Laid-back dishes for lazy summer evenings

Janine Ratcliffe

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Minimal effort, hands-off recipes to enjoy alongside the last of the sun's rays

Fire up the grill, pull up some garden chairs and let this laid-back summer menu take care of the rest. These recipes are built for lazy summer entertaining – they're big on flavour, low on fuss and easy to serve to a crowd. Start with sticky pulled buffalo chicken burgers piled high with a cooling, creamy slaw, then bring out a fragrant Indian summer lamb traybake as your showstopping main. Serve a zingy pineapple, ginger and chilli salad as a side to cut through the richer dishes, then finish with a peach melba sundae platter – a build-your-own dessert that's as fun to assemble as it is to eat.

Discover more recipes for entertaining this season, including our feel-good summer menu or mix-and-match meze sharing plates inspired by sunny Mediterranean flavours.

Pulled buffalo chicken burgers with creamy slaw

These burgers are a gorgeous mixture of buttery spiced chicken, crunchy slaw and sweet pickled cucumbers. The chicken is simply roasted, then tossed with the sauce – you can get ahead on all the elements, then let your guests assemble their own burgers.

A fully loaded burger with a glass of beer in the background

Indian summer lamb traybake

A one-tray roast with warming spices – the potatoes soak up all of the juices from the lamb as it cooks. If you can, marinate the lamb overnight so all those flavours have time to fully absorb absorb. Serve with a simple tomato and cucumber salad, naan, yogurt and chutneys for an effortless summer spread.

Roast summer lamb on a platter with summer veg

Pineapple, ginger and chilli salad

This was inspired by the salad served at Tamila in Soho, London – a gorgeous mixture of sweet, salty, hot and sour flavours.

Pineapple, ginger and chilli salad

Peach melba sundae platter

This is so impressive-looking for what is essentially a last-minute assembly job. Use a freezerproof platter so you can scoop the ice cream into balls ahead of time, then just pile everything else on top.

A large sharing platter of sliced peaches and meringue

Authors

Janine Ratcliffe in a short sleeved long dress sitting on a chair beneath palm trees on a balcony

Janine RatcliffeFood director

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