On May 23, 2019 by Kim

As spring and summer bring warm weather, it also heats up the kitchen.

The last thing you want to do is work long and hard on a meal, let alone sweat it out for a big cooking day. But you’re in luck!

We have some helpful tips so you can keep cool, calm, and carry on.

These tips can be used for daily cooking or for once a month cooking. One thing to keep in mind is that once a month cooking means only one, long cooking session, keeping the kitchen cool for many days following. We work to utilize many of these principles in our summer meal plans and to provide you with themed Mini Meal Plans for the warmer months as well.

***Learn how to create your own custom meal plan from these recipes and meal plans using our Membership* to keep your kitchen cool.***

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1. Cook with Small Appliances

Do everything you can to keep the stove and oven OFF. Instead break out your Instant Pot, rice cooker, slow cooker, electric griddle, etc. We tend to think of slow cooker meals in the winter when we want comfort food, but they are also a fantastic way to keep cool in the summer.

2. Cook Outside

Search for recipes that are grilled in our archives. Many of these recipes also happen to be dump and go or no-cook recipes on a cooking day.

3. Cook Simple Meals

Choose meals that have a simple ingredient list, short and sweet directions for prep, or one skillet type meals to minimize the time spent in the kitchen on a cooking day (or simply day to day). I personally seem to gravitate toward flavors that are lighter and simpler during the warmer months anyway. Maybe it is just our bodies and our instincts telling us to slow down so we don’t overheat!

4. “Cook” Some Cold Treats

Who says you always have to prepare a hot meal? Whip up some salads, cold soups, smoothies, or chilly desserts. Most of these require little prep beyond chopping and stirring, so it barely even counts as cooking.

5. Just Don’t Cook!

Ok, I’m not advocating a cooking strike! Just urging you to choose recipes that require little to no cooking.

You can always search our recipes by cooking method, for example, no-cook prep day, no cooking serving day, or no bake. See the links to our dump and go mini meal plans below in this post. Many of the other resources and recipes below will not keep you in the kitchen very long, so you might as well make multiple batches of the recipe (our meal plan documents already double each recipe for the number of servings you chose) so you can have leftovers another day and skip prep and cooking altogether! Leftovers also mean easy cleanup. Win-win.

Fresh produce abounds this time of year, so cut it up and snack on it plain or use it for simple sides, salads, and smoothies – check out our Peak Produce Picks for summer. The bottom line, just keep it simple. Summer is a time to relax from the regular routine and enjoy fun places and activities with people we love. Best case scenario, you don’t have to stress because dinner is in the freezer and ready to go.

Recommended Meal Plans:

Related Resources:

10 Summer Smoothies to Refresh, Refuel, and Detox

101 Freezable Slow Cooker Recipes

Best Backyard BBQ Tips

Keep Cool in the Kitchen