Beat the heat with these cold summer side dishes that are perfect for picnics, BBQs, and potlucks. These recipes keep you cool all summer, from refreshing salads to chilled dips.
Cold summer side dishes offer a welcome respite from the heat, providing a delightful balance of flavors and textures that complement the season’s vibrant produce. These chilled delights not only cool the palate but also showcase the natural goodness of summer’s bounty.
Discover a wide array of cold summer side dishes that celebrate abundant fresh, seasonal ingredients. From crisp, tangy slaws and creamy herbed potato salads to refreshing fruit-based salads and zesty grain-based dishes, this collection has something to suit every taste.
These amazing cold summer sides include ideas for:
- Bright, fresh summer salads and cookout side dishes
- Easy veggie dishes
- Delicious pasta and potato salad recipes
- Unique fruit salads
- Effortless make-ahead dishes
Prepare to be inspired by the vibrant colors, bold flavors, and textural contrasts these recipes offer. Try a refreshing Watermelon Salad that combines juicy watermelon, tangy feta cheese, and a zesty lime dressing, creating a perfect balance of sweet, salty, and citrusy notes.
Additionally, for those seeking vegan or keto-friendly options, there are a variety of plant-based and low-carb side dish recipes, ensuring there’s something for everyone to enjoy this summer.
☀️ Looking for more delicious summer recipes? Try one of these easy summer slow cooker recipes, creative summer lunches, simple no-churn ice creams, cheap summer picnic recipes, or fun boozy desserts!
Tips On How To Make The Best Cold Summer Dishes
- Embrace Seasonal Produce: Utilize the abundance of seasonal fruits and vegetables like watermelon, berries, cucumbers, and tomatoes to create fresh and vibrant salads or side dishes that capture the essence of summer.
- Balance Flavors and Textures: Aim for a harmonious balance of flavors and textures in your cold summer dishes. Combine sweet, salty, tangy, and crunchy elements to create a well-rounded and satisfying dish.
- Experiment with Herbs and Dressings: Elevate the taste of your dishes by incorporating fresh herbs like mint, basil, or cilantro and experimenting with flavorful dressings such as citrus vinaigrettes or herb-infused oils
- Keep it Light and Refreshing: Opt for light and refreshing ingredients that are hydrating and cooling, perfect for hot summer days. Consider using ingredients like citrus fruits, leafy greens, and crisp vegetables to add brightness to your dishes.
- Prep Ahead for Convenience: Prepare your cold summer dishes in advance to allow the flavors to meld and intensify. This enhances the taste and saves you time and effort when serving your guests or enjoying a quick meal.
- Add a Touch of Creativity: Don’t be afraid to get creative with your cold summer dishes. Experiment with unique ingredient combinations, presentation styles, and garnishes to add a touch of flair and make your dishes visually appealing and memorable.
Cold Summer Side Dishes
Stay cool this summer with these 30 delicious cold side dish recipes perfect for any BBQ or picnic. From refreshing salads to chilled pasta dishes, these recipes are guaranteed to keep you refreshed all summer long.
This delicious cold salad is perfect for the summertime months! It's delicious, filling, and easy to make – not to mention it doesn't take much time at all!
Serve it in a large bowl for everyone to portion up themselves, as a complete meal, or as a side dish for cooked meats.
Summer Berry Salad with Yogurt Dressing is an easy creamy fruit salad recipe that takes just 10 minutes to make. It's made with juicy summer fruit: fresh strawberries, peaches, and blueberries. Tossed together with a creamy honey and cinnamon yogurt dressing.
This fruit salad is simple, healthy, and refreshing. It's made with fresh, crisp, juicy summer fruit tossed with a sweet and savory cinnamon honey yogurt dressing.
In 10 minutes, this easy Cucumber Tomato Salad with Balsamic Parsley Dressing is ready to serve as a refreshing appetizer or side dish for picnics, BBQs, summer pool parties, or an outdoor grilled dinner with the family.
Tomatoes, cucumbers, chickpeas, red onions, and mozzarella are tossed with an easy homemade dressing. Olive oil, balsamic vinegar, parsley, dill, and garlic salt coat the fresh veggies, giving it a simple yet herb-infused marinade.
Mozzarella Tomato Salad is an easy side dish to complement your summer picnics. You’ll love the combination of veggies, pepperoni, and cheese with a homemade vinaigrette. The texture of this salad is crisp.
You have cool cucumbers and tomatoes, along with the creamy mozzarella. It’s delicious and 100% for those who love texture in their foods. This healthy salad is for you if you’re trying to lower your carb intake and increase protein and veggies.
This bright vegan couscous salad with chickpeas, charred corn, and lots of fresh veggies is one of the best easy vegan couscous recipes! If you're looking for the perfect, easy side dish that everyone at your barbecue will love, look no further!
It is completely vegan, so anyone avoiding dairy, eggs, or meat will love it. and non-vegans will love it too! It's so good that it might outshine the main dish! And so filling, it could serve as its own main dish!
This made from scratch classic coleslaw is literally made in minutes. Fresh and delicious, you’ll never need to buy store-bought coleslaw ever again! This is the best coleslaw recipe for your next BBQ or just for a quick weeknight dinner!
It is a quick and delicious tasting side that uses pre-shredded cabbage to make this recipe super fast and a creamy mayonnaise based dressing.
If you loved the classic Chick-fil-A coleslaw, you’ve got to try this spot-on copycat recipe! It’s the perfect sweet and tangy side dish or barbecue sandwich topping!
Inspired by the classic Chick-fil-A cole slaw recipe, this from-scratch copycat recipe has only 6 simple ingredients. It’s easy and made with simple, real food ingredients. And it’s downright delicious!
Ambrosia salad is a marshmallow fruit salad made with Cool Whip, coconut, and canned fruit. It’s a staple at holiday dinner side dishes and potlucks! It’s sweet, creamy, light, fluffy, and always a family favorite!
Fruit-wise, it usually contains pineapple tidbits and mandarin oranges, though you might also see bananas, strawberries, and maraschino cherries in some variations; shredded coconut is also a must.
Watermelon Salad is one of the most incredible, refreshing summer fruit salads. It has a light citrus dressing and fresh mint, topped with crumbled feta cheese. People love this tasty, beautiful watermelon recipe.
Serve this side dish for picnics, potlucks, and BBQ cookouts in a carved-out watermelon for the salad bowl!
Mango Slaw has green crunchy cabbage, crisp jicama, and a sweet, tangy lime vinaigrette made with juicy, sweet mangos. A perfect summer salad. This recipe starts with ripe juicy mangoes. You can add a little Greek yogurt to the dressing if you like it creamier.
Enjoy this clean side dish, guilt-free as a salad and in so many more ways. Cabbage can be added too, you can use the red cabbage/purple cabbage or the napa cabbage.
This Watergate Salad Recipe, also known as “Pistachio Delight,” is a delicious dessert salad that is sweet, creamy, and so easy to make it takes just 5 minutes to make! It’s fabulous, delicious and fun.
It's light, fluffy, sweet, and the perfect side dish for potlucks, picnics, and holiday gatherings made with pistachio pudding mix, canned pineapple, whipped topping, crushed pecans, and marshmallows.
This easy and creamy Avocado Egg Salad provides a delicious twist on regular Egg Salad! Made with a simple mayonnaise mixture, hard-boiled eggs, and cubed avocado, it can be enjoyed in just 20 minutes alongside your favorite crackers, spread over toast, or as a filling!
It’s low-carb, gluten-free, and packed full of energy, healthy fats, and protein – the perfect way to spruce up a classic egg salad. It’s extremely versatile—enjoy it as a spread on toast, a dip, or a filling for sandwiches, wraps, and salads.
You'll love this easy, sweet, savory Tuna Pasta Salad recipe. With just a handful of simple ingredients, you can make an easy, tasty, high-protein pasta salad perfect for lunch, parties, picnics, and potlucks. In about 20 minutes, you can make this simple cold salad.
If you're making this pasta salad in advance, give it a quick taste test before serving. You might find that adding a dash of salt will do wonders to brighten the flavors.
Panzanella, also known as panmolle, is a classic Italian salad made with salad vegetables and bread. It’s traditionally prepared using stale bread that is rehydrated in tomato juice, red wine vinegar, and olive oil dressing.
There are lots of different variations to a panzanella salad recipe. If you’re looking for backyard picnic party ideas, this rustic Tuscan salad will really hit the spot. It is absolutely delicious!
This green goddess salad is delicious and easy to prepare. It’s a great way to get those all-important nutrients into your diet without feeling like you’re eating boring food. It’s colorful, and gorgeous and makes a great lunch or dinner side dish.
Cabbage, kale, avocado, sweet peppers, and more are combined with the most wonderful green goddess dressing. Spinach makes it green, and there are plenty of amazing flavors in there, including parmesan cheese, garlic, shallot, and much more.
This beetroot salad makes a fresh addition to your summer menu. Perfect for a BBQ or when you need something light and easy. This easy summer salad takes this classic Aussie flavor and throws it into a quick and easy salad.
This beetroot and feta salad is great served as a side to BBQs and roast meats You can dress yours with a little good-quality olive oil and a splash of balsamic vinegar to keep things simple.
This quick and easy four-bean salad is simple and delicious. With a tangy vinaigrette, it's perfect for a BBQ, bring a plate (potluck) or a picnic. Mixed bean salad is one of those wonderfully simple salads that tastes so much better than it should! Made with mostly tinned beans, it's budget-friendly, quick, and easy to make.
It is packed with protein and is a great vegetarian and vegan option. A great recipe to throw together the night beforehand to let the flavors muddle together overnight to save time the next day.
Coleslaw is a tasty and easy-to-make salad enjoyed by people all over the world. It's made with shredded cabbage, mixed with other vegetables, and a delicious dressing. Coleslaw is perfect for picnics, barbecues, or as a side dish for any meal.
It's also versatile, as you can experiment with different ingredients and dressings to create your own unique flavors.
Red cabbage and apple slaw is a colorful and delicious salad that's perfect for any occasion. It's easy to make and requires only a few ingredients, making it a great quick and healthy side dish option.
This Red Cabbage and Apple Slaw recipe provides a wonderful mix of textures, with the cabbage's crispness and the apples' juiciness.
Italian Pasta Salad is a summertime staple that’s filled with deliciously crisp and fresh flavors, made with a homemade zesty dressing! The perfect side dish to bring to BBQs and picnics!
The light, bold dressing coats perfectly cooked pasta, fresh veggies, mozzarella pearls, and salami to create the best pasta salad you’ll ever have! This Italian Pasta Salad is worth bringing to all of the warm-weather gatherings that have already started to fill up your calendar!
Banana Split Fluff Salad is a flavor-packed, no-bake dessert that feeds a crowd while also satisfying everyone’s sweet tooth in a fun way! Only 15 minutes of hands-on prep time is required!
Mix up a large bowl of this Banana Split Fluff Salad to bring to every gathering that’s on your calendar! Especially the summer ones, since this fruity, chilled treat will be the perfect way to cool down in the heat!
This Italian Antipasto Pasta Salad is a Summer staple full of salty black olives, sweet cherry tomatoes, creamy mozzarella balls, and artichoke hearts! It's a perfect side dish for any barbecue or Summer gathering!
Italian Antipasto Pasta Salad is the perfect recipe to make any time of the year! It's loaded with Italian meats and classic antipasto salad ingredients.
Ready in under 30 minutes and using only 10 ingredients, this Grilled Vegetable Quinoa Salad is a healthy addition to any Summer dinner! This recipe used zucchini, bell peppers, and red onion. You can also use yellow squash, Portobello mushrooms, and Vidalia onions.
This recipe is very versatile and you can substitute your favorite veggies! This is a unique summer side dish that everyone will love and healthy, too.
One of the best things about summer is garden-fresh tomatoes. What's even better is taking those tomatoes and making a Fresh Tomato Salad that's a great side dish.
Grape tomatoes are fun to use because you don't really have to cut or slice them. Just toss them with the dressing, and the salad is done!
This is a wannabe Vietnamese Papaya Salad with papaya, cucumber, carrots, scallions, peanuts, and crunchy lettuce served with a Vietnamese dressing made of lime, fish sauce, and maple syrup.
A famous salad in Southeast Asia, all slightly different but made with the yummy green papaya! It is a healthy summer side dish that everyone will love.
Get ready for a fiesta in your mouth with this zesty Corn Fiesta Salad! Packed full of crunchy frozen corn, vibrant peppers, and freshly grated Parmesan cheese, this delicious salad is sure to tantalize your taste buds.
Serve this as a side dish or an appetizer with plenty of corn chips for dipping. A healthy and flavorful choice perfect for any occasion, get the party started with this unique twist on a classic favorite!
This Sunshine Salad is the best salad to serve up for a picnic in the park, a potluck dish, or a treat for a hard day’s work. Fresh fruit paired with a sugar-free Jello to make it a Weight Watchers-friendly salad.
This recipe here uses sugar-free vanilla pudding; it helps make it Weight Watcher friendly. Pairing the vanilla JELLO mix next to the mandarin orange syrup gives it a sweet and creamy consistency that just hits the spot.
Grape Salad is the perfect sweet side dish for picnics, parties, and potlucks. Red and green grapes are covered in a creamy, rich cream cheese dressing with brown sugar and walnuts on top for added sweetness and crunch.
It pairs well with just about any main dish. No one can resist that creamy dressing and juicy grapes. It’s the perfect balance of rich, creamy, sweetness, and crisp grapes.
This easy recipe for Amish Broccoli Salad features a creamy dressing, raw vegetables, sharp cheddar cheese, and crispy bacon. It's the perfect salad to bring to potlucks, family gatherings, or holiday dinners. It's just a matter of time before this becomes one of your most requested recipes!
Whether you're looking for a delicious salad recipe or the perfect dish to bring to your next get-together, this Amish Broccoli Salad fits the bill!
This famous La Scala Salad recipe has been served at the iconic Beverly Hills restaurant since the 1950s. This Italian chopped salad features a crisp bed of lettuce and delicious ingredients (like salty salami, mozzarella, garbanzo beans, and sun-dried tomatoes) tossed with a tangy dressing.
This salad lasts fairly well in the refrigerator for 1-3 days. But if you're preparing it specifically for weekly meal prep, you can store the dressing separately from the salad. This helps to keep it nice and crisp. Once you're ready to serve, add the dressing, toss, and enjoy!
The Bacon, Cheddar, Ranch Potato Salad is a crowd-pleasing, flavor-packed side dish that is perfect for summer barbecues, picnics, or as a simple weeknight accompaniment. The combination of roasted potatoes, savory bacon, melty cheese, and tangy ranch dressing creates a satisfying and delicious cold summer side dish
This is a unique potato salad, instead of the traditional mayo-based potato salad. It is lighter but still has lots of flavor and can be enjoyed by everyone.
What are some quick and easy cold side dishes?
Think pasta salads, three-bean salads, cucumber yogurt dips, marinated vegetables, or watermelon and feta salad. All require minimal prep and come together in minutes.
Can I make them ahead of time?
Absolutely! Most cold sides can be prepped hours ahead. Just avoid dressing delicate greens until serving to prevent wilting. Dips and marinades can be made days in advance.
Do they need to be cooked?
Nope! Summer shines with fresh produce, so many sides require just chopping, slicing, and assembling.
Any vegetarian/Vegan options?
Of course! Focus on beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh, and vegetarian cheese for protein and flavor.
How can I keep them chilled at a potluck?
Nest your serving dish in a larger bowl of ice, transport it in a cooler, or serve it directly on a bed of ice.
How do I make them more filling?
Add grilled chicken/shrimp, cooked quinoa/brown rice, chopped hard-boiled eggs, or baked/crumbled tofu for a heartier side.
In conclusion, conquering the summer heat doesn’t mean sacrificing mealtime flavor. Cold summer side dishes offer a vibrant and refreshing way to complement your main course.
By embracing seasonal produce, utilizing simple techniques, and keeping a few key tips in mind, you can create delicious accompaniments that will keep everyone cool and satisfied all summer long. So, fire up the grill, gather your friends and family, and get ready to enjoy a delicious and refreshing summer feast!
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