31 Recipes to Make in July

This summery salad from chef Ori Menashe will become your go-to this season. It's sweet and savory, tart, crisp and creamy, rich and refreshing, all in perfect balance.

Kwame Onwuachi's bright, summer salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, gooseberries, avocado, and mint is best served very cold.

Punchy rémoulade cuts through the richness of the crispy buttermilk fried chicken, which is served over a salad of pickled fennel and peaches in this recipe from Top Chef Season 16 winner Kelsey Barnard Clark. Seek out underripe, firmer peaches for the salad—they'll hold up to the pickling best.

No summer picnic is complete without these effortless sandwiches from 2007 Best New Chef Gabriel Rucker. Best-quality baguettes get a thick slather of butter and goat cheese, dollops of jewel-toned Blueberry-Beaujolais Jam, and ribbons of salty prosciutto. Wrap these sandwiches in plastic wrap and stash in the top of your cooler for a perfect lunch on a sunny Saturday.

Mary-Frances Heck refers to these lobster rolls as "knuckle sandwiches" because they showcase the knuckles—the segments that connect the claws to the carapace—which are the sweetest, most tender meat on a lobster.

A quick brine produces super-moist burgers with chin-dripping juices. The brining also helps the burgers cook faster, so flip them often to help them cook evenly and prevent charring.

The late chef Patrick Clark's crab cakes at Tavern on the Green were legendary, taking on a pop of flavor from chopped fresh jalapeño and a crispy exterior from panko. Chopped whitefish provides the structure in these crab cakes, offering more flavor and a richer texture than traditional binders like breadcrumbs. Look for plastic tubs of jumbo lump crabmeat; it's fresh and unpasteurized with the cleanest taste and best texture. If whitefish is unavailable, substitute sea bass or cod.

2019 Best New Chef Bryan Furman's method of smoking the duck over a drip pan is quick and efficient, infusing the duck with intense smoky flavor in only 30 minutes without toughening the meat. The combination of jerk seasoning and peach-sweetened barbecue sauce is also a great match for grilled chicken halves.

2019 Best New Chef Paxx Caraballo Moll uses lemon, lime, and orange along with mango and pomegranate for a huge hit of tropical fruit flavor that skews savory thanks to chopped white onion and serrano chile. The sweet, vegetal balance complements fresh raw diver scallops.

Chef Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson pairs a subtly tangy berry granita with honey-sweetened pesto in this refreshing summer dessert. Choose the sweetest, juiciest berries for the most flavorful granita.

Crêpes and blackberries go well together, Gail Simmons writes, "especially in July when the berries are at their peak and a lazy weekend morning spent flipping crêpes yields enough for my new favorite cake, layered with rich mascarpone whipped cream, tart berries, and a little lemon zest."

"What I love about galettes is that they're so user-friendly," says chef Katie Button, a BNC in 2015. "No matter how you fold or crimp them, they always look beautiful; in fact the more rustic they look, the prettier they seem to be."

In this recipe from 2020 BNC Donny Sirisavath, using flat skewers helps the meat char and cook evenly by curbing any rolling around the grill. Be sure to preheat the grill; high, even heat will help guarantee strong grill marks and will caramelize the sugars in the marinade.

2020 BNC Douglass Williams' method for carbonara allows you to hold the cooked pasta before adding it to the garlic–oil–pasta cooking liquid emulsion. It makes for a simple, creamy carbonara without the stress.

This bright, buttery succotash by Katy Sparks (BNC 1998) is a perfect summer side dish that comes together in minutes. "My inspiration for this dish is to take a fresh look at an American classic, succotash, which is usually sweet corn cooked together with lima beans or other green beans," Sparks says. "I like to lighten it up with summery snap peas and add meaty shiitakes for depth of flavor."

2001 BNC Anita Lo's 2018 cookbook SOLO celebrates the joy of cooking for one, just like this weeknight-friendly chicken recipe with a twist. "The banana pepper dip in this recipe is perhaps my favorite recipe that my partner's mother Bonnie Attea makes," Lo says. "It's a three-ingredient wonder that makes a weeknight chicken breast exciting. Banana peppers can vary on the heat scale so taste a little before mixing, and mitigate with a little cayenne per your taste."

This summer cookout showstopper by 2016 BNC Ravi Kapur, owner of Liholiho Yacht Club in San Francisco, is your umami-packed, Hawaiian-inspired answer to grilling monotony. The glaze comes together quickly, and layers tart pineapple and tangy kimchi onto juicy hanger steak as it grills.

This side dish from Anne Quatrano (BNC 1995) celebrates the best of summer with a combination of chilled gazpacho and chunky, fresh vegetables.

Simply spiced with paprika, salt, and pepper, these grilled lamb kebabs have been a mainstay at League of Kitchens instructor Jeanette Chawki's family cookouts for years. Be sure to cut the lamb into equal-size cubes to ensure even cooking, but feel free to mix and match the vegetables on each skewer. Pair these succulent kebabs with Jeanette's creamy Muhammara (Roasted Red Pepper and Walnut Dip) and refreshing Biwaz (Parsley and Onion Salad) on thin Lebanese pita for the perfect handheld meal.

For Julia Bainbridge, going booze-free isn't about doing without—the non-alcoholic bottles and cocktails she celebrates are extra in the best way possible. This refreshing non-alcoholic cocktail from Bryan Dayton is featured in Bainbridge's book, Good Drinks. It is sweet and mildly bitter from Seedlip Garden 108 with botanical notes that shine with the addition of fragrant, herbal tonic water.

This vegan cheesecake is just as creamy and tangy as the conventional versions thanks to cultured nut-based cream cheese from Miyoko's Creamery, founded by vegan visionary Miyoko Schinner.

A sweet-tart blend of pineapple, raspberry, and lemon adds fresh fruit flavor to this slushy frozen drink from Erick Castro, plus it's spiked with white rum, Aperol, and dry red wine. With plenty of punch from the trio of alcohols, those fresh summer fruits keep the drink well balanced. Make your own raspberry syrup by infusing simple syrup with fresh berries, or purchase a bottle at the liquor store or online.

Adam Evans of Automatic Seafood and Oysters in Birmingham, Alabama, serves up this perfectly tender and delightfully crispy fried fish that never seems to lose its crunch, even in takeaway containers. His secret is in the dredge. Gluten-free tapioca flour and rice flour team up with effervescent club soda in this light batter that becomes exceptionally crispy—and stays that way up to an hour after cooking. Delicious on its own, this fish also makes great sandwiches and tacos.

Fully loaded with creamy fudge, salty pretzels, crunchy toffee, and chewy, bittersweet candied lemon peel, this over-the-top sundae gets drenched in homemade caramel sauce for a grown-up take on a nostalgic childhood treat served at chef Dan Kluger's Loring Place in New York City. Mix up an extra-large batch for ready-made sundaes all summer long.

Plums and blackberries form the backbone of this sweet-savory glaze from Top Chef Season 17 winner Melissa King. It's perfect for quail but also delicious with bone-in chicken thighs or pork chops. Serve alongside a crisp and refreshing Arugula-Radish Salad with a tangy lime-sesame dressing for the perfect summer meal.

Combining coconut milk, whole milk, and sweetened condensed milk, this refresher by Sahra Nguyen, founder of Nguyen Coffee Supply, shows off the bold flavor of Vietnamese coffee beans. "We believe in building a diverse and inclusive coffee culture. It is a collective investment with everyone along the entire supply chain," says Nguyen. For best results, use a Vietnamese slow-drip phin filter to brew the coffee, and shake the coconut milk before opening to ensure it is smooth.

In this recipe, Chef Bryant Terry fries rolled yuba—thin sheets of tofu skin—in avocado oil until crispy, yielding a hearty vegan taco filling. Diaspora Co.'s single-origin turmeric lends its zesty, deeply floral flavor to the summery corn relish that tops these tacos. Diaspora Co. is one in a rising tide of small spice companies delivering better-tasting spices while supporting small, independent farmers. A spoonful of "green cream"—sautéed spinach stirred together with mashed avocado—holds all of the delicious components in place.

F&W Editor in Chief Hunter Lewis uses a broth spiked with Old Bay Seasoning, fennel seeds, and red pepper to flavor field peas and shrimp before giving them a quick soak in a lemon-sherry vinaigrette. "I love shrimp boils and earthy field peas," he says. "So why not combine them in a snappy, succulent, and refreshing salad?"

This light stew showcases sweet peppers and bright herbs. The classic cooking method builds flavor while gently cooking the chicken for a light and satisfying summer supper. Serve with polenta and crusty bread for soaking up the garlic-packed sauce.

Fresh corn melts into a creamy sauce that clings to every cranny of this pasta from Victor King of The Essential in Birmingham, Alabama. Any short noodle, like gemelli or casarecce, will work here. Using a vegetable peeler to shave the corn kernels is key to this summery dish: The peeler cuts juicy pieces of fresh corn while leaving rich and creamy corn milk behind to add body and flavor to the sauce.

Chantal Tseng's take on a refreshing summer drink pairs juicy, ripe peaches with cool and refreshing mint tea. Amontillado sherry, with notes of vanilla and toasted hazelnuts, adds a sweet, pleasant complexity to this frozen sipper. The fresh peaches and mint tea ice cubes tame the heat of the alcohol and ginger.