30 Recipes to Make in June

This recipe from Hawaiian chef Sheldon Simeon is inspired by the food trucks that serve garlic butter shrimp on Oahu’s North Shore. Shrimp are marinated in a mixture of Italian dressing, mayonnaise, calamansi juice, and salt, then grilled and tossed in roasted garlic butter. The result: unbelievably sweet, juicy grilled shrimp. You can make the garlic butter in advance, and use any leftover garlic butter on pasta, fish, or toast.

Grilled summer produce meets a chile-spiked herb dressing in this recipe for Masala Grilled Vegetables with Spicy Mint Chutney.

The chile-induced heat in this dish doesn’t kick in until the last moment, creating a gentle afterburn that is cooled by sweet strawberries and a smooth bed of tangy cream.

A classic combination of gin, lemon, and club soda gets a refreshing twist with cucumber, basil, and black cardamom infused syrup. Dried rose petals add a subtle floral flavor and act as a beautiful garnish.

Although his breading technique at Rocky’s Hot Chicken Shack in Asheville, North Carolina is top secret, chef Rich Cundiff was kind enough to create this special riff on his coconut shrimp exclusively for us. A drizzle of syrupy honey glaze, infused with black pepper and lemon, adds a tart-sweet bite.

Starting over hot coals and finishing over low heat mimics the crispy-juicy results of shawarma, kebab, and al pastor shops around the world. After marinating, some of the chicken pieces may break apart; simply tuck those loose pieces in the center of the skewered stack. Use three skewers to stack and stabilize the shawarma so it’s easy to maneuver on the grill.

Finnan haddie, or cold-smoked cured haddock, gives this brothy chowder a deep, clean, smoky foundation that highlights sweet clams without overwhelming them. Using a mixture of lightly mashed potatoes and hald-and-half to thicken and enrich the soup gives it a silky, but not heavy, texture.

The technique of tempering—heating spices gently in oil or ghee to release their essential oils—is commonly used in Indian cooking to build layers of flavor. Here, sweet and peppery mango teams up with pork for a gentle simmer in the spice-laden oil.

Sweet sugar snap peas give this light summer salad from Ivan Conill’s Branch Line in Boston a satisfying crunch, while whole-milk ricotta adds heft with its mild, creamy richness. Shredded rotisserie chicken may be omitted for a vegetarian version, or you can substitute with flaked hot smoked salmon.

This vegetarian masterpiece is packed with make-ahead options and smart shortcuts. Make the Smoked Almond Muhammara up to 3 days in advance and stash it in the fridge; skip a step and substitute 2 cups jarred roasted peppers for the grilled bell peppers, plus about 1/4 cup liquid from the jar.

These upgraded BLTs combine tender, sweet lobster meat with smoky, salty bacon, juicy tomatoes, and pillowy potato buns, lightly toasted in bacon drippings.

This burger is a two-hander, topped with Japanese-spiced chili, tomatoes, and shredded iceberg lettuce. Be careful not to overmix the beef before shaping it into patties; a light hand yields tender burgers.

This sweet, spicy, and punchy upgrade to classic slabs of salted watermelon is a palate-pleasing appetizer.

Homemade chocolate cookies encase store-bought black cherry ice cream for the ultimate ice cream sandwiches.

The meringue topping expands as this stunning cake bakes, so be careful not to spread it all the way to the edges of the cake batter to make removing the cake from the pan easier. Top with whatever berries are in season at your market, or use your favorite sliced stonefruit.

Inspired by her mother's cooking, Karla Vasquez's recipe celebrates this popular style of cooking fish in El Salvador. Many families use mojarra, a fish found in fresh water, but trout makes a great substitute. Salsa inglesa, or Worcestershire sauce, is a frequent find in Salvadoran condiment drawers and teams up with the mustard to create a punchy, umami-packed crust. Delicate, meltingly tender whole trout gets crispy skin from a quick sear in a cast-iron skillet.

"Nowadays, when I serve plums and nectarines, like in my Stone Fruit Salad with Collard-Peanut Pesto, I'm transported to parties where we dapped, hugged, boogied, and kissed under the moonlight," says writer Nicole Taylor, of her Juneteenth celebrations. In this savory fruit salad, roasted peanuts, collard greens, and Parmesan yield a hearty pesto that's the perfect partner for honey-dressed wedges of plums and nectarines. Fonio, a West African grain similar in texture to couscous, soaks up the pesto, flavoring each bite of this salad.

2020 F&W Best New Chef Donny Sirisavath of Khao Noodle Shop in Dallas shared this recipe, a nod to his Laotian heritage and Texas upbringing, inspired by when his parents grilled brisket over hardwood coals for family gatherings. Here, thick and meaty tri-tip steaks get seared on the hot zone of the grill and then slowly smoke-grilled until medium-rare. Let them rest, and then thinly slice them against the grain and serve with Sirisavath's jeow som, a fiery, fish sauce–flavored dipping sauce.

Maydān, Rose Previte's Washington, D.C. restaurant and wood-fired homage to Lebanon, is justly famous for its massive hearth, where this whole marinated cauliflower is cooked. While the Maydan chefs truss and hang the cauliflower heads over the fire to slowly cook them, we've adapted the recipe to grill-roast them over indirect heat with an oak or hickory log at the center of the grill, alongside lit coals (which imbues the dish with smoky flavor and a rich color) before lightly charring the cauliflower over the coals to finish. Simply put, this is one of the most delicious dishes we've ever grilled at home. 

There is no incorrect way to layer falooda, the milky, traditionally rose-flavored dessert beloved in India, Pakistan, and other parts of South Asia. Everyone has their own preference on how to stack the components—but agrees that falooda is always best built in a tall glass. This version stars bouncy cubes of rose jelly suspended in rose syrup–sweetened milk over layers of tender corn vermicelli and chewy chia seeds. A crowning scoop of vanilla ice cream adds a creamy finish. 

Scholar Regina Bradley (nicknamed Gina Mae as a child) added a few special touches to her husband's baked beans recipe to make it her own. "A cookout's DNA is found in the sides and who made them. This task is not for the faint of heart or the thin-skinned," wrote Bradley, in an essay on the hierarchy of the cookout  for Food & Wine. "If your beans taste burnt or your potato salad has raisins or olives, we talking bad about you 'til your grandchildren hear about it." For this summer-perfect side, Bradley dresses up store-bought barbecue sauce with extra brown sugar; apple cider vinegar cuts through the smoky sweetness. 

Smoky, charred Broccolini and chickpeas give this take on Caesar salad the heft it needs to be a main course. Texture is the secret to a salad’s wow factor. Here, Little Gem lettuces, hearty kale, and crisp-tender Broccolini bring three levels of crunch, and provide plenty of leafy nooks and crannies to catch the thick, anchovy-laced dressing.

Pastry chef Sasha Piligian channels summer vibes to create her showstopping baked goods, like this epic layer cake. She starts with two flavor-packed components—a tart-sweet Meyer lemon curd for the filling, and a coriander-spiced blueberry jam to flavor and tint her fluffy Swiss meringue buttercream frosting. The addition of beaten egg whites to the batter keeps the lemon chiffon cake layers light and airy, and, for a final flourish, Piligian embellishes the frosted cake with edible flower petals, mint leaves, pools of glistening jam, fresh berries, and sliced citrus.

A vinaigrette bolstered with chopped olives, toasted walnuts, and fresh parsley is a bold finishing touch for roasted salmon basted with smoked paprika and lemon. The combination of basting and slow roasting yields incredibly tender salmon; the walnut-olive vinaigrette adds a briny, buttery crunch.

Marc Farrell of Ten to One Rum, who wants to introduce the Caribbean’s history, heritage, and culture into people’s understanding of rum, shared the recipe for this rich and layered riff on the Manhattan, which shows off the smooth caramel and butterscotch flavors from dark rum. Pairing rum with the soft herbal notes of Averna Amaro Siciliano, which is sweeter than typical amaro, a few dashes of bitters, and a sweet Maraschino cherry, gently mellows the alcohol, making this simple stirred cocktail balanced, not bracing.

In this flavor-packed chicken, Juan Pablo Loza, director of culinary operations at Rosewood Mayakoba in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, shares his obsession for the al pastor style of cooking. This dish takes its inspiration from a traditional way of roasting chicken in Michoacán, where butterflied whole chickens are marinated with citrus, and speared with thick wooden stakes hammered into the ground. Splayed open, the chickens slowly cook vertically over a bed of coals, resulting in juicy meat and bronzed skin. Here, the cooking style is adapted to a horizontal grill basket set over two stacks of bricks on the grate, positioning the chicken up and away from the hot coals. An oak or mesquite log set alongside lit coals at the center of the grill perfumes the bird with smoke.

"Wood can be as essential and impactful an ingredient as fat or salt. As it burns, wood releases chemical compounds that deliver delicious flavors and aromas to food. In this dish, inspired by the cooking of Swedish mushroom forager and chef Elle Nikishkova, applewood and juniper add layers of flavor to oyster and chanterelle mushrooms and rich crème fraîche. Seasoning the oyster and chanterelle mushrooms with salt and pepper and letting them rest for a long stint in the refrigerator before cooking draws out moisture, helping them caramelize quickly on the grill while staying meaty and tender. 

"When hibiscus is steeped in water, it creates a red drink, an essential menu item of Juneteenth," says writer Nicole A. Taylor, sharing the Juneteenth memories that inspired her to create this Hibiscus Snow Cone. In this playful icy dessert, Taylor riffs on tradition, using dried hibiscus blossoms to make a sweet, tangy syrup for a celebratory snow cone. Whipped cream and crushed pink peppercorns add a final flourish.

Smoky, melty "pimentón" cheese, crispy jamón serrano, and a savory-sweet aioli top beef patties in this towering tapas-inspired burger from Urdaneta, a popular tapas spot in Portland, OR. Kalimotxo, a Spanish red wine and cola cocktail, is the inspiration for the marvelously mauve aioli.

Mildly spicy poblano liqueur and tangy passion fruit liqueur add delicious complexity to this white rum–spiked Aperol spritz from Ten to One distillery CEO/founder Marc Farrell. Boozy heat from white rum gives a pleasant bite to a bubbly summer staple. Choose your fizz: Use sparkling water to let the spirits and liqueurs shine through, or use a splash of sparkling wine to tame the tart piquancy of the drink for a mellower sip.