Simple Summer Food Ideas and Strategies

Meal ideas & prep tips to help you keep your cool and spend less time in the kitchen

Post #5 of the #SimpleSummer series

Now that summer has fully arrived, it’s time to embrace Simple Summer food ideas. Ditch the mashed potatoes, heavy gravy-laden roasts, creamy casseroles, and other cold-weather comfort foods. It’s time to keep your food and your routine cool and light.

Remember, this Simple Summer is all about how to Release, Refresh, Relax.

Want to know our favorite summer meal? Grilled marinated boneless skinless chicken and zucchini. Hello, nothing could be easier or less mess!

Keep reading for tips on how to eat well without spending all day in the kitchen. I’ve also included a list of the kitchen tools I use every day to make it all super-simple.

Keep your food and your routine cool and light. Check out these #SimpleSummer #menu ideas. Click To Tweet

This post may contain affiliate links. If you choose to purchase through an affiliate link, I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. You can see my disclaimer here.


Stay-cool cooking tips:

1. Set up an outdoor kitchen. Aside from a grill, setting up a table near outlets for a roaster oven and crockpot will meet most of your summer cooking needs.

2. If you don’t have an outdoor space, confine your crockpot and roaster oven use to the laundry room and keep the door closed.

3. Cooking and draining pasta produces a lot of steam and heat, so I usually save those dishes for cooler days. One-pot pasta is a little easier because you can cook it with the lid on the pot and you don’t have to drain the pasta. For cold pasta dishes, cook the pasta at night, assemble the dish, and chill until mealtime the next day.

4. Bulk-cook boneless skinless chicken in the crockpot. Chill, chop and season to use later in salads or other dishes. You could also season and grill the chicken for more intense flavor.

5. If you don’t have a roaster oven to use outdoors, adapt oven recipes to the crockpot. Something like “Easy Chicken Parmesan Bake” would be a cinch to make in the crockpot.

Simple Summer food ideas, prep tips, and kitchen tool list to help you keep your cool and spend less time in the kitchen. Grab the free printable meal idea list and start planning your simplest summer meals today! | www.fillingthejars.com

Dinner Ideas

My husband loves meat, so you will notice that even our “lighter” summer meals include meat of some sort. There are several lettuce-based salads on this list, which are really perfect all-in-one summer meals!

  1. Grilled chicken — leg quarters or boneless, skinless
  2. Grilled burgers
  3. Grilled chicken or sausage & veggie kabobs
  4. Grilled pork steaks or chops
  5. Nachos
  6. Grilled Bratwurst or Italian sausages
  7. Cold tuna-macaroni salad
  8. Chef salad
  9. Taco salad
  10. Oriental Chicken Salad
  11. Easy Burrito Bowls
  12. Italian Chop Salad
  13. Pastor Ryan’s Pasta Carbonara
  14. Easy Chicken Parmesan Bake
  15. Slow Cooker Red Beans & Rice
  16. Roasted smoked sausage, chicken & vegetables
  17. Paula’s Smoked Boston Butt Roast
  18. Bacon Ranch Chicken Bake
  19. Kielbasa, Pepper, Onion, and Potato Hash
  20. Kale and Chicken “Survival” Salad
  21. BBQ Ranch Grilled Chicken and Veggie Bowls
  22. Grilled Easy Tin Foil Sausage and Veggies Dinner
  23. Lexington Grilled Chicken
  24. Outdoor fish fry
  25. Fried rice with leftover chicken or pork
  26. BBQ Chicken Salad
  27. Deviled Chicken Thighs
  28. One Pot Spaghetti with Sausage Sauce
  29. White Chicken Enchilada Pasta
  30. Baked Chili Dogs (I know, I know, hot dogs — but doesn’t it sound fun?)

Easy Side Dishes

  • Raw vegetables
  • Grilled corn on the cob
  • Crockpot-roasted baby potatoes & carrots
  • Oven-roasted vegetables
  • Grilled zucchini or other fruit/vegetables
  • Deli-made coleslaw or potato salad
  • Crockpot baked beans
  • Quick-steamed vegetables
  • “Texas Caviar” & tortilla chips
  • Rice (cooked in broth for extra flavor)
  • Crockpot “refried” beans

Simple Summer food ideas, prep tips, and kitchen tool list to help you keep your cool and spend less time in the kitchen. Grab the free printable meal idea list and start planning your simplest summer meals today! | www.fillingthejars.com

Keep Other Meals Simple

Simple summer foods aren’t only about dinners. Keep your other meals and snacks simple as well! Here are some ideas, which you can adapt to your family’s preferences.


“Make It Easy” Tip: Did you know eating similar food — or even exactly the same food — every day helps to eliminate decision fatigue? One prep, no thinking, leaving your mind relaxed and able to focus on other things.


Breakfast

  • Yogurt with nuts & fruit
  • Smoothie
  • Eggs of any type
  • Oatmeal — regular or refrigerator (add peanut butter for protein)

Lunch

  • Leftovers
  • PB&J
  • Lunchmeat sandwiches
  • Crackers & cheese

Snacks

  • Fruit
  • Crackers & cheese
  • Hard-boiled or deviled eggs
  • Nuts
  • Tortilla chips

Dessert  

Grab your #free #printable #SimpleSummer meal ideas TODAY! #menuplanning Click To Tweet

Prep Tips for Simple Summer Food

Do this every weekend, and you will set yourself up for a week of stress-free summer meals:

1. Check the fridge to see what needs to be used right away.

2. Print new recipes.

3. Finalize your food plan for the week.

4. Remove food from the freezer to thaw (use sheet pan lids to catch drips).

5. Cook chicken and ground meats for salads and other recipes.

6. Hard-boil eggs for snacks and salads.

7. Prepare vegetables – shred lettuce, chop onions & peppers, etc.


“Make It Easy” Tip: Purchase large bags of washed and chopped lettuce mixes from a restaurant supply store. Once you’ve opened a bag, place 1-2 paper towels inside to keep the lettuce fresher.


Related post: Quick Food Prep Routine for a Week of Easier Meals


Your Summer Cooking Tool Arsenal

Keep-cool summer cooking is so much easier with the proper tools!

Crockpots — I find having a small crockpot and a large version is very handy.

Roaster oven — get some foil liners for even easier cleanup.

Heavy-duty sheet pans — great for roasting in the main oven and for carrying cooked foods in from the grill. I use both half-size and quarter-size sheet pans.

(Note: I have linked to aluminum pans, which I use daily even though they are almost the only things in my kitchen that are not dishwasher-safe. I would prefer stainless pans that can go into the dishwasher, but I have yet to find any that are highly-rated and warp-free. When baking, I use silicone mats. When roasting, I coat the pan with oil.)

Sheet pan lids — LOVE these for thawing frozen items and then popping into the dishwasher. (The pans linked above have lids.)

Flexible cutting boards — Having several boards makes prep easy, and a “grippy” back is a plus!

Knives — A good variety of knives is great for prep day, plus sometimes you can “cheat” and run them through the dishwasher. I know you’re not “supposed” to, and I would never do it with expensive knives, but sometimes a less expensive knife set serves all of the necessary purposes and makes life a little easier.

Plastic storage containers — for prepped foods, leftovers, sandwiches, etc.

Grill tools — tongs, spatula, sauce brush

Meat thermometer

Large mixing bowl with lid — I have two (one kept “pretty” to use for parties and one everyday workhorse) — perfect for mixing fruit salad, mixing & seasoning vegetables before roasting, soaking beans overnight, storing a prepped dinner salad in the fridge, and all sorts of general kitchen needs.

Silicone mixing spatulas — I have 2 large size AND 2 small size; I use at least 2-3 of them almost every day.

Gallon freezer bags — they tend to leak less often than regular storage bags

Heavy-duty aluminum foil — I like the 18” wide size for cooking on the grill and lining sheet pans for super-messy meals

Kabob skewers – or – grill basket (this version is stainless steel with a removable wood handle, which means it can go into the dishwasher)

Food chopper — helps with chopping vegetables, eggs, or nuts  into smaller pieces for salads if you’re not great with a knife

Simple Summer food ideas, prep tips, and kitchen tool list to help you keep your cool and spend less time in the kitchen. Grab the free printable meal idea list and start planning your simplest summer meals today! | www.fillingthejars.com

Summer isn’t ALL about the food, but sharing good meals can be an enjoyable way to connect with friends & family while nourishing our bodies. With a plan and smart skills, you won’t have to spend all day cooking only to get a few minutes’ enjoyment with the ones you love.


Like this post? Please take a moment to share on your favorite social media site…

Thanks!

Simple Summer food ideas, prep tips, and kitchen tool list to help you keep your cool and spend less time in the kitchen. Grab the free printable meal idea list and start planning your simplest summer meals today! | www.fillingthejars.com

Simple Summer food ideas, prep tips, and kitchen tool list to help you keep your cool and spend less time in the kitchen. Grab the free printable meal idea list and start planning your simplest summer meals today! | www.fillingthejars.com

Get the Simple Summer Meal Inspiration List

Enter your information now to receive your printable Simple Summer Meal Inspiration List.

Choosing to join the Filling the Jars email list means you will receive regular emails with tips and recommendations to help you on your journey to Build Your Best Life.

Filling the Jars Privacy Policy

We hate spam and promise to keep your email address safe. Unsubscribe at any time. Powered by ConvertKit

6 thoughts on “Simple Summer Food Ideas and Strategies”

  1. Hi, Julie. Thanks for the meal prep tips. I haven’t really done much prepping since my boys were little aside from prepping veggies.
    Cooking the meats on the weekends for week is a good idea, especially for those with a big meat eater in the house. ^_^ Have one of those. Has to have meat at every single meal.

  2. Great meal prep ideas to make life easier, thanks! Thanks so much for sharing your post with us at #BloggersPitStop. I have shared on social media. Have a great week and see you at next week’s link up! Sue from Sizzling Towards Sixty & Beyond

  3. Shallow Reflections

    These are great ideas, Julie. I have a harder time cooking in the summer than winter as I’m a fan of simmering stews and those as so inappropriate for the summer! I am going to cook some chicken in the crockpot this week to use in salads, and will explore your other ideas.

    1. Hi Molly! I also love simmering soups & stews… I guess one good thing about living in the North is that we get to enjoy them a little longer. 😉 It always takes me a while to switch over to summer cooking, but it’s enjoyable once it happens. Let me know how these tips work for you!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top