18 Recipes for When It’s Too Hot To Cook

When the mercury soars, the last thing you want is to be stuck standing over a hot stove, or adding more heat to the equation by turning the oven on. And the second-last thing you want is to be eating heavy and hearty dishes that’ll shoot up your own internal temperature. So, we’ve brought together 10 recipes for when it’s simply too hot to cook, from salads to a breezy salmon bowl, a light and easy pasta and more. No sweat.

Liam Driscoll’s zucchini and sugar snap salad with macadamia pesto

This seasonal salad is heartier than you’d think, thanks to a good amount of pecorino and a bolstering macadamia pesto. But if you think you might need a bit more on the protein side, it wouldn’t hurt to add some prosciutto.

Pipis Kiosk’s heirloom tomato salad with whipped silken tofu and cherry dressing

Pretty as a picture – and on the table in just 20 minutes – this salad offers a cornucopia of different flavours and textures. And the only appliance you’ll need to switch on is a blender. It’s a lovely fusion of rich whipped tofu and sweet cherry sauce, balanced out with the aniseed tang of tarragon.

Embla’s stracciatella, walnut and cime di rapa

A plate of picky bits is exactly what you feel like on a hot summer’s night. And that’s precisely what Dave Verheul’s antipasto recipe offers: a triumvirate of bits and bobs that won’t overwhelm and require just a tiny bit of prep.

Junda Khoo’s buttery “popcorn rice”

Let your rice cooker do the hard yards in this recipe: apart from frying an egg, all you need to do is cook up a batch of jasmine rice then swirl the rest of the ingredients through. It’s low-touch and yields a salty and soy-ish rice dish made even better by the egg yolk swished around its grains.

Lucy Tweed’s crispy salmon bowl

If you can bear putting in a bit of extra effort, there’s this: a bowl loaded up with salmon, avocado, rice, jammy eggs and a whole host of accoutrements. It might sound like a lot, but it’s actually super simple; the rice is the microwaved sort, the salmon only needs around seven minutes in the frypan and once you’ve got the eggs in a hot bath, they pretty much take care of themselves.

Bec Vrana Dickinson’s mortadella- and burrata-topped ciabatta snack

Peak entertaining season seems to cross over with peak summer heat. To avoid spending too much time in the kitchen next time you have guests, simply drape a series of cheeses, jarred bits and pieces and cured meats onto ciabatta a la Bec Vrana Dickinson and you’ll have a show-stopping snack, sans the sweat.

Cumulus Inc’s tuna tartare with crushed peas and goat’s curd

A signature of Melbourne restaurant Cumulus Inc, this tartare – which looks pretty, yet requires minimal effort – is designed as a share dish. Nonetheless, you could absolutely just make a batch for your own enjoyment on one of those nights when it’s too hot to think.

Gordon Ramsay’s green pasta

With just 10 minutes of prep time and 15 minutes cooking time – only five of those over a frypan – this is an ace recipe for when you want pasta without too much effort. Its base of high-fibre greens, punched up with anchovy, means it’s not too heavy for hot weather.

That’s Amore’s potato, parmesan, parsley and pepper

Potatoes don’t need to be confined to big, hearty meals. This cold potato dish fuses a Chinese-style preparation with Italian flavours. The best bit? It requires just 30 seconds of stove time.

Andy Allen’s barbeque whole snapper with lemongrass, ginger and makrut lime

All you need for this snapper is six ingredients and one hour and 25 minutes – and an hour of that is just for marinating. It gets extra points for being cooked on a barbeque en plein air and for Allen’s instructions to leave the fish alone until “until you’re ready to turn [it]”.

Florian’s herb and gruyere omelette with dressed leaves

This luxurious, herbaceous omelette has been on the menu since Florian first opened its doors in March 2021, proving itself as the dish that gets the most repeat orders. It takes skill to make the perfect omelette, but this recipe is the ideal one to practice with. Plus, working out your own tricks for doing it is part of the fun.

Justin Narayan’s 10-minute chilli and peanut (or sesame) noodles

Ideal for midweek meals, this simple dish is loaded with ingredients you probably already have in the pantry but doesn’t compromise on flavour. Plus, the Masterchef winner reckons he can cook it in just seven minutes.

Rosheen Kaul’s grilled whole fish with sweet soy sambal

The Melbourne chef’s summery dish evokes Indonesia’s bustling seafood restaurants, where live tanks and charcoal grills never fail to deliver. It’s smoky, sweetly caramelised and fragrantly buttery.

Carlton Wine Room’s anchovy toast

Since 2018, diners have been returning to Carlton Wine Room for this signature snack. What it may lack in size, it makes up for in taste, especially when paired with a glass of something crisp. Fried ficelle, whipped ricotta, anchovies and pickled cucumbers make for a summer combination you'll want on repeat.

Nabula El Mourid’s prawn and mango noodle salad

The Supermarket Swap founder’s debut cookbook, The Weekly Grocery Shop, is all about getting the most out of your supermarket trips. This zingy salad is one of many possibilities with clever planning and prep.

Hetty Liu McKinnon’s cucumber and cabbage noodle salad with umami-packed black bean sauce

With her books Community and Neighbourhood, Hetty McKinnon proved to be something of a vegetable whisperer, blending flavours and ingredients from across the globe with serious aplomb. This fresh, crunchy number shows just why she’s a bestselling author. It’s ready in less than 15 minutes, perfect for sharing and every forkful is a flavour bomb.

Julia Busuttil Nishimura’s radicchio and pear salad with blue cheese and walnuts

You can pair this simple dish with almost anything, making it the Ostro and A Year of Simple Family Food author’s go-to autumn salad. The key is using a crumbly blue cheese with plenty of body.

Erin Alderson's avocado toast with cumin-chilli tadka 

The author of The Yearlong Pantry adds bold flavour and a bright contrast to the brekkie classic by topping her toast with a spice mix tempered in avocado oil.