2 cups – 7 ounces)
Quinoa/Rice: 50 grams (1/4 cup dry, 1.8 ounces) (can reduce veggies a little if using a grain)

Flavor Options: Add marinates or sauces to the meat as desired! I love a lemon-honey glaze or a simple herb and mayo sauce.

Season the veggies with herbs and salt and pepper as desired.

Do Ahead Tips and Alternatives:

1. I often use frozen stir fry mix for roasting veggies. Particularly if you are providing a grain, you could swap out the veggies listed for a bag of frozen mixed veggies with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, etc. (Your cook time make increase a little – but the prep time will be a bit faster!)
2. Prep fresh veggies and sweet potatoes in advance and store in the fridge
3. If space allows, prep everything in advance, place on sheet pans, and have them in the fridge ready to go
4. You can make the salmon and veggies on the grill as well! Use a grill basket to keep your veggies from falling into the flames.

4. Sausage Stir Fry and Rice (an easy weeknight summer dinner)

Protein: Sausage
Veggies: Cabbage, green beans, onions, and bell peppers
Grain: Brown Rice

The Basics: Start your rice. Slice up sausage, chop up cabbage, green beans, onions, and bell peppers. Sauté the sausage and once it starts to brown, add the veggies.

Serving Size Per Person:
Sausage: 100 grams (3.5 ounces)
Grain: 50 grams (1/4 cup dry – 1.8 ounces)
Cabbage: 100 grams (1 generous cup – 3.5 ounces)
Green Beans: 150 grams (1 generous cups – 3.5 ounces)
Onions: 75 grams (1/2 cup – 2.6 ounces)
Bell Peppers: 100 grams (1 cup – 3.5 ounces)

Flavor Options: The flavoring of your sausage will impact the flavor of your stir fry. Choose your favorite or something that sounds interesting to try! I like to season my stir fry with garlic, paprika, and an all purpose seasoning.

Do Ahead Tips and Alternatives:

1. Chop your veggies in advance
2. Pre-cook your sausages if you want to pull this meal together faster
3. Feel free to swap the vegetables around for whatever you’ve got on hand – egg plant, zucchini, etc

5. Crock Pot BBQ Chicken Sliders with Coleslaw and Pickles (an easy and quick summer dinner option)

Protein: Chicken
Veggies: Cabbage, carrots, onions
Grain: Buns, rolls or slices of bread

The Basics: Place chicken breasts and BBQ sauce in crockpot. Cook on low all day. Prep coleslaw, shred chicken, and serve with pickles for extra flavor.

Serving Size Per Person:
Chicken: 100 grams (3.5 ounces)
Buns: 2 small slider style buns or 1 regular hamburger bun (80 grams or 2.8 ounces)
Cabbage: Cabbage: 100 grams (1 generous cup undressed – 3.5 ounces)
Carrots: 30 grams (1/2 medium carrot)
Onion: 18 grams (1/8 cup – 0.6 ounces)

Flavor Options: I use a simple lemon juice, mayonnaise, and salt and pepper for my coleslaw dressing. This produces an un-sweetened coleslaw. But you can also use a store bought dressing or a store bought coleslaw kit if desired!

Do Ahead Tips and Alternatives:

1. The chicken gets prepped and slow cooks all day, which is easy!
2. Prep your coleslaw in advance for the best flavor, too.

Light & Refreshing Ideas for Cold Simple Summer Dinners

If you’re just not in the mood for hot food at all, or you need dinner pre-made in advance so you can have food in hungry mouths in 5 minutes or less, I’ve got you covered!

These light, served-cold simple summer dinners are all easy to prep in advance. So you don’t have to stop at fast food and blow your budget on the way home from a fun day in the sun!

If you know hot weather is rolling in or you have a particularly busy week, you could even meal prep these simple summer dinners in advance and have them on hand ready to go.

6. Caprese Salad with Grilled Chicken (a refreshing and creamy option from this simple summer dinners list to use up an abundance of fresh basil!)

Protein: Grilled chicken and mozzarella cheese
Veggies: Tomatoes, fresh basil
Grain: Optional sourdough bread or herb and garlic focaccia

The Basics: Bake your bread or focaccia if you’re using the grain option and making them fresh. Chop your tomatoes and mozzarella cheese and basil. Dress with olive oil and season with salt and toss with chicken. Store in fridge.

You can precook the meat and serve it cold, or cook it just before eating and serve it hot.

Serving Size Per Person:
Chicken: 100 grams (3.5 ounces)
Tomatoes: 150 grams (1 cup)
Mozzarella: 60 grams (generous 1/4 cup)
Basil: 5 grams (2 Tbsp chopped finely)

Flavor Options: Marinade your chicken in an oil and balsamic vinegar mix if you have time (2 parts oil, 1 part vinegar) with some Italian seasoning.

Do Ahead Tips and Alternatives:

1. Bake your bread or focaccia in the morning so you can keep your oven off during the hottest part of the day.
2. If you need to use up fresh lettuce, you could always serve the Caprese salad and chicken on a bed of fresh lettuce

7. Pesto Chicken Sweet Potato Pile Up Salad (one of our two FAVORITES of all these Simple Summer Dinners!)

Protein: Chicken
Veggies: Sweet Potatoes, Baby Spinach
Grain: none

The Basics: Bake your sweet potatoes and cook your chicken. Chunk or dice them, and dump your spinach into a large bowl or casserole dish. Layer your sweet potatoes and chicken chunks on top. Drop spoonfuls of pesto on top, toss, and enjoy for a sweet, salty, crunchy option on this list of simple summer dinners.

Serving Size Per Person:
Chicken: 100 grams (3.5 ounces)
Sweet Potato: 175 grams (5.8 ounces – 1 cup)
Spinach: 30 grams (1 ounce – 1 cup loosely packed)
Pesto: 2 Tbsp

Flavor Options: You can add thin slices of red onion if desired for some extra flavor kick. You can also dilute the pesto with a little olive oil to make it more drizzle-able.

Do Ahead Tips and Alternatives:

1. Bake your sweet potato whole (with the skin on). Pierce several times with a sharp knife so the skin is broken to release pressure
2. You can bake the sweet potato and the chicken ahead of time and store cold in the fridge. Alternatively, you can serve this salad with the chicken and sweet potato hot

8. Taco Pile Up Salad (an easy, healthy summer dinner)

Protein: Beef Hamburger
Veggies: Lettuce, tomatoes, corn, bell peppers
Grain: quinoa or brown rice (optional)

The Basics: Brown your hamburger, cook your grain, and prep your vegetables. Layer chopped lettuce on the bottom of a casserole dish, and layer the rest of the ingredients on top of the lettuce.

Serving Size Per Person:
Beef: 100 grams (3.5 ounces – 3/4 cup)
Lettuce: 65 grams (2.3 ounces – 1 cup loosely packed)
Tomatoes: 75 grams (2.6 ounces – 1/2 cup)
Corn: 90 grams (3.1 ounces – 1/2 cup)
Bell Peppers: 90 grams (3.1 ounces – 1/2 cup)
Grain: 50 grams (1.8 ounces – 1/4 cup dry)

Flavor Options: Serve with salsa and sour cream. Alternatively, blend salsa (or make your own) with cashews for a creamy dairy-free option. Serve with grated cheese for additional protein and flavor.

Do Ahead Tips and Alternatives:

1. Brown and cool your hamburger in advance
2. Chop veggies in advance
3. Grate cheese in advance
4. Mix or blend your creamy salsa dressing in advance

Kid-Friendly Simple Summer Dinners

My kids wanted to weigh in with their opinions on what meals should be on a simple summer dinners list.

I’m not entirely sure what criteria they used to come to these conclusions, but I think it may have something to do with getting to eat these meals with their hands!

Whatever the case, these are great options for giving the kids what they want while maintaining the nutrition and real, whole food ingredients that I also want!

And since my kids love to pick produce out of our garden, these are meals that they can help with from start to finish.

9. Grilled Beef Tacos with Fresh Salsa (a flavorful weeknight summer dinner)

Protein: Ground beef or grilled steak
Veggies: Lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cilantro, avocados
Grain: Corn or whole wheat tortillas

The Basics: Brown some hamburger or grill some steak. Mix up some salsa using fresh ingredients (tomatoes, onions, cilantro, spices, and lime or lemon juice if you have it on hand). Chop the lettuce and prep the avocados. Serve it up with tortillas, sour cream, and a little grated cheese if you have it on hand.

Serving Size Per Person:
Beef: 100 grams (3.5 ounces – 3/4 cup)
Tomatoes: 75 grams (2.6 ounces – 1/2 cup)
Lettuce: 50 grams (1.75 ounces – 1/2 cup)
Onion: 32 grams (1/4 cup – 1.3 ounces)
Cilantro: 20 leaves (too small to weigh! Just for garnish and a little flavor)
Avocados: 1/2 avocado (85 grams, 1/2 cup-ish, 3 ounces)
Lime Juice: 1 tsp
Cheese (optional): 55 grams (1.8 grams – 1/4 cup)
Tortillas: 2 8-inch/20-cm tortillas (adjust if smaller or larger)

Flavor Options: Add some cheese for extra flavor. Season the meat with taco seasoning or make your own using cumin, paprika, coriander, onion powder, garlic, and salt. If your family likes black olives, they’re fun to serve up with tacos.

Do Ahead Tips and Alternatives:

1. Make up the salsa in advance – the tomatoes, onion, and cilantro. Add a dash of lime juice, salt, and pepper. Additional spice spices like cumin, garlic, and onion powder if you like.
2. Brown the beef in advance – you can either serve it cold, or heat it up in the microwave just before serving if desired
3. Chop the lettuce, drain the olives, and grate the cheese (as applicable)

10. Pizza Focaccia (the other tied-for-first-place FAVORITE option from these simple summer dinners)

Protein: Cheese + browned hamburger (or choose another meat of choice: ham, sausage, pepperoni, cooked chicken, etc)
Veggies: Onions, bell peppers, tomatoes
Grain: Sourdough Focaccia

The Basics: Make a high hydration sourdough focaccia dough, dump the dough onto baking paper lined baking sheets. Press out to form a focaccia base for the pizza. Spread with sauce, sprinkle with toppings, bake and enjoy this favorite from our simple summer dinners list.

Serving Size Per Person:
Approximately 1/6 of the focaccia:
Flour: 2/3 cup
Cheese: 50 grams (1.8 ounces – 3/8 cup grated)
Hamburger (or other meat): 20 grams (0.7 ounce – 1.5 Tablespoons)
Onion: 50 grams (1.8 ounces – 1/2 cup chopped)
Bell Pepper: 75 grams (2.6 ounces – 1/2 cup chopped)
Tomatoes: 150 grams (5.3 ounces – 3/4 cup chopped)

Flavor Options: Flavor options and customization is endless with pizza! Swap out toppings as desired to make it suite your family. Our family particularly loves combining fruit and meat – blueberries and chicken, pear and bacon, etc.

Do Ahead Tips and Alternatives:

1. Cook your meat in advance or use leftovers from another meal
2. You can make your sourdough focaccia dough in advance and store in the fridge.
3. You can chop ingredients in advance and store them in the fridge

For specific step-by-step instructions, check out my sourdough pizza focaccia recipe post dedicated to this scrumptious, family-favorite meal!

Let the Heat Roll In: You’re Ready with this List of Simple Summer Dinners

These simple summer dinners are nutritious, simple, and flavorful utilizing a lot of budget friendly, seasonal produce.

Whether you are growing your own garden produce, picking up seasonal goods at the farmer’s market, or just shopping for the sales at the grocery store, I believe this list of simple summer dinners will provide a variety of tasty options for your family.

If you want, you can make a 10 day or 2-week (make extra for leftovers!) meal rotation from these simple summer dinners and have your summer dinners all planned in advance! And with the ability to purchase what you need per person, they can scale up or down week to week, depending on the number of people you are feeding.

Also, with so many of the veggies involving relatively simple-to-cut options, you can teach your kids how to cut many of the veggies for these simple summer dinners with a serrated knife early in the summer and recruit their help every morning for that night’s dinner!

I’d love to hear from you if you are inspired by any of these options or if you make one of them. Which one sounds like something your family would enjoy? Let me know about it in the comments below.

And if this post of ideas for simple summer dinners is helpful, please share it on Pinterest or on your social media accounts so other families can benefit from having it as a resource!