5 Great Grilling Recipes for June

A red platter of sliced carne asada, served with lime wedges — The Spruce Eats / Maxwell Cozzi

In the United States, grilling is practically a sport come summer, when the heady aromas of smoldering charcoal and lighter fluid permeate boroughs, backyards, and city blocks from coast to coast. But we don't have a monopoly on flame-cooked food. Cooking over live fire is quite literally one of the things that makes us human!

While our human ancestors cooked outdoors due to necessity, we continue the tradition today because the complex flavors you get from grilling can't be replicated indoors. There's also just something about standing over the hot grill on a summer afternoon with a very cold beer in hand, the shadows stretching longer as the minutes pass, that makes you feel really alive and in the moment. Embrace that feeling with these five hand-chosen recipes.

01 of 05

Carne Asada

The Spruce Eats / Maxwell Cozzi

Mexican carne asada is a dish that takes tougher (but more flavorful) cuts of meat like skirt steak, bathes them in a citrusy marinade, and deeply chars them on the grill. While marinating takes time, this is easily a weeknight dinner. Just throw the meat into the marinade in the morning before work, then take it out when you get home. After a short stint over the flames the meat is ready for your taco Tuesday spread. Don't forget the refried beans!
02 of 05

Joojeh Kabob

The Spruce Eats / Maxwell Cozzi

These Persian chicken kabobs get their sunny color from saffron, perhaps the world's most labor-intensive spice to harvest. While saffron might be high-maintenance, these kabobs are decidedly not. After an overnight marinade, the tender chicken is threaded onto skewers and grilled for a mere ten minutes. Serve the kabobs with lavash and a simple cucumber and tomato salad.
03 of 05

Quick Citrus-Honey Grilled Shrimp

The Spruce/Maxwell Cozzi

Most grilling recipes require an overnight marinade for the best flavor. Not so for these quick and easy shrimp skewers! You'll marinate them for 30 minutes max in a sweet and sour marinade made with lime juice, honey, and garlic. Because shrimp cook so quickly, the honey in the marinade will help them char during their short stint over the coals.
04 of 05

Grilled Romaine Hearts

The Spruce/Julia Hartbeck

Since you're already standing over the grill, why not throw the salad on there, too? Hear me out. These grilled romaine hearts aren't cooked to death. They're grilled just long enough to pick up those beautiful smoky charred flavors, then served simply with balsamic vinegar and parmesan. Good thing you've already got the steak knives out because you'll need them for this fork-and-knife salad.

Continue to 5 of 5 below
05 of 05

Grilled Brown Sugar Bananas

The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

Frozen banana pops are the usual summer banana dessert, but we'd like to argue in favor of these grilled brown sugar bananas. With only four ingredients and a grilling time of six minutes, you don't even have to plan ahead for this cookout-friendly treat. Serve them as an accompaniment to ice cream or drizzle them with dulce de leche and sprinkle them with toasted cashews for a dessert that couldn't be more easygoing if it tried.

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