20 Simple Grilled Appetizers for Summer

The Japanese-style marinade here works especially fast, thanks to the combination of tart citrus and salty soy sauce.

Squeeze the charred lemons over the shrimp before serving for a tangy, smoky hit of flavor. You may want to make extra feta sauce to have with lean lamb steaks or chicken skewers.

Grilled vegetables are brightened with a blend of vinegar, orange juice and lemon juice.

Grilling zucchini and summer squash ribbons on skewers is terrific because the edges become wonderfully charred and crisp, while the insides stay tender and juicy.

This is the ultimate summer pizza, topped with lots of grated summer squash and piquant peperoncini, along with sausage.

Cherry preserves with habanero chile create a fabulously sticky, sweet and spicy glaze for grilled chicken wings. Glaze them just before serving so the sugars don’t burn.

Traditionally, these crunchy Vietnamese beef rolls are wrapped in la lot leaves, which are similar to shiso. However, grape leaves make an excellent replacement.

Sprinkle generously with your favorite sea salt.

This is a perfect party dish because it’s so easy to assemble, and you can marinate and skewer the shrimp ahead of time.

For this fun cross between a salad and a cheese course, Daniel Humm grills apricots to give them an alluring smokiness, then serves them with goat cheese, arugula and a toasted-pine nut dressing.

Pork satay, a staple among hawkers in Singapore, is typically very sweet. Bryant Ng’s version, which he marinates in a combination of lemongrass and coconut milk, is more balanced. He also adds extra fennel seeds, making the tender skewered meat even more aromatic.

No shucking necessary: Once the oysters open on the grill, simply top them with David Kinch’s smoky, tangy butter.

This easy grilled flatbread—topped with sautéed mushrooms, fresh herbs and ricotta cheese—is perfect for outdoor entertaining.

As the peppers blister, the cheese mixture tucked inside turns warm and gooey.

The delicate taste of fresh mozzarella offers a delicious counterpoint to the garlic-and-vinegar-macerated zucchini. However, if you prefer a stronger cheese flavor, try goat cheese instead.

The marinade for these shrimp—a piquant mix of lemon juice, garlic, ginger, basil and parsley—would be equally good with pork or chicken. The dipping sauce is almost chutney-like with chunks of whole tomatoes; lemongrass and lime juice add tang.

These rich, herb-scented scallops go perfectly with a crisp light beer.

These deliciously spiced grilled chicken skewers are perfect with a sweet-and-tangy peanut sauce.

Michael Psilakis likes to riff on saganaki—fried cheese with lemon. He uses manouri, a fresh, milky white cheese made from the whey that's drained off during feta production. Like nearly all Greek cheeses, it's produced from either sheep's or goat's milk.

Blaine Wetzel grills oysters, then drizzles them with butter flavored with sage, oregano, lemon juice and tequila. He prefers oysters from Samish Bay in the northern Puget Sound, where some food historians say the first Pacific oysters grew in 1919.