Dinner in a Flash: 10 One-Pan Recipes for Easy Summer Nights

A plate of gnocchi with roasted vegetables and cheese, next to a sheet pan with more of the dish — Serious Eats / Victor Protasio

While my thermostat might disagree, it feels like summer to me—by that I mean there's a relaxed "school's out for the summer" vibe in the air. I want to spend more time eating and chilling out, and less time cooking and cleaning up, which is why the following recipes for one-pan summer meals are great to have on rotation.

Many come together in under 30 minutes and take full advantage of peak summer produce and herbs, including juicy, sweet peaches, tomatoes, and corn. We've got a sheet-pan chicken dinner, crispy gnocchi with sausage and vegetables, a speedy shrimp with cilantro sauce, and more quick and easy summer meals. All of that, and there's only one pan to wash when you're done.

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Easy Sheet-Pan Chicken and Asparagus with Creamy Olive-Yogurt Sauce

Serious Eats/ Amanda Suarez

A simple sheet-pan dinner recipe with two sauces for the price of one? Sign me up! Roasting olive oil–dressed chicken thighs and asparagus at high heat produces lots of rich pan drippings that are then drizzled over a creamy olive yogurt sauce and used in a bright vinaigrette for the vegetables for a double whammy of flavor.

Easy Sheet-Pan Chicken and Asparagus with Creamy Olive-Yogurt Sauce
Sheet-Pan Gnocchi and Sausage

Serious Eats / Victor Protasio

The beauty of cooking store-bought refrigerated gnocchi on a sheet pan is that you get a golden, crisp exterior and tender interior—no boiling required. Here, we start with the classic combination of broccoli rabe and sausage, then add juicy summer cherry tomatoes for a bit of sweetness. Red pepper flakes, fennel seeds, garlic, and lemon zest and juice provide more layers of flavor to this easy meal.

Sheet-Pan Gnocchi and Sausage
Easy Shrimp With Cilantro Sauce

Serious Eats / Larisa Niedle

Aside from a relatively brief marination period, this dish of snappy, plump shrimp swimming in a spicy chutney made of cilantro, chiles, and lots of garlic comes together quickly in one pan. You can pair the shrimp with leftover rice (or microwave-steam a fresh batch ) or serve with flatbread on the side to soak up the spicy sauce.

Easy Shrimp With Cilantro Sauce
One-Pan Honey-Mustard Pork Chops

Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

These tender, juicy pork chops are incredibly easy to make, require minimal prep and hands-on cooking, and can be on the table in less than 45 minutes. The key is dry-brining ahead, ideally eight hours in advance, then cooking the pork chops at a lower temperature to start and finishing them in a hot pan. We went the honey-mustard route with the quick pan sauce here, but you take advantage of summer stonefruit and go with this peach and basil variation. Make it a meal by adding arugula to each plate before serving and drizzling the greens with some of the pan sauce. A baguette for sopping up the sauce is nice too.

One-Pan Honey-Mustard Pork Chops

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Pan-Seared Flank Steak With Peaches and Dandelion Greens

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

What makes this a perfect quick summertime meal, aside from the fact that it's ready in about 20 minutes, is that it's packed with bold, fresh flavors from the caramelized peaches, bitter dandelion greens, lemon juice, and Calabrian chiles. Give the steak a hard sear, then let it rest while you cook the fruit and vegetables in the same pan, and turn the fond and pan drippings into a spicy, tart, and sweet sauce.

Pan-Seared Flank Steak With Peaches and Dandelion Greens
Broiled Clams With Tomatoes, Butter, and Tarragon

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Cooking this dish under the broiler is not only super quick—just about 10 minutes—but it also brings out the freshness of the clams and adds a perfect char to the cherry tomatoes. A splash of vermouth and a pat of butter transform the juices into a savory broth made for dipping crusty bread into, while the handful of tarragon at the end complements the acidity and sweetness of the tomatoes, the brininess of clams, and the botanicals in the vermouth.

Broiled Clams With Tomatoes, Butter, and Tarragon
Broiled Whole Porgy With Blistered Shishito and Tomato

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

On a busy weeknight, who has time for recipes that involve a lot of chopping? For this dish, we keep everything whole and blast it with high heat under the broiler until blistered and charred. A bed of lemon slices infuses the fish with flavor and prevents it from sticking to the pan. It takes only about 30 minutes to cook, most of it hands-off.

Broiled Whole Porgy With Blistered Shishito and Tomato
Pressure Cooker Corn Risotto

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

We use the pressure cooker to make the most out of sweet summer corn in this risotto recipe, taking a cue from Daniel's pressure cooker rendition of butternut squash risotto. To achieve maximum corn flavor in every bite, we added corn in three ways: infusing the rice with the cobs, folding corn purée into the creamy rice, and adding sautéed corn kernels for pops of sweetness. To round out the meal, add sliced tomatoes drizzled with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, along with a pre-cooked protein, such as leftover or store-bought chicken. If there's any risotto leftover, you can crisp it up into risotto al salto or fry it into corn arancini.

Pressure Cooker Corn Risotto

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Tortilla Española (Spanish Egg and Potato Omelette)

Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

Silky smooth potatoes and onions, cooked in olive oil and bound in moist, custardy eggs with a golden crust, tortilla española (or tortilla de patatas) is one of Spain's great gifts to the culinary world. This dish can be eaten any time of the day or night, hot or cold, as a snack, appetizer, or main course, accompanied a side of greens.

Tortilla Española (Spanish Egg and Potato Omelette)
Classic Panzanella Salad (Tuscan-Style Tomato and Bread Salad)

Serious Eats / Qi Ai

I would argue that this version of the classic panzanella would qualify as a "one-pan" summer meal since it requires only a sheet pan to lightly toast the bread in the oven, which yields a softer bite with crispy edges. Paired with a variety of salted and drained ripe tomatoes and a flavorful vinaigrette, it makes for the perfect light supper on a warm evening. Want something more robust? Serve your favorite oil-packed tinned fish on the side.

Classic Panzanella Salad (Tuscan-Style Tomato and Bread Salad)