35 Easy Summer Salad Recipes
When the weather warms, big and beautiful summer salad recipes are the best way to celebrate the long, warm days of summer.

These easy Summer Salad recipes are packed with bountiful ideas you’ll want to make time and time again.
All season long.
Summer Salad Recipes
Here you will find everything from slaws to cobb salad recipes, pasta salads, quinoa salads, and greens of all kinds, and an iconic layered salad.
You’ll also find salads that are perfect for dinner with protein, veggies, and greens. Along with simple cucumber salads, fruit salads, and more.
I’m ready for warm weather, summer sun, and long days outdoors.
I hope you are too!
Salad Recipes Tips
Summer Salad recipes are perfect for those nights when it’s hot outside and dinner sounds best when it’s light and cool.
And as the official season for backyard barbecues and picnics, summer salad recipes are always a good idea.
When building a summer salad, Chowhound recommends incorporating at least two of the following flavor families:
Flavor Profiles
- Salty (cheeses, cured meats, capers, olives, anchovies)
- Sour (tomatoes, kumquats, grapefruit, pineapple, dried cherries or cranberries, or pickled foods)
- Sweet (dates, plums, golden raisins, apples, pears, citrus, stone fruit, grapes, berries, figs, melon, roasted beets, or sweet potatoes)
- Bitter (broccoli rabe, radicchio, grapefruit, radish, endive, garlic, eggplant, arugula)
- Umami (nori, cured or smoked meats, and fish, aged cheese, fermented foods like black beans or kimchi, mushrooms, miso, tahini)
- Spicy (watercress, arugula, peppers, ginger, Sriracha, Tabasco, horseradish, wasabi).
More Summer Recipes You’ll Love
- 7 Easy Pasta Salad Recipes
- Summer Instant Pot Recipes
- 25 Summer Slow Cooker Recipes
- Summer Picnic Recipes
35 Easy Summer Salad Recipes
When the weather warms, big and beautiful summer salad recipes are the best way to celebrate the long, warm days of summer.
Asian Slaw
"This Asian slaw recipe is filled with my favorite summer ingredients - fresh herbs & peaches - and tossed in a tangy miso dressing. Perfect for picnics!"
Family-Style Pesto Chicken Cobb Salad
A protein-packed salad with Bibb lettuce and "replacing cheese and a heavy vinaigrette with a lighter homemade pesto dressing. So delicious, and we always love a dish that can be served at room temp."
Easy Pasta Salad
"This fresh, easy pasta salad recipe comes together in under 30 minutes! Tossed in a tangy vinaigrette & filled with veggies, it's a sure cookout hit."
Big Beautiful Summer Salad
"This gorgeous and healthy summer vegetable salad is loaded with pretty produce, including golden beets, avocado, corn, microgreens and radishes."
Summer Quinoa Salad {Fresh & Simple}
"Everyone at the table will love this easy Summer Quinoa Salad! It’s filled with fresh fruits, vegetables, hearty quinoa, and the most refreshing homemade lemon dressing."
Easy 7 Layer Salad
"7 Layer Salad is super simple, customizable and amazingly delicious. This sensational traditional salad is a table topper as well as a scrumptious side dish."
The Best Easy Italian Pasta Salad
Super easy Italian Pasta Salad – with pasta, tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, spicy salami, pepperoncini, olives, and easy Italian dressing. DANGEROUSLY GOOD.
Harissa chicken and couscous salad
"Vary this salad seasonally by adding your favourite raw vegetables or seeds."
15 Minute Chicken Taco Salad Recipe
This Chicken Taco Salad recipe is quick, hearty, and delicious! Packed with taco flavors, chicken, juicy tomatoes, beans, corn, cheese, and an easy, easy Taco Dressing. It's healthy, protein-rich, and so wonderfully yummy-- in 15 minutes!
Summer Nicoise Salad
"Loaded with potatoes, grilled asparagus, sweet corn, fresh greens, tomatoes, tuna, hard-boiled eggs, avocado and the most delicious salty, tangy olive oil-based dressing, this summer Niçoise salad is nothing short of awesome."
One Must Have Ingredient for a Favorite Salad
"Instead of tossing this salad together in a bowl (’cause – bagels and cream cheese, gross) I like to spread it all out on a shallow platter or cutting board and carefully tuck the salmon, cucumbers, onions, and radishes in between the arugula leaves for a pretty and unexpected presentation that still feels super casual."
Quinoa Salad Recipe
This Quinoa Salad is a favorite healthy salad, packed with vegetables and herbs, and perfect for lunches, picnics, and sides.
Fresh and Fruity Couscous Salad
"We like to start off the week with something healthy, as it's usually downhill from there (Sundays were made for chocolate mousse)."
Grilled Lemon Herb Mediterranean Chicken Salad
"This Grilled Lemon Herb Mediterranean Chicken Salad recipe is as close to perfect as you can get! Full of Mediterranean flavours: olives, tomatoes, cucumber, avocados, and chicken for a complete meal in a salad bowl!"
Thai Cucumber Salad
"This Thai Cucumber Salad is so easy to make! Bold flavored, Asian inspired ingredients come together to make a light, crunchy and delicious salad."
Summertime Fruit Salad Recipe
"This simple fruit salad recipe is fresh and healthy! It features strawberries, peaches and blueberries with a little balsamic vinegar and basil. It’s a delicious side dish or dessert (for dessert, you can serve it as is or add some whipped cream to make it more decadent). Recipe yields 6 side servings."
Chipotle Chicken Salad
"This spicy Chipotle Chicken Salad is a flavor explosion with a sweet chipotle-lime vinaigrette, crisp corn, spiced beans, creamy avocado, tangy red onion, crunchy pumpkin seeds, rotisserie chicken, and citrusy cilantro."
Easy Summer Pasta Salad Recipe
This Mediterranean-inspired Pasta Salad is a favorite with salami, peppers, broccoli, zesty Italian dressing, and Feta cheese.
Strawberry Spinach Salad with Feta and Toasted Pecans
"Welcoming spring and summer with this fresh and easy Strawberry Spinach Salad with feta and toasted pecans is the best rite of passage I can think of. Fresh, sweet strawberries, crunchy pecans, and savory feta drizzled with a sweet poppy seed dressing; it’s the taste of sunny days in every bite."
Grilled Corn Salad with Feta
This easy Grilled Corn Salad is a delicious salad recipe, perfect for summer BBQs and picnics. A simple lime vinaigrette enhances the bright, sweet, and refreshing flavors of this chilled salad.
Heirloom Tomato, Arugula, and Spinach Salad
"This Heirloom Tomato, Arugula, and Spinach Salad is packed with superfoods that will keep you healthy and satisfied. The bonus is… it’s incredibly delicious. It’s both sweet and tangy, and amazingly simple. Perfect for sides, all season long!"
Summer Easy Pasta Salad with Shredded Carrots
It’s a simple and easy pasta salad, you say. And you would be right, it is. But to me, every bite is so much more.
Garbanzo Summer Salad with Creamy Dill Dressing
"Garbanzo Summer Salad with Creamy Dill Dressing is a delicious and filling way to get more veggies in. It holds well in the fridge, making this an ideal salad for meal prep. This recipe is vegetarian, vegan and easily gluten free."
Easy Mexican Corn Salad
"A quick and easy Mexican Corn Salad will be a favorite side all summer. It’s healthy, a simplified version of elotes, robust with the warm and spicy flavors of cumin and red pepper. Serve warm or cold, it’s simply delicious."
Simple and Healthy White Bean Olive Salad
"White Bean and Olive Salad is a healthy and savory explosion of flavors, textures, and fresh herbs. Perfect for picnics and warm summer evenings. Or as a base for grilled fish, chops, or chicken."
Simple Cucumber Salad with Creamy Greek Yogurt Dressing
A simple Cucumber Salad with Creamy Greek Yogurt is a salad you’ll fall in love with. Distinctly crisp, refreshingly… and almost sweet. It’s a bit like yogurt tzatziki that often accompanies spicy dishes.
Caprese Pasta Salad {Fresh & Simple)
"Caprese Pasta Salad- pasta with fresh tomatoes, basil and mozzarella cheese. This simple and delicious pasta salad is perfect for summertime or anytime!"
10 Minute Make Ahead White Bean Salad with a Quick Vinaigrette
If you have 10 minutes, this White Bean Salad is for you. Packed with healthy protein, this creamy salad is filled with fresh vegetables and herbs. And then dressed in a deliciously simple vinaigrette.
Classic Potato Salad for Delicious Summer Cookouts
"There is no substitute for a Classic Potato Salad. Especially when it’s made in the style of grandma’s potato salad. It’s creamy, and sweet, and comforting… just a little bit addictive."
Greek Salad {with homemade dressing!}
"Greek Salad is quick and easy to prepare filled with fresh veggies tossed in a tangy dressing."
An Antipasto Style Summer Garden Roasted Salad
"This Summer Garden Roasted Salad with baby artichokes and asparagus is also an antipasto summer platter. This delicious array of summer fresh produce, straight from my garden, is one of my favorite summertime dishes."
Whole Food's California Quinoa Salad
"A healthy, nutritious copycat recipe that tastes 1000x better than the store-bought version!"
14 Summer Mason Jar Salads
Mason Jar Salad recipes for when sandwich lunches become monotonous. These basic jar salad recipes are easy, healthy, and lighten up the mid-day meal.
Simply Coleslaw: The Perfectly Easy Summer Side
"This simple coleslaw recipe is a summer classic. An easy recipe to serve all summer long. Crispy, crunchy, and perfectly flavored. Exactly what a coleslaw should be."