59 Healthy Summer Recipes To Keep You Feeling Good All Season Long
Warm weather favorites that won't weigh you down.
After a long winter, the thought of backyard BBQs, picnics in the park, and getting our grill on as much as possible is like a breath of fresh air. If you’re following a certain diet or trying to eat healthier, though, these can instill some serious FOMO. Fear not, we’ve got tons of healthy options so you’re not left out and can indulge in warm weather favorites too. We know health looks different to different people, so we’ve included options for every diet, like low-carb, vegan, pescatarian, gluten-free, and even low oil. Don’t let summer pressures stop you from enjoying your favorites—remember, EVERY body is a beach body, and it’s way more important that the food you put into it make you feel good. Check out our list of 60 healthy summer recipes and you can live your best life in the sun this year.
We all know the most successful “diets” are about celebrating the foods we can eat, instead of rueing the loss of the ones we can’t, right? Instead of avoiding our favorites all together, we prefer to make simple swaps. Take hamburger or hot dog buns— if you’re avoiding carbs, they’re a big no-go. Try one of our many lettuce wraps, our cheeseburger cabbage wraps, our zucchini bun hot dogs, or our pineapple bun burgers instead. Trying to eat less meat? You won’t miss it with killer meals like our Thai-inspired grilled cauliflower steaks, our caprese eggplant steaks, or our falafel chickpea vegetarian stuffed peppers. Avoiding oil? You know what we’re going to say—try making your faves in your air fryer. You can make everything from chicken wings to coconut shrimp in there, without having to touch a pot of hot oil. The name of the game here is really to get creative—use our recipes for inspiration, but play around with different flavors— you might just like what you discover even like them better than the originals.
For more summertime inspiration, check out our vegetarian summer recipes, our best low-carb cocktails, and our favorite air fryer vegetable recipes too.
Classic Stuffed Peppers
The bell pepper is an excellent vessel for stuffing meat, rice, and, of course, cheese. It's strong enough to hold its shape in the oven, and the flavor is subtle enough to go well with just about anything. This is our favorite recipe but the customization options are endless.
Get the Classic Stuffed Peppers recipe.
Balsamic Grilled Steak Salad with Peaches
Peppery arugula is the perfect vessel for this savory-sweet combo, and you just can't beat ripe, juicy peaches come summertime. If you love blue cheese in your fruit-forward salads, give this tomato salad a try!
Basil Avocado Shrimp Salad Wraps & Sweet Potato Chips
Lettuce wraps are the one of the best ways to eat healthy (and low-carb). These wraps are stuffed with our new favorite twist on shrimp salad: basil avocado. Bake a batch of sweet potato chips on the side so you have a well-balanced lunch :)
Get the Basil Avocado Shrimp Salad Wraps & Sweet Potato Chips recipe.
Stuffed Eggplant Parm
You won't miss the pasta at all in this clever version of eggplant parm that skips the pasta and frying in lieu of healthier options.
Get the Stuffed Eggplant Parm recipe.
Tomato Gnocchi Kebabs
Sure gnocchi is amazing served in a bowl with a sauce, but have you ever had nicely browned gnocchi taken straight off the grill?The gnocchi paired with blistered grilled tomatoes and tender red onion make for a perfect summer dinner or side dish.
Get the Tomato Gnocchi Kebabs recipe.
Taco Tomatoes
We're all for a genius low-carb hack—and these tomatoes totally deliver. We had never thought to stuff them with taco meat, cheese, and sour cream, but we'll do anything in the name of ditching a tortilla for a low-carb meal. You can change up the fillings for cheeseburger tomatoes, too.
Get the Taco Tomatoes recipe.
Garlicky Shrimp Zucchini Boats
When you're craving pasta, these zucchini boats are a great option. Sweet, juicy shrimp bathed in a creamy tomato-Parmesan sauce, then baked with mozzarella until the umami skyrockets—the easy filling tastes almost like a creamy shrimp scampi.
Bruschetta Grilled Chicken
This is the least basic grilled chicken has ever looked. Make it on repeat during summer—when tomatoes are at their peak. (Need other not-boring healthy chicken recipes? We gotchu.)
Get the Bruschetta Grilled Chicken recipe.
Caramelized Tofu Lettuce Wraps
Inspired by our caramelized beef recipe, this simple tofu recipe is big on flavor and perfect for even the reluctant tofu eater. Sweet, sour, and salty, these lettuce cups are ripe for improvisation and can be served with all sorts of accompaniments.
Vinegar Coleslaw
To make this a truly vegan-friendly slaw, there is neither mayonnaise nor honey in the mix. We use maple to bring out the veggies’ natural sweetness and Dijon mustard helps emulsify the oil and vinegar while adding a bit of a kick in the back of your throat. Feel free to halve the amount of mustard if you know you don’t like spice.
Get the Vinegar Coleslaw recipe.
Thai-Inspired Grilled Cauliflower Steaks
Cauliflower steaks demand a place on your grill! And we found the perfect funky balance of sweet, sour, salty, and spicy in this Thai-inspired sauce to blanket them. Try the sauce and if needed, balance it out to your taste with brown sugar for more sweetness, red pepper flakes for more heat, lime juice for more pucker, and salt.
Pineapple Bun Burger
Honey-Lime Tilapia and Corn Foil Pack
Cooking fish in these foil packs is a total cinch. Using foil over the grill means your fish stays in one tender piece throughout the cooking process, until it meets your fork. With a simple drizzle of honey, lime, and corn, you have all the sweet-tart freshness of summer in one neat little package.
Air Fryer Cauliflower Tacos
To get extra crispy "fried" cauliflower, you gotta use your air fryer. This recipe is basically the vegan version of our favorite fish tacos. The finishing touches? A quick and easy pickled slaw for a bite of freshness and a spicy mayo for a touch of heat.
Get the Air Fryer Cauliflower Tacos recipe.
Cheeseburger Cabbage Wraps
We're BIG fans of low-carb burgers. (Hellooo, bunless burger bites.) We love how sturdy cabbage is as a bun replacement—just make sure you buy a large cabbage so your leaves are big enough to wrap around the entire burger. Then you can make bacon wrapped cabbage with the core!
Get the Cheeseburger Cabbage Wraps recipe.
Baked Orange Chicken
This baked version is just as delicious and savory-sweet as the original orange chicken without the added effort or calories. Serve alongside brown rice and some delicious broccoli or bok choy for a fantastic healthy weeknight meal.
Get the Baked Orange Chicken recipe.
Buffalo Cauliflower Kebabs
We here at Delish know the value of adding spicy buffalo sauce to cauliflower (see our buffalo cauliflower wings), but we never thought to grill the cauli up… until now. These buffalo cauliflower kebabs put all your favorite flavors from classic buffalo wings onto skewers–and they're vegetarian to boot!
Get the Buffalo Cauliflower Kebabs recipe.
Eggplant Steak Frites with Chimichurri
How do you successfully accomplish steak night without the steak? Sub in creamy eggplant for a grilled mash-up of the classic French combo. An Argentine herb sauce, chimichurri, transform eggplants and potatoes from vegetable sides to a complete, fancy dinner.
Cheesy Fiesta Rice
With chopped tomatoes, jalapeños, black beans, and cumin, this flavorful chicken and cauliflower rice skillet channels some serious Tex-Mex vibes. Got leftover chicken fajitas or grilled steak? Swap out the shredded rotisserie chicken. Or skip the meat and make it a vegetarian. There's lots of room to play around.
Get the Cheesy Fiesta Rice recipe.
Grilled Chicken Kebabs
The best part of the hoisin BBQ glaze here? There's no need to cook anything—just whisk the ingredients together and you’re ready to go. These skewers are for all the folks that love a bit of char on their greens. Serve with some steamed rice or some grilled corn and you got a perfect healthy summer meal.
Get the Grilled Chicken Kebabs recipe.
Camille Lowder is the digital food producer at Delish, otherwise known as our resident queen of recipe galleries. Previously, she attended the Natural Gourmet Institute for culinary school and worked at/managed a number of New York restaurants. She loves anything vegan, foods masquerading as other foods (hello, cauliflower), and a well-used Oxford comma.
