30 Recipes to Make in June (2024)

June is here and that means grilling season. We've got a slew of top-notch grilled steak and chicken recipes to check out, as well as whole branzino and taco recipes that are perfect for this time of year. But it's not all about the savory. Fruit season is kicking into high gear after all, so a pie or two is a must. Our old-fashioned blueberry pie and tres leches cakes are sure to be a favorite. Read on for our 30 favorite finger-licking recipes to make this month.

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Yogurt-Marinated Grilled Chicken

Yogurt marinade for grilled chicken is the best of all worlds: It makes for flavorful, moist meat and can be tossed together the night before without sacrificing quality.

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Old-Fashioned Blueberry Pie

Showcase summer's blueberry bounty in this traditional pie with a flaky pastry crust that's bound to be a hit for years to come.

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Balsamic Marinated Flank Steak

The long, flat cut comes from the abdominal muscles of the cow, making for lean, relatively chewy meat that's often used interchangeably with skirt steak. The balsamic vinegar in the marinade not only imparts complex flavor but also serves to tenderize the meat by breaking down muscle fibers; it comes together quickly in a blender with garlic, rosemary, oregano, and a touch of mustard.

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Birria Tacos

A combination of two meats creates the best balance of tender texture from chuck roast and succulence from short ribs. The beef's slow-cooked flavor comes from the adobo sauce.

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Roasted Branzino with Caper Butter

Whole branzino roasted with lemon and rosemary is a foolproof way to ensure flavorful, perfectly cooked fish. A caper compound butter takes the dish over the top.

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Grilled Vegetable Flatbread with Smoked Almond Muhammara

This vegetarian masterpiece of a flatbread is topped with a mix of vegetables — such as zucchini, red onion, and baby bell peppers — as well as a homemade Smoked Almond Muhammara and a generous sprinkle of fresh herbs. It'll turn heads at your next cookout, and, as a bonus, also has helpful make-ahead options and smart shortcuts. You can make the Smoked Almond Muhammara up to three days in advance and stash it in the fridge; if you'd like, skip grilling the bell peppers for the muhammara and substitute in two cups of jarred roasted peppers instead, plus about 1/4 cup of liquid from the jar. You can also cut the flatbread in half if you're working with a small grill, or use lavash instead.

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Lobster BLTs on Potato Rolls

These next-level BLTs combine tender, sweet lobster meat with smoky, salty bacon; juicy tomatoes; and pillowy potato buns, lightly toasted in bacon drippings. In the mood for wine? Pair the sandwiches with a tangy Loire Valley white.

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Pörkölt-Style Grilled Chicken Thighs with Stone Fruit, Fennel, and Paprika Salad

Sarah Copeland’s summery grilled chicken thighs with stone fruit, fennel, and paprika salad features paprika in the marinade and as a dressing.

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Grilled Leg of Lamb with Garlic and Rosemary

Chef Cal Peternell's easy method for cooking lamb leg on the grill results in tender, flavorful meat in only 20 minutes after it's finished marinating.

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Tres Leches Cake with Strawberries

This luscious dessert from chef Soledad Correa of Chile's Casa Silva restaurant is ideal for the warmer months.

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Chile-Coconut Watermelon Crudo

This sweet, spicy, and punchy upgrade to classic slabs of salted watermelon is the palate-pleasing appetizer your cookout guests deserve. Fresh coconut water is much sweeter and has a greater depth of flavor than bottled versions, so crack open a coconut if you can. If using store-bought coconut water, select a brand with no additives for the best-tasting crudo. Reserve the strained spicy marinade to use as a fruity base for a tequila co*cktail.

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Stone Fruit Salad with Collard-Peanut Pesto

"Nowadays, when I serve plums and nectarines, like in my Stone Fruit Salad with Collard-Peanut Pesto, I'm transported to parties where we dapped, hugged, boogied, and kissed under the moonlight," says writer Nicole A. Taylor, of her Juneteenth celebrations. In this savory fruit salad, roasted peanuts, collard greens, and Parmesan yield a hearty pesto that's the perfect partner for honey-dressed wedges of plums and nectarines. Fonio, a West African grain similar in texture to couscous, soaks up the pesto, flavoring each bite of this salad.

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Smoke-Grilled Tri-Tips with Jeow Som Dipping Sauce

2020 F&W Best New Chef Donny Sirisavath shared this recipe, which is a nod to his Laotian heritage and Texas upbringing, when his parents grilled brisket over hardwood coals for family gatherings. Here, thick and meaty tri-tip steaks get seared on the hot zone of the grill and then slowly smoke-grilled until medium-rare. Let them rest, and then thinly slice them against the grain and serve with Sirisavath's Jeow Som, a fiery, fish sauce–flavored dipping sauce. A quick soak in beer tenderizes thick tri-tip steaks, and a marinade of garlic, lemongrass, cilantro, and fish sauce builds big flavor. Sirisavath loves using oak or mesquite wood here, placed at the center of the grill, alongside the lit coals, where they smolder and add a rich aroma.

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Gina Mae's Baked Beans

Scholar Regina Bradley (nicknamed Gina Mae as a child) added a few special touches to her husband's baked beans recipe to make it her own. "A cookout's DNA is found in the sides and who made them. This task is not for the faint of heart or the thin-skinned," wrote Bradley, in an essay on the hierarchy of the cookout for Food & Wine. "If your beans taste burnt or your potato salad has raisins or olives, we talking bad about you 'til your grandchildren hear about it." For this summer-perfect side, Bradley dresses up store-bought barbecue sauce with extra brown sugar; apple cider vinegar balances the smoky sweetness.

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Charred Broccolini Caesar with Kale and Chickpeas

Smoky, charred Broccolini and chickpeas give this take on Caesar salad the heft it needs to be a main course. Texture is the secret to a salad's wow factor. Here, Little Gem lettuces, hearty kale, and crisp-tender Broccolini bring three levels of crunch, and provide plenty of leafy nooks and crannies to catch the thick, anchovy-laced dressing.

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Slow-Roasted Salmon with Walnut-Olive Vinaigrette

A vinaigrette bolstered with chopped olives, toasted walnuts, and fresh parsley is a bold finishing touch for roasted salmon basted with smoked paprika and lemon. The combination of basting and slow roasting yields incredibly tender salmon; the walnut-olive vinaigrette adds a briny, buttery crunch.

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Pollo al Pastor with Charred Tomato Salsa

In this flavor-packed chicken, Juan Pablo Loza, director of culinary operations at Rosewood Mayakoba in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, shares his obsession for the al pastor style of cooking. This dish takes its inspiration from a traditional way of roasting chicken in Michoacán, where butterflied whole chickens are marinated with citrus, and speared with thick wooden stakes hammered into the ground. Splayed open, the chickens slowly cook vertically over a bed of coals, resulting in juicy meat and bronzed skin. Here, the cooking style is adapted to a horizontal grill basket set over two stacks of bricks on the grate, positioning the chicken up and away from the hot coals. An oak or mesquite log set alongside lit coals at the center of the grill perfumes the bird with smoke.

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Grilled Mushrooms with Smoked Crème Fraîche

Wood can be as essential and impactful an ingredient as fat or salt. As it burns, wood releases chemical compounds that deliver delicious flavors and aromas to food. In this dish, inspired by the cooking of Swedish mushroom forager and chef Elle Nikishkova, applewood and juniper add layers of flavor to oyster and chanterelle mushrooms and rich crème fraîche. Seasoning the oyster and chanterelle mushrooms with salt and pepper and letting them rest for a long stint in the refrigerator before cooking draws out moisture, helping them caramelize quickly on the grill while staying meaty and tender. When you're ready to smoke the mushrooms, place an applewood log alongside coals or place wood chunks directly on coals. For the crème fraîche, place a juniper branch or juniper berries directly onto the coals.

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Urdaburger

Smoky, melty "pimentón" cheese, crispy jamón serrano, and a savory-sweet aioli top beef patties in this towering tapas-inspired burger from Urdaneta, a popular tapas spot in Portland, OR. Kalimotxo, a Spanish red wine and cola co*cktail, is the inspiration for the marvelously mauve aioli.

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Honey-Pepper Coconut Shrimp

Although his breading technique at Rocky's Hot Chicken Shack in Asheville, North Carolina is top secret, chef Rich Cundiff was kind enough to create this special riff on his coconut shrimp exclusively for us. A drizzle of syrupy honey glaze, infused with black pepper and lemon, adds a tart-sweet bite.

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White Rum and Aperol Spritz

Mildly spicy poblano liqueur and tangy passion fruit liqueur add delicious complexity to this white rum–spiked Aperol spritz from Ten to One distillery CEO/founder Marc Farrell. Boozy heat from white rum gives a pleasant bite to a bubbly summer staple. Choose your fizz: Use sparkling water to let the spirits and liqueurs shine through, or use a splash of sparkling wine to tame the tart piquancy of the drink for a mellower sip.

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Nina's Potato Salad

"One of our first — and favorite — Horn side dishes is our potato salad," says Matt Horn, of his wife Nina's popular recipe. "This is our take on the classic recipe that goes perfectly with barbecue!" This crowd-pleasing side is neither too rich nor too light, hitting the perfect balance of tart and creamy to perfectly complement a smoked brisket.

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Burnt Ends with Bourbon Sauce

The crispy, caramelized "burnt" pieces of a smoked brisket are often the best part because the flavor is concentrated and the texture is pleasingly chewy. This recipe creates an entire baking tray of crispy pieces, so there are plenty to go around. Chef Matt Horn likes to serve these with slices of white bread, and he shared his step-by-step process for making Burnt Ends with us, from seasoning the brisket to caramelizing the sauce on the cubed meat.

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Grilled Mahi-Mahi with Lemongrass-Lime Aïoli

Sweet, mild, grilled mahi-mahi harmonizes with an aïoli featuring lemongrass and lime. The creamy aïoli comes together in seconds using an immersion blender, resulting in a silky texture that's less likely to break and adding richness and zest to a classic summer meal.

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Lamb Sliders with Yogurt-Tahini Sauce

A symphony of herbs — in the form of za'atar — and little bits of toasted pine nuts add bright flavor and texture to ground lamb patties that accompany a fresh summer salad.

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Piña Colada Pie

In this swoon-inducing dessert, the classic tropical flavors of a piña colada co*cktail are transformed into Piña Colada Pie featuring layers of silky coconut custard and a caramelized pineapple jam made by simmering fresh pineapple with brown sugar. Adding rum to the hot pineapple mixture burns off the harsher taste of the alcohol while leaving a pleasant kick. Spread across a buttery shortbread crust, the jam is ultimately layered with a double-coconut custard and piled high with a cloud of coconut cream whipped topping. Served ice-cold, this make-ahead pie is destined for your next summer gathering.

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Jamaican Pepper Crawfish

In this easy version of the popular Jamaican street food, whole crawfish are steeped in a spicy mixture of water infused with fruity Scotch bonnet chiles.

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Grilled Swordfish with Carrot-and-Walnut Salsa

Steeped in a savory kombu marinade, these swordfish steaks are paired with a nutty, slightly piquant gremolata-like salsa with roasted walnuts and Calabrian chiles.

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PEI-Style Smoky Clam Chowder

Finnan haddie, or cold-smoked cured haddock, gives this brothy chowder a deep, clean, smoky foundation that highlights sweet clams without overwhelming them. Using a mixture of lightly mashed potatoes and half-and-half to thicken and enrich the soup gives it a silky, but not heavy, texture.

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Limoncello

While maybe not a recipe to make and enjoy in June, it's definitely one you should get started asap. This summery drink embodies the best of the Amalfi Coast, but takes at least a month of prep time — but we can assure you the wait is well worth it. So consider this your reminder to get started now so you can enjoy in July.

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