17 Easy Grilling Recipes For Summer Cooking

Escape the hot kitchen by grilling outdoors this summer. Even better than soaking up the sun while you cook, grilling is the best way to develop rich, smoky flavor for just about anything you can dream up, including juicy summer fruits, vegetables, seafood, and of course, meats. Our love for grilling runs deep, which is the reason we made smoothies the theme of this week's SWAT (Sharing With A Theme).

Alton Brown's Grilled Pork Tenderloin on Platter Talk spends an overnight stay, marinating in a mixture of honey, lime juice, and an adobo sauce seasoned chipotle chile pepper. We modified this recipe by slicing and then butterflying the pork, prior to putting it on the grill. This provides for handy individual servings and makes for a visually appealing grilled presentation. Alton Brown's Grilled Pork Tenderloin by Platter Talk is full of flavor, it's economical (especially with a sale), and it's easy to make. — Dan from Platter Talk

For Alton Brown's Grilled Pork Tenderloin recipe, click here.

Wonderfully simple and super scrumptious, these apricot, habanero, and honey-glazed pork skewers deserve a place on your dinner menu. — Cheyanne Bany, No Spoon Necessary

For the Apricot, Habanero, and Honey-Glazed Pork Tenderloin Skewers recipe, click here.

Carne asada might be my go-to dish when I hit most Mexican restaurants. It's high in protein, lower in fat than, say, my other favorite, the smothered burrito. — Michelle De La Cerda, The Complete Savorist

For the Carne Asada recipe, click here.

Greek food is so flavorful, yet easy to make. This recipe for Greek Chicken Kabobs has so much flavor and seven ingredients for the marinade — four of those ingredients are the spices. This is an easy recipe to put together. But just because this dish was easy to assemble, does not mean it was not tasty. The best thing about this marinade was the beautiful char it created when cooked on the outdoor grill. — Peter Block, Feed Your Soul Too

For the Greek Chicken Kabobs recipe, click here.

Grilled BBQ Pork Tenderloin: the best and easiest BBQ Pork Tenderloin made on the grill or in your oven. Simple ingredients packed with sweet and smoky flavor. — Krystle, Baking Beauty

For the Grilled BBQ Pork Tenderloin recipe, click here.

"This grilled banana split is vegan, refined sugar-free, gluten-free, and sooo tasty!" — Kyra Howearth, Vie de la Vegan

For the Grilled Banana Split recipe, click here.

"I saw this recipe in so many places... that it was like a big hint to try it. I first saw the recipe in Everyday with Rachael Ray Magazine. Then I saw it on The Chew show with Curtis Stone actually showing how to cook it. Well, I am glad I took all the hints because it was fresh, fun and fantastic! My kids decided to take it to the next level by serving it with vanilla ice cream." — Kitchen Simmer

For the Grilled Pineapple Skewers With Coconut Caramel Sauce recipe, click here.

Prosciutto, in addition to fresh, sweet corn, is the shining star of these little 'zas. — Coley, Coley Cooks

For the Grilled Pizzas With Corn and Prosciutto recipe, click here.

This potato salad must be served warm, right after grilling. It's nice at room temperature, too, but don't even think about serving it cold. It loses all of its moxie: The potatoes firm up, the basil wilts, the tomatoes become mealy and flavorless, and the blue cheese loses its luscious melty quality. This isn't the best make-the-day-before dish, but you can boil the potatoes ahead of time and just grill and assemble it all at the last minute like it ain't even a thang. — Coley, Coley Cooks

For the Grilled Potato Salad With Basil, Blue Cheese, and Tomatoes recipe, click here.

This Sriracha Salmon from the grill uses sriracha chile sauce and a couple of other ingredients that are probably already in your fridge. Loaded with health, flavor, and convenience, you need to take a look at this recipe and fire up the grill. — Dan, Platter Talk

For the Grilled Sriracha Salmon recipe, click here.

Swordfish is a firm and delicious fish with a meaty texture making it a great fish for grilling and it partners beautifully with a spicy, chunky salsa. The cooking time on swordfish is not that long, depending on the thickness, about 10 minutes all in and you can grill it outdoors or in a grill pan. I wanted to highlight the cherries and the tomatoes, so the spice comes from my beloved Vietnamese Garlic Chili Sauce — it gave me heat without the actual chile peppers but do as you will — fresh chile peppers will work great! — Kimberly Moore, The Hungry Goddess

For the Grilled Swordfish With Spicy Cherry Salsa recipe, click here.

If you have never had Cornish hens, you are seriously missing out on some scrumptiousness in your life! A lot of people (including my husband, before I forced him to see the light), have a misconception that Cornish hens are gamy-tasting. Well, first of all Cornish hens are not game birds, they are a form of a broiler chicken. And, if you cook them properly, they won't be gamy. At all. I spatchcocked the hens, meaning I removed the back bone and flattened them out, to gain more grill-to-hen surface area. This allows for the smoky char of the grill to really flavor the bird and cook evenly. — Cheyanne Bany, No Spoon Necessary

For the Grilled Szechuan Cornish Hens recipe, click here.

These healthy and easy veggie burgers can even be made the night before and quickly grilled the next night. A delicious make-ahead feast! — Danielle Fahrenkrug, Delightful Mom Food

For the Grilled Veggie Burger With Special Sauce recipe, click here.

Marinated Beef Kabobs Recipe: delicious grilled beef and veggies served over a bed of rice. Perfect quick dinner idea for a weeknight or a get together. — Tiffany Bendayan, Living Sweet Moments

For the Marinated Beef Kabobs recipe, click here.

For grilling choose thicker cuts and types of fish like tuna, swordfish, mahi mahi, halibut, and salmon. I like to cut the salmon filet in relatively large chunks because the minute it hits the grill it's going to cook. If you cut the fish too small, the onions and peppers won't have a chance to cook before the fish is overdone. Be sure to brush everything liberally with olive oil so it doesn't stick. If you have one of those pans that goes over the grill, I suggest using that. And be sure to season with salt and pepper on both sides. — Sue, The View from Great Island

For the Rainbow Salmon Skewers recipe, click here.

The trick to getting kebabs full of flavor is to drizzle some of the marinade over the vegetable kebabs after they have finished cooking. And of course, if you let the vegetables sit in the marinade for a while before grilling, they will absorb a lot of flavor too. — Kyra Howearth, Vie de la Vegan

For the Ratatouille Kebabs recipe, click here.

I put my thinking cap on and decided I would take the classic Irish dish, Corned Beef & Cabbage, and turn it into an Irish-themed burger. Crazy you say? This burger is delicious and darn-near foolproof. — The Food Hunter

For the Irish Burger recipe, click here.