Spring and summer are when our bodies naturally crave lighter, refreshing foods. It’s also when we want to be outdoors more, enjoying warm-weather activities, which leaves us with less time for cooking. With a bit of planning and prepping, you can spend your free time in the sunshine, not stressing in the kitchen.
Here are some mouthwatering recipes to help you celebrate this vibrant new season. They make good use of the fresh fruits and vegetables of spring and summer, and save you time in the kitchen.
Though they may vary depending on where you live, spring/summer seasonal produce can include:
- Apricots
- Artichokes
- Asparagus
- Avocados
- Beans
- Bell peppers
- Blueberries
- Carrots
- Chives
- Cucumbers
- Dill
- Fava Beans
- Fennel
- Leeks
- Mangoes
- Morels
- Peaches
- Pears
- Peas
- Pineapples
- New potatoes
- Oranges
- Raspberries
- Rhubarb
- Spinach
- Spring mushrooms
- Strawberries
- Tarragon
- Tomatoes
- Watercress
- Zucchini
I recommend grabbing a sheet of paper and writing out the days of the week, then breaking them down by breakfast, snacks, lunch, and dinner. Mixing and matching the recipes to plan a weeks’ worth of meals will help you avoid the stress of worrying about what to make for your family’s next meal or rushing to buy food at the last minute.
Use your plan to create a shopping list of all the ingredients you’ll need. Then set aside a couple of hours on Sunday to meal prep for the week ahead.
Ready? Great! Let’s start with the most important meal of the day, breakfast.
Zucchini Turkey Breakfast Skillet
Whip up this easy-to-make one-pan recipe made with fresh spring zucchini, which you can find at your local greengrocer or farmers’ market. It’s full of nutrients and oh-so delicious! Zucchini is an excellent dietary food that is very low in calories, but packed with multiple healthy nutrients and antioxidants.
Make a double batch to have enough for 2–3 days and don’t forget to save time by dicing the zucchini in advance during your meal prep session.
Snack attack! Whether it hits you mid-morning or mid-afternoon, you can’t go wrong if it’s healthy & fruit-filled! This one is also high in fibre, so it will fill you up until your next meal.
Strawberry-Citrus Overnight Oats
For those days when you need a portable meal to take with you, try these convenient and super-simple overnight oats. A benefit of this recipe is you can easily swap out the ingredients, so everyone in your household can have their favorite spring fruit.
Moving on to lunch, I suggest turning to make-ahead salads for easy meals that are great for meal prep.
Springtime Cobb Salad
This version of Cobb salad gets a spring makeover with the addition of radishes. The radishes in the dish provide a host of health benefits, from aiding in digestion to protecting the heart.
It’s a great recipe to prepare and portion into glass containers for make-and-take lunches throughout the week.
Lastly, for dinner, it’s hard to beat the time-saving benefits of sheet pan meals.
Sheet Pan Pineapple Salmon with Bell Peppers
All the ingredients are roasted on a sheet pan for a fast and healthy dinner with minimal cleanup. Deliciousness in just 30 minutes! Plus, vitamin-rich pineapple is great for reducing inflammation, aiding digestion, and strengthening bones.
There you go, recipes to use in your meal plan that celebrate fresh spring and summer produce! Enjoy the goodness of these healthy meals and the time savings you’ll reap from meal planning and prepping!
Do you have a spring/summer recipe you look forward to making?
Share it in the comments!
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Thank you so much for sharing these delicious looking recipes! I can’t wait to try the sheet pan salmon ?
Erin
Thank you for sharing these yummy recipes!