What's for Dinner? 21 Weeknight Recipes You'll Want to Make in August

For an easy and elegant summer dinner that also happens to be vegetarian, bake this cheesy tart. It uses store-bought puff pastry to showcase juicy slices of heirloom tomatoes with buttery brie and briny capers. 

Rice and grain bowls are tasty options when you want a colorful dinner with a mix of flavors and textures. Let everyone customize their bowl, choosing from favorite toppings like black beans, corn, creamy avocado slices, and brightly colored red cabbage in this chicken dinner.

Here's a crowd-pleasing, comforting pasta that takes just 30 minutes to make. The combination of eggs, egg yolks, and Pecorino Romano cheese creates a creamy sauce that coats rigatoni.

We'd describe this dish as sort of fancy, sort of different, fast, and totally delicious. Simple grilled salmon fillets are paired with a twist on the classic Tuscan bread-and-tomato salad. What makes our different? We replace the country bread with rye and the tomatoes with cucumber, fennel, and dill. Give it a try!

It's Friday, so why not indulge a little? Bacon-wrapped hot dogs and strips of poblano peppers are grilled then tucked into buns and topped with homemade pico de gallo. Serve with our Texas-style Love Dip,  and crudités for casual meal everyone will enjoy.

Summer produce stars along with store-bought cheese or spinach ravioli in this summer pasta dish. Eggplant, tomatoes, and shallots are roasted together until caramelized, then tossed with cooked ravioli, capers, a touch of starchy pasta water (it's the secret to so many pasta dishes), and a dusting of Parmigiano-Reggiano.

We're heading to the grill tonight to cook pork chops that are brushed with a simple glaze of hoisin and chili sauce then grilled to caramelized perfection. Steamed rice, shredded cabbage, blistered shishito peppers, and a drizzle of sesame-ginger dressing round out the meal. Make this dinner using your grill pan if you don't want to cook outdoors.

Of course, we're all for grilled dinners during this time of year! We're also all about using zucchini because it's in season and so sweet (if you select small squash at the market, that is). This weeknight summer dinner also uses corn, cut from the cob with the zucchini as a side for the skewers of swordfish, salmon, or whatever firm fleshed fish you see at the fish counter.

These turkey burgers are served with pita breads rather than buns, plus hummus, yogurt, plenty of arugula, and sliced cucumbers for a quick and tasty handheld dinner.

Here's a restaurant-quality dinner that's easy to make at home and just right for Friday night in. Chorizo and white beans flavor the white wine that fresh mussels are cooked in briefly, just until they open. Serve with plenty of crusty bread to mop up the delicious sauce.

Pasta is a weeknight staple because it's quick and easy to prepare and endlessly adaptable. Tonight we're using campanelle and pairing it with eggplant and red peppers for a summery entrée. This dish can be served hot or cold, so save leftovers (if there are any!) for lunch tomorrow.

Fried rice cooks quickly, and you'll find that you can make it at home in the time that it would take to place an order and wait for delivery. This recipe stars Chinese-style sausage, but feel free to substitute leftover chicken, pork, or shrimp.

Skirt steak is an economical cut of beef with plenty of meaty, rich flavor. How could you resist this flavorful summer dinner that's starts with searing the meat, then bell pepper, onions and medallions of fresh corn on the cob are cooked in the same pan?

A feast for the eyes as well as the stomach, that's this colorful grilled meal. Chicken breast and eggplant take a turn on the grill and then are combined with slices of fresh mozzarella, juicy tomatoes, briny Kalamata olives, and plenty of parsley. While the grill is on, toast slices of bread as an accompaniment to this summer dinner 

We're grilling again tonight! Use store-bought flatbreads for this meal and don't skimp on the vegetable toppings—this isn't the usual tomato sauce- type pie. Grill a bushel of produce—think mushrooms, zucchini, red onion, and kale—and pile them onto the flatbreads. Then comes a combo of mozzarella and blue cheese and a simple mustard vinaigrette that unites the vegetables into bites so satisfying, no one will notice you're having salad for dinner.

This hearty and nutritious rice bowl is a colorful, flavorful, and filling option for your Meatless Monday dinner.

This is the night to break out your Dutch oven. Our chowder is a briny, smokey taste of summer that comes together in under an hour. It's packed with salmon, baby potatoes, corn kernels, and, yes, more zucchini!

With the exception of pork tenderloin, everything needed for this dish should already be in your pantry, so prepping this balanced meal will be a breeze. Grab summer squashes like zucchini, scallions, and mint from a local farm stand for the freshest possible flavor.

Take linguine in a different direction for dinner tonight. Coconut milk and green curry paste are the base of a silky, complex sauce that comes together quickly and coats the shrimp, green beans, and pasta deliciously. 

Burgers are practically synonymous with summer. Tonight, we're making chicken burgers with freshly chopped cilantro, cumin, and diced green chiles for a serious kick. Serve with this summery twist on a classic Cobb salad.

Though this quick vegetarian dinner recipe is called "zucchini tacos," there's more to this meal than summer squash and corn tortillas. Canned black beans bring heft and sour cream, cheese, and sliced radishes make for creamy, crunchy toppings to finish the dish.

Orecchiette—otherwise known as "little ears"—makes the perfect holders for a speedy sauce with spicy Italian sausage, Parmigiano-Reggiano, toasted almonds, and jarred roasted peppers.