Simple recipes and summery ingredients, plus some scene-stealing desserts.

August can be a polarizing month.

Lots of folks are done with buggy, sweltering days.

Easy Lemon Pudding in three cups topped with berries

Sally Vargas

This can imbue August with a sense of urgency.

The scene is about to switch up.

Tellingly, the recipes you clicked on this August bridge dreamy summer laziness and back-to-school pragmatism.

Halved 2-ingredient cucumber sandwich on a plate, with one sandwhich half leaned on another

Simply Recipes / Laurel Randolph

Welcome to our 10 most popular recipes from August.

If they were making easy yet incredible desserts like this, they were doing something right.

Simply Recipes / Laurel Randolph

2.

Plate of 5-Ingredient Pudding Mix Cookies (With 4 Variations)

Simply Recipes / Sara Bir

Simply Recipes / Sara Bir

3.

I recommend the combo of butterscotch pudding and butterscotch chips.

Simply Recipes / Grace Elkus

4.

Air Fryer Corn on White Plate

Simply Recipes / Grace Elkus

This is a great way to quickly cook a few ears of corn.

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

5.

The buttery graham cracker crust is the only baking you do.

Million Dollar Pie With a Slice Missing in a Pie Dish

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

Simply Recipes / Mihaela Kozaric Sebrek

6.

One-Pot Taco Pasta

Equally important in stress-free weeknight cooking is what happens after the cooking is done.

Dishes, to be precise.

One-Pot Taco Pasta in a Pot, and in the Surroundings, a Bowl With Lime Wedges, a Bowl With Sliced Green Onions, a Bowl With Sour Cream, and a Mustard Colored Table Napkin

Simply Recipes / Mihaela Kozaric Sebrek

We all want as few dirty pans to wash as possible.

Makes this creamy, beefy taco pasta all in one pot; the pasta cooks in the sauce.

Enter the s’mores Crunchwrap, which envelops the chocolate, graham crackers, and marshmallows in a buttery tortilla.

Cross-Section Cut of a S’mores Crunchwrap on a Plate, and in the Background, a Bowl of Mini Marshmallows and a Plate With a Stack of Graham Crackers

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

Use chocolate chips and mini marshmallows for maximum meltability.

Simply Recipes / Frank Tiu

8.

Bistek

Our contributorBetty Ann Quirinogrew up eating the bistek her mom cooked in the Philipines.

Plate of Bistek Topped With Onions Next to a Bowl of Rice

Simply Recipes / Frank Tiu

Now, she makes it for her own family on busy days when everyone wants something simple yet satisfying.

Rice for serving is a must.

Zucchini Butter

Do you or someone you know suffer from a condition known as Too-Much-Zucchinitis?

Slices of Toast Topped With Ricotta and Zucchini Butter on a Marble Slab Next to a Bowl With More Zucchini Butter and a Spoon, and in the Surroundings, a Mustard Colored Kitchen Towel and a Glass

Simply Recipes / Mihaela Kozaric Sebrek

There’s a splendid solution.

Or toss it with pasta for an almost-instant dinner.

Sally Vargas / Simply Recipes

10.

Classic Tomato Sauce

Sally Vargas / Simply Recipes

Our News editorMyo Quinn’s spin is to use frozen tomatoes.

Yep, she freezes excess summer tomatoesskin and alland throws them into the pot straight from the freezer.

She also purees the cooked sauce with an immersion blender to make it extra smooth.