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July Fourth Recipes
Friends, I’m wishing you all a Happy Fourth 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 Below you’ll find recipes for the best brioche burger buns, a few classic dips, many salads and sides as well as a few seasonal desserts and festive drinks, too 🎉🎉
Six Dips
Have you ever tried pickling your crudité? I think it makes all the difference, and it’s really very simple: stuff raw vegetables into jars; pour a basic brine over top. If time permits, plan ahead: ideally, do this the day before you plan on serving the crudite, just so the veggies have time to chill and crisp up in their brine.
Salads & Sides
Trader Joe’s 3-ingredient lentil salad is one of my favorite summer side dishes to make for its simplicity and flavor. Over the years, I’ve received many questions about how to make the TJ’s bruschetta sauce from scratch from people without access to a Trader Joe’s. Earlier this week I finally set to work making one, and here it is: Homemade Bruschetta Sauce. Pictured above is the famous Trader Joe’s salad made with from-scratch cooked lentils, homemade bruschetta sauce, and my favorite feta, Maplebrook Farms Feta.
Find Many More Ideas Right Here → Salads & Sides
The Best No-Knead Brioche Buns
Three Tips for Better Burgers
If you plan on making burgers this weekend, here are three tips to make them even better:
- Make a secret sauce. (You likely have all of the ingredients on hand.)
- Make quick-pickled onions.
- Make the buns: No-Knead Brioche Buns
Veggie Burgers
Either of these veggie burgers could be sandwiched between the brioche mentioned above, but if you’re up for it, I highly recommend making homemade pita bread, especially if you’re making the falafel burgers.
On the Grill
Stuffed Peppers
These veggie-loaded stuffed peppers are a summer favorite. The beauty of them is that they can be assembled ahead of time (a day or so) before their final bake, and they can be served as either a side dish or vegetarian entrée. Bonus: they’re stunning!
Drinks
Desserts
Many More Ideas Right Here → Desserts
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10 Comments on “July Fourth Recipes”
Thank you, Lisa! And Happy Happy Fourth to you. Thanks so much for writing. I have to say, I don’t cook as often with my kids as I would like, because as soon as I start cooking with one, someone else wants to join in, and it inevitably ends in tears because something is not “fair” 🤣. It was so nice to have this uninterrupted time with Wren. I think she enjoyed it, too 🙂
Thank you, Char 🙂 🙂 🙂 I will pass on your kind words. Happy Fourth to you as well!
Thank you, Ellen 🙂 🙂 🙂 I hope you love it. Happy Fourth 💕
So wonderful to hear this, Jen! I love the sound of all of this. My 7- and 9-year-olds made their third one on Monday for a bbq… it’s such a fun one. Lemon zest in the frosting sounds amazing! And I know: the cream cheese-whipped cream frosting was a revelation for me as well. Never going back to my classic butter-cream cheese frosting, which I loved loved loved. Hope your family had a wonderful holiday!
I absolutely love your recipes & your cookbook Bread toast and crumbs! I bought my daughter in law that book and she went through it the whole winter!! The best!! Keep doing what you do.. you are amazing!!
Awww it’s so nice to hear this, Christie 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thank you for gifting Bread Toast Crumbs to your DIL and for your kind words, too. Hope you all had a Happy Fourth!
Alex, your July 4th post re the tortellini pesto pasta salad reminding me of the original pasta post. Are you using a satisfactory store bought pesto that you could suggest? Making my own is best but this weekend and likely many more this summer, it sure would be great to run out and buy a pesto that works well in this quick and delicious pasta salad. Happy celebration this weekend, a big bang start up to summer. Here in Florida, we are hoping for some occasional rain!
Hi Denise! I hope you had a wonderful July Fourth weekend and that it is continuing on through Sunday and beyond. I hope you got some rain, too 🙂
I have two brands of pesto that I really love, but my guess is that they are sold only locally. One is Buddhapesto and the other is Renaissance. Both are pricey, but so handy when you are pressed for time. Hope that helps!
Alex, Thank you for the tip, turns out Buddhapesto does ship their product. I will have to find out if they ship cold pack else wait until things are cooler here in Florida. Lots of hot delivery trucks this time of year!
July 4th was a food fest and it always includes your raw corn salad, tomatoes, lots of herbs but no feta for my neighbors. With my Greek heritage that is a tough one to omit but I must!!
Onward re: Buddhapesto. Funny thing, I could just as well make the pesto at this point but I’m on a mission!
I hear you! I used to be someone who wouldn’t even consider buying pesto, but I mean, why not? Buddhapesto is excellent! I hope they do ship with cold packs. It is pricey, but when you add up the cost of basil, pine nuts, olive oil, and Parmigiano Reggiano plus the time/mess, it feels worth it. And it’s so handy in a pinch!
Your July 4th menu sounds lovely! It is hard for this Greek to admit that her 25% Greek children do not like feta… one day!
Thanks for reporting back 🙂