Potluck season is officially here! America’s birthday comes with lots of celebrating and lots of food. Here is a list of popular Fourth of July dishes to share with your friends and family.
Fruit and vegetable trays with dip
This may not technically count as a recipe, but there is a lot of freedom when you bring a fruit or veggie tray to a celebration. You get to pick and choose your favorites and bring dips to match. For vegetable trays, ranch dip is typically the most popular option. For fruit, you can bring a variety of sweet dips. Cream cheese fruit dip, pink fluff, and yogurt-based dips are all great options!
Fruit skewers are also a fun spin on the typical fruit tray. For the Fourth of July, blueberries, strawberries, and bananas represent the national colors in honor of the holiday. Putting the fruit on small skewers eliminates the need for serving utensils. Skewers also make the fruit easier to grab and go with fruit dips!
Pasta salad
This summer staple is hard not to love! With a pasta base, there is so much freedom to decide what ingredients to use. Greek and Italian are the most common inspirations. Glass food storage containers are a great option for storing and transporting any salad. Be sure to store it in a cold fridge or cooler. Check out the pasta salads below to see what best suits your taste:
Tortilla chips and dips
Tortilla chips and dips are essential for the Fourth of July! For serving, you will need a large serving tray, a bowl, and a spoon. Place the bowl in the middle of the serving tray and surround with tortilla chips. Fill the bowl with the dip and add the spoon for serving. Here are some popular dips that perfectly accompany tortilla chips:
- Street corn dip
- Salsa
- Guacamole
- Queso (can be used to make a build-your-own nacho bar!)
- Buffalo chicken dip
- Crack dip
Caprese salad
This Italian staple is a hard one to mess up. You only need heirloom tomatoes, fresh mozzarella balls, basil, olive oil, balsamic glaze or balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and any other toppings you prefer. Simply slice your tomatoes and fresh mozzarella balls into slices and put the fresh basil on top. When you are ready to serve, add the olive oil, balsamic glaze or balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper. Balsamic glaze is sweeter than using balsamic vinegar, so you can add more to the top than the vinegar. Keep in mind that a little goes a long way with balsamic vinegar due to its strong taste.
Ribs
This Southern staple is as equally delicious as it is messy. Whether you like spicy or sweet, there is surely a recipe to fit your liking! Making ribs also allows you to show off those grilling skills to your friends and family and perfectly accompany other grilling staples, like burgers and hotdogs. If you don’t have a grill available at home or in your community, you could also make ribs in the oven. Click here for a simple ribs recipe on the grill.
Ice cream cake
This is the perfect way to cool down after a long day of celebrating! This brings together two iconic desserts and allows for decorative freedom using the iconic colors of red, white, and blue. Click here for the recipe.
No-bake cheesecake flag
This no-bake cheesecake is a lighter, more refreshing take on cheesecake with a festive flare. All components of this dessert end up in one dish, making it easy to transport if you are traveling to celebrate this holiday. This is also great for those new to cooking since it’s so simple!
We hope these options help you wow your friends and family this Fourth of July! No matter your cooking experience, these recipes are sure to make your friends and family happy.
