These 28 easy recipe ideas for chicken, meat, seafood, and vegetables are cooked on the grill and made into easy main meals, skewers and salads, for easy outdoor, summer cooking.
Summer is all about beach trips, cookouts, and embracing the slower pace while scheming up easy, laid-back dinners, like my refreshing gazpacho and the best fattoush salad. As the temps stay high, there’s even more reason to fire up that grill, because let’s face it, it’s just too darn hot for those ovens!
Whether you’ve got an old-fashioned charcoal grill, a fancy gas, or a George Foreman kitchen version, get yours going, because this lineup of 28 easy grilling recipes has something for everyone.
1. THE BEST Greek Chicken Marinade
This simple chicken marinade infuses the classic Greek flavors of lemon, garlic and oregano plus marinating chicken in yogurt for a more tender bite.
2. How to Grill Ribeye Steak
There’s nothing more classic to come from the grill than a thick-cut, perfectly cooked bone-in ribeye steak with a secret slather of flavor.
3. Pork Souvlaki with Lemon Rice
This simple recipe is great for a weeknight or weekend dinner, and is full of big flavor thanks to a killer marinade!
4. Easy Asian Steak Marinade
This easy steak marinade is the key to tenderizing and flavoring a steak that takes only 30 minutes to marinate, making it a favorite for weeknight dinners.
5. Grilled Cilantro Lime Chicken
This grilled cilantro lime chicken recipe delivers lots of flavor thanks to a quick marinade, and with just 7 ingredients and 3 simple steps, it’s easy enough to cook any night of the week.
6. Grilled Halibut with Tomato Avocado Salsa
Flaky halibut filets are simply seasoned and grilled, then topped with a fresh and easy tomato avocado salsa in this healthy and fast, three-step recipe.
7. The Best Grilled Chicken Breast
Everyone needs a go-to grilled chicken recipe, and this one’s ours. It’s versatile, so you can add it to salads and pastas, chop it up and make chicken salad with it, or enjoy it alongside your favorite starch and veggies. And don’t even get us started on the grilled lemon!
8. Grilled Skirt Steak with Chimichurri
This grilled skirt steak is tenderized in a garlic marinade, grilled, then topped with a garlic and herb chimichurri sauce with fresh cut tomatoes and red onions.
9. Grilled Pork Chops with Spicy Balsamic Grilled Peaches
Consider these brined and grilled chops the food anthem of the summer. Scented with fresh rosemary and garlic, and paired with a juicy grilled peach salsa that’s been spiked with white balsamic vinegar and a chili garlic sauce, this makes for one peachy keen meal.
10. Grilled Shrimp with Sweet or Spicy Mustard Dipping Sauce
These shrimp skewers cook up nice and fast on the grill and feature the yummiest sweet mustard and hoisin dipping sauce, or spicy mustard tarragon sauces for dipping.
11. Grilled Flatbread with Peaches and Arugula Pesto
Store bought flatbread is the base to summer’s favorite flavors: juicy grilled peaches and a bright pesto that make for a fast, vegetarian main meal.
12. Chicken Under a Brick with Harissa
This easy grilled chicken with a citrus-spiked jarred harissa sauce is a summer chicken dinner winner. Butterflying your chicken makes it cook faster and crisps perfectly the skin, and cooking it under the weight of a brick yields a perfectly crisp exterior and wonderfully juicy, tender interior. No brine or marinade needed!
13. How to Make the Best Grilled Salmon
Follow these easy grilling tips for THE BEST, easy grilled salmon recipe that’s about to become your new favorite healthy summertime dinner.
14. Grilled Teriyaki Cauliflower Steaks with Asian Gremolata
Everyone needs a good vegetarian grilling recipe in their repertoire and these meaty, smokey grilled cauliflower steaks are an excellent stand-in for for beef. The cauliflower is cut into steaks and marinated in a sweet and spicy teriyaki glaze, grilled and topped with a sweet herby sauce for a healthy vegetarian dinner that yes, even carnivores will love!
15. Grilled Greek Chicken Kebabs
Boneless, skinless chicken breast marinated in the traditional Greek flavors of lemon, garlic and oregano then threaded on skewers with a few veggies makes these grilled chicken kebabs an easy and healthy weeknight dinner winner.
16. Grilled Swordfish with Smoked Paprika and Herbed Fruit Salsa
These meaty grilled swordfish steaks are so easy and require no marinade. Instead, I prefer to add the flavoring as the fish cooks on the grill, by basting the outside of the fish with smoked paprika flavored butter. It adds flavor and creates an irresistibly crispy exterior. Paired with an herbaceous fruity salsa, it makes for the perfect summer meal.
17. The Best Juicy Grilled Pork Chops
Lean grilled pork chops come out juicy and tender every time thanks to a simple sprinkling of pork dry rub for a dinner that’s ready in under 30 minutes.
18. Marinated Flank Steak with Asian Chimichurri Sauce
Thanks to a simple soy sauce, orange, and garlic-spiked marinade, this easy flank steak recipe can be ready to grill in 30 minutes, or left in the fridge over night for a deeper flavor that’s topped with a fresh, garlicky chimichurri sauce with an Asian spin.
19. Grilled Vegetable Sandwich with Herbed Ricotta
This grilled vegetable sandwich is made with a combo of grilled summer veggies, creamy herbed ricotta, toasted ciabatta, and a sweet balsamic glaze, for an easy, satisfying summer main that’s totally vegetarian.
20. Grilled Turkey Kofta Skewers with Yogurt Sauce
While lamb or beef is traditional, I prefer ground turkey for these flavorful Middle Eastern skewers, and the creamy cool yogurt adds a lightened dipping sauce that’s full of flavor.
21. Grilled Chicken Breasts with Chive Herb Butter
This is my quick and easy go-to method for grilling chicken. Top it with a homemade lemony herb compound butter and you’ll take it to the next level.
22. Mediterranean Grilled Pork Chops with Tomato Salad
A fresh and flavorful Mediterranean tomato salad serves as a salsa when it tops juicy grilled pork chops for a 30-minute, quick and easy dinner or BBQ meal.
23. Grilled Caprese Skewers
Summer grill time certainly shouldn’t be limited to meats and burgers, bring on the tomatoes and sturdy halloumi for my Grilled Caprese Skewers.
24. How to Make THE BEST Baby Back Ribs
The trick to THE BEST baby back ribs is seasoning them with a dry rib rub then baking them low and slow in the oven before grilling them. Trust me, it works!
25. Lime and Chile Butter Chicken Skewers
These chicken skewers cook up on the grill in less time than it would take your oven to preheat and are flavored with the most delicious chile lime butter marinade.
26. Grilled Steak Tacos
Budget friendly flat iron steak and a speedy one-hour marinade make these citrus-adobo flavored tacos perfect for an easy weeknight or weekend dinner.
27. Grilled Lemon Chicken Skewers
Greek flavors inspire citrus-infused chunks of chicken thanks to a tart marinade that keeps the chicken juicy with a lemony punch.
28. Grilled Romaine Salad with Prosciutto Wrapped Shrimp
This hearty and delicious grilled romaine salad is dressed with a sweet and tangy balsamic vinaigrette and topped with prosciutto-wrapped shrimp, cranberries, walnuts, and creamy goat cheese.
What to Serve with These Grilled Mains
- How to Make THE BEST Panzanella
- EASY Cucumber Salad with Dill
- How to Make THE BEST Tabbouleh
- The Best BBQ Baked Beans
- How to Make the Best Grilled Corn on the Cob
- Grilled Vegetable Skewers
- How to Make THE BEST Creamy Coleslaw
More Summer Recipes You’ll Love
- Avocado Caprese Salad
- Mexican Corn Pasta Salad
- The BEST Lobster Rolls (With Butter AND Mayonnaise)
- Heirloom Tomato, Zucchini, Caramelized Onion and Feta Galette
- Cantaloupe and Mozzarella Caprese Salad
- Skillet Cherry Pie
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