16 Hydrating Dinner Recipes to Help You Stay Cool This Summer

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Published on July 6, 2023

Reviewed by Dietitian

Jessica Ball, M.S., RD

Caprese Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

Meet your water intake goals with these flavorful and fresh dinner recipes. These dishes are packed with seasonal ingredients like watermelon and tomatoes and other foods like tuna or brown rice that have a high water content to help you stay cool and hydrated at the end of a hot day. Recipes like our Tuna Poke and Caprese Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms make a delicious and refreshing summer meal.

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Chicken & Cucumber Lettuce Wraps with Peanut Sauce

Chicken & Cucumber Lettuce Wraps with Peanut Sauce

We love the crunch from sliced cucumber and jicama in these savory chicken lettuce wraps. Serve with the simple peanut sauce for an easy dinner recipe that will impress kids and adults alike.

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Apple-Cranberry Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese

The tangy-sweet dressing in this spinach salad beautifully amplifies the apples and cranberries—and the creamy goat cheese transforms it into the perfect salad. Tasters raved about this easy fall salad. If you can't find Pink Lady apples, any sweet, crisp apple is a worthy substitute. Want to make this salad a main meal? Top with some rotisserie chicken, chickpeas or tofu.

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Tuna Poke

Poke (pronounced poke-ay), a Hawaiian word meaning "to chop" or "to cut," refers to a traditional Hawaiian salad of diced raw fish in a simple, soy-based sauce with punchy seasonings like toasted sesame and chopped scallion greens. These tuna poke bowls feature seasoned brown rice and fresh veggies for a healthy, satisfying meal packed with protein and fiber.

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Caprese Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

We've taken the key ingredients of the popular Caprese salad—tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil—and piled them into portobello mushroom caps to make a delicious and satisfying vegetarian main dish.

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Marinara Meat Sauce Topped Baked Potato

Break out of your pasta routine by subbing in a baked potato in this simple and satisfying dinner for one.

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Watermelon, Cucumber & Feta Salad

Here's a healthy salad recipe to make at the height of summer when watermelon and cucumbers are at their juiciest and most flavorful. Feta adds the perfect creamy, salty, tangy edge, and mint makes this salad taste even brighter. This is one easy side salad you'll want to serve at all your summer BBQs.

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Tuna-Zucchini Pasta

The sauce for this pasta recipe comes together quickly in one skillet while your spaghetti noodles cook on the next burner. Zucchini, fragrant basil, fresh tomato, and canned tuna combine to make a sensational topping for the whole-grain spaghetti in this 30-minute meal.

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Cheeseburger Stuffed Baked Potatoes

Skip the bun and serve all of your favorite cheeseburger ingredients--beef, cheese, tomatoes, red onions and lettuce--with baked potatoes for a hearty and easy dinner recipe that kids and adults will love. Feel free to swap out the ground beef for ground turkey or tofu crumbles.

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Three-Bean Chili

Three-Bean Chili

This rib-sticking bean chili is richly flavored with cumin, chili, paprika, oregano and an assortment of peppers. Use whatever beans you have in your pantry.

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Italian Zucchini-Topped Baked Potato

Quick-sautéed zuke with herbs and a little cheese adds punch to a plain potato without overdoing it on the fat, sodium and calories.

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Cucumber, Tomato & Feta Salad with Balsamic Dressing

greek tomato salad — Andrea Mathis, M.A., R.D.N., L.D.

This Greek-inspired tomato salad is packed with fresh veggies and flavor-boosting ingredients, like balsamic vinegar, Kalamata olives and crumbled feta cheese. This delicious salad takes just 15 minutes to make and while you could eat it right away, it tastes even better the longer it sits, so plan to leave at least an hour of marinating time before serving.

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Scallops with Radicchio-Apple Slaw

The secret to getting a nice golden-brown sear on your scallops is to buy ones that are labeled dry. That means they haven't been treated with sodium tripolyphosphate (STP), a preservative that helps them retain water, which prevents them from browning well. Serve with roasted potatoes for a complete meal.

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Spinach & Tuna Noodle Casserole

Spinach Tuna Noodle Casserole — Penny De Los Santos

Homemade mushroom sauce kicks the can of soup out of the picture in this veggie-centric, healthy riff on a classic tuna-noodle casserole recipe. Serve with steamed green beans.

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Red Beans & Rice with Vegetables

This dish is inspired by the traditional New Orleans dish of red beans and rice, but adds plenty of roasted vegetables.

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Slow-Cooker Chicken Sausage with Cabbage & Apples

The cabbage comes out tender without being mushy and gives the slow-cooker chicken sausage a slightly sweet flavor. A splash of vinegar at the end perks up the whole meal with a bit of acidic brightness. There are several varieties of smoked chicken sausage from which you can choose. We recommend using an apple-flavored smoked sausage to complement the apples and vinegar.

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Watermelon Poke Bowl

Watermelon Poke Bowl — Brittany Conerly

This vegetarian poke bowl swaps out fish for watermelon that soaks up a savory marinade of tamari, garlic and ginger. Black rice adds texture, crispy cucumber and edamame round out the bowl, and a spicy mayo drizzle ties it all together.

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