Chefs share delicious salad recipes we’ll be eating all summer

Looking for easy and refreshing summer salad recipes to beat the heat? Whether you’re hosting a sunny al fresco lunch or need a quick, light dinner idea, these vibrant summer salads are sure to impress.

From a flavour-packed Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad with Halloumi to a beautifully colourful Pink Salad, these dishes prove that salads can be more than just a side. Perfect for hot weather, they’re light, nutritious and bursting with bold, fresh ingredients.

Say goodbye to boring bowlfuls — it’s time to elevate your salad game this summer.

Read more: 5 best quick low-ingredient recipes for busy families

Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad with Halloumi

Incorporating healthy proteins and carbohydrates alongside a range of vibrant veg will aid satiety and provide interest. Take a tip from Dominique Woolf, winner of Channel 4’s The Great Cookbook Challenge with Jamie Oliver and whip up a globetrotting Vietnamese rice noodle salad with halloumi.

“Inspired by classic Vietnamese bún chả, which features noodles and pork, this recipe instead uses halloumi,” says Dominique. “Its irresistible saltiness works beautifully alongside fragrant herbs, sweet, spicy dressing, crunchy peanuts and crisp lettuce. When I’m craving something light yet zingy, my taste buds often lead me here.”

Read more: Pasta Evangelists £6 recipe kit review: is it better than Deliveroo?

Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad with Halloumi recipe

Serves 2

Carrot pickle ingredients

• 1 carrot, julienned
• 3 tbsp rice vinegar
• ½ tsp sugar
• A pinch of salt

Dressing ingredients

• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 small clove of garlic, crushed
• 1 red chilli, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp water

Salad ingredients

• 100g vermicelli rice noodles
• 125g halloumi, sliced
• 1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
• Handful fresh mint leaves, chopped
• Handful fresh coriander leaves, chopped
• Little gem lettuce
• 2 tbsp salted peanuts, chopped
• 1 lime, in wedges

Method

1. Combine ingredients for the carrot pickle in a bowl. Set aside.
2. Cook the noodles according to packet instructions, drain, rinse and set aside.
3. Combine ingredients for the dressing in a bowl. Taste and add any extra fish sauce, lime or sugar as needed. Set aside.
4. Heat a non-stick frying pan over a high heat and add a drizzle of oil. When hot, add the halloumi and cook for 1 minute on each side. Turn off the heat, drizzle over the sweet chilli sauce and coat.
5. To serve, divide the noodles, herbs, lettuce, carrot pickle and halloumi between two plates. Pour over the dressing. Scatter over the peanuts and serve with lime.

Recipe from The Asian Pantry: Quick & Easy Everyday Dishes Using Big Asian Flavours by Dominique Woolf (£22).

Pink Salad

If you’re after a hearty but vegan salad, we’ve got that covered too. Why not try the BOSH! Pink Salad? Packed with creamy chickpeas and earthy beetroot for deliciously colourful al fresco eating.

BOSH! chefs Henry and Ian say: “Pink salad is a must for summer – visually stunning, bringing the wow factor, but it’s also packed with nutrients and a refreshing zingy flavour.”

Read more: What dishes are high in fibre? 3 delicious, fibre-rich recipes

Pink Salad recipe

Serves 2

Salad base ingredients

• 2 large sweet potatoes, chopped
• 400g can chickpeas, drained
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 3 spring onions, sliced
• 50g pine nuts, toasted
• 1 bag chopped kale
• 1 bag rocket
• Olive oil
• Salt

Pink dressing ingredients

• 1 pack beetroot, chopped
• Olive oil, for drizzling
• A pinch of salt
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 80ml almond milk
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 small garlic clove, crushed

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
2. Drizzle beetroot with olive oil and roast in a baking tray with pinch of salt until soft. Remove and cool.
3. Place the sweet potato, chickpeas and paprika on a tray with a drizzle of olive oil and pinch of salt and roast until soft.
4. Blend the beetroot with the rest of the salad dressing ingredients until smooth.
5. Rub olive oil into the kale and rocket then add the sweet potato, chickpeas, spring onions and pine nuts. Drizzle over the pink dressing and serve.