The Recipes You Should Be Cooking This July

Both tomatoes and eggplants are at their peak during summer.

Made with white nectarines, this savory-sweet caprese just might trump the classic version. Burrata cheese adds richness, but feel free to sub in fresh mozzarella.

Combining refreshing, crisp vegetables with bold, vibrant flavors, this summer recipe will be a hit.

Charentais has orange flesh, but you can use any orange- or green-fleshed melon for this salsa—just not watermelon, because its flesh is too fragile and watery. This salsa is great with grilled chicken or pork.

“On 19th Street you can get this with okra or lotus root, but here I use an Ojai ingredient!” says Ojai-based, Burmese-born chef Saw Naing of The Dutchess.

Add more zesty, fresh flavor to creamy slaw with lime juice, lime zest, and cilantro.

Your barbecue just got better. The minimalist addition of locally grown fresh thyme and rosemary give this variation on a classic a subtle upgrade that makes all the difference.

At his San Francisco restaurant Liholiho Yacht Club, chef Ravi Kapur uses sustainably fished, line-caught ahi for this iconic Hawaiian dish; salmon, cobia, albacore, or halibut would be good too. He spoons the poke onto crunchy crackers made of nori seaweed (this is our take on them), but you could also serve it on a platter, with store-bought rice crackers alongside.

While this dish is exceptional when using peak season tomatoes, which need virtually no cooking to maximize their inherently deep and balanced flavor, you may need to boost the flavor of off-season tomatoes with extra salt or a hit of sherry vinegar or lemon.

Watching the fish-tossing action at Seattle’s iconic Pike Place Market can work up an appetite. Market Grill comes to the rescue with a juicy and napkin-worthy combo of wild-caught Alaskan fish, caramelized onions, and rosemary-lemon mayo tucked into a toasted baguette.

You’ll love the classic Italian flavors of this grilled chicken, and the caprese salsa with sweet, tart grape and cherry tomatoes is the perfect accompaniment to the charred flavor from the grill.

The Japanese dish chicken yakitori is traditionally made on skewers, but grilling thin chicken breasts instead is even more weeknight-friendly.

Los Angeles restaurant Yangban’s sweet and spicy and oh-so-sticky pork ribs benefit from a sauce spiked with gochujang, the deeply flavored fermented Korean chili paste.

This recipe is adapted from one in the book Amor y Tacos by California–based chef Deborah Schneider and features shredded beef chuck roast flavored with cola, tomatoes, chiles, and cumin.

Andrea Nguyen, a California-based cookbook writer and cooking teacher, likes to marinate and grill a slab of tofu, sliding it into a ciabatta roll along with the vegetables and bacon. Sriracha and a drizzle of the ginger-soy marinade add even more complex flavor.

Scared to try a veggie burger? This one will make you a believer. Packed with lentils and healthy veggies, we promise you will never even miss the meat.

Homegrown grilled vegetables top these hot dogs, along with a creamy aioli made with a backyard chicken egg and garden herbs.

Chiles spice up these burgers three ways: grilled, in the pepper jack cheese, and in the chipotle mayo. This might be your new favorite 4th of July recipe.

Kulfi is a rich, thick ice cream beloved on the Indian subcontinent—and on Indian menus in the West.

Street stands in Mexico sell fresh fruit sprinkled with lime, chile, and salt. These pops capture that same zing.

Pineapple holds up to skewering, doesn’t fall apart on the grill, and makes an elegant, surprising dessert—especially when drizzled with a simple-to-make caramel sauce.

After finding a fly in her bottle of Mouton Cadet Rouge, chef and cookbook author Joanne Weir, then 24, had the gumption to mail the insect to the wine’s maker, Château Mouton Rothschild, one of the top wineries in the world. In response to her complaint, she received an invitation to lunch at the château. She booked a flight immediately.

This recipe is her recreation of the day’s finale—a tart “topped with a silky smooth kirsch pastry cream and crowned with perfectly glazed, ripe red strawberries.”

Imagine s’mores in cone form—and wrapped in foil for heating—and you’ll have the idea here. If you set out ingredients and a couple of cups for keeping the cones upright, kids can help with the assembly.

A nostalgic campfire classic—but with ice cream!

No need to haul out the ice cream maker or pie plate for this ode to summer pies. Store-bought vanilla ice cream swirled with sweet-tart rhubarb compote, plus shortbread “crust” crumbles, gives new meaning to pie à la mode.

This recipe by food blogger Matt Robinson of Real Food by Dad is perfection made with peanut-butter-cup/chocolate-swirl ice cream (often called Moose Tracks), but feel free to swap it out for your favorite flavor.

Use fresh garden lavender, if you have it, for a lightly floral, super refreshing iced tea.

This is just as refreshing as the usual melon wedges, without the sticky fingers. Orange-flower water adds a hint of the exotic.

This refreshing lemonade is just as much about the strawberries as it is about the lemons.

Our spirit-free version of this traditional vodka drink focuses on the citrus-forward notes of Seedlip Grove 42. Fresh spring mint helps brighten the cocktail and adds depth.

We love how watermelon and lime come together in this cocktail.

The key to making bartender-worthy concoctions: muddling fresh fruit and herbs, like in this blackberry pineapple mojito.

This refreshing drink has all the makings of a signature party cocktail.

Instead of a traditional red sangria, make a refreshing summer version with white wine and fresh peaches.

A spicy tropical cocktail from Carlos Torrescano, of Stanly Ranch in Napa Valley.