Forget the oven – how Good Food's team cooks in a heatwave

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Feeling the heat? We asked the Good Food experts what they actually make when the temperature climbs – from heatwave-approved snacks and throw-together lunches to no-cook dinners on repeat, plus clever ways to stay cool in the kitchen.

Check out our best iced drinks recipes for sipping in the sunshine, then keep even cooler with our top ice cream recipes, 5-ingredient ice cream recipes, lolly ideas and kids’ ice lolly recipes.

We also have plenty of no-cook summer recipes, no-cook healthy recipes and our favourite easy summer recipes.

Avoid the oven and buy a rotisserie chicken

Cassie Best is Good Food's head of food

"Avoid turning on the oven at all costs. I like to buy a rotisserie chicken during a heatwave, then shred it to mix through a Caesar salad or a spicy yogurt dressing for stuffing into pita/sandwiches for easy lunches. Also, gazpacho is the very best thing you can eat in a heatwave – keep a jug of it in the fridge for instant cooling relief."

Try our easy rotisserie chicken recipes:

One rotisserie chicken, roasted red pepper & anchovy platter

Use your air fryer or batch cook on the barbecue

Anna Glover is Good Food's head of video

"Use your air fryer, or the microwave is even better if you can, rather than heating up your kitchen with the hob and oven.

"Not all dinners have to be hot. Try big main meal salads: roast batches of veggies on cooler days in the air fryer then load into grain bowls with feta and a cooling herby yoghurt dressing.

"Big sharing platters are great to bring to the table if you’re eating al fresco, less table setting and washing up. Keep jugs of water in the fridge – you can flavour them with ends or lemons or limes, herbs or slices of cucumber.

"Cook outdoors – this is the perfect time to dust off the BBQ and keep the heat out the kitchen, just make sure your BBQ is in a shady space before you light it. Try spatchcocking your Sunday roast chicken and serve with lighter seasonal sides. When the BBQ is on, get ahead with any other bits of cooking you could do for the week: char courgettes for a pasta dish, roast aubergines or peppers for dips and sauces, cook a few extra chicken thighs to shred into salads in the coming days."

Try our easy barbecue recipes:

Chicken skewers with broad bean hummus
Sweetcorn with smoked paprika & lime butter
Charred courgettes, runner beans & ricotta

BBQ lemongrass patties served on a noodle salad on a platter

Freeze cordial in ice cubes

Lulu Grimes is head of brand trust

"Eat hearty salads that requires no or little cooking, adding tinned fish, jarred beans and lots of herbs to chilled cucumber and tomatoes. I also eat lost of dips like this. If you are not very good at drinking enough water, freeze cordial in ice cubes so when you add it to water it cools the water. Freeze orange, lemon and lime slices into ice cubes to add flavour to water."

Try our cooling iced drink recipes:

Keep a stash of cloths in the fridge

Alice Shields is Good Food's food editor and test kitchen manager

"A secret chef’s hack that I used to use on busy food styling days to stay cool is to wrap a cold cloth around your neck. Plunge a few clean J-cloths (or use a flannel/wash cloth) into a bowl of cold water, wring out and place around the back of your neck. For extra cooling, you could keep a stash in the fridge/freezer for a couple of days and simply pull out as needed."

Read our heatwave guides for more tips:

A blonde woman smiles as she looks into a refrigerator. The view is from inside the fridge, showing various food containers. The scene is casual and domestic, suggesting a routine kitchen activity.

Keep watermelon chunks in the fridge

Helena Busiakiewicz is Good Food's food content producer 

"I buy big wedges of watermelon, chop them up and put them in the fridge or freezer. You can blitz the chunks for smoothies and cocktails, or just snack on them."

Try our heatwave-approved watermelon recipes:

Watermelon punch in a jug with two filled glasses alongside

Ice management is essential

Barney Desmazery is Good Food's skills and shows editor

"Ice management is essential. Dedicate a freezer drawer to it and set yourself a reminder to empty the filled trays into the drawer before immediately refilling them – and scold anyone who takes ice without playing their part in replenishing it. I also freeze water in larger containers, then smash the blocks into chunky pieces for drinks. There’s nothing sadder than running out of ice on a hot day, and buying bags of it feels like cheating, as well as a waste of money."

Browse our reviews for unbiased expert buyer's guides:

Use couscous as your main grain

Samuel Goldsmith is Good Food's senior food editor and podcast editor

I tend to use couscous as my main grain during a heatwave because I just boil the kettle then pour it over and leave to soften rather than have a pan of water boiling for 10-20 mins while I sweat away.

Discover our easy couscous recipes:

Sumac charred chicken, peach & couscous salad
Feta & peach couscous
Harissa sticky chicken with couscous

A serving of sumac charred chicken, peach & couscous salad

source https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/news-trends/top-cooks-heatwave-tips

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