This No-Stove Summer Dinner Menu Is Pure Martha Magic

Whatever the season, we love to entertain, but sometimes it just feels too hot to turn the stove on. That's where this easy summer dinner menu comes in. It makes the most of seasonal produce and, even better, doesn’t require you to turn on the oven or the stove. Yes, there's some grilling involved, but we lean into utilizing the refrigerator and freezer for the majority of the dishes—it's a mostly no-cook meal that can be served cold or at room temperature. We've included substitutions, allowing you to easily create a dinner party that matches your personal preferences and the dietary needs of all of your guests. Enjoy it with friends or family—and enjoy how cool the kitchen is.

The Menu

From the starters to the desserts, there's no need to even think about turning on the stove. 

Appetizer: Tomatoes With Lightly Whipped Cream

This no-cook appetizer is not only visually stunning, but it’s also a great way to ease your dinner party guests into your summer feast. It's a unique take on the Caprese salad and uses one of the best things that summer has to offer—ripe, juicy tomatoes. They are the star of the show; all they need is a sprinkle of flaky salt and freshly-cracked black pepper, a drizzle of good-quality olive oil, and a few fresh basil leaves to pull them together. The game changer is that the usual mozzarella is replaced by dollops of cream, whipped to soft peaks. 

Alternatives: If you want to lean more into the traditional Caprese salad, there are other ways to make this starter more special. Consider marinating the mozzarella or swapping it with a creamy cheese like burrata, ricotta, or stracciatella.

Appetizer: Grilled-Vegetable Agrodolce

This dish falls somewhere between an appetizer and a main dish. The cured meats and cheeses are perfect for grazing before the main event, but won’t fill you up too much. The grilled zucchini, summer squash, and eggplants are all doused in a punchy vinegar sauce, sweetened with sugar and flavored with briney capers and juicy golden raisins. Slice up some soft sesame bread so people can pile the cheese, meats, and vegetables on as they please. 

If you have a number of vegetarian or vegan guests, you may like to serve this; just add more eggplant (or even some hearty mushrooms like portobellos or lion's mane) to the mix. Coat them with the sweet and sour sauce like you do the other vegetables. Both eggplant and mushrooms are meaty enough that they can be substituted as a satisfying main dish for those who don’t eat meat. 

Main Dish: Grilled Spatchcock Chicken With Dijon and Rosemary

While you have the grill on, you might as well throw on this spatchcock chicken. Chicken is a crowd-pleaser, and spatchcocking is a super simple method that ensures a perfectly juicy bird every time. The mixture that coats the chicken is simple–Dijon mustard, mayonnaise, fresh rosemary, and lemon juice–so it can be altered for whatever vibe you’re feeling. 

Alternatives: Give the chicken a Peruvian-style flair by rubbing the meat with a combination of cumin, paprika, and oregano (along with the usual salt and pepper) and serve with a creamy, spicy, and garlicky cilantro-lime sauce for drizzling. 

Side: Mediterranean Three-Bean Salad

Fresh side dishes are a must-have. We like to include one that is fresh and vibrant, and one that is a little more filling and substantial, like this three-bean salad. It uses a mixture of canned beans and fresh, raw green beans, so it has a lot of different textures. It can and should be made a few days ahead of time, so the beans can soak up all of the flavors from the vinegar, fresh oregano, and roasted piquillo peppers. It’s delectable cold, but even better at room temperature. 

Side: Green Salad With Pickled-Shallot Vinaigrette

A bright, green salad is sure to go fast, especially one as delicious and complex as this. The zippy dressing is made by quick-pickling some thinly sliced shallots, then using the vinegar to make a mustardy vinaigrette. We used a combination of salad greens and paired them with crunchy vegetables like thinly sliced radishes and carrots, but use whatever looks best at the market. 

Alternatives: Simple is the best way to go when making a dinner party salad. If the pickled-shallot vinaigrette doesn’t sound great to you, try a different dressing–any of these options will be stellar. 

Dessert: Fudgy Ice Cream Cake

For dessert, we turn to the freezer. This frosty cake is a simple layered combination of ice cream, graham crackers, and fudge sauce. Before serving, the cake can be dolloped with fluffy spoonfuls of whipped cream, but until then, it can hang out in the freezer for several days (maybe months, when wrapped well!). 

Alternatives: Other ice cream cakes, such as our Neapolitan Ice Cream Cake and Brownie Sundae Ice Cream Cake, are refreshing options–simply substitute any of the cake/cookie layers that require baking with graham crackers.

Dessert: 2-Ingredient Coconut Granita

Not everyone loves chocolate, so a second dessert option is always a good idea. This coconut granita takes mere minutes to make, uses only two ingredients (coconut water and sugar), is vegan and gluten-free, and can be made ahead and stored in the freezer until you’re ready to serve.

The Game Plan

Hosting a dinner party menu is simple when you have a game plan. This summer menu is all about prep. Here’s how to get ahead so that the day-of will go flawlessly. 

Two Days Ahead

• Go shopping! Put together your ingredient list and get your grocery shopping out of the way. 
• Spatchcock the chicken: It’s easy if you follow this guide. Keep it stored in a resealable bag or on a baking sheet, wrapped tightly with plastic, in the refrigerator. 
• Make the three-bean salad: The longer it sits, the more flavorful it will become, so this can be done one or two days beforehand.

One Day Ahead

• Make the ice cream cake: Everything except for the whipped cream topping should be made today and stored in the freezer. 
• Make the granita: It needs time to freeze before it can be scraped and served. 
• Marinate the chicken: Coat the bird in the mustard-rosemary marinade and let it hang out in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.

The Morning Of

• Grill and marinate the vegetables: Let the vegetables soak up the agrodolce sauce for as long as they can. (If you don’t mind firing up the grill more than once, this can be done up to two days ahead of time.

An Hour or Two Before Serving

• Grill the chicken: This takes a little over an hour, then the chicken needs to rest at least 15 minutes before you carve into it. 
• Toast the bread for the grilled vegetables. 
• Remove the three-bean salad from the refrigerator: It needs at least an hour to take the chill off. Also, give it a thorough stir before serving. 
• Make the dressing for the green salad.

For Dessert

• Make whipped cream and decorate the ice cream cake. 
• Scrape the granita into crystal-like pieces and serve with fresh fruit and/or coconut chips, if desired.