17 No-Cook Dinners for Every Night of the Week

We see you. All you out there without A/C or who don’t feel right cranking the oven even if you do have it, we’ve got you covered. There are days when it just feels like a steam bath to cook or eat anything hot, and these cold dinner recipes are the ones you should look to when that happens. Think of it more like assembly of meals that will feel refreshing to prepare and eat. Your best friends will be rotisserie chicken, cans of beans and luxury ingredients like smoked salmon, fancy tinned fish or fresh herbs to make this adult, rather than dorm. And when the heat wave passes, you might just want to keep these in the rotation.

There are those salads akin to eating air, and then there are dense salads. The latter implies “nutrient-dense” but also physically dense — you won’t be hungry 40 minutes after eating one of these. But their real selling point is that they don’t deteriorate like one of those dressed airy salads. This is the kind of salad you can make once and eat all week — if anything, the flavors just meld all the better, the longer it sits in the fridge.

The zesty and fresh ingredients of a traditional bahn mi, those iconic Vietnamese sandwiches, usually include homemade pickles and perhaps even pate. This version uses readily-available ingredients like butter and jarred kimchi to mimic the juxtaposition of flavors and textures without having to go to several markets to make it. The one exception is the bahn mi roll. If you can find these at a local Asian food store, they’re worth seeking out; they have a singular super-light, crisp crust with pillowy interior that really makes this taste like the real deal. That said, this sandwich will be super delicious on French baguette, as well.

There are lots of ways to board, but the best is to create the appearance of abundance on a level of a Dutch masters painting. This one fits the bill, with lots of goodies from the sea provided via tins, rather than pots and pans. The challenge here is in the shopping, rather than the cooking; this is the place for a great online source, such as TinCanFish, Patagonia Provisions, FishNook or FishWife.

This panzanella is so good, you might opt to make it rather than real lobster rolls, when the mood hits. The bread that turns a salad into a panzanella is typically cubes of crusty loaf; but here, Katie Lee Biegel turns to toasted hot dog buns, perfect when you have cookout leftovers (or else, just toast them right in your toaster — that’s as close as we’ll get you to a heat source!). Otherwise, she keeps things simple, just as you should with the best lobster roll, seasoning with the classic tarragon, and going for some bacon, because, why the heck not?

It doesn’t always align to have perfectly ripe avocados and seafood in the house, but when it does, this is the move. Avocado and shellfish have an affinity for one another, the butteryness of the former being all the support that the plump, sweet sea morsels need. Some lemon juice brings out the brightness, while spicy sliced radishes and arugula turn this into a proper, capital-S salad.

Let’s not sleep on the old-school pleasure of just a great chicken salad served on a split croissant. It was a staple of ladies who lunched in the 1980s, and it definitely constitutes a classic, today. This one, from Kardea Brown, has a bit of crunch from the diced celery and pepper, but also some richness from the chopped egg. White gloves are optional.

It’s hard to imagine a more exciting summer dish than ceviche, where citrus juices “cook” seafood, keeping everything absolutely light and fresh. This one utilizes lime juice and chopped shrimp, then mixes them together with the ingredients you might find in a salsa. And in that vein, we absolutely love it eaten with the saltines recommended here, but also with tortilla chips.

We love gazpacho in the warmer months, a salad you can eat with a spoon. It is surprisingly hearty from the secret ingredient of bread blended together with all the vegetables, but it would still be tough to make it a whole meal, that is, without the addition of something rich like the feta, here. Though gazpacho comes from Spain, Ina Garten infuses this one with Greek elements, for a fun change of pace.

This salad marries the essence of hummus with all the tasty bits of a classic chicken salad — great spicing (here, turmeric and stone-ground mustard), briny bits (chopped capers) and texture (pepitas). This makes a great picnic addition even if you have no vegetarians on board, since it provides a complement to a chicken salad or cold fried chicken. Toasted excellent bread is non-negotiable.

When you want that taco salad vibe but without searing the meat — and DEFINITELY without frying a tortilla bowl, go this route, from Bobby Flay. Chickpeas and avocado ensure a nice richness to go with all the salad-y veggies, and tortilla chips give the crunch that this salad requires. If you can’t find Niçoise olives, Kalamata will stand in nicely.

Chopped salad, but make it a board! There’s something so appealing about big chunks of hard-boiled egg, bacon and veggies, and all the more so when each diner can customize a salad bowl. Put out one dressing that everyone loves, or a variety, so that can be DIY, too.

This salad pulls some smart moves that can be generalized to combinations of your own invention: Start with some things in cans or jars that bulk up the nutrition (and in some cases, like the artichokes and hearts of palm, the flavor). Add some fresh things, like cherry tomatoes and lemon juice and zest. Finish with things of textural interest and richness, like pine nuts for crunch and feta for creamy brininess, respectively. Boom; that’s a great salad.

Every muffuletta is good for camping in effect; it’s one of those sandwiches that benefits from sitting, assembled and wrapped, for the juices to soak into the bread and for everything to compress an unify. This one is a flavor bomb, from its combination of Italian cured meats and a chopped olive salad. We love it with G&Ts by the pool, some spritzers in the park or of course, just a thermos of cold iced tea on a camping trip.

When Italian antipasti meet a salad, they bring out the absolute best in each other. You get hits of intense flavor from the salami, artichokes and basil, plus the refreshing elements of crunchy romaine. This will work great as a starter, but it’s hearty enough to be a main course, too.

Geoffrey Zakarian pulls out all the stops with this board, including such stars as Dutch Edam, French creamy-and-stinky Epoisses and duck liver pate. And these are just the starting points. Look to his serving suggestions recommendations for ideas on transforming these luxury ingredients into a meal, with hummus, crackers and crisp toasts, even bittersweet chocolate and local honey.

Your typical tri-colore salad might not taste fresh the next day. But by swapping in heartier kale for the green and shaved pecorino for the white, Guy Fieri comes up with a winning combination that you’ll enjoy eating tomorrow, too. Some currents and walnuts add welcome texture, along with sweetness and nuttiness to counter the pleasant bitterness of the radicchio.