16 Broiler Recipes for Quick Summertime Cooking

For most, the highlight of summer cooking is combining seasonal produce with year-round foods like steak and fish to create something light, bright, refreshing, and flavorful. But as the temperatures rise outside, it can feel crucial to keep things as cool as possible in the kitchen, which means keeping oven usage to a minimum. However, with the use of a broiler, you can still get a home-cooked meal on the table while beating the heat.

Since a broiler only offers heat from above, it reaches high temperatures quickly, browning and adding a touch of char for any recipe that requires it. Using a broiler saves you from having to heat the entire oven up, and is best used for quick-cooking dishes that will help you get dinner on the table in no time. From whole porgy and tandoor-style chicken to cheesy, lemony potatoes, these are our favorite quick recipes that make use of the broiler.

Mains

Salmon With Dilly Beans

Broiling fish is one of the easiest ways to get dinner on the table in the summertime. Salmon needs only a few ingredients to let it shine, so here we glaze it with an herby dill mayonnaise. The fish is accompanied by a tangy and bright side of pickled green beans for a quick-broiled one-skillet meal.

Strip Steak With Mushrooms and Chive Sour Cream

Mushrooms and cabbage help turn this strip steak into a hearty and comforting meal. The key to achieving a well-browned steak is drying the meat well, either with paper towels or an overnight air-dry in the fridge. Once cooked, slice the steak into strips and serve atop the warm mushroom and cabbage mix, finishing the dish with a dollop of chive sour cream.

Salmon With Chili-Lime Mayonnaise

This broiled salmon is slathered with a mixture of mayonnaise, lime zest and juice, harissa, and ground coriander. It takes on a nice brown color once cooked under the broiler, yielding tender, juicy salmon that boasts bold, bright, citrusy heat.

Whole Porgy With Blistered Shishito and Tomato

Sheet-pan whole porgy makes weeknight dinners a breeze. A quick rub of oil both inside and outside the fish will help the skin crisp up under the broiler while the flesh becomes tender and sweet. Cooking the fish with whole shishito peppers and cherry tomatoes keeps the knife work at a minimum. What's left is a delicious sheet-pan dinner that comes together faster than you can put in your takeout order.

Quick Broiled Shrimp With Harissa and Beer

Though often paired with butter, we decided to spice up shrimp with homemade harissa and bitter, hoppy beer. In order to help the shrimp cook from both the top and the bottom, we like to preheat the sheet pan before adding the ingredients. Cooking the shrimp shell-on leads to plump and juicy flesh, while the butter, beer, and harissa sauce infuses it with flavor. Make sure to serve with crusty bread to mop up every last bit of buttery sauce.

Clams With Tomatoes, Butter, and Tarragon

An elegant dish of clams is a sure way to transport you seaside, even if you’re in the middle of a sweltering city. You’ll want to make sure to purge the clams in cold water and salt beforehand to avoid getting any sand in the dish. The clams are then nestled in a cast iron pan with juicy tomatoes, fresh herbs, and some dry vermouth. Once they pop open under the broiler, baste them before serving with tarragon and crusty slices of bread.

Tandoori-Style Chicken With Almonds and Couscous

No need for an expensive tandoor oven to get this chicken dish right—the high heat of a broiler will do just fine. In true tandoori-style, the meat is marinated in a mixture of yogurt and spices before being charred under the broiler. You’ll want to use dark meat to prevent your chicken from drying out while broiling. Finish with warm couscous garnished with dates and almonds for an enticing and filling summer meal.

Miso-Marinated Black Cod Recipe

The rich, buttery texture of black cod is what makes it so perfect for cooking under the broiler. High heat leaves the flesh juicy and tender, and it’s nearly impossible to overcook. Here, we marinate the cod in a sweet and savory coating that includes miso paste, mirin, sake, and soy sauce. Once cooked, make sure to pull out the bones before serving.

Sides

Lemony Potatoes With Halloumi Cheese

Potatoes in any form make for the perfect side dish, and when they’re piled with cheese? Even better. For this recipe, cut your potatoes thinly to ensure they cook through in their short time under the broiler. A squeeze of lemon juice helps steam the potatoes from the bottom, giving them a creamy texture. Once the halloumi cheese is added and broiled until golden brown, finish the dish with a hefty dose of oregano.

Asparagus With Cotija Cheese

If you’re in need of a standout side but are in a pinch, broiled vegetables are the way to go. They require minimal preparation but still bring bold flavors and crunchy textures. Here, asparagus is simply tossed with oil and cotija cheese and seasoned with salt and pepper. After a quick broil in the oven, we finish the veggies with more cotija—because there’s no such thing as too much cheese!

Summer Squash in Agrodolce With Corn and Avocado

When it comes to cooking summer vegetables, they often fare best with simple seasonings that let their true flavors shine. Ingredients like olive oil and salt bring out the natural flavors of summer squash and corn, while sugar, vinegar, and chili flakes work to enhance them. Top the veggies with buttery avocado before serving for a subtle, sweet-and-sour one-pan side dish that’s as colorful as it is delicious.

Charred Broccoli With Manchego, Hazelnuts, and Honey

Pinkies up for this side dish—broccoli and cheese but with a grown-up twist. After briefly charring broccoli in the oven, we sprinkle it with lemon juice to give it a bright flavor, followed by the sweet and rich notes of honey and hazelnuts. The dish gets a generous grating of Manchego cheese before serving for a sophisticated take on a childhood classic.

Mint Msemen With Honey

This popular Moroccan breakfast and snack option couldn’t be easier to make at home. Buttery, flaky layers are created by pressing the dough flat and greasing it with a butter and oil mixture. A little bit of semolina flour and a whole lot of mint leaves are sprinkled in before the dough is folded over. Though the flatbread is tasty enough on its own, we recommend whipping up a quick honey butter for drizzling or dipping.

Japanese-Style Broiled Eggplant With Bonito, Scallions, and Ginger

If you’re trying your hand at preparing a traditional Japanese breakfast, you’ll want this easy eggplant dish on your list. To prepare the eggplant, score the skin to make it easier to peel once cooked. The charred eggplant gets a flavor boost from the slight smokiness of katsuobushi (flakes of cured, smoked, and dried bonito), along with sliced scallions and spicy grated ginger. Serve with soy sauce for an added layer of savory flavor.

Fava Beans With Dill and Garlic Salt

These broiled fava beans are a delicious peel-and-eat option that work well as both a snack and a side dish. Instead of fussing over the double-shelling process that’s normally required of fava beans, we simply toss them with olive oil, fresh rosemary, dried dill, and some other basic seasonings before charring them under the broiler right in their pods. They’re best served with other foods that turn our hands into utensils, like shell-on shrimp or fried chicken, but work just as well as a desk-side snack.

Asparagus With Fried Egg and Gorgonzola

Don’t be fooled by how few ingredients there are in this recipe—we promise they come together to make something truly show-stopping. After the asparagus achieves an intense, woodsy flavor under the broiler, chunks of creamy gorgonzola cheese are added. For the pièce de résistance, we top the asparagus with a beautifully fried egg, complete with crispy edges and a runny yolk. Finish with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and toasted breadcrumbs for an easy dish that makes a statement.