Easy

When you have a glut of fresh summer fruit, sorbets are the answer. You don’t need a recipe — just a basic template to follow and a little creativity. Strawberry-peach sorbet? Mint-infused watermelon sorbet? Raspberry-rosé sorbet? Yes, let’s make all of these this summer. All you need is chopped fruits, puree it, then add a little simple syrup and lemon juice, chill the base, churn the sorbet, and then freeze it.

If you’re craving a juicy, tender, cheese-topped burger — one that you can really sink your teeth into — then you need to try the stovetop method. No dry hockey pucks here! Just the kind of burger you’d normally pay big bucks for at a restaurant. Today we’re talking burgers. From the best kind of ground beef to use to tips for shaping the patties, with a step-by-step recipe for simply the best burgers you’ve ever had — at home or elsewhere. Ready?

When the sun is shining and you’re contemplating grilling outside, don’t forget that easy grilled sweet potatoes can be a delicious addition to the summer dinner plate. All you have to do is toss thick slices with some oil and salt, and after just 10 minutes on the grill they’ll be sweet and tender with a hint of smokiness from the flames. To up the ante, toss the still-warm grilled sweet potatoes in a sweet-and-spicy dressing. Heat the grill.

As a Midwestern gal, born and raised, I do love my corn on the cob. What I don’t love, however, is standing over a boiling pot of water waiting for the cobs to cook on a sweltering summer day. Boiling has also always felt to me like a lot of labor for what amounts to a few minutes of actual cook time. Enter: the microwave. Ever since we first talked about this method, the microwave has become my favorite tool for quickly cooking a few ears of corn for a weeknight summer dinner.

It's the no-cook dish of my dreams.

This basic chicken breast technique gets meal prep done faster!

A step-by-step guide to the best sandwich of summer.

It’s summer, which means that not only is your grill hot, but corn on the cob is also finally juicy and sweet. The two need to meet. While I’d like to tell you it’s as simple as throwing the cobs on the hot gas grill or charcoal grill and letting the two mingle, there is some work that must be done to get the corn and its husk ready for the grill. Get to know which corn to buy, steps for grilling, and the essentials to achieve a grilled corn perfection.

I firmly believe a good 4th of July meal is as much about all the summery sides that fill up the plate as it is about the grilled burgers and grilled hot dogs. Whether you’re having a big backyard cookout or keeping things small, your outdoor feast is worthy of the all the best side dishes that you can possibly handle⁠—just don’t forget the dessert! When it comes to side dishes to round out the meal, there are so many delicious options to choose from.

In need of a new winning chicken dinner? This is it! You just need five ingredients to bring this buttery, lemon-kissed chicken to the table. Serve it alongside crispy skillet-fried potatoes and roasted broccoli for an easy weeknight dinner. It’s sure to become a new family favorite that everyone will love! Here’s how to make it. Chicken: Use boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

For all the times I have ordered chicken lettuce wraps at restaurants like P.F. Chang’s, inhaled entire “appetizers” by myself, and sighed with happiness while licking sticky sauce from my fingers, it never once occurred to me to try making this dish at home. Partly, lettuce wraps have always felt like an indulgence that needed restriction to restaurant visits only.

Cool and crunchy, delightfully sour and capable of going from a quick snack to a crunchy addition to a hearty sandwich without a hitch — that’s what I call a good pickle. Did you know they’re a cinch to make at home? You don’t even need to set aside the afternoon; you can make a few pint jars in less than 30 minutes. Here’s everything you need to know to make your own batch of homemade dill pickles right now.

There are few things more satisfying than the cool, caffeinated sip of a cup of iced coffee. But cold brew is easy to DIY, and we’re sharing all the secrets to enjoying it at home. The first is to make a big batch in advance — a gift to your future self that’s even faster than hopping in the car and whipping through a Starbucks drive-thru. The second secret? Using the same technique that Starbucks — and other big coffee shops — use to make cold brew in bulk.

Being the primary cook in my household, I was shocked to realize recently that I had no idea how to make one of my favorite marinades. My partner always handles the grilling of galbi (Korean short ribs) plus firm tofu for me, but it seemed silly not to know what went into the sauce for this deeply flavored, salty and sweet Korean-style barbecue. Fortunately, it’s pretty simple and now that I know, I can share it with you, too.

Have you ever sipped a shrub? Not the bush out in your front lawn, but a fruit syrup, preserved with vinegar and mixed with water or alcohol to make a tangy, refreshing beverage. An old-fashioned favorite, shrubs have steadily made a comeback in the last several years — especially on cocktail menus — but they aren’t solely the province of mixologists.

True to their name, poke cakes are sheet cakes that are baked, then (you guessed it!) poked, then filled with a liquid or syrup to add extra flavor and moisture into each bite. These no-fuss cakes (like dump cakes) are one of oldest baking hacks in the book. If you love retro recipes like icebox cake and pineapple upside-down cake, give poke cakes a try. These crowd-pleasing desserts are perfect for potlucks, parties, and gatherings.

Where once I’d pounce on a chef-made bowl of al dente pasta and crisp-tender spring vegetables, now it’s a dish I prefer to make at home. Using what’s fresh and new at the market, I slice and dice carrots, bell peppers, peas, spring onions, and baby Broccolini before tossing them into a pot to quickly cook with penne pasta. Finished with bright and citrusy lemon butter and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese, this warm-weather supper is perfection. And the best part?

Move over, granola.

It’s no secret that McDonald’s Big Macs are beloved all over the world, primarily for the sweet and tangy sauce that’s slathered onto the burger buns. And while there have been plenty of rumors suggesting the special sauce is simply Thousand Island dressing in disguise, McDonald’s says otherwise.

For all your potluck and BBQ needs.

No sandwich press needed.

Here’s my dinnertime strategy: Bring on the vegetable recipes. I try to make vegetables the star of the show most of the time when I am thinking about what to make for dinner (in addition to keeping mealtime easy, of course!). By making my plate more about the vegetables, I find I automatically eat a more wholesome diet without radically changing much. Some nights that means eating a big dinner salad, while other nights I’ll make a hearty veggie sandwich or one-bowl meal.

Sticky-sweet BBQ chicken is the quintessential summer dinner that shouldn’t be limited to the lucky folks with backyard grills. I love BBQ chicken from the grill as much as anyone, but if we’re being really honest here, it is kind of time-consuming to do well. You’ve got to cook the chicken pretty perfectly without the sauce, and once the sauce is added you have to spend a lot of time flipping and basting to get that burnished-but-not-burned coating we all crave.

I have to admit an unpopular opinion: I am just not into mayonnaise-based summer salads. When it is hot out, I want to eat light and refreshing salads, not thick and creamy ones. So when I say this is the best pasta salad ever, it’s with that opinion in mind. But a mayo-free pasta salad can still come with a degree of creaminess. In this case it’s by way of an olive oil-rich vinaigrette and a sprinkling of flavorful soft cheese.

Is there a more quintessential warm-weather side dish than cold pasta salad? This cool salad keeps well, and it’s the perfect make-ahead lunch that you can pack throughout the week. Just about everyone in your family, from your kids to your mother-in-law, will eat it! This recipe is truly as simple as boiling water and tossing in a few key pasta salad ingredients.

Lately, I have been all about flank steak. This cut isn’t quite as fancy — or typically as expensive — as premium steaks, like ribeye and filet mignon, but it cooks just as quickly and delivers big on flavor. I love it for more casual weeknight meals, like easy steak fajitas or alongside some roasted veggies. Plus, the leftovers make tasty steak sandwiches for lunch the next day.

Banish all thoughts of stringy, tough, sad chicken from your mind. For our chicken salad sandwiches and quick chicken weeknight meals, we want nothing but the best. And for that, poached chicken is definitely the way to go. This poached chicken method is easy, fast, and foolproof. Totally tender chicken breasts that are as good for dinner as they are for lunch the next day? Not a problem.

It's the easiest dinner you'll ever make.

My dad has an intense sweet tooth, just like me. One afternoon when I was around 10 years old, Dad got a hankering and he enlisted me to help him make Toll House chocolate chip cookies. That was the first time he and I had ever baked together. Since then, whenever I make chocolate chip cookies, including the ones from this recipe, I think of him and that special afternoon we spent together in the kitchen. I developed this recipe over the years.

We love roasted peanuts in everything from homemade granola to crunchy slaws and vibrant salads. But we found found that it’s much cheaper to buy raw peanuts in bulk and to roast them at home. It’s quick and easy, and it lets us control the roasted flavor more precisely. It’s so easy! You start with raw, shelled peanuts, spread them on a baking sheet, then roast them in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes. That’s it! They taste better than store-bought roasted peanuts.

Date syrup is a thick, caramel-colored sweetener made from dried dates. You may have seen date syrup on the shelves in your local health food store or online, as many cooks embrace it as an alternative sweetener. Date syrup is incredibly easy to make at home, can be more affordable than store-bought, and has the lush caramel hue and heady date flavor of its namesake fruit. Here is everything you need to know about making date syrup at home. Medjool: Medjool dates are ideal for making date syrup.

Here at The Kitchn, we are firm believers in the power of sangria. Whether you serve it in the spring, in the summer, in the fall, or in the winter, sangria is the perfect make-ahead cocktail. Pull a pitcher from the fridge as guests arrive and no one needs much encouragement to start pouring glasses. It feels fancy and instantly festive, but sangria is also one of the easiest big-batch cocktails you can make. As the party host, it’s a no-brainer.

When the heat of summer sets in I just want to eat meals that will cool me down. My relationship with soups, stews, and basically anything that comes out of the oven is on hold for these next few months. I prefer easy summer dinners that come together quickly when I don’t feel like cooking.Needless to say, this shrimp ceviche is on heavy rotation.

If we’re being honest, no one is more surprised than me at how legit these cottage cheese pancakes are. As someone who claimed for years not to like cottage cheese, these pancakes were the gateway that finally made me a believer. These are high-protein, low-fat pancakes with three simple ingredients that cook up fluffy and actually taste good. If it sounds too good to be true, I assure you it’s not.

Growing up, challah French toast was the only French toast I knew. We would slather softened butter over thick slices of fresh challah on Friday night for Shabbat dinner, and my dad would use the rest of the loaf to make mile-high stacks of French toast the next morning, dusted with powdered sugar and doused with syrup. (Eventually, we just started buying two loaves of challah, for fear we wouldn’t have enough left over).

A good hollandaise sauce, whether it’s over eggs Benedict on Saturday morning or steamed asparagus for dinner, truly levels up anything on your plate. Maybe you didn’t know that this creamy, buttery, slightly tangy sauce that you love so dearly could be made at home in about two minutes using just a blender. Want to impress your friends this weekend? Invite them for Sunday brunch or a steak dinner and tell them you’re making hollandaise sauce.

If you’ve avoided cooking dried beans at home because you’ve heard they are tricky, finicky, or complicated, it’s time to leave all that behind. Cooking dried beans, whether they’re black beans, pinto beans, or dried chickpeas, is no more trouble than filling a pot of water and letting it simmer happily on the back burner all afternoon. In fact, that’s basically all it is.

Do you love a mint julep as much as I do? This classic cocktail always seems to have the right amount of minty sweetness, just enough fizz, and a strong bourbon flavor. It’s a near-perfect sip on a hot porch in summertime. Kentuckians in particular have strong opinions about what should and should not go into a julep cup. Most would agree that a classic julep should start with mint muddled with a bit of sugar.

You'll immediately notice the difference.

Who says chicken breasts have gotta be boring?

Sliced cucumbers can't be boring when they're made to be bright and tangy.

Years ago, when I was just beginning to cook for myself, I felt intimidated by shrimp. Like other crustaceans from the deep, they seemed mysterious, expensive, and exotic. But then I learned that shrimp are incredibly easy to cook.One of my favorite walk-in-the-door meals is shrimp, roasted until hot and juicy, tossed over a bowl of pasta, on top of creamy polenta, or in a hearty kale salad .

It's amazing on fish tacos.

For me, the moment that marks the beginning of spring isn’t when I spot the first cherry blossoms or pack away my winter coat — it’s when I bite into my first strawberry of the season. Homemade strawberry shortcakes are the very best way to showcase the freshly picked, super-juicy spring berries.

When I first started learning how to make cocktails at home, I had no idea people made their own simple syrup. I was the person who went to the store to buy a bottle of what I later learned to be sugar water. That’s right — sugar dissolved in water. Simple syrup is an essential ingredient in cocktails and other beverages like iced coffee because it blends so well with other liquids, and it’s super easy to make yourself — we promise.

As much as I love a classic quiche, broccoli is my all-time favorite add-in for quiche. The crisp-tender veggie lends a pop of color — and a dose of nutrients — to each and every slice of the creamy, cheesy egg bake. But not all broccoli quiches are created equal. Read on for my secret to the best-ever broccoli and cheese version — the one you’ll want to serve for any and all occasions, be it a holiday brunch, morning breakfast, or weeknight dinner.

Pitcher cocktails are smart party choices; they easily serve a crowd and don’t require you to be constantly shaking and stirring. These pitcher margaritas are even wiser than the rest, seeing as this recipe isn’t even a recipe — it’s a ratio. Just follow a ratio of three parts tequila, two parts orange liqueur, and one part lime juice.

Behold the single food that has revolutionized my weekly meal plan – shredded chicken! The very best thing about cooking up a batch of shredded chicken are all the possibilities it brings to mealtime. It can mean a week’s worth of dinners — everything from chicken tacos and chicken burritos to chicken salad are made more satisfying with shredded chicken. It’s an easy solution for make-ahead lunches and weeknight dinners the whole family will love.

Before my fellow Southerners read this and start thinking, “Are you kidding me? Who doesn’t know how to make sweet tea?” — hear me out. I am Florida-born and Georgia-raised, but when I moved to California, one of the first things I noticed was that no one drinks sweet tea out here! I always keep a pitcher ready in my fridge, and my friends inevitably ask me, “How do you make this?” Today you’re going to find out how.

Hello, gorgeous.

My first restaurant job was at a little lunch cafe famous for its giant cookies, towering hummus sandwiches, and cold peanut noodles. This husband-and-wife-run neighborhood joint was regularly filled with young professionals slurping cold, spicy soba noodles from plastic clamshell containers. While the owners were always generous with recipes — they gave me their cookie recipes when I left that job — they would not share the secrets to their peanut sauce.

You can have the roast turkey. Leave the glazed ham. Prime rib — what’s that? In my house, leg of lamb is the celebratory roast; I love its tenderness and flavor. Though roast leg of lamb sounds intimidating, the sweet little secret is that leg of lamb is actually one of the easiest, most foolproof cuts of meat to cook. Here’s our remarkably simple, fuss-free leg of lamb recipe. It will turn out perfectly every time.

It is hard to overstate how simple yet stunning pineapple upside-down cake is. This cake has retro charm, but it’s a classic whose appeal hasn’t waned since it first appeared on the home baking scene. It starts with a rich butter cake that, once removed from the pan, reveals a design of caramelized pineapple rings studded with maraschino cherries. Each bite is little treasure chest of flavor — tender cake, mingled with the sweet and slightly tangy notes of pineapple and cherry.

Many of us turn to beans for our weekly meals. It’s a beloved pantry staple for hearty chili, winter stews, and comforting soups. Canned beans are no stranger to my pantry (there’s always a variety lining the shelves for an emergency), but over these past several months at home, I’ve become a dried bean convert.

If you’re skeptical about cabbage, this is the recipe that will turn you into a believer. And if, like me, you already adore cabbage (and are always looking for cabbage recipe ideas), this simple side will deepen your love. Simply put, Southern-style fried cabbage will forever change the way you think about this basic cruciferous vegetable.

Bubble and squeak, with its cutesy name, is a classic British day-after-holiday dish. It is incredibly versatile, as you can throw in any leftover vegetables or mashed potatoes into this comforting recipe — perfect for a relaxing meal after a hectic holiday. Usually made to use up leftovers after a Sunday roast dinner, or a major holiday like Easter or Christmas, bubble and squeak is quintessentially British and makes for a hearty breakfast, lunch, or even a quick weeknight meal.

If there’s one thing harder than deciding what to make yourself for dinner, it’s coming up with easy dinner ideas for your family. You want to get something on the table that’s fairly quick to make and doesn’t require a lot of effort. And you also want a meal that the kids (and ideally the whole table!) will devour, while contending with food preferences that can ping-pong from week to week. And it can feel even trickier when you have a picky eater on your hands.

One bad hard-boiled egg can ruin you for life. At least, that’s what I believed until I learned how to cook soft-boiled and hard-boiled eggs, and precisely how I wanted to eat them. The perfect hard-boiled egg has no green ring around the yolk and the innards are creamy and mellow (plus easy to peel!). And if you’re in the mood, you can stop short of the hard-boil and make a gooey soft-boiled egg instead.

There are many reasons to love black cod — it is sustainably fished, full of healthy omega-3 fatty acids, and wonderfully buttery when cooked. Here’s one more: Nobu restaurant’s miso-marinated black cod, a classic Japanese-influenced recipe that makes an easy, elegant dinner for guests or a quick main dish you can prep over the weekend.