Food Recipes Salads 30 Seasonal Salads for Summertime Meals By Food & Wine Editors Food & Wine Editors This is collaborative content from Food & Wine's team of experts, including staff, recipe developers, chefs, and contributors. Many of our galleries curate recipes or guides from a variety of sources which we credit throughout the content and at each link. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on February 2, 2023 Trending Videos Close this video player Photo: © Kana Okada Light, fresh, and seasonal, these satisfying salads will shine bright at your next summertime get-together. We've rounded up a collection of all kinds of recipes, from crisp chopped salads and fruit-forward salads, like Stone Fruit Salad with Collard-Peanut Pesto, to hearty pasta and grain salads and smoky grilled vegetable salads, such as Grilled Baby Potato Salad. Serve summer salads at outdoor gatherings, cookouts, or barbecues, enjoy them poolside, or pack for the park. Wherever summer takes you, these are our favorite salads to bring along and share. 01 of 30 Summer Bean Salad with Potlikker Vinaigrette Eva Kolenko Potlikker, as it's called in the South, is the savory, starchy liquid left over after cooking beans or greens. Here, chef Joe Kindred whisks the über-flavorful liquid into a vinaigrette, but you can also use it in soups and pasta sauces, or thicken it with butter and drizzle over fish. Get the Recipe 02 of 30 Cobb Salad with Roasted Sweet Onion Dressing Con Poulos This fantastic salad gets a boost of flavor from a toasty roasted sweet onion and garlic dressing. Get the Recipe 03 of 30 Watermelon Salad with Feta and Mint Photo by Antonis Achilleos / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Thom Driver This easy summer watermelon salad from legendary chef Jacques Pépin is ideal for eating outside under the warm sun. Watermelon and mint add plenty of refreshing flavor, while briny olives and feta offer the perfect counterpoint. Get the Recipe 04 of 30 Shrimp Salad with Hominy, Arugula, and Lime © Sarah Bolla With similar ingredients as you'd find wrapped up in a taco, this brightly colored shrimp salad is light but satisfying. Enjoy with chips and beer on a hot day. Get the Recipe 05 of 30 Sugar Snap Pea Salad Photo by Greg DuPree / Prop Styling by Christine Keely / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer Sweet sugar snap peas give this light summer salad from Ivan Conill’s Branch Line in Boston a satisfying crunch, while whole-milk ricotta adds heft with its mild, creamy richness. Shredded rotisserie chicken may be omitted for a vegetarian version, or you can substitute with flaked hot smoked salmon. Get the Recipe 06 of 30 Tomato, Basil, and Cucumber Panzanella with Grated Tomato Balsamic Vinaigrette Victor Protasio This summer blockbuster panzanella from Samin Nosrat, author of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, pairs oven-roasted sourdough croutons with juicy ripe tomatoes, raw red onion, and crisp cucumbers. Grated tomato adds a gentle acidity and chunky texture to the vinaigrette, helping it cling to every bite. Get the Recipe 07 of 30 Baby Lettuces with Feta, Strawberries, and Almonds © Peden + Munk This salad is an extraordinary combination of ingredients that may surprise you: feta, strawberries, and almonds. Get the Recipe 08 of 30 Warm Corn Chowder Salad with Bacon and Cider Vinegar © Fredrika Stjärne In this riff on corn chowder, sweet corn is tossed with potatoes, bacon, and cider vinegar. Because the corn for this salad is barely cooked, it’s best to use the juiciest kernels available. Get the Recipe 09 of 30 Heirloom Tomato Salad with Anchovy Vinaigrette © Christina Holmes The warm, garlicky anchovy dressing here is fantastic with an assortment of juicy, peak-season tomatoes. To finish the dish, chefs Amelia O'Reilly and Nico Monday top it with tangy pickled shallots and an oozy, soft-boiled egg. Get the Recipe 10 of 30 Green Mango Salad © Maura McEvoy Use firm, underripe mangoes in this jalapeño-spiced salad: They add an essential tang to the recipe. Get the Recipe 11 of 30 Grilled Squash, Corn, and Kale Salad with Sunflower Seed Vinaigrette Adrian Gaut The creamy sunflower seed dressing for this hearty summer salad is flavored with za’atar, the classic Middle Eastern spice mix that often includes thyme, oregano or marjoram, sesame seeds, tangy sumac, and salt. Get the Recipe 12 of 30 Avocado, Orange, and Jicama Salad © Antonis Achilleos Feta is a fun, briny addition to this salad's Mexican mix of jicama, avocado, and cilantro. Get the Recipe 13 of 30 Warm Summer Vegetable Salad © Claire Thomas In this hearty salad, chef Marco Canora cooks the vegetables until their flavor is fully developed before tossing them with a pungent anchovy dressing. Get the Recipe 14 of 30 Stone Fruit Salad with Collard-Peanut Pesto Photo by Jessica Pettway / Food Styling by Micah Morton / Prop Styling by Paola Andrea In this savory fruit salad, roasted peanuts, collard greens, and Parmesan yield a hearty pesto that's the perfect partner for honey-dressed wedges of plums and nectarines. Fonio, a West African grain similar in texture to couscous, soaks up the pesto, flavoring each bite of this salad. Get the Recipe 15 of 30 Carrot and Chickpea Salad © Lucy Schaeffer Chef Charles Kelsey tosses chickpeas and carrots with a deliciously unusual combination of smoked paprika, cumin, and cilantro. Get the Recipe 16 of 30 Israeli Couscous and Tomato Salad with Arugula Pesto © Michael Turek Arugula pesto is peppery and bright. The trick is to blanch the arugula and squeeze it dry, so when you blend it with the pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, and cheese, the resulting pesto isn't too wet. Get the Recipe 17 of 30 Esquites-Style Poblano Pasta Salad Photo by Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Ruth Blackburn / Prop Styling by Christina Daley Esquites is the creamy corn salad version of elote, the beloved Mexican street food where corn on the cob is slathered with mayo and sprinkled with chili powder and Cotija cheese. Here, we've taken esquites and turned it into a pasta salad, loaded with charred corn, zucchini, scallions, and poblano chile. A crema-mayo mixture flavored with lime and cilantro adds a bright finish, and Cotija and ancho chile powder seal the deal. Get the Recipe 18 of 30 Grilled Tomato Salad with Mozzarella and Unagi Sauce JOHN KERNICK Chicago chef Stephanie Izard makes the ultimate summer salad with a creamy version of sweet-salty Japanese unagi sauce, which is typically brushed over eel. Get the Recipe 19 of 30 Spinach and Smoked Salmon Salad with Lemon-Dill Dressing CHRISTINA HOLMES This refreshingly crunchy, tangy salad makes for an excellent summer lunch or super-quick dinner. Get the Recipe 20 of 30 Grilled Okra, Corn, and Tomato Salad Victor Protasio This next-level summer salad turns heads with its punchy charred jalapeño and herb-spiked dressing and a palate-perking topping of toasted crunchy coriander and cumin seeds. Get the Recipe 21 of 30 Grilled Baby Potato Salad © Con Poulos This modern take on potato salad forgoes mayo for a base of vinegar and olive oil. Justin Chapple also grills the potatoes to add a great smoky flavor before tossing them with quickly pickled red onions. The best part is the playful salt-and-vinegar potato chip topping, which adds a craveable crunch. Get the Recipe 22 of 30 Summer Chopped Salad with Quick-Pickled Vegetables © Kana Okada Paul Newman, the late co-owner of Dressing Room, Michel Nischan's now-shuttered restaurant in Westport, Connecticut, loved a good chopped salad. To add a tangy burst of flavor, Nischan pickles the carrots, celery, and peppers before tossing them with the rest of the salad. Get the Recipe 23 of 30 Black Rice Salad with Cherries and Plums Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christina Daley Fresh plums and cherries add pops of juicy sweetness to this hearty summer salad. Black rice gives the dish a dark, moody hue and an extra textural bite. The salad builds to a delicious crescendo with its finishing touch: crunchy, craggy, blue cheese–infused breadcrumbs, which provide a lovely textural reprieve to the chewy rice and fruit. Get the Recipe 24 of 30 Tomato, Haricots Verts, and Potato Salad CON POULOS This rustic Italian salad is a great way to showcase perfect, in-season produce. Swap out the summer tomatoes and green beans for roasted root vegetables and fennel in the winter, or asparagus and shaved artichokes in the spring — the possibilities are endless. Get the Recipe 25 of 30 Soba and Zucchini Noodle Salad Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christina Daley This soba salad offers bracing heat that's most welcome on a hot day when the coldest beers are at hand. Tender buckwheat noodles and crispy strands of zucchini "noodles" soak up a pleasantly piquant dressing laced with both gochugaru and gochujang for a double hit of spicy Korean peppers mellowed by a touch of brown sugar. Get the Recipe 26 of 30 Chopped Salad with Grapes and Mint © Quentin Bacon Making this terrifically zippy salad by former F&W editor Emily Kaiser Thelin is a great way to show off your knife skills. While a gyuto and petty knife will both work, the best choice here is the santoku. Get the Recipe 27 of 30 Greens, Avocado, and Blueberry Salad Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen Food scholar and cookbook author Jessica B. Harris keeps specialty salts and vinegars on hand to bring instant interest to salad dressings. Here, a honey-ginger white balsamic is the backbone of a sweet, fragrant dressing that adds a mildly piquant kick to the fresh peppery greens and creamy avocado in this colorful side salad. Get the Recipe 28 of 30 Crunchy Eggplant and Corn Salad with Mint and Feta Victor Protasio In this quick-cooking recipe, corn is just lightly charred to add a bitter note, offsetting its sweetness. A simple pairing of that charred corn with crunchy breaded eggplant makes a quick and satisfying dinner, while the glug of hot chile oil drizzled on top finishes off each plate. Get the Recipe 29 of 30 Cucumber Salad with Thai Chiles and Peanuts © Heather Chontos For this refreshing salad, crisp cucumbers and aromatic cilantro are tossed in a tangy dressing made with lime juice, fish sauce, and fiery Thai chiles. Get the Recipe 30 of 30 Marinated Carrot Salad with Ginger and Sesame Oil © Anna Williams Grilling concentrates the sweet flavor of fresh young carrots. Chef Bryce Gilmore marinates them, then tosses them with a wonderful and unusual dressing he makes by cooking butter until brown, then pureeing it with marcona almonds and sherry vinegar. Get the Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit