8 Easy No-Cook Recipes to beat the heat 🌡️🥵

Summer heatwaves are rolling in and the last thing you want is to be stuck in a hot kitchen. Keep your kitchen cool with these simple and refreshing recipes that require minimal prep time and no kitchen heat at all. We’ve compiled our favorite no-cook recipes that work perfectly for lunch or dinner, using fresh produce and pre-cooked proteins.

Cold Soups 🥣

If you haven’t tried gazpacho before, you’re seriously missing out. By simply blending a few raw ingredients together, you can create a deliciously savory soup or drink - serve with bread and salad for the perfect summer meal.

Simple Gazpacho

Chop up 5 tomatoes, 1 cucumber, 1/2 onion, 1 bell pepper
Add to a blender with 1-2 cloves garlic, 2 tablespoons vinegar (e.g. apple cider, sherry), 3 tablespoons olive oil. Blend until smooth.
Season with salt and pepper, add water for a thinner consistency
Chill in the fridge and serve cold!

New York based author Ricardo takes this soup up a notch by salting and freezing his vegetables first to draw out more liquid, but you can always skip these steps to save time:

Gazpacho (Cold Tomato Soup)(approx 15 units) ripe plum tomatoes, medium-size (1/3 pound) red onion, medium-size (1/2 pound) cucumber, red or green (1/3 pound) bell bepper, garlic, peeled and chopped

Try this avocado variation for a boost of healthy fats and a wonderfully creamy texture:

Green watercress and Avocado Gazpacho 🌱cucumber (peeled), garlic (crushed), avocado, watercress, olive oil

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Bean Salads 🫘

Get a kick of plant based protein with these no-cook salads. Eat them on their own, in a wrap, or even as a dip with some tortilla chips.

Healthy Summer 3 Bean Salad⏱ 30 minutesred bell pepper, chopped, celery, chopped, English cucumber-seeds removed, chopped, red onion, chopped, Italian parsley, chopped

Sydney-based author Adrian packs a punch with this refreshingly easy salad, containing three types of canned protein (beans, lentils, and fish!) all found in your pantry.

Mixed Beans and Lentil Salad⏱ 20 minsbeans. Try different types - I used 1 x black beans, 1 x red kidney beans, 1 x adzuki beans. Drain well, lentils, drained, large jar of sundried tomatoes (approx 500g), roughly chopped and reserving 1/2 cup of oil, canned tuna in water, drained and flaked, small red onion, finely diced

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Got leftovers?

Use pre-cooked chicken or shrimp to create crunchy salads with fresh chopped produce like cabbage, tomatoes, and cucumber.

Fresh & Easy Shrimp Salad with Lemon, Red Wine Vinegar, & Dill Dressingmedium precooked shrimp cocktail type shrimp, English (Hot House) cucumber that's been seeded and cut into 1/4" cubes, sweet bell pepper (red, orange, or yellow are good) cut into 1/4" pieces, cherry or grape tomatoes that have been cut in half, sweet or red onion cut into 1/4" pieces

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Chinese chicken salads

Summer Rolls ⛱️

With slightly more prep and a little bit of dexterity, you can also use cooked chicken or prawns to create Vietnamese summer rolls, the uncooked cousin of spring rolls. You might need some hot water to soften your rice noodles, but these rolls will be worth it. Yui Miles’ recipe will show you how to use rice paper sheets to make beautifully presented rolls.

Vietnamese summer rolls 🌈📸 4medium carrot, peeled and julienned, small seedless cucumber, julienned, medium spring onion, thinly sliced, mixed thinly sliced peppers, mint

Mango, Chicken and Veggie Summer Rollsleftover chicken, shredded/chopped, spinach or lettuce, large mango, chopped into sticks, carrots, chopped into sticks, Summer roll rice paper (find in an Asian supermarket)

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What are your go-to meals when it gets too hot? Share them with us on Cookpad! 🍳

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