In the dog days of summer, we’d rather be anywhere than a hot kitchen (though our first choice is probably on a float in an infinity pool with a cold glass of wine in hand). So, to minimize the whole standing-over-a-hot-stove thing, we like to rely on “dump” dinners: easy set-it-and-forget-it meals that are seasonal, fresh and delicious without too much effort (like sheet-pan gnocchi and Instant Pot coconut salmon). Intrigued? Here are 30 summer dump dinners to get you started.
30 Summer Dump Dinners That Basically Cook Themselves
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Published Jul 25, 2022
1. Hot Honey Chicken Thighs
- Time Commitment: 40 minutes
- Why We Love It: one pan, <10 ingredients, beginner-friendly
Sweet and spicy is one of our favorite flavor pairings, and this skillet dish makes a quick homemade hot honey out of everyday ingredients. Bonus: It tastes like fried chicken without all the mess of frying.
2. Tater Tot Nachos
- Time Commitment: 50 minutes
- Why We Love It: beginner-friendly, sheet pan recipe, kid-friendly
It’s summertime and the living is easy. That means it’s totally cool to have tatchos for dinner. Making a topping bar so everyone can choose their faves—the kids are gonna love you.
3. Sheet-pan Chilaquiles
- Time Commitment: 45 minutes
- Why We Love It: sheet pan recipe, kid-friendly, low sugar
We almost always have tortillas in the pantry (or freezer), eggs and an avocado that’s threatening to go bad. We propose this easy brunch dish becomes a dinner staple, too.
4. One-pot Pasta With Peas, Artichokes, Lemon And Mint
- Time Commitment: 30 minutes
- Why We Love It: one pan, ready in <30 minutes, <10 ingredients
Save the sad, jarred pasta sauce for another night. Instead, toss together marinated artichokes and noodles, then make a “sauce” using grated cheese and lemon juice. Voilà, a fresh and light pasta that tastes like it took hours to make.
5. Sheet-pan Gnocchi With Sausage, Peppers And Onions
- Time Commitment: 30 minutes
- Why We Love It: ready in <30 minutes, sheet pan recipe, <10 ingredients, kid-friendly
You can work magic with just a package of store-bought gnocchi. This meal tastes like one of our favorite Italian flavor combos and serves as an excuse to not do any dishes.
6. Instant Pot Coconut Salmon With Fresh Herbs And Lime
- Time Commitment: 20 minutes
- Why We Love It: Instant Pot recipe, ready in <30 minutes, no sugar
Instant Pot salmon? Yes, it’s a thing, and it’s both delicious and impossible to mess up. Since the fish is steam-poached in the spiced coconut milk, it comes out moist and flavorful every time.
7. One-pot Tomato Basil Pasta
- Time Commitment: 20 minutes
- Why We Love It: one pan, ready in <30 minutes, <10 ingredients
This recipe requires just five minutes of prep and 15 minutes of cooking. If you use homegrown cherry tomatoes and basil, even better.
8. Sheet-pan Tomato Basil Gnocchi
- Time Commitment: 35 minutes
- Why We Love It: sheet pan recipe, kid-friendly, beginner-friendly, vegetarian
Cooking gnocchi (store-bought, of course) in the oven makes it crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, without any of that boiling water business. Use store-bought pesto to streamline it even further.
9. Greek Chicken With Feta And Kalamata Olives
- Time Commitment: 1 hour, 25 minutes
- Why We Love It: one pan, beginner-friendly, special occasion–worthy, gluten free
This flavorful chicken dinner has the added benefit of being cooked in a parchment parcel (aka en papillote), so there’s almost no cleanup required.
10. Instant Pot Spaghetti With Goat Cheese, Mint And Peas
- Time Commitment: 30 minutes
- Why We Love It: Instant Pot recipe, ready in <30 minutes, vegetarian, <10 ingredients, crowd-pleaser
The key to achieving perfectly al dente pasta in a pressure cooker is to drop the dry noodles in with the aromatics so they absorb as much flavor as possible, then quick-release the pressure once they’re cooked, so they don’t go mushy on you.
11. Easy One-pan Ratatouille
- Time Commitment: 1 hour, 30 minutes
- Why We Love It: one pan, vegetarian, gluten free, dairy free
Traditional ratatouille requires many pots and pans and a lot of time, but we’ve managed to streamline the recipe in a major way. Spend that extra free time stocking up on veggies at the farmers market.
12. Sweet Potato, Tomato, Kale And Halloumi Sheet Tray
- Time Commitment: 45 minutes
- Why We Love It: sheet pan recipe
It’s true, we’ll eat anything that involves halloumi, but we also love that the tomatoes and olives in this dish meld together into a sauce.
13. Cheater’s Skillet Lasagna With Corn And Cherry Tomatoes
- Time Commitment: 35 minutes
- Why We Love It: one pan, vegetarian, crowd-pleaser,
Proof that you can skip all the fussy layers and still make a cheesy, crave-worthy dinner. (Plus, it’s a great way to use up all that zucchini and corn you bought at the farmers market.)
14. 15-minute Skillet Pepper Steak
- Time Commitment: 15 minutes
- Why We Love It: <500 calories, one pan, ready in <15 minutes
We know you’d rather be soaking up the sun than thinking about dinner, but you don’t have to resort to takeout. Just make this.
15. One-pan Roasted Salmon With Potatoes And Romaine
- Time Commitment: 40 minutes
- Why We Love It: sheet pan recipe, <10 ingredients, gluten free, dairy free
The entrée and sides all cook at the same time! (Swap the romaine hearts for kale or even broccoli if that’s your jam.)
16. One-pot, 15-minute Pasta Limone
- Time Commitment: 15 minutes
- Why We Love It: one pan, ready in <15 minutes, <10 ingredients
We love how fresh and summery this tastes. Plus, you probably have all of the ingredients on hand already.
17. Slow Cooker Pulled Chicken
- Time Commitment: 7 hours, 10 minutes
- Why We Love It: slow cooker recipe, make ahead, crowd-pleaser
Why go to the trouble of lighting the grill when you can make this for your next cookout instead? Serve with a side of slaw and we promise you’ll have a yard full of happy guests.
18. Crockpot Corn Chowder
- Time Commitment: 6 hours, 10 minutes
- Why We Love It: slow cooker recipe, vegetarian, <10 ingredients, crowd-pleaser
We don’t usually crave soup in the summer (unless it’s gazpacho), but this creamy chowder is a major exception. Pick up some extra sweet corn at the farmers market and have it for dinner all week long.
19. Instant Pot Barbacoa Beef
- Time Commitment: 1 hour, 15 minutes
- Why We Love It: Instant Pot recipe, make ahead, crowd-pleaser
Resist the temptation to stop for a burrito bowl on the way home. You can make this in the Instant Pot just as quickly (or the slow cooker, if you plan ahead).
20. Skillet Steak With Asparagus And Potatoes
- Time Commitment: 1 hour
- Why We Love It: special occasion–worthy, one pan, gluten free
Everything cooks together in one sizzling hot pan, which means great flavor and no pile of dirty dishes after dinner. We call that a weeknight win.
21. Instant Pot Southern Macaroni And Cheese
- Time Commitment: 40 minutes
- Why We Love It: Instant Pot recipe, crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly
For those times you’re invited to a cookout and forget you promised to bring a dish. (Although we also fully condone it for a random Wednesday when only carbs and cheese will do.)
22. Sheet-pan Garlic Butter Shrimp
- Time Commitment: 25 minutes
- Why We Love It: ready in <30 minutes, sheet pan recipe, <10 ingredients
Summer is all about entertaining, and this simple sheet pan supper is the perfect way to feed a crowd. We’ve yet to meet anyone who doesn’t like shrimp with a lemony garlic butter sauce.
23. Instant Pot Spicy Pineapple Chicken Tacos
- Time Commitment: 30 minutes
- Why We Love It: Instant Pot recipe, crowd-pleaser, <500 calories
We like to serve these with sliced avocado and plenty of fresh lime wedges. (The ice-cold margarita goes without saying.)
24. Slow Cooker Mediterranean Frittata
- Time Commitment: 3 hours, 30 minutes
- Why We Love It: make ahead, <10 ingredients, gluten free, slow cooker recipe
We’re basically always in the mood for breakfast for dinner. And when it’s too hot to turn on the oven, this is how we make it happen.
25. Instant Pot Peanut Noodles
- Time Commitment: 30 minutes
- Why We Love It: Instant Pot recipe, ready in <30 minutes, beginner-friendly
When you can’t look at another salad, try this meal-prep miracle. It’s loaded with veggies, protein and an irresistible peanut sauce.
26. Sheet-pan Lemon Butter Veggies And Sausage
- Time Commitment: 40 minutes
- Why We Love It: sheet pan recipe, gluten free, crowd-pleaser
It doesn’t get any easier than this one-pan wonder. Plus, it’s a great way to use up all the vegetables you have left in the fridge before you leave for vacation.
27. Instant Pot Baby Back Ribs
- Time Commitment: 30 minutes
- Why We Love It: ready in <30 minutes, dairy free, beginner-friendly
We’ve always been a little bit intimidated by ribs, but this recipe (and our trusty pressure cooker) takes all the guesswork out. We know what we’re doing every weekend for the rest of the summer.
28. Instant Pot Summer Soup
- Time Commitment: 50 minutes
- Why We Love It: Instant Pot recipe, crowd-pleaser, beginner-friendly
Whether you stopped at too many farm stands on the way back from the beach, or you’re just celebrating that there’s actually good produce at the market, we’re betting you have plenty of veggies to put in this super-simple (and extremely healthy) soup. It’s a good dose of virtue in between all the hot dogs and peach cobbler.
29. Old Bay Shrimp And Sausage Sheet-pan Dinner
- Time Commitment: 33 minutes
- Why We Love It: gluten free, dairy free, whole30
Old Bay always makes us think of eating seafood on the beach. And whether you’re actually by a body of water or just dreaming about it, this is the easiest way to get into that vibe.
30. Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
- Time Commitment: 4 hours, 5 minutes
- Why We Love It: slow cooker recipe, <10 ingredients, crowd-pleaser
The secret ingredient to this pork? A can of cola. We were skeptical too, but it’s hard to argue with a smoky-sweet, fork-tender pulled pork sandwich in the summer.
Katherine Gillen is a writer, recipe developer and food stylist with a degree in culinary arts and professional experience in New York City restaurants. She used to sling sugary desserts in a pastry kitchen, but now she's an avid home cook and fanatic baker.
Rebecca Shapiro is a freelance writer for PureWow.
