9 Recipes Our Editors Are Pumped to Make in June

Grilled peaches, smashed potatoes, pasta salad, and more summer-ready recipes we're cooking on repeat this June.

By Megan O. Steintrager
and
The Serious Eats Team
The Serious Eats Team
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Published May 30, 2025
A hand drizzling dressing over a grilled peach salad with prosciutto and basil

Serious Eats / Lorena Masso

In my experience, there's what restaurants say is "in season" and then there's what's actually in season. Since I go to the farmers market at least once a week in NYC, where I live, I know when the restaurants are lying. I can't blame them: Early spring can be bleak, especially in the upper reaches of the country. All you want is something that's fresh and vibrant (maybe not a root), and it's just not there yet.

But now? Now it's here! By "here," I mean not just fake summer (that time between Memorial Day and the solstice), but also the produce! At my market, we have snap peas, asparagus, leeks, fresh herbs, lettuces, rhubarb, radishes, onions, and even summer squash. My family, down south and in California, is rolling in even more seasonal produce.

That abundance of fresh produce has me and the rest of the Serious Eats team pretty damn excited about cooking right now and throughout the month. Read on below to see what we're getting into, including a grilled (oh yeah, it's grill time too) peach salad with creamy burrata, the best crispy smashed and double-sauced potatoes I've ever eaten, a fresh, lemony pasta salad, and some cookies and desserts, because Genevieve wouldn't let a monthly editors' roundup of recipes go by without including some desserts. And very fine desserts they are, indeed.

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  • Cardamom Lemonade

    A glass of lemonade with ice cubes beside a pitcher containing more lemonade, next to small bowls of cardamom and lemons

    Serious Eats / Jatin Sharma

    "Cardamom lemonade? That's an automatic yes for me, cardamom is one of my favorite spices and lemonade season is here." - Daniel Gritzer, editorial director

  • Crispy Smashed Potatoes With Tonnato Sauce

    Platter of smashed double sauce potatoes with garnishes on a wooden table

    Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

    "When I was fresh out of college, one of my go-to dinners was slices of potato seasoned with paprika and sizzled in butter and oil until crispy. I'd plate them up over a swoosh of sour cream and scatter them with pickled onions and a handful of parsley. It was cheap and delicious. And this crispy potato dish from Daniel takes everything I loved about that simple dinner and cranks it up: ultra-crispy potatoes, tonnato, olives, calabrian chiles, parsley sauce. It's a potato dish, but dressed up for the Met Gala." - Grace Kelly, senior editor

  • Butterscotch-Pecan Cookies

    A plate of cookies, stacked with a glass of milk in the background

    Serious Eats / Maureen Celestine

    "Liz Cook's butterscotch-pecan cookies sound like my favorite kind of cookie: salty, sweet, nutty, and wonderfully chewy. It might be summer, but that's not stopping me from turning on my oven to make these!" – Genevieve Yam, senior editor

  • Grilled Peach and Burrata Salad

    Gilled peach salad with burrata, prosciutto, and fresh herbs arranged on a blue plate

    Serious Eats / Lorena Masso

    "Summer is synonymous with peach season for me, and this salad is a shoo-in for my grilling rotation. My favorite part is the fish sauce in the dressing; its intense savoriness is a delightful contrast to the caramelized peaches and creamy burrata." – Ashlee Redger, writer

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  • Lemony Orzo Pasta Salad

    A bowl of orzo pasta salad with chickpeas and chopped vegetables, served with a spoon

    Serious Eats / Qi Ai

    "I’m tooting my own horn this month and owning it: I’m genuinely excited to cook my own recipes. (After all, if I’m not eager to make them, why should anyone else be?) At the top of my list is my lemony orzo and chickpea pasta salad—the kind of pasta salad I actually want to eat: bright, veggie-forward, and completely free of mayo. I’m also planning to make my grilled peach and burrata salad for a small family gathering in a couple of weeks. It comes together in minutes and delivers big payoff with minimal effort." - Leah Colins, senior culinary editor

  • Muhammara

    A bowl of muhammara garnished with walnuts, pomegranate arils, and a mint leaf, next to pita bread on a green tile surface

    Serious Eats / Melati Citrawireja

    "I once discovered on a second date that a guy did not like dips. As in the entire category of dips. There was no third date. So, yeah, I love a dip. And my current favorite is Laila's phenomenal muhammara (Syrian red pepper dip). It's bright, a little nutty, pleasantly assertive, and versatile—pretty much my dream in a dip. And in a date." - Megan O. Steintrager, associate editorial director

  • Portokalopita (Greek Orange Cake)

    A slice of orange-flavored cake served on a white plate with a dollop of cream and a fork, with the rest of the cake in a green dish in the background

    Serious Eats /Qi Ai

    "I’m a firm believer that a soaked cake is a superior cake (OK, maybe not always), and portokalopita makes a strong case. I love custardy cakes that make you question whether they’re actually a cake or a pudding. This one also happens to include some of my favorite ingredients—warm spices, orange blossom, and citrus." – Laila Ibrahim, associate culinary editor

    "On my trip to Greece last month, I had the opportunity to try portokalopita for the first (and second, and third) time. This light and bright dessert paired perfectly with an espresso! I'm sure I'll be trying to recreate my experience with Sharon Brenner's recipe all month long." - Kelli Solomon, senior social media editor

  • Summer Squash Salad

    20150701-squash-salad-vicky-wasik-1

    Vicky Wasik / Serious Eats

    "The textures in this salad are unreal. Crisp! Crunchy! Soft! Tender! This recipe will convert any summer squash hater it meets." – Rochelle Bilow, editor

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  • Carrot and Feta Borek

    Slices of carrot and feta borek on a turquoise background

    Serious Eats / Victor Protasio

    "Am I slightly over carrots right now? Maybe. But Renu's carrot and feta borek—with its flaky, golden phyllo and savory-sweet filling—has been calling to me. You had me at phyllo. I’m finally giving in and making it soon." - Kelli

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