Summer starter recipes
Bring warmth and colour to the table with our summer starter recipes.
Make the most of summer produce with easy starter ideas using courgettes, aubergine, fresh tomatoes and sweet peppers. We’ve even included some sweet-savoury dishes with grilled peaches and juicy strawberries. These recipes are perfect for laid-back lunches and dinners in the garden, and many of them are make-ahead too. Fingers crossed for good weather.
Our best-ever summery starters include refreshing chilled soups like watermelon gazpacho and vichyssoise. Serve up platters of sharing dishes for a casual gathering, like these golden fish croquettes and addictive aubergine moussaka rolls. Planning a more formal do or dinner party? There’s plenty of ideas below to impress your guests.
See our summer of sport recipe ideas if you’re getting friends together to watch some of the year’s big sporting events.
Showing 1-16 of 86 recipes
Pork recipes from around the world
Indonesian minced pork cakes with chilli and lemongrass sambal
Petty Elliott's moreish Indonesian minced pork cakes are accompanied by a fragrant chilli and lemongrass sambal and are great to share.
Recipes from restaurants
Prawn toast bao with burnt peach chilli sauce
Julie Lin shares her incredible prawn toast bao recipe. Crispy bao are stuffed with juicy prawns and served with peach hot sauce.
Easy starters
Socca (or farinata) with prawns, chickpeas and peppers
Debora Robertson shares her easy recipe for the Provençal chickpea flatbread, socca. This popular snack is known as farinata in Italy.
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.
Easy salmon
Salmon and avocado summer rolls
Uyen Luu shares her recipe for salmon and avocado summer rolls. Vietnamese rice paper rolls are stuffed with salmon, avo and fresh herbs.
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.
Sustainable recipes
Fish scrap croquettes
These herby croquettes filled with fluffy mash and surrounded by a crisp breadcrumb coating are the perfect vehicle for any scraps of fish.
Summer salads and sides
Parma ham, halloumi, strawberry and mint
This speedy parma ham starter pairs the ham with salty halloumi cheese, sweet strawberries and fresh mint.
Prawn cocktails
Prawn cocktail platter
Create the ultimate prawn cocktail platter with proper marie rose dip made with homemade mayo, prawns and crisp lettuce leaves.
Crab
Emily Scott’s Cornish crab, toast and mayo
Cornwall-based chef Emily Scott’s recipe for crab on toast is delightfully simple but special, enriched with just a little lemon and garlic.
Filo pastry
Filo-wrapped feta with spiced honey
Georgina Hayden's easy filo-wrapped feta is a guaranteed crowdpleaser. It's served drizzled with spiced honey and sprinkled with thyme.
August seasonal
Courgette, feta and blackcurrant salad
This elegant dish of courgette and feta and blackcurrant puréee makes the perfect late summer starter, says The Ethicurean's Mark McCabe
Burrata
Burrata, tomato and strawberry salad
This gorgeous burrata salad is a celebration of high summer. Use a mix of heritage tomatoes and basil varieties for extra colour and flavour.
Aubergine
Aubergine moussaka rolls
These moussaka rolls transform the big layered oven-baked dish into a slightly lighter snackable affair. It just needs a quick blast under the grill before serving.
Leeks
Vichyssoise
A simple leek and potato soup is whizzed up until it’s super-smooth, then chilled to give it a creamy, luscious texture that’s perfect for summer.
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