Summer is just around the corner, and the last place you want to be is stuck in a hot kitchen. That’s why you need some summer food ideas that are delicious and will have you in and out of the kitchen in no time. There are a lot of summer meal prep recipes to choose from, and we will share several summer meal prep dinners here, as well as some easy summer meal prep tips.
Meal prepping is a great way to save time and money year-round, with an added bonus in the summer of less time heating up the house. These prep tips and ideas will help you keep your family fed with delicious and refreshing meals while you spend less time in the kitchen.
Be sure to add these summer meal recipes to your summer meal plan list – and check out my collection of monthly meal plan ideas for even more seasonal dinners.
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Summer Meal Prep Shortcuts
Summer foods tend to be lighter dishes like salads and wraps, which make for quick and easy summer meal prep. Keeping your approach simple and flexible helps avoid overwhelm. Pick a few main dishes you can rotate, allow for changes when plans shift, and don’t be afraid to repeat what works. This keeps easy summer meal prep doable, week after week.
Here are some ideas to simplify food prep even further…
1. Rotisserie Chicken
Rotisserie chickens can be found at most grocery store deli departments, and they are an amazing time saver. They are flavorful and often less expensive than whole raw chickens. Use the meat from your rotisserie chicken in wraps, salads, sandwiches, and other recipes that call for cooked chicken.
You can buy several rotisserie chickens at once. Use one for dinner. Then, take a few minutes to debone the rest of the chickens (wear food prep gloves to make this easier). Freeze the meat in meal-sized portions and save the bones and skin for making broth when the weather cools down.
If you prefer to prep cook your own chickens, you can definitely do that! This works especially well if you have a rotisserie cooker (← this one cooks two chickens at once) that you can safely set up outdoors or in a place that won’t heat up your house.
2. Veggie Prep
Ingredient prepping your veggies when you get home from the store might seem like a hassle, but it will save you time in the kitchen all week long. Wash, peel, and chop your veggies all at once and then use them for meals throughout the week.
Having them prepped makes you more likely to use them and can cut down on food waste. Take advantage of seasonal sales on produce and use them for salads, smoothies, sandwiches, and side dishes all summer long.
Related: Quick Food Prep Routine for a Week of Easier Meals
3. Use Your Grill
The summer months are the perfect time to break out the grill and cook your proteins and veggies outside instead of heating up your kitchen. Spend some time outdoors with the family while you grill protein and veggies for dinner tonight, and for dinners throughout the week. Grilled meats pair well with just about anything, so you can make multiple meals to enjoy all week long.
Those grilled chicken breasts you serve with veggies tonight can be transformed into a tasty salad topping or wrap filling for dinner another night. Having a burger straight off the grill tonight? Cook a few extras for a cheeseburger salad or chop them up and use them as a nacho topping later in the week.
4. Mason Jar Salads
Love a good salad during the summer, but don’t have the time to make one every day? You don’t have to, you can make Mason jar salads and enjoy a fresh, crisp, flavorful salad every day. There are tons of mason jar salad recipes to delight your taste buds all summer long. The key to Mason jar salads is that the dressing goes on the bottom so your greens stay fresh and crisp.
Mason jar salads keep fresh for about 5 days, so you can just grab one out of the fridge when you are ready. Before serving, shake your salad to distribute the dressing evenly, pour it into a bowl, and enjoy!
14 Delicious Summer Meal Prep Recipes
This Caprese Chicken recipe is full of fresh, vibrant flavors, and it’s easy to prepare too. Quinoa, chicken, mozzarella balls, tomatoes, and basil come together with a fresh and flavorful dressing you can enjoy all week long.
Bowl-style dinners are perfect for summer, and everyone can customize their own taste. You’ll love these flavorful and easy-to-make Mexican street corn chicken and cilantro lime bowls. Grilled chicken, rice, and a tangy elote all come together for a meal you’ll love.
If you are looking for a hearty summer salad that will satisfy even the hungriest palates while still being light and refreshing, this salad is it! Salami, olives, mozzarella cheese, pasta, and plenty of crunchy vegetables are all combined with a homemade vinaigrette for a salad you’ll crave all summer long.
Wraps are perfect for light, summer lunches and dinners, and they travel well, too. This honey mustard chicken wrap uses rotisserie chicken and a few other simple ingredients for a fast summer meal you’ll enjoy all season long.
If you love burgers but are looking for something a little different, this easy cheeseburger bowl with smash burger sauce is for you. Perfect for prepping in advance, it’s all of the flavors and textures you love from a burger in a bowl.
This summer orzo pasta salad is a refreshing summer meal prep recipe that the whole family will love. This tasty summer salad is easy to prep in advance, and it’s filled with fresh veggies, tender orzo, cheese, and flavor!
Foil pack dinners make serving a delicious, complete meal and clean-up afterwards a breeze! These shrimp foil packets are full of flavor, and they are fun to eat too, with shrimp, potatoes, sausage, and corn. Thirty minutes on the grill and dinner is done!
If you are looking for a hearty side dish with plenty of flavor, textures, and beautiful colors, this strawberry quinoa salad is for you. This delicious salad is perfect for ingredient prepping, and simply toss it all together when you are ready to serve.
Meal prep recipes like this orange chicken and rice should be a staple in your summertime dinner rotation. Healthier and cheaper than Chinese take-out out and it tastes amazing too!
Ranch chicken wraps are another delicious meal prep recipe that you can use rotisserie or leftover chicken for a quick meal prep lunch or dinner. This recipe uses several kitchen time savers, but you would never know it from the fantastic taste!
Looking for a tangy pasta salad recipe that you can make in advance? Then this balsamic pasta salad is the meal prep recipe for you. Like many pasta salads, the flavor is enhanced as they marinate together. Perfect for picnics and summertime BBQs out by the pool!
If you are looking for a budget-friendly summer meal prep recipe, this chicken zucchini casserole is the one for you. Take advantage of zucchini fresh from the garden or on sale at the grocery store, and a rotisserie chicken, and you’ll have a delicious dinner on the table in no time.
Tuna salad is a warm-weather staple, and this tuna salad with eggs is a match made in heaven for quick summer meal prep. Packed with flavor, protein, and crunch, this simple and delicious salad is perfect by itself or served on crackers, wraps, or sandwiches.
If you want a delicious salad with lots of amazing, fresh flavor, this Mason jar Asian chicken salad is perfect for you. Prep a bunch of it once, and enjoy it all week long. Crunchy veggies, tender chicken, juicy oranges, and an unbelievable peanut butter dressing make this a summer meal to remember.
These summer dinner recipes are delicious and won’t have you stuck in the kitchen for hours on end. If you aren’t already familiar or experienced with meal prepping, the summer months are the perfect time to start. You can even get the whole family involved with easy meal prep for quick summer meals to enjoy all season long.
More Simple Summer Meal Ideas
Summer Dinner Ideas: 38 Easy Summer Meals You’ll Want To Make On Repeat
July Meal Plan: 31 Easy Stay-Cool Summer Dinners
45 Summer Salads That Are Amazing Light Summer Meal Ideas
More Prep Tips for Simple Summer Meals
One of the best things you can do is make a simple meal plan for the week. Grab my Essential Meal Planning printables to keep yourself organized.
Shop Smart for Summer Food
The store can feel overwhelming in summer, but a smart list keeps you on track. Lean into ingredients that work for quick summer meal prep: pre-washed greens, pre-chopped veggies, rotisserie chicken, pre-cooked and peeled shrimp, and grains like rice or quinoa.
The secret to taking advantage of summer produce is to shop what’s on sale or in season. Berries, cucumbers, tomatoes, and corn are everywhere right now. Stock up and use them across different meals for maximum freshness.
A stocked pantry and fridge make easy food prep a breeze. Keep tortillas, canned beans, whole grains, and dressings on hand so you can throw together salads, wraps, or bowls without much thought.
Keep Cool in the Kitchen
No one wants to crank up the oven in July. Try these strategies to keep the kitchen cool:
- Set up an outdoor kitchen. Aside from a grill, setting up a heat-safe table near outlets for a roaster oven and crockpot will meet most of your summer cooking needs.
- Use your slow cooker to prep foods like pulled meats or beans.
- If you don’t have an outdoor space, confine your crockpot and roaster oven use to an infrequently-used room (making sure to set up a heat-safe space) and keep the door closed.
- Pull together no-cook meals with fresh produce, deli meats, or canned seafood.
Batch cooking grains, pastas, and proteins at night when it’s cooler sets you up for easy summer meal prep recipes for the rest of the week. For everything else, single-meal prep is totally fine – do what works for you.
Real Life Meal Prep Ideas
Life doesn’t stop for meal prep. Create a ‘grab-and-go’ zone in your fridge with snacks like cut fruit, cheese, and hummus. Use leftovers to build new meals – last night’s grilled chicken becomes today’s salad topping or wrap filling.
When you prepare summer food that stays fresh on the go, you always have options for busy days, road trips, or picnics.
Picky eaters can be tough. Stick to basics you know your crew loves and add new items slowly. For shifting appetites or busy schedules, make only what you need for a few days at a time – food prep doesn’t need to be a marathon.
Short on time or energy? Prepping just one thing – like veggies or a big batch of chicken – is enough to make a difference.
If a summer meal prep dish flops, turn it into something else: blend leftover veggies into soup (freeze them for a cold and rainy summer day), shred dry chicken for tacos, or turn a failed salad into a wrap.
Storing and Serving: Maximize Freshness
The best containers for summer meal prep are airtight and stackable – glass is great, but BPA-free plastic works too.
Keep dressings and toppings separate until you’re ready to eat to avoid soggy salads and wraps.
Most proteins and grains reheat well with a splash of water. Or just serve them cold for the ultimate summer food prep move.
Summer Food Prep Tool Recommendations
Keep-cool summer meal prep 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 or parchment paper sheets. When roasting, I coat the pan with oil.
Sheet pan lids — LOVE these for thawing frozen items and then popping into the dishwasher. They’re also great for covering a sheet pan and the universal size fits my different brands of half-size sheet pans.
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 — stackable is best for prepped foods, leftovers, sandwiches, etc.
Grill tools — tongs, spatula, sauce brush
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 and seasoning vegetables before roasting, soaking beans overnight, storing a prepped dinner salad in the fridge, and all sorts of general kitchen needs.
My large bowls are older-style Tupperware and I’m not even sure they make those anymore. If I were buying bowls today, I would get this stacking stainless steel set with lids.
Silicone mixing spatulas — I have 2 large size AND 2 medium 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.
By combining your favorite dinner ideas and these meal prep tips, you’ll set yourself up for a season of delicious, refreshing summer meal prep dinners without too much fuss or extra heat. You’ll spend less time in the kitchen and more time enjoying the simple summer days and evenings.
You’ve got this!
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