The neighbor’s grill is already going. You can smell it through the screen door—charcoal and something herby, maybe chicken. That smell is the whole reason summer exists, honestly.
This list pulls together 11 grilled dinner recipes for summer that cover a lot of ground: quick shrimp that’s ready before anyone gets too hungry, chicken that actually benefits from a marinade, a proper burger patty, and swordfish steaks for the nights when you want to make an impression. A few recipes I’d flag early: the Grilled Chimichurri Chicken from Healthy Fitness Meals is built for busy weeknights, and the Grilled Shrimp Kabobs from Amira’s Pantry clocks in at just 20 minutes with the marinade already folded in.
These 11 were narrowed down from 240 candidates—only the ones with clear instructions, real photos, and everyday ingredients made it through. The order is deliberate, moving between quick wins and recipes that reward a little more planning, so you can scan the list based on what your week actually looks like.
Here’s a quick look at all 11 recipes side by side—best for column is a good starting point if you already know whether tonight calls for fast and casual or something worth lingering over.
| # | Recipe | Total Time | Effort | Best For | Good to Know |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grilled Salmon with Lemon Dill Butter | — | Easy | weeknight elegance | — |
| 2 | Grilled Chimichurri Chicken | — | Easy | busy weeknights | — |
| 3 | Garlic Butter Grilled Shrimp | — | Easy | quick summer dinners | — |
| 4 | Grilled Veggie Skewers | — | Easy | vegetarian-friendly grilling | — |
| 5 | Lemon Herb Marinated Grilled Chicken | — | Easy | meal prep dinners | — |
| 6 | Grilled Swordfish | — | Easy | special occasion dinners | — |
| 7 | Mediterranean Grilled Shrimp Kabobs Recipe | — | Easy | entertaining with ease | — |
| 8 | Grilled Chicken with Spicy Corn on the Cob and Grilled Lettuces | — | Easy | complete grilled meals | — |
| 9 | Best Hamburger Patty Recipe (Grilled or Stovetop) | — | Easy | feeding a crowd | — |
| 10 | Shrimp Kabobs | — | Easy | casual outdoor entertaining | — |
| 11 | Grilled Shrimp Kabobs | 20 min | Easy | last-minute summer dinners | — |
1. Grilled Salmon with Lemon Dill Butter
A classic pairing of salmon with bright lemon and fresh dill butter makes for an elegant grilled dinner that feels special without demanding much technique. The buttery sauce promises to keep the fish moist through the heat of the grill.
Get the recipe: Grilled Salmon with Lemon Dill Butter at Simply Scratch
2. Grilled Chimichurri Chicken
Chimichurri brings herbaceous punch to grilled chicken, and this easy version means you can have a restaurant-quality dinner ready without hours of prep.
Get the recipe: Grilled Chimichurri Chicken at Healthy Fitness Meals
3. Garlic Butter Grilled Shrimp
Garlic and butter are a foolproof combo for shrimp, which cook so quickly on the grill that you’ll have dinner on the table faster than you’d expect.
Get the recipe: Garlic Butter Grilled Shrimp at The Modern Proper
4. Grilled Veggie Skewers
Skewers of grilled vegetables are the perfect sidekick to any protein, and their charred edges add textural contrast that makes them shine on their own.
Get the recipe: Grilled Veggie Skewers at The Forked Spoon
5. Lemon Herb Marinated Grilled Chicken
This chicken gets its flavor from a lemon herb marinade, which means you’re building taste into the meat itself rather than relying on sauce at the end.
Get the recipe: Lemon Herb Marinated Grilled Chicken at The Whole Cook
6. Grilled Swordfish
Swordfish steaks hold up beautifully to the grill’s direct heat, their firm texture making them an impressive fish choice for those who find salmon too delicate.
Get the recipe: Grilled Swordfish at Dinner at the Zoo
7. Mediterranean Grilled Shrimp Kabobs Recipe
These shrimp kabobs marry Mediterranean flavors with the speed of a weeknight dinner, promising the kind of vibrant results that make grilling feel effortless.
Get the recipe: Mediterranean Grilled Shrimp Kabobs Recipe at The Mediterranean Dish
8. Grilled Chicken with Spicy Corn on the Cob and Grilled Lettuces
Spicy corn and grilled lettuces round out the chicken here, transforming your grill into a vegetable station and proving that summer sides deserve the same attention as the main.
Get the recipe: Grilled Chicken with Spicy Corn on the Cob and Grilled Lettuces at Sunset Magazine
9. Best Hamburger Patty Recipe (Grilled or Stovetop)
A proper burger patty recipe takes the guesswork out of grinding and shaping, whether you’re cooking on the grill or adapting to the stovetop on a rainy day.
Get the recipe: Best Hamburger Patty Recipe (Grilled or Stovetop) at A Spicy Perspective
10. Shrimp Kabobs
Shrimp skewers pack well for grill-outs and come together quickly, making them ideal for the kind of informal summer gathering where simplicity is the whole point.
Get the recipe: Shrimp Kabobs at Dinner at the Zoo
11. Grilled Shrimp Kabobs
★ Nell's pick: At just 20 minutes total, it’s the fastest recipe in the roundup while still delivering flavor through its easy marinade, making it the perfect answer to summer’s spontaneous dinner plans.
Ready in just 20 minutes with a built-in marinade, these shrimp kabobs solve the eternal question of what’s for dinner on a hot summer night when you want something light but satisfying.
Get the recipe: Grilled Shrimp Kabobs at Amira's Pantry
Where to Start
If time is short, go straight to the shrimp. Grilled Shrimp Kabobs from Amira’s Pantry has a listed cook time of 20 minutes, and Garlic Butter Grilled Shrimp from The Modern Proper is similarly fast—shrimp cook quickly enough that you won’t be standing over the grill for long. Mediterranean Grilled Shrimp Kabobs from The Mediterranean Dish works in the same window and is a strong pick when you’ve got people coming over and want something that looks like more effort than it was.
For batch-cooking and meal prep, the Lemon Herb Marinated Grilled Chicken from The Whole Cook is the one to bookmark. The marinade does the flavor-building for you, which means it holds up well when portioned into meal prep containers for lunches through the week. Grilled Chimichurri Chicken is another good candidate—chimichurri keeps well in the fridge and can pull double duty as a sauce for grain bowls or wraps the next day.
Weekend cooking has its own column here. Grilled Swordfish from Dinner at the Zoo suits a dinner where you’ve got a bit more breathing room—swordfish steaks are impressive and firm enough to handle the grill’s direct heat, but they deserve your full attention rather than a rushed weeknight. Grilled Chicken with Spicy Corn on the Cob and Grilled Lettuces from Sunset Magazine is a full meal in one session and worth it when you want to use your grill as a proper cooking station rather than just a meat-cooker.
A Note on Leftovers
Grilled proteins can get rubbery fast if you store them wrong. For the chicken recipes—especially the Lemon Herb Marinated Grilled Chicken and the chimichurri version—slice the meat before refrigerating and keep it in airtight meal prep containers with a spoonful of whatever sauce or marinade you have left. That little bit of moisture makes a real difference when you’re reheating the next day.
Leftover shrimp from any of the kabob recipes is best eaten cold or at room temperature rather than reheated; toss it over a salad or into a wrap straight from the fridge and it’s a genuinely good lunch without any effort.
All recipes and photos belong to their original creators — tap any link for the full ingredient list and step-by-step instructions.
