45 No-Oven Recipes to Cook Every Night During Summer
No offense to ovens, but in the heat of summer, they’re kind of the worst. Luckily, you don’t need one to prepare a super-satisfying meal. Forget about turning on your stove and make these 45 no-oven recipes that are perfect for busy weeknights, on-the-go lunches and whenever else you just don’t feel like cooking.
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Introducing what might be the most refreshing dinner you’ve ever eaten.
Extra goat cheese, please.
Some days, you might crave a salad that’s loaded with all kinds of good stuff. Others, you might crave something simpler. For the latter—especially during the dog days of summer—turn to this chilled cucumber salad recipe.
Celebrate America with grilled dogs.
…Then appreciate the culinary genius of the Greeks.
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This fancy-looking grilled pizza has a secret: It starts with store-bought flatbread.
Pasta, who?
Meet the grilled peach and halloumi salad with lemon-pesto dressing. Spread it out on a big platter and it’ll wow everyone at your next dinner party, or stash it in a leftovers dish to make lunch the highlight of your day.
You don’t have to boil any water to make this crunchy, savory and satisfying “pasta.”
Best served with a glass of Sauv Blanc.
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We’d eat this dressing on pretty much anything.
A refreshing seafood salad for a hot summer day.
Dinner doesn’t seem so hard when there’s no cleanup involved. Each portion of this honey-lime chicken and veggies cooks inside a little foil packet that you place directly on the grill. Once everything’s cooked, just throw away the foil.
Fire up the barbecue and ditch those frozen burgers
Do it for the giant chunks of grilled bread.
Topped with corn, chives, lemon, salt and pepper, this is not your average avocado toast. (Thanks, Coterie member Gaby Dalkin.)
Get peach and prosciutto involved, and this sweet, salty and savory sammy will quickly become your new favorite lunch.
Ready in 30 minutes or less, this easy lunch of shredded cabbage, peppers and other fresh veggies—topped with vibrant slices of avocado—is too beautiful not to share.
Pizza night just got easier.
Coterie member Jodi Moreno recently stopped by the PureWow test kitchen to whip up this light and flavorful kelp and zucchini noodle pad Thai. If you haven’t cooked with kelp noodles, we guarantee this recipe will have you hooked.
Lightened-up chicken salad still has all the creamy, tangy flavor you crave—minus the whopping dollop of mayo. Plus, the recipe makes a giant batch, so you can use the leftovers all week long.
In December, you’ll gladly stand over the stove for hours on end, cooking homemade soup from scratch. But in summer, and it’s hot, dammit. Luckily, with some ripe produce and a blender or food processor, you can whip up this equally tasty 15-minute gazpacho recipe—no heat (or effort) required.
This easy dinner has it all: It’s low carb, full of protein and healthy fat and it’s kind of adorable. Plus, the creaminess of the avocado means you can go totally mayo-free (a little Greek yogurt will do the trick).
Thanks to rotisserie chicken and store-bought buffalo sauce, these buffalo chicken wraps with blue cheese and celery come together in 20 minutes flat. Wrap them in waxed paper and lunch is done.
These little lettuce boats are stuffed with all sorts of goodies—veggies, avocados, quick beet hummus—and drizzled with an addictive tahini dressing.
Well, aren’t you cute?
Easy, healthy and tasty. The trifecta of summer dinners.
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Contrary to popular belief, wedge salads don’t need to be buried in blue cheese and bacon.
Topped with a lemon garlic-tahini sauce, this crunchy salad is the ideal cold dinner for a warm evening.
Healthy and easy to assemble, these rainbow collard wraps are pretty much the perfect portable lunch—or party app.
A pretty rad way to end the month, if you ask us.
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Forget the bowl, serve this salad on a big cutting board so that you can see (and access) all the gorgeous toppings.
We adore salads with a million toppings. Bring on the olives, avocado, croutons and goat cheese medallions. But sometimes we’re in the mood for a simple salad that’s packed with protein but still feels light. And on those days, kale salad with crispy chickpeas is absolute perfection.
Toast: It’s not just for breakfast. This recipe’s made for a summer lunch.
Sure, you could throw some deli meat between two slices of bread and call it a day. Or you could take ten extra minutes and whip up bite-size Italian deli pinwheel sandwiches that’ll have you looking forward to lunch all morning long.
Somehow, we always have too many zucchinis in the summer (we blame the neighbor’s overzealous garden). Instead of succumbing to sugary zucchini bread, make this nutritious dinner instead.
Find the albacore tuna in your pantry and whip up this satisfying dinner.
You’ve probably seen this dish on every menu in every restaurant in town during the summer months–and for good reason. Sweet watermelon and tangy feta cheese is the new tomato and mozzarella.
Introducing the easiest one-bite snack for keto lovers (and everyone else).
Sure, you could put these out as an app at your next party. But we’re pretty happy keeping them all to ourselves for a quick main course. Just make sure to use the freshest tomatoes you can find.
Come for the raw zucchini, carrot and daikon ribbons. Stay for the lime-honey peanut sauce.
Have you ever seen anything so beautiful? And you’re definitely going to want to put this savory-sweet dressing on just about everything.
PureWow Coterie member Ali Maffucci gave us this beautiful (not to mention colorful) bowl and we are forever grateful. Taste the rainbow.
This dish is almost no-cook, takes less than 30 minutes and can be made up to one day in advance. Just toss the strawberries in right before serving so they don’t get mushy.
This classic twist on a caprese salad subs cantaloupe for tomatoes. Great balls of melon.
