Easy Summer Salad Ideas for Hot Days: No-Cook Meals You’ll Love

It’s not that we don’t like to cook. On warm summer days, there is no reason that dinner needs to be complicated. Having a few great salad recipes on hand will be your new best friend. An easy summer salad is the perfect solution for a no-cook meal that will keep you feeling cool.

Today we have a round up of some of our favorites for you. Let’s see what we found.

Easy Summer Salad Ideas for Hot Days: No-Cook Meals You’ll Love

An entree salad is a fresh, colorful and easy alternative. Salads can work for dinner, lunch or entertaining. Think bookclub menu!. Simple ingredients + minimal kitchen time = happiness. We have four salad ideas to share with you today. Let’s take a look.

Mediterranean Orzo Salad

Bev was visiting a friend, thank you Debbie, that served this delicious dish and had to have the recipe. The ingredients are so colorful and tailoring it to your own tastes is so easy.

Make it your own by adding sliced, grilled chicken breast and fresh pita bread for a delicious summer dinner idea. Below is the recipe that Bev created from the original.

Mediterranean Orzo Salad

Serves 4

8oz Organic Orzo uncooked

3 TBL lemon juice

1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in extra virgin oil chopped, plus 2 TBL oil from the jar

1/4 tsp Kosher salt

1/2 tsp ground pepper

1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, sliced lengthwise

1 15.5 oz Garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained- i use half 

2 TBL Mint leaves- rough chop

2 TBL Parsley- rough chop

1/2 cup crumbled Feta- use more if you like- Bev always does

!/2 cup diced cucumber and 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes halved

3 grilled chicken breasts- sliced on the diagonal 

4 cups baby spinach

Bottled Greek Dressing

Chopped pistachios for garnish

Cook pasta until al dente and drain well

In a large bowl- whisk lemon juice with reserved oil from sun dried tomatoes, salt and pepper.  Add drained orzo, sun dried tomatoes, olives, garbanzo beans, mint and parsley and salt and pepper to taste.  Refrigerate for 1 hour or more for flavors to meld.   

To serve- in a large shallow salad bowl, line the edge with the baby spinach.  Mound the orzo mixture in the middle of the bowl.  Top with diced cucumber, halved cherry tomatoes and crumbled feta cheese.  Place sliced grilled chicken breasts on top.   Sprinkle chopped pistachios on top.   Serve with the Greek Dressing for your guests to drizzle on top of the spinach or orzo on their plate.

You can tailor this to your guests taste by adding more Feta, garbanzo beans, olives, salt and pepper.  Enjoy!

Antipasto Salad

This might be one of the easiest salads to make. It’s easy to customize, is a great make ahead salad and travels quite well. Create visual interest by serving in a large bowl, placing a clear glass tumbler in the middle to hold bread breadsticks.

Antipasto Salad

Start with a large bowl and place rinsed mixed greens- arugula and radicchio, in the bottom. Add all or any of the ingredients from the list below. Serve dressing on the side and add fresh, crusty Italian bread.

Cherry Tomatoes | Salami, Pepperoni and/ or Prosciutto

Mozzarella, Provolone, Parmesan and/ or Asiago Cheese | Hard Boiled Eggs- quartered

Olives- Castelvetrano | Bread Sticks

Pepperoncini | Fresh Basil

Marinated Artichoke Hearts | Home Made Dressing- Red Wine Vinaigrette

Celery Stalks | Garbanzo Beans

Roasted Red Peppers

summer hostess gift ideas

Caprese Pasta Salad

Create this delicious salad using either Rotini or Fusilli pasta. Adding cooked or grilled shrimp is delicious. The Caprese Pasta is another easy summer salad that can be served for dinner or a luncheon. It has some of summer’s most loved ingredients.

Caprese Pasta Salad

Serves 4

1/2 pound Rotini or Fusilli pasta

2 1/2 c cherry tomatoes

1 c mozarella pearls – marinated preferred

1/2 c fresh basil leaves chopped

2 avocados- diced or sliced

Shrimp- cooked or grilled to serve 4

Dressing– 2/3 cup EVOO

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

3 TBL lemon juice

2 tsp honey

1 shallot sliced

1 clove garlic, chopped

2 TBL chopped fresh basil

Cook pasta until done and drain. Make dressing, season with salt and pepper to taste- set aside.

Add pasta to large salad bowl, toss with half the dressing. Place the tomatoes, mozzarella pearls, basil and avocado in the bowl. Add more dressing if needed. Spoon a portion on individual plates and put cooked shrimp on top. Drizzle with dressing if needed. Add more basil leaves for garnish.

Chicken Ceasar Salad

This summer salad can be extremely easy if you use rotisserie chicken. Use this shortcut anytime for another no-cook meal. Bev sometimes adds cooked cheese and spinach tortellini to this salad. If rotisserie chicken isn’t your choice, grilled or poached chicken can always be substituted.

Chicken Ceasar Salad

Romaine Lettuce- torn in bite sized pieces

Chicken- rotisserie, grilled or poached

Parmesan Cheese- shredded or shaved

Cooked tortellini- cheese and spinach- optional

Croutons- click here for recipe

Ceasar Dressing- Bottled or click here for recipe

Assemble-

In a large salad bowl place well washed romaine lettuce, chicken, and tortellini (optional). Next step, add a bit of dressing and toss until you have desired amount for your salad. Add croutons and cheese- squeeze fresh lemon juice on top and serve. Fresh focaccia bread would make a nice compliment to this meal.

Salad Prep and Serving Pieces

Below we have salad prep and serving pieces. Having the right equipment makes any task fly by. You may need to refresh what you have. Just click on any photo below for more information or details.

Salad Prep

Serving Plates

We hope this post helped you find some great new recipes to try. Thank you so much for joining us here.

Bev and Val

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