12 summery vegetarian recipes that’ll have you grabbing seconds

Because the best veg-friendly dishes don’t just skip meat—they make the most of the season’s bounty.

Vegetarian Dishes to Make All Summer Long

Could summer be the easiest time to be avegetarian? Fresh produce abounds and is at its best, so it needs little coaxing for maximal flavor. Throw someveggies on the grill, add them tosaladsor turn them intomeatless apps to feed a crowd—whatever you decide they’re sure to have everyone (even meat eaters) grabbing seconds.

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Just take these corn ribs, for example. If you need a veg-friendly starter that will wow everyone, and, dare we say it, stick to your ribs, try these. We slice corn cobs into quarters and grill them so that they curl up in a way that adds some fantastic char to the edges. Add barbecue sauce and you have a dish that earns the right to be called ‘ribs’.

Get the Recipe:Grilled Barbecued Corn Ribs

Summer Pasta with Grilled Eggplant Sauce

Perfect for a potluck or summer weeknight dinner, these salads go great with your favorite recipes from the grill. Food Network 12 favorite pasta salad recipes for summer

Those summer stars of eggplant and fresh basil appear in many classic Italian preparations, perhaps most famously in eggplant Parmesan and pasta alla Norma, the latter typically crowned with salty ricotta salata. This recipe takes these besties in a different and very satisfying direction.

Except for the pasta itself, everything is cooked on the grill—the eggplant until soft, and packets of cherry tomatoes and aromatics that cook until they burst and meld. They unite in a beautifully textured sauce that becomes luscious with the inclusion of regular ricotta.

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Veggie Burger

It can’t really be summer until you flip your first burgers on the grill. If it sounds daunting to make your own veggie patties, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how easy these are. Just chill for 1 hour to ensure that they’ll hold together through every flip. The veg-forward flavor and wonderful texture may convince you never to start from frozen again.

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Get the Recipe:Veggie Burger

Summer Butter Bean Salad with Hot Sauce Vinaigrette

Not surprisingly, Carla Hall’s take on a bean salad is woven through with personality. Like a classic three-bean married to a Southern succotash, it has the best of both worlds, and keeps amazingly. You’ll serve it right after making it at the barbecue, but you’ll also be thrilled when you find the leftovers in the fridge at lunch the next day.

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Get the Recipe:Summer Butter Bean Salad with Hot Sauce Vinaigrette

Tofu Lettuce Wraps

Ree’s wraps are as tasty as they are utterly simple. Tofu seasoned with soy sauce, scallions, and chili powder are enhanced with buttery slices of avocado. This is the best kind of summer DIY that everyone eating will love.

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Get the Recipe:Tofu Lettuce Wraps

Summer Gnocchi with Sweet Corn and Mixed Mushrooms

You’ll always keep ready-made gnocchi on hand once you try this weeknight hero. Sauteed mushrooms and leeks make it uber-umami, complementing the sweetness of corn and a little honey. If you don’t have basil in the house, any snippings from your summer garden will be gorgeous here—fresh chives, mint or cilantro would work too.

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BBQ Spaghetti Squash Sliders

Everyone knows of how good a mimic spaghetti squash is. Sauce it up, and it really does a convincing stand-in for pasta. Here, its meatiness is played up, as it becomes the filling for sliders. Shredded cabbage and cucumber give it a nice crunch.

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Get the Recipe:BBQ Spaghetti Squash Sliders

Soba and Veggie Summer Rolls with Vegan Nuoc Cham

If you need a knockout vegetarian appetizer (which actually happens to be vegan), look no farther. These soba-filled summer rolls are a party in the mouth, spiked with flavor from a dip in the nuoc cham, which, yes, is also vegan—a boon for this and any other vegetarian Vietnamese dishes.

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Get the Recipe:Soba and Veggie Summer Rolls with Vegan Nuoc Cham

Sheet Pan Baked Feta with Summer Vegetables

“Summer on a sheetpan,” says the headnote, and we agree heartily. This recipe takes the craze of baked feta and summerizes it, laying it on a bed of sweet corn, peppers and zucchini, then serves it up over bulghur, for a seriously interesting bowl.

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Get the Recipe:Sheet Pan Baked Feta with Summer Vegetables

Summer Veggie Flatbread

Store-bought naan means that even a homemade flatbread is quick enough for a weeknight dinner, or as a lovely simple starter to serve on the screen porch. Zucchini ribbons almost melt into the crust with their sweetness, and the vegetal punch of asparagus pairs well with Parmesan.

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Get the Recipe:Summer Veggie Flatbread

Grilled Summer Vegetable Bibimbap

There’s just so much to love about this dish, which brings together everything that’s fun about bibimbap—contrasting textures, crispy rice, a runny egg, and lots of interesting veggies. But you don’t have to heat up the whole kitchen, as you can prepare the whole thing on the grill. We’re sure you’ll come back to this one again and again.

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Get the Recipe:Grilled Summer Vegetable Bibimbap

Summer Vegetable Enchiladas

Food Network Serving fattoush the “TikTok Way” just might be the best way to eat it

Poblanos have a unique, assertive flavor that is the protagonist of these enchiladas—but don’t count out the gorgeous summer squash and cherry tomatoes in there, too.

Ree Drummond knows Tex-Mex, so her version is sure to be scooped up through firsts and seconds until that baking dish is empty.