Top 5 Comfort Foods to Enjoy This Summer

Summertime is just around the corner and that means picnics, cookouts, and parties galore!

There are plenty of comfort foods that taste just like summer, lighter options that work a lot better in the hot summer sun compared to the kind of winter compared foods that keep you toasty on the temperatures are low.

Everyone has their favorite summertime snack and comfort food dish they love to share with those closest to them but we highlight our five favorites that you’ll want to give a try this summer below!

Fried Chicken

Maybe the most perfect example of summer comfort food, fried chicken just as a way of transporting all of us to the middle of July in a way that few other foods really can.

Sure, you can enjoy fried chicken all year-round (and plenty of people do) but there’s just something about digging into a plate of fried chicken while sitting outside on a picnic table that feels a lot different than any other time of the year.

Crispy, juicy, and unbelievably flavorful there are a lot of different recipes out there for you to test and try – recipes that mix and match different seasonings and different spices to come with a unique flavor profile different from all the rest.

You’re sure to come across a couple of different recipes that promise to be the best fried chicken you ever had but the truth of the matter is there may not be such a thing as a bad fried chicken recipe in the first place!

Cherry Pie

Apple and pumpkin pie really hold things down when the temperatures start to dip at the end of summer but nothing perfectly encapsulates baked comfort food quite the way that cherry pie can, especially in late July and early August.

Light, sweet, sour, tart, and just hitting all the right spots at the right time there are a whole bunch of cherry pie recipes out there that are easy to dig into – even if you haven’t ever baked a body in your life before.

The key is to get the trust right straight out of the gate and to sugar your cherries for the filling in advance. As long as you knock these two elements out of the park you’ll have nothing to worry about!

Chili Dogs

Hotdogs, baseball, and fireworks are obvious summertime favorites that are pretty tough to enjoy when you are up to your armpits in snow during the winter – and a chili dog is one of the most perfect examples of the kind of summertime comfort food millions and millions of people reach for just as soon as the weather starts to turn nice.

It’s tough to beat sitting in a ballgame and chowing down on a top-notch chili dog (Coney Island dogs are maybe the best), and since there are only about a trillion different chili recipes out there you will never happened to worry about struggling to find the perfect topping for your hot dog with a little bit of experimentation!

BBQ Ribs

Just about everyone loves sinking into a big plate of sticky, sweet, smoky ribs at a backyard picnic or Fourth of July party – and just about everyone (or at least every family) as someone that is dedicated to tending the smoker and saucing racks of ribs just perfectly with a “secret recipe” that will transport you back to your favorite summer memories the second that the smell tickles your nose.

Whether your cooking your ribs over charcoal, firing them up on the propane grill (or even baking them inside), or have just recently gotten your hands on a “next generation” pellet smoker makes no difference. Ribs are tough to get wrong as long as you stick to the old adage of “low and slow” and focus on getting the smoky and sweet combination of flavors just right.

Pimento Cheese

It’s almost impossible to imagine any summertime cookout south of the Mason-Dixon line without a pile of pimento cheese out for guests, even if plenty of “Yankees” more closely associate this cheese spread with The Masters rolling around every April.

Super versatile and a lot of fun commando cheese works just as well spread all over a little bit of toast or a couple of crackers as it does packed into a sandwich. But don’t try and get too fancy always pimento cheese. This comfort food really works best when applied to good old-fashioned saltines, Ritz crackers, or wild high on top of plain old white bread.

There you have it, our list of the best five comfort foods you’re going to want to whip up this summer. The odds are pretty good that you’ve already built some summertime memories with each and every one of these dishes, but if you haven’t tried all of them and this is the perfect summer to give them a shot!