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When the sun is out and the farmers market is overflowing with gorgeous seasonal produce, the last place you want to be is stuck inside with the oven blazing. Enter the summer salad: It’s healthy and refreshing and it won’t turn your kitchen into a sauna. With these summer salad recipes, you can take advantage of all those heirloom tomatoes, juicy stone fruits and sweet berries, and feel good about your dinner (or lunch). Triple berry chickpea crunch? We’ll be over in 20.
RELATED: 30 Light Summer Meals Under 500 Calories
Think of this as an updated version of the ’90s spinach and strawberry staple. The dressing—a combination of strawberry juices, vinegar and pepper—practically makes itself.
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It’s basically no-cook, feeds a crowd and won’t wilt when you set it out in the summer heat. That’s what we call a triple threat.
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We love a classic Caesar salad, but it’s not typically the healthiest option on the menu. This one is plant-based, so it’s lighter on calories but not on flavor.
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When fruits and vegetables collide, they create this masterpiece worthy of the ’Gram.
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Fattoush is a type of Levantine salad that involves toasty bits of pita bread and plenty of herbs and spices.
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We were skeptical about raw zucchini too, but the way it soaks up the briny feta marinade is *chef’s kiss*
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We like our salads the way we like our fro-yo: loaded with toppings.
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A lightened-up version of a classic. Because sometimes we don’t need all that bacon and blue cheese. Sometimes.
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This one is more of a side dish, but if you add some crisp romaine, it transforms into a meal.
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When the temperatures soar into the 90s, there’s nothing more appetizing than a crisp, cool cucumber. (Well, nothing but this salad.)
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It’s true: No barbecue, picnic or potluck is complete without watermelon.
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Lettuce need not apply.
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There are a few moving parts to this beauty (boiling eggs, cooking potatoes, whipping up a vinaigrette), but it comes together surprisingly fast.
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Once you try chili powder on a ripe slice of cantaloupe, you’ll never look back.
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Tinned fish is a quick and low-effort way to give your salad a boost of protein. Mackerel is richer and milder than tuna, so it’s an ideal place to start.
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The juiciness of the berries adds a cool and sweet-tart contrast to the slight spiciness of the peppers and the salty miso dressing.
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Bonus points if you grow the tomatoes yourself.
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It’s like a portrait of summer’s finest treats. Pair it with cheese—like fresh mozzarella or ricotta—to take it over the top.
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You can cook it ahead of time and it will hold in the fridge for up to two days. Genius.
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If we close our eyes and take a bite, it’s like we’re on vacation in Sicily.
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Aka the best way to show off your farmers market haul. You’ll definitely want to go steady with this guy all summer long.
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For the ultimate salad experience, seek out the freshest, ripest peaches you can find.
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So what if it’s basically a bowl of guacamole masquerading as a salad?
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Forget the bowl, serve this salad on a big cutting board so that you can see (and access) all of the gorgeous toppings.
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When you’re bored of croutons and iceberg, this should do the trick.
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Here, the sweetness of the watermelon is enhanced by all that salty feta.
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The lemon Parmesan dressing really ties everything together.
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Is it really summer if you haven’t eaten your weight in blackberries, blueberries and strawberries? We didn’t think so.
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And before you know it, you’ll have made this four times in one week. It’s really that good.
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Serve it with grilled fish, shrimp, steak or chicken if you want a more substantial meal.
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This is how you let those seasonal vegetables really shine.
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It looks really time-consuming, but the most involved step is mixing up the marinade for the chicken.
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It’s so pretty, we think we have a crush.
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Called equites, this bowl takes the flavors of elotes—fresh corn, lime juice, cotija cheese, and a mayo-based chipotle crema—and turns them into a salad.
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It’s like the chopped salads you get at your favorite restaurant…but tastier (and better for you).
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We bet you’ve never fired up the coals for a salad before.
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We were hooked at the first mention of burrata. The pesto and chicken are merely a bonus.
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Crunchy almonds, sweet corn, juicy blueberries and a little bit of feta all mingle together in a delicious lemon dressing. What could be bad about that?
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This is a big salad that would make Elaine Benes proud.
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Sure, you can use bottled dressing for a shortcut. But this homemade avocado-cilantro version is worth the extra effort.
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Part grain bowl, part salad, 100 percent what we want to eat on our patio.
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Make this for your next dinner soirée to wow the crowd. (FYI, it works with nearly any summer produce.)
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This retro salad is best served with a glass of chilled rosé and a warm summer night.
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Or, what to do with that gigantic haul of zucchini.
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It’s crunchy from the cukes and radishes, creamy and briny from the feta and wrapped up in a punchy lemon garlic dressing—yum.
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Hard to believe it’s all ready to eat in 30 minutes.
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Heirloom tomatoes aren’t just pretty to look at. The jewel-like treats are more flavorful than any grocery store tomato you’ve ever tasted.
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It doesn’t taste like it’s healthy, and that’s a very high compliment.
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The creamy dressing suggests otherwise, but this one is vegan. (Thank you, cashews.)
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This chopped salad has it all: sweetness from the strawberries, creaminess from the avocado, saltiness from the feta, crunch from roasted pistachios. What more could you want?
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What can we say? We’re suckers for ranch (and corn, and tortilla strips).
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RELATED: 55 Healthy Summer Recipes to Make (and Eat) On Repeat
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51 Summer Salad Recipes Under 500 Calories (That Still Taste Delish) – PureWow
