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It’s hard to resist the bounty of summer fruits. Whether they’re piled high in grocery stores or on display at farmers markets, in-season variations are always welcomed as a warm breeze after a cold winter. Maybe that’s why it’s easy to find yourself with plenty of fruit but not as many ideas on what to actually do with them. After all, fruits are easy to take home but perhaps not as easy to incorporate into a meal.
Instead of getting into a routine of buying up tons of irresistibly colorful foods and scrambling to eat them all before they go bad, we recommend these eight day-to-night summer fruit recipes that give these warm-weather staples the showcase they deserve. Sure, it might take some extra planning to learn how to make strawberry cobbler bars, mango slaw, or strawberry arugula salad, but once you master these recipes, your grocery runs will help you create summer feasts to remember. In other words, it’ll totally be worth it.
No-Churn Blueberry Mascarpone Ice Cream
When it’s too hot to even think about doing extra cooking in the kitchen for dessert, remember to have this recipe from Abbey Rodriguez at The Butter Half on hand. She makes this ice cream using fresh blueberries, heavy cream, softened mascarpone cheese, and lemon juice that’s been mixed together and refrigerated overnight. When it’s time to eat, she lets the ice cream sit out for five minutes to chill, and then serves it with waffle cones.
Chicken Street Tacos With Mango Slaw
This lunch or dinner taco recipe from Holly Erickson at The Modern Proper uses diced fresh mango, limes, red onion, and red cabbage in a crunchy, colorful slaw. It’s layered atop marinated chicken slices inside a warm tortilla shell and it’s best eaten outside.
Sweet Bourbon Peach Lemonade
While lemonade is a summertime staple, this recipe from Tieghan Gerard at Half Baked Harvest upgrades its childhood flavor for adult palettes by adding in peach slices, bourbon, and thyme. Serve it up for guests or for a casual night on the patio.
Strawberry Arugula Salad With Watermelon and Feta
It wouldn’t be summer without watermelon, and this recipe from Heidi Larsen at FoodieCrush uses it to bring texture and color to a bold salad. Sliced strawberries, onions, and basil are mixed with feta cheese, arugula, and almonds alongside the watermelon for a salad that’s full of crunch and fresh flavors.
Dragon Fruit Smoothie Bowl
It would be possible to whip up this other recipe from The Butter Half the morning after that aforementioned blueberry ice cream dessert and it’ll keep you equally satisfied with its array of fruits. Rodriguez combines pineapple, blueberries, and bananas into a smoothie, and then layers shredded coconut, mango, and kiwi on top. It’s a colorful start to the day.
Coconut Rice Salmon Bowl
Erickson at The Modern Proper also uses mango in an unexpected way for this recipe, in which she slices it as part of a fresh salmon bowl. The bowl includes jasmine rice cooked in coconut milk, raw spinach, cucumbers, toasted coconut, and avocado, and they all create a complex backdrop to a marinated salmon fillet.
Honey, Apple, Cheddar, and Bacon Panini
You can also consider this recipe from Half Baked Harvest to be a twist on a traditional grilled cheese sandwich since she stacks apple, bacon, apple butter, Havarti, cheddar, and thyme between two slices of sourdough. It’s all cooked until the cheese is perfectly melted.
Strawberry Cobbler Bars
This classic treat from How Sweet Eats should be on regular rotation throughout your summer. To make these strawberry cobbler bars, Jessica Merchant creates a homemade crust with all-purpose flour, melted butter, and sugar, and then layers a filling made with fresh strawberries, cinnamon, and vanilla extract on top. Once the mixture is set, the cobbler can be cut into bars.
See more recipes: 16 No-Bake Dessert Recipes for Hot Summer Nights 13 Delicious Avocado Recipes That Don’t Involve Toast Fun Hot Dog Toppings That Aren’t Ketchup and Mustard