Best July Dinner Recipes - Dining and Cooking

Hot Honey Shrimp Lettuce Wraps

PHOTO: JULIA GARTLAND; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE

These hot honey shrimp lettuce wraps deliver big flavor with minimal effort, and embody the perfect combination of fast, easy, flavorful, and fiscally responsible vibes that you need in your weekly prep rotation. Sweet honey, spicy gochujang, and savory scallion cook down into a glossy glaze that coats every bite of shrimp, creating the perfect balance of heat and sweetness.

Coconut-Lime Dumpling Bake

PHOTO: LINDA PUGLIESE; FOOD STYLING: BROOKE CAISON

Loaded with your dumplings of choice, coconut milk, plenty of aromatics, red curry paste, and tons of flavor, this under-an-hour coconut-lime dumpling bake is sure to make your list of go-to weeknight dinners.

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Dr Pepper Chicken

PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER TESTANI; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE

Dr Pepper’s distinct flavor makes it a surprisingly perfect ingredient in a glaze. Our Dr Pepper meatballs and Dr Pepper ham are already favorites, which led us to develop this extremely delicious soda-glazed chicken.

Garlic Butter Cheeseburger Skewers

PHOTO: LINDA PUGLIESE; FOOD STYLING: BROOKE CAISON

These kofta-inspired garlic butter cheeseburger skewers are exactly the kind of easy, flavor-packed switch-up that your backyard grill game is begging for. They’re everything you love about a burger—juicy beef, melty American cheese, a killer sauce, and all the fixings—reimagined in a way that saves precious grill space.

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Creamy Mexican Street Corn Pasta

PHOTO: ARMANDO RAFAEL; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE

This 30-minute Mexican street corn pasta is perfect for any summer meal, as fresh corn off the cob will make all the difference here. The addition of sour cream, cotija, cilantro, and lime will brighten this pasta in ways you would never expect—don’t knock it ’til you try it.

Arayes

PHOTO: BRYAN GARDNER; FOOD STYLING: TAYLOR ANN SPENCER

This iconic Lebanese street food delivers everything you love about a grilled sandwich with way more flavor payoff: Spiced meat is stuffed inside pillowy pita, then cooked until the outside is golden and crackly while the inside stays impossibly juicy.

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Chicken Spiedini

PHOTO: JULIA GARTLAND; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE

Sicilian for skewers, spiedini have been around for over a century, traditionally using beef or veal, but chicken has become a favorite in more recent times. For our recipe, we’ve included a hack that lets you skip the typical 30-minute marinating time and can go straight from prep to the grill, getting dinner on the table in about 30 minutes.

Sheet-Pan Street Corn Gnocchi

PHOTO: BRYAN GARDNER; FOOD STYLING: TAYLOR ANN SPENCER

If you’re looking for a lazy dinner that basically makes itself, this street corn gnocchi is just what you need. Frozen corn and store-bought gnocchi are roasted together on a sheet pan and topped with cotija, cilantro, and a drizzle of lime crema for a no-nonsense meal that delivers easy breezy comfort in under 30 minutes.

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Watermelon Gazpacho

PHOTO: BRYAN GARDNER; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE

If summer had a flavor, it might taste a lot like this soup. Though I love our classic tomato-based gazpacho, the addition of watermelon gives the classic soup a welcome subtle sweetness I can’t get enough of.

Grilled Steak Salad

PHOTO: ERIK BERNSTEIN; FOOD STYLING: BARRETT WASHBURNE

This salad is simple enough for a weeknight but worthy of planning a get-together around, thanks to its star ingredient—ribeye steak. You’ll grill it, then combine it with cherry tomatoes, blue cheese, basil, and a drizzle of tangy balsamic dressing, turning it into an impressive-but-secretly-easy dish.

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Sheet-Pan BBQ Pineapple Chicken

PHOTO: LINDA PUGLIESE; FOOD STYLING: BROOKE CAISON

Has there ever been a combination more harmonious than pineapple and BBQ sauce? I don’t think so! Sweet and tangy with just a hint of spice, this chicken dinner is practically guaranteed to make you everyone’s favorite person at the cookout.

Caprese Chicken Gnocchi Skillet

PHOTO: BRYAN GARDNER; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE

If you love Caprese but wish it could be more of a main course, then let me introduce this protein-filled, carb-forward skillet. In this recipe, I’m adding in pan-roasted chicken and store-bought gnocchi as Caprese’s newest co-stars.

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Pot Sticker Panzanella

PHOTO: LINDA XIAO; FOOD STYLING: BROOKE CAISON

In this panzanella salad riff, the dumplings start crispy and chewy, but after a few minutes of swimming with soy- and chili-marinated tomatoes and cucumbers, they soak up some extra flavor, adding a bit of textural contrast to the dish.

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Smash Burger Tacos

PHOTO: RYAN LIEBE; FOOD STYLING: BARRETT WASHBURNE

These fully loaded smash burger tacos are the ultimate comfort food hybrid with a crispy, juicy, thin beef patty, melty American cheese, and all the classic burger fixings loaded onto a toasted flour tortilla. You’ll never have to choose between burger night or taco night again!

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Chicken Burgers

PHOTO: BRYAN GARDNER; FOOD STYLING: BARRETT WASHBURNE

Excuse us while we say our goodbyes to beef burgers forever (JK, we’ll always love a classic burger). But can we talk about how good a chicken burger can be when it’s done right? Far from dry or bland, this chicken burger is juicy, flavorful, and oh-so satisfying when that burger craving hits.

Sticky Soy Steak Skewers

PHOTO: LINDA PUGLIESE; FOOD STYLING: BROOKE CAISON

In this skewer recipe sirloin steak meets soy and chili-garlic sauce, alongside red onion, and is grilled until medium-rare while being brushed with a sweet and savory honey-garlic glaze. The result is a tender, slightly spicy charred grilled steak stacked with grilled onion and sticky sauce.

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Roasted Ricotta Stuffed Peppers

PHOTO: BRYAN GARDNER; FOOD STYLING: TAYLOR ANN SPENCER

To turn this staple budget dinner into a vegetarian-friendly version I can get behind, I developed this roasted ricotta stuffed peppers recipe. Sautéed garlicky zucchini is folded into couscous, salty Pecorino and ricotta, and lots of mozzarella for a dinner that makes for great meal prep.

One-Pan Coconut-Lime Chicken

PHOTO: ERIK BERNSTEIN; FOOD STYLING: MAKINZE GORE

For this one-pan dinner I went for a spicy-sweet coconut milk sauce that is full of lime juice, jalapeño, ginger, and both tomatoes and tomato paste. The result is a super tender, flavorful chicken with a golden brown crust, coated in what just may be your new favorite sauce.

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