5 Cooking Tips to Take the Stress Out of Meals During the Busy Summer

Summer is all about those long days, late bedtimes, sunscreen in your hair, and—if you’re a parent—approximately 14,000 requests for snacks before 10 a.m.

While the season brings sunshine and spontaneity, it can also bring a surprising amount of chaos to your kitchen. With kids at home more often, playdates, vacations, and a general disruption to your usual routine, cooking can quickly go from joyful to just getting something on the table before someone melts down.

Here are five simple and time-saving cooking tips to make your summer meals easier, and yes, less stressful.

Your freezer is your best friend in summer—no judgment if your air conditioner is your first love. Batch-cook family favorites like pasta sauces, quesadillas, or even breakfast burritos when you have time (say, during a rainy day or a quiet afternoon).

Stash them in the freezer in labeled containers. On a hot day when cooking feels like a punishment, pull one out, warm it up, and ta-da, dinner is served.

Cooking smarter, not harder, is the name of the summer game. Grill up extra chicken for tacos today, salad tomorrow, and wraps the day after. Make a big pot of quinoa and rotate it into bowls, stir-fries, or patties.

Prepping versatile ingredients in larger portions once a week means you’ll spend less time cooking and cleaning—and more time enjoying your iced coffee while it’s still cold.

Some days, it’s just too hot to turn on the oven—or even look at the stove. That’s where “assembly meals” come in.

You can think of DIY sandwich bars, hummus, veggie sticks, and pita bread, or no-cook pasta salads.

Kids love building their own meals, and you’ll love not sweating through your shirt in the kitchen. Win-win.

Yes, it might sound like more work, but hear us out. Summer is the perfect time to introduce your kids to age-appropriate kitchen tasks. Let toddlers wash produce, grade-schoolers mix batter, and teens plan a taco night.

They’ll be more likely to eat what they helped make, and you’ll gradually lighten your own load. Plus, it keeps them busy—without a screen—which is basically a parenting unicorn.

When the brain fog is real, and you can’t think beyond “what even is food,” a cheat sheet is your lifesaver. Keep a list of 10-15 super-easy meals your family enjoys on the fridge or in your phone.

Things such as grilled cheese and tomato soup, scrambled eggs and toast, veggie stir-fry with rice, caprese sandwiches, and pita pizzas— while they sound basic, but when you’re juggling water balloons, camps, and snack attacks, you’ll thank past you for this little act of summer survival.

Summer doesn’t have to mean giving up on home-cooked meals or turning into a short-order cook. With a little planning and a lot of flexibility, you can keep things delicious without losing your mind—or your patience.