Our 35+ Best Recipes for 4th of July

Need some inspiration for your 4th of July menu? EatingWell has all the recipes, whether you’re hosting a fancy barbecue, dining picnic-style or keeping things casual at home. You’ll find everything you need in this collection, from flavorful salads and grilled meats and veggies to sweet desserts. Even better, EatingWell readers love these recipes so much that they’ve all earned four- and five-star reviews. Enjoy our Smoky Slow-Cooker BBQ Brisket Sandwiches or Elote-Inspired Pasta Salad and catch your local fireworks display while savoring our fruity Lemon-Blueberry Trifle and a tasty Frozen Pineapple Margarita.

Smoky Slow-Cooker BBQ Brisket Sandwiches

Making brisket in the slow cooker ensures it is tender, delicious, and full of flavor. Serve this BBQ Brisket on hamburger buns for a tasty and satisfying meal.

Bacon-Ranch Potato Salad

Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Prop Stylist: Lydia Pursell, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall

This bacon-ranch potato salad is a versatile and crowd-pleasing side that complements just about everything, making it a perfect choice for bringing along to potlucks, barbecues and family gatherings.

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Avocado & Walnuts

Serve this summery strawberry spinach salad alongside soup or a half sandwich, or top with grilled chicken or roasted salmon for a complete and easy healthy meal.

Bruschetta-Topped Crispy Baked Chicken

A fresh tomato-and-basil topping on panko-crusted chicken cutlets makes an easy meal for family or casual entertaining.

Grilled Blackened Shrimp Tacos

Give juicy shrimp tacos a Cajun flavor spin with spices and a quick sear on a hot grill. An easy avocado mash adds creaminess to cool off the spicy kick.

Elote-Inspired Pasta Salad

Photographer: Greg DuPree, Food Stylist: Anna Kelly, Prop Stylist: Christina Brockman

This zesty pasta salad draws inspiration from the flavors of elote—Mexican grilled corn on the cob that’s smothered in a creamy mayo-based sauce and sprinkled with chili powder, cotija cheese and lime. Corn kernels blister in the hot pan and a sprinkle of smoked paprika brings out the flavor. If you can’t find cotija cheese, grated Parmesan is a good substitute.

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. Fresh-picked blueberries are hard to beat in this easy dessert, but feel free to use any seasonal fruit you may have on hand.

Mixed Grill with Balsamic-Mustard Vegetables

This healthy dinner recipe is perfect for using up whatever fresh vegetables you have on hand. Just pay attention to cook time: denser vegetables, such as peppers and onions, take a bit longer than softer ones like zucchini and squash. Smaller ones, like cherry tomatoes, may need to be cooked in a grill basket.

Light Lemon Meringue Pie

Smooth and soothing; a great classic pie right down to the crust, redefined with a generous amount of lemon and fewer egg yolks in the filling.

Tomato & Smoked Mozzarella Sandwiches

Take a classic combination like fresh tomatoes and mozzarella, add a couple flavor-packed ingredients like olives and sun-dried tomatoes, put it between two pieces of crusty bread and you’ll have a satisfying weekend lunch or an easy warm-weather supper.

Sautéed Corn with Basil & Shallots

Photographer: Morgan Hunt Glaze, Food Stylist: Margaret Monroe Dickey, Prop Stylist: Julia Bayless

This sautéed corn recipe is a fresh and easy way to highlight summer’s most iconic vegetable. We add just a touch of butter, shallot and fresh basil to let the flavor of sweet corn straight from the cob do the talking.

Frozen Pineapple Margaritas

These frosty pineapple margaritas taste just like restaurant-style frozen margaritas, but without all the sugar, for a skinny cocktail you can easily whip up at home.

Strawberry Fruit Salad

This summer berry fruit salad recipe makes enough for a crowd. Serve with granola and yogurt at brunch, as a healthy potluck side, or halve the recipe to serve 4.

Sweet Potato-Black Bean Burgers

These vegan sweet potato-black bean burgers spiced with curry powder are easy to make. Blending the mixture with your hands gives you a soft, uniform texture then the outside gets crispy by cooking in a cast-iron pan. To make this recipe gluten-free too, use gluten-free oats and serve the patty in a lettuce wrap, omitting the bun.

Whipped Frozen Lemonade

Casey Barber

Whipped frozen lemonade combines the creaminess of a milkshake with the thirst-quenching tanginess of freshly squeezed lemonade for an incredibly refreshing treat. And this simple frozen lemonade treat comes together with just four ingredients and a blender.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, prop stylist: LIndsey Lower

This zucchini chocolate cake is a celebration of the unexpected magic that happens when humble ingredients like shredded zucchini, cocoa powder and chocolate chips come together in perfect harmony.

Garlic Butter Campfire Corn

This flavorful corn couldn’t be easier to prepare. Just cover the ears of corn in a quick garlic-and-chive-flavored butter and wrap in foil and they’re ready to throw on the grill at home or over coals at the campsite.

Grilled Flank Steak with Tomato Salad

Cutting the steak immediately after cooking breaks all the rules on meat cookery, but in this recipe we do it intentionally in order to capture the juices and incorporate them into the dressing. Serve this grilled flank steak recipe with crusty bread to soak up the deliciousness.

Peach-Raspberry Crisp

A fruit crisp offers the luscious flavor of a fresh fruit pie without the fuss of making a crust. Celebrate the arrival of late-summer peaches with this rich-tasting crisp. The nut-studded topping works great with other fruit combinations too.

Hot Honey Parmesan Carrots

Photographer: Brie Goldman, Food Stylist: Lauren McAnelly, Prop Stylist: Gabriel Greco

This sweet side dish turns up the heat with hot honey and lots of crispy Parmesan cheese crisps for a savory note. Try this easy method with other veggies like beets, turnips or Brussels sprouts too.

Grilled Fennel-Rubbed Pork Chops & Apricots

Toasting and grinding your own spices for a flavorful rub is the quickest, easiest way to build surefire flavor in this easy pork chop recipe. Serve with a simple tossed salad and some roasted sweet potatoes to round out the meal.

Big Beautiful Summer Salad

This gorgeous and healthy summer vegetable salad is loaded with pretty produce, including golden beets, avocado, corn, microgreens and radishes. Chickpeas and edamame add substance, and an herb-filled buttermilk-avocado dressing makes this salad really special. Serve it on its own for a light vegetarian meal or add grilled chicken for an easy weeknight dinner.

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.

Cucumber, Tomato & Avocado Salad

This vibrant cucumber, tomato and avocado salad is perfect for BBQs and backyard parties. The dressing is whisked together right in the salad bowl before you add the vegetables, so it’s also incredibly easy to make. Choose a fairly firm avocado so it holds its shape in the salad.

3-Ingredient Piña Colada

This boozy piña colada transports you to a tropical island with each and every sip. The frozen pineapple gives this juicy drink just the right amount of sweetness, and the canned coconut milk provides creaminess and that signature coconut flavor we love in a piña colada. Mix in some dark rum and you have yourself a tropical 3-ingredient cocktail!

Jalapeño Popper Burgers

We’ve taken a simple burger recipe and made it pop with an easy three-ingredient jalapeño cheese topping. Ground sirloin is lean ground beef made exclusively from the center loin cut. It has less connective tissue than regular ground beef for a super-tender burger.

Creamy Roasted Potato Salad

Photographer: Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Julian Hensarling, Prop Stylist: Julia Bayless

Roasted potatoes hold their shape without the risk of them falling apart, and the roasting process concentrates the flavor of the potatoes so your potato salad will be extra savory. We love the anise flavor of tarragon in the dressing but feel free to use a mix of fresh herbs to make this easy side dish your own.

Blueberry Lemonade Slushies

This super-refreshing fruit slushie is so easy to make and uses just three ingredients. Try it with strawberries and raspberries, too–these are great for a kids’ party, but the adults will love them just as much (especially spiked with a little vodka or gin).

Double Chocolate Cupcakes

This Double Chocolate Cupcake recipe is perfect for the ultimate chocolate lover. Topped with Chocolate Frosting, these diabetic-friendly cupcakes are delicious and impossible to resist.

Strawberry-Coconut Daiquiri

You’ll feel like you’re on a tropical getaway with this refreshing strawberry-coconut cocktail. To keep it cool in warmer weather, freeze fresh berries for 30 minutes before blending. Variation: For a nonalcoholic version, omit the rum and add 1/2 cup additional strawberries.

Loaded Broccoli Salad

Photographer / Brie Passano, Food Stylist / Annie Probst, Prop Stylist / Holly Raibikis

This is the broccoli salad you will get special requests for. The combination of bacon, sour cream, mayonnaise, scallions and Cheddar is hard to resist.

Peach-Blueberry Pie

Sweet summer peaches and blueberries shine in this peach-blueberry pie recipe. While they can’t compete with fresh fruit, thawed frozen peaches and blueberries can be used in a pinch. Just be sure to add more cornstarch (up to double the amount if you’re using all frozen fruit) to soak up the extra liquid.

Frozen Key Lime Pie Margaritas

This frozen margarita was inspired by the flavors of a cool and creamy Key lime pie. Whip up a batch of these easy frozen margaritas for a sweet and refreshingly tart treat! Freshly squeezed juice will have the best flavor, but you can also find bottled Key lime juice–just be sure to buy unsweetened juice if you go for packaged juice. If you prefer a mocktail, simply replace the tequila with water.

Zucchini Salad with Burrata

Photographer: Robby Lozano, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop stylist: Lindsey Lower

This zucchini salad is a taste of peak-season bliss, combining sun-kissed zucchini with the creaminess of burrata cheese. Pink peppercorns offer a sweet, fruity and slightly floral taste which pairs nicely with the citrus flavors in the dressing; however, freshly ground black pepper can be used in their place.

Chipotle Chicken Satay with Grilled Vegetables

Plan ahead before you prep the grill for this grilled chicken recipe: marinating the chicken in a mix of peanut butter, lime, and chipotle peppers results in tender meat and bold flavors.

Nonalcoholic Strawberry Margaritas

A frozen virgin strawberry margarita is a refreshing way to cool down on warm days. This margarita mocktail, which calls for only five ingredients, uses a bit of agave nectar to blunt the tartness of lime juice and fresh strawberries.

Chicken & Sweet Potato Grill Packets with Peppers & Onions

Cook your whole meal in a packet on the grill with this easy veggie-loaded recipe. The Mexican-inspired seasoning makes the chicken and veggies taste great served with warm tortillas and your favorite taco toppings for a healthy dinner.

Strawberry Shortcake Cake

Sweet strawberries are nestled between layers of sponge cake and a cream filling in this easy cake. We add nonfat vanilla Greek yogurt to whipped cream to lighten up the filling and give it a little tang.

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