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August is coming to an end, so we thought we’d share our most popular recipes from this month! These dishes, from snacks to dinners to desserts, all received the most traffic from our readers throughout the month of August. With delicious options like our Roasted Honey-Balsamic Cauliflower and Almond Joy–Inspired Energy Balls, there’s a recipe for every occasion and we know you’ll enjoy them no matter what month it is!
Roasted Honey-Balsamic Cauliflower
Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Prop Stylist: Priscilla Montiel, Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling
These tender cauliflower bites are seasoned with a blend of spices and then coated in batter to ensure the sweet and tangy honey-balsamic drizzle soaks into every bite. They make a perfect side dish for grilled chicken or steak, or you can serve them over rice or noodles for a delicious vegetarian main course.
Zucchini Scampi
Photographer: Robby Lozano, Food Stylist: Amanda Stanfield, Prop Stylist: Tucker Vines
This veggie-packed twist on scampi makes zucchini and summer squash the star of the plate instead of shrimp. We love the mix of squash, but you can use one or the other if you prefer. White wine provides needed acidity and balances well with the aromatic garlic and rich butter to create a luxurious sauce. Charring the lemon is a simple step, but adds complex tart and smoky flavors to this easy side.
Almond Joy–Inspired Energy Balls
Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf, Prop Stylist: Priscilla Montiel
These Almond Joy–Inspired Energy Balls feature the distinctive nuttiness of coconut plus dark chocolate and a creamy almond butter center to deliver all the classic flavors of the popular candy bar. Make these energy balls ahead of time for a grab-and-go breakfast or morning snack.
Creamy Lemon-Garlic Spaghetti & Spinach
Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Prop Stylist: Priscilla Montiel, Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling
This spaghetti with lemon-garlic Parmesan sauce is a bright and richly creamy dish, thanks to sour cream that adds a tanginess that blends seamlessly with lemon zest and juice. Meanwhile, the spinach wilts in the pasta water in record time for a fast weeknight dinner. Parmesan cheese adds the bulk of the savory flavor. It’s worth seeking out a block of Parmesan and grating it yourself to maximize the flavor.
Peach Pie Overnight Oats
Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Prop Stylist: Priscilla Montiel, Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling
These peach pie overnight oats are packed with the classic flavors of peach pie, featuring warming spices and layers of cooked summer-ripe peaches bringing dessert-like flavors to breakfast. If peaches aren’t in season, you can substitute with frozen peaches—just thaw and drain them before cooking.
Crispy Bubble Potatoes
These potatoes have a crispy exterior and an incredibly creamy inside. A combination of rice flour and potato starch ensures a crispy outside, while garlic powder and paprika add a boost of flavor. Serve these potatoes with a side of ketchup or your favorite dipping sauce.
Black Bean Enchilada Skillet
Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Prop Stylist: Lydia Pursell, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall
This easy version of black bean enchiladas only needs one pan and skips the hassle of stuffing and rolling corn tortillas. We use mild enchilada sauce to keep the spice level suitable for everyone, but if you prefer more heat, using medium or hot enchilada sauce will add extra zest to your meal.
Taiwanese Cucumber Salad
Photographer: Rachel Marek, Food stylist: Holly Dreesman, Prop stylist: Addelyn Evans
This cucumber salad is so simple, it hardly needs a recipe. Persian cucumbers are the perfect texture for this salad and are often less bitter than other varieties. Salting the cucumbers pulls out the excess water, so don’t be tempted to skip this step or you’ll end up with a pool of liquid. We enjoy eating this salad right away, but you can also refrigerate it for up to 4 hours if desired.
Lemon-Blueberry Trifle
Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Prop Stylist: Priscilla Montiel, Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling
This lemon-blueberry trifle is a stunning yet simple dessert that features layers of lemon-flavored pastry cream, store-bought angel food cake and fresh blueberries. A clear glass trifle bowl with tall sides is the best way to showcase the layers, but any clear glass bowl will work. Fresh-picked blueberries are hard to beat in this easy dessert, but feel free to use any seasonal fruit you may have on hand.
High-Protein Peach Muffins
Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Prop Stylist: Priscilla Montiel, Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling
These peach muffins feature one of summer’s finest fruits. A sprinkle of sugar adds a delightful crunch on top, while strained yogurt keeps the muffins moist inside. Combined with almond butter, the yogurt also adds protein, making these muffins the perfect choice for a satisfying breakfast.
Cabbage Grilled Cheese
Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Prop Stylist: Lydia Pursell, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall
This warming cabbage grilled cheese has it all from melty cheese, tender cabbage and crispy sweet-tart apple slices. This sandwich is an easy winner for lunch or dinner served with a green salad. A light layer of mayonnaise on the outside of the bread is a great way to toast a grilled cheese to golden brown without having to rely on butter. We love tender, sweet Savoy cabbage, but this recipe would work with red or green cabbage as well.
Chicken & Spinach Skillet Pasta with Lemon & Parmesan
Photographer: Jen Causey
This one-pan chicken pasta combines lean chicken breast and sautéed spinach for a one-bowl meal that’s garlicky, lemony and best served with a little Parm on top. It’s a quick and easy weeknight dinner the whole family will love.
No-Cook White Bean & Spinach Caprese Salad
This easy white bean and spinach caprese salad features the classic combination of juicy tomatoes, creamy mozzarella, fragrant basil and tangy balsamic vinegar, but adds tender white beans and fresh baby spinach to the mix. If you can’t find mozzarella pearls, cut or tear a fresh ball of mozzarella into bite-size pieces instead. If you like your salad with a little kick, try swapping out the spinach for arugula.
Cucumber & Tomato Sandwich
Photographer: Stacy k. Allen, Props: Christina Brockman, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf
This herby cucumber and tomato sandwich is crisp and refreshing, making the most out of summer’s produce bounty. Chives add a delicate onion flavor to the cream cheese, but dill or basil can be used in their place.
Easy Lemon-Blueberry Crisp
Photographer: Robby Lozano, Food Stylist: Margaret Dickey, Prop Stylist: Julia Bayless
This blueberry crisp captures a perfect balance between sweet summer blueberries and tart lemon flavors. Topped with a streusel laced with warming spices and baked to perfection, this is the perfect summer dessert paired with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. While we love fresh-picked blueberries, frozen blueberries work well too. Because they retain more liquid and are a little less sweet than fresh berries, be sure to increase the flour and sugar by 1 tablespoon each in the filling.
Cucumber-Blueberry Spinach Salad
Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Prop Stylist: Lydia Pursell, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall
This spinach-blueberry salad has the perfect balance of sweet and tart flavors complemented by refreshing cucumber slices and creamy goat cheese. Champagne vinegar adds a mild, delicate touch that pairs beautifully with summer fruit. You can use white-wine vinegar instead; simply reduce the amount by a teaspoon to maintain the balance of flavors, as it has a sharper taste.
Creamy Chicken, Corn & Poblano Skillet Casserole
Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Prop Stylist: Priscilla Montiel, Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling
This zesty skillet chicken casserole is perfect for a busy weeknight. A creamy sauce coats the chicken, offering a flavorful bite with a nice level of heat. Poblano peppers are generally mild, but their heat can vary. For a milder version, you can substitute green bell peppers and omit the jalapeño.
Spaghetti & Spinach with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce
To achieve flavor quickly in this sun-dried tomato pasta recipe, we use the oil from sun-dried tomatoes to create the base of the cream sauce. Meanwhile, the residual heat of the pasta wilts the spinach in record time for a fast weeknight dinner.
The Creamiest Egg Salad Sandwich
Photographer: Hannah Hufham, Food Stylist: Amanda Stanfield, Prop Stylist: Tucker Vines
The egg salad in this sandwich gets its creamy texture from finely grating the eggs, which blends the whites and yolks together so you get a bit of both in each bite. A microplane grater is the best tool to use to get that perfect, uniform texture, but a fine-mesh sieve will work well too. We top the egg salad with a little bit of Parmesan cheese and toast the sandwiches in a skillet with a little butter to make this creamy sandwich extra special.
No-Cook Black Bean Salad
The dressing for this vegan black bean salad gets its creaminess from blended avocado. Any mix of salad greens will work well, but try arugula if you want to give this hearty salad a peppery kick.