Summer salads and sides
Keep things fresh this summer with our easy salads and sides. These low-effort, high-flavour recipes are all packed with seasonal produce.
Salads are perfect for lunch or supper on sultry summer days. Why swelter at the stove? Instead, throw together a colourful Cos wedge salad, elegant courgette, blackcurrant and feta salad or peach caprese.
Our versatile summer sides are perfect for barbecues, picnics and other gatherings. Everyone loves a retro pasta salad (try this simple runner bean one to use up a glut). Potato salads are a perennial crowd-pleaser. Try verdant green potato salad packed with peas and broccoli, or elevate this spud dish into something special with Jersey royals and brown crab.
Throw in dips, healthy bean dishes, simple tapas and colourful barbecue sides and you’ve got the recipe for a delicious summer.
Showing 1-16 of 260 recipes
Pickled recipes
Giardiniera
Giardiniera are crunchy Italian pickles, commonly served in the north as an antipasti, that are incredibly moreish and simple to make.
Tomato salads
Insalata pantesca (Pantelleria-style cherry tomato salad)
This cherry tomato salad recipe comes from Pantelleria, an island between Sicily and Tunisia. It's perfect for a lunch in the sun.
Italian vegetarian
Tuscan panzanella
Learn how to make the classic Tuscan bread salad, panzanella. It's a great way to use old bread and make the most of late summer produce.
Filling salads
Green beans, bulgur, feta and pomegranate with sunflower seed dressing
Tender green beans, filling bulgur wheat, pomegranate and feta join forces in this filling summer salad from food writer Claire Thomson.
Tomatoes
Tomato, mango and burrata chaat
India meets Italy in Gurdeep Loyal's tomato, mango and burrata chaat. This recipe is a remix of caprese salad with a chaat street-food twist.
Best of the best
Best-of-the-best ratatouille
Want to make perfect ratatouille? Follow our recipe for the ultimate French summer stew, packed with aubergine, tomato and courgettes.
Courgettes
Tamarind chickpea stuffed courgettes
Roasting these stuffed courgettes enhances their sweetness. Tamarind and lime add brightness to the creamy chickpeas in this easy dish.
Summer
Tomato tonnato
Make the most of tomatoes when they're at their peak summer best in this tomato tonnato recipe. It's ready in 10 minutes and tastes like the best tuna sandwich you've ever eaten, in salad form.
Best-ever side dishes
Steamed aubergine in a peanut and chilli dressing
Steaming delivers silky soft aubergine batons, dressed in a Chinese-inspired combo of crispy chilli oil, vinegar and peanut butter.
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