15+ Make-Ahead Summer Dinner Recipes

Your evening meals just got easier with these delicious summer dinners you can make ahead of time. Each recipe is full of fresh produce like peppers, eggplant and more. Prep recipes like our Green Goddess Salad with Chickpeas and Grilled Lime Chicken & Steak with Herb & Arugula Salad so you can enjoy your summer evenings while still having a satisfying meal to end your day.

Chopped Veggie Grain Bowls with Turmeric Dressing

To minimize prep, we’re taking advantage of prechopped fresh veggie mix and frozen quinoa (which heats in the microwave in under 5 minutes). These crunchy chopped salad bowls are high in fiber but lower in calories, making them perfect for those following a reduced-calorie diet.

Green Goddess Salad with Chickpeas

In this cucumber, tomato, Swiss cheese and chickpea salad recipe, a healthy green goddess dressing is made from avocado, buttermilk and herbs. The extra dressing is delicious served with grilled vegetables.

Sweet Potato & Cauliflower Rice Bowl

In this riff on a healthy grain bowl recipe, we use cauliflower rice instead of another whole grain like brown rice to cut back on carbs and load up on veggie servings. A simple citrusy drizzle, inspired by Cuban mojo sauce, finishes these vegan rice bowls, perfect for dinner.

Grilled Lime Chicken & Steak with Herb & Arugula Salad

This recipe involves one of our favorite make-ahead hacks: let the chicken and steak marinate in reverse. In this recipe, you’ll pour a punchy, citrusy dressing over the meat right after it leaves the grill, so it soaks up the bright vinaigrette as it cools. Better yet, reverse-marinating keeps the grilled meat from drying out, even when kept in the fridge overnight.

Chickpea & Quinoa Grain Bowl

Robby Lozano

It seems grain bowls have as many variations as there are stars in the sky, and there is no wrong way to build one! But we prefer to keep things classic and simple with hummus, quinoa, avocado and loads of veggies!

Sausage, Pepper & Potato Packets

Make a complete meal in one foil packet with this easy recipe full of seasoned sausage, peppers and potatoes. This easy dinner is great for grilling at home or prepping ahead and taking along on a camping trip to cook over the coals.

Walnut Pesto Pasta Salad

This cold pesto pasta salad will cool you off on a summer day. Fresh tomatoes and roasted red peppers add a pop of bright color and juiciness here, but any of your favorite pasta-salad veggies, like blanched broccoli and fresh bell peppers, would be delicious too.

Curried Cauliflower Steaks with Red Rice & Tzatziki

Gone are the days when your rice choices were limited to white and brown. In this healthy vegetarian dinner recipe, the aromatic flavor of red rice or brown basmati jibes deliciously with fragrant curry powder.

Eggplant Gyros

Eggplant’s meaty texture is a delicious vegetarian stand-in for the lamb that typically fills a gyro sandwich. The vegetable absorbs the lemony-herby-spicy marinade like a sponge, so if you have time, let it marinate for the full day.

Grain Bowl with Chickpeas & Cauliflower

This beautiful grain bowl is packed with healthy ingredients like quinoa, chickpeas, kale and cauliflower–all drizzled with a lemony tahini sauce. The fast one-bowl meal makes a satisfying weeknight dinner or packable work lunch. If you don’t have za’atar, you can substitute 1/2 teaspoon each ground cumin and coriander.

Black Bean-Quinoa Bowl

Photography: Carson Downing, Food Stylist: Holly Dreesman, Prop Stylist: Gabe Greco

This black bean and quinoa bowl has many of the usual hallmarks of a taco salad, minus the fried bowl. We’ve loaded it up with pico de gallo, fresh cilantro and avocado plus an easy hummus dressing to drizzle on top.

Salsa-Black Bean Burgers

Salsa and some pantry staples give this vegetarian bean burger recipe tons of flavor. We use crushed tortilla chips to bind the burgers together, making them a great vehicle for using up those crumbs that inevitably fall to the bottom of the bag.

Roasted Veggie & Quinoa Salad

Quick, simple and packed with satisfying protein and fiber, this salad makes a perfect lunch or easy one-dish dinner.

Lentil Burgers

Walnuts and fresh marjoram accent these vegan lentil burgers. Substitute oregano for marjoram if you like. Serve with a smear of whole-grain mustard and roasted sweet potato wedges.

Loaded Chicken-Quinoa Salad

Turn simple precooked ingredients into a delicious one-dish meal, high in fiber and with plenty of protein to keep you feeling satisfied.

Roasted Veggie & Hummus Pita Pockets

These satisfying and tasty pita-pocket sandwiches are packed with roasted veggies and greens. A spread of hummus adds creaminess and keeps everything from falling out.

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