36 Menu Ideas for the Ultimate Fourth of July Backyard Barbecue (2024)

Beet and Goat Cheese Dip

Here's a vibrant-looking and -tasting recipe that goes with just about any dipper you can think of. The titular roasted beets and crumbled goat cheese have a third covert ingredient—a can of cannellini beans—that adds structure and a bit extra protein. Serve with blanched cauliflower and blue snack chips (if you can find them) to carry out a colorful Fourth theme.

Grilled Cantaloupe and Prosciutto Skewers

This sweet-and-savory pairing is certainly worthy of your July Fourth menu. Besides melon and prosciutto, halloumi cheese and ciabatta bread are threaded on those skewers, too. Pop them on the grill as soon as guests arrive to serve while everyone's mingling and catching up.

Antipasto Salad

When planning a grill-centric menu, it’s smart to include a few dishes that require no cooking whatsoever. Enter this antipasto salad featuring Little Gem lettuce, burrata cheese, prosciutto, Castelvetrano olives, cantaloupe, and crunchy pistachios. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and dig in!

Dill Pickle Relish Cornbread Muffins

Grab a muffin pan, cornbread mix, pickle relish, and the usual baking staples, and you'll have cornbread batter in the oven within 15 minutes, and zingy muffins on the picnic table after another 25. These make-ahead crowd-pleasers are perfect for serving with any BBQ fare.

Garlic-Parmesan Chicken Wings

Who doesn’t love chicken wings? In this recipe, they're flavored with garlic and Parmesan, which is always an ace duo. After grilling, toss them in cheese and then a garlicky parsley-lemon sauce. If you don’t have a grill, use your broiler instead.

Toasted Israeli Couscous With Corn and Herbs

Think of this recipe as a modern take on pasta salad, perfect for summer picnics and potlucks. It pairs corn kernels with fresh herbs—basil, chives, and dill—plus some caramelized onions for good measure. There's no need to cook the corn as you can eat it raw—especially when it's in season—but if it's not your thing, blanch it in boiling water for a couple of minutes.

Shaved Carrot Salad

Raw carrots rarely get chosen as a main attraction, but this recipe puts them front and center! They're shaved—via a mandoline or peeler—into long beautiful ribbons and then dressed in a tahini-ginger-soy-garlic vinaigrette for a punchy, creamy, garden-fresh side that won't wilt within minutes on the picnic table.

Farro Salad With Brown Butter Vinaigrette

Every BBQ needs a grain salad, and this one doesn’t disappoint. Hearty farro mingles with chopped asparagus, peas, crunchy pistachios, juicy orange segments, and salty feta. A rich brown butter vinaigrette dresses the dish, which goes especially well with chicken or fish.

​​Scorched Sugar Snap Peas and Burrata Salad

Not all salads are a pile of lettuce. Case in point: this dish with skillet-scorched sugar snap peas and creamy burrata. Fresh mint and tangy sumac add freshness and flavor, resulting in a green BBQ side that everyone will love!

Green Goddess Pasta Salad

No barbecue is complete without a pasta salad, and this innovative version is bathed in a homemade green goddess dressing. Mingling among the short pasta you'll also find crisp-tender broccoli and briny artichoke. Assemble this salad up to 8 hours ahead and serve after a sprinkle of feta and crushed pita chips.

Southwestern Pasta Salad

This pasta salad swaps mayo for an avocado-based dressing and is loaded with mix-ins: avocado slices, black beans, cherry tomatoes, scallions, and corn kernels (fresh or frozen). For a little Southwestern-style heat, add thinly sliced fresh jalapeños or a can of chopped green chilies.

Watermelon Salad With Pickled Rind

Watermelon is a Fourth of July party staple, but this recipe goes well beyond a simple wedge. It features juicy chunks in a sweet-tart salad with salty whipped feta, peppery arugula, and quick-pickled watermelon rind cubes (just the white part). Pickling takes at least an hour (and can be done up to 2 weeks ahead) but, if you've waited until the last minute, the salad tastes great without it, too.

Cornbread Panzanella

This recipe gives an iconic Italian salad the all-American treatment by swapping crusty Italian bread with croutons made from day-old cornbread. The rest of the salad features heirloom and cherry tomatoes, chopped red onion, diced cucumber, and bite-sized mozzarella balls. Make it ahead, refrigerate, and add the croutons and avocado chunks just before serving.

Vietnamese-Inspired Peach Salad

Peaches are in peak season around the Fourth, and this flavorful salad shows them off to full advantage. Its Southeast Asian-style, sweet-sour-spicy dressing coats butter lettuce leaves and peach slices for a fresh, unique flavor that'll keep everyone coming back for more.

Spicy Street Corn Salad

Did you really throw a BBQ if there was no corn? The summer staple is delicious when cooked, but it’s quite tasty raw in this elote-inspired salad. The recipe transforms the popular Mexican street snack into a hearty side salad or a light no-cook meal by tossing raw corn with canned pinto beans, herbs, jalapeño, and heaps of arugula.

Tuna, Chickpea and Cherry Tomato Salad

Give your oven and stove the day off (or at least a break) with this protein-rich salad. Chunks of oil-packed canned tuna and tender chickpeas mingle with buttery olives, briny feta, juicy cherry tomatoes, and crunchy pita chips in this 15-minute dish.

Chicken Kebabs With Tomato Salad

Simple doesn't necessarily mean boring, and this grill-centric recipe proves it. It skewers juicy, seasoned chunks of boneless, skinless chicken breasts that share the grill with ears of summer-fresh corn poised for the perfect char. Halved grape tomatoes tossed with scallions, orange zest, and olive oil add a fresh counterpoint for a meal that's simply delicious.

Grilled Chicken With Blueberry-Peach Salsa

A fresh fruit salsa made with in-season blueberries and peaches takes ordinary boneless, skinless chicken thighs to the next level. Those juicy thighs are seasoned with a mixture of chili powder, brown sugar, and lime before they're grilled to perfection, while chewy farro (cooked stovetop) rounds out the meal.

Za’atar Tofu Skewers with Tomato Salad & Hummus

Go Fourth Middle Eastern-style by making room on the grill for tofu skewers and pita rounds. An accompanying salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, and onion comes together in minutes and, when served with hummus (store-bought or homemade) and an extra sprinkle of za-atar, you have a light, fresh vegetarian meal worth celebrating.

The Meatiest Veggie Burgers

Some veggie burgers frustratingly fall apart on the grill, but not this one! Made with mushrooms, eggs, and panko, these meatless burgers are sturdy and delicious. Tomato paste, Parmesan, and soy sauce pack plenty of umami into each patty, while butter lettuce and sliced tomatoes add freshness and crunch.

Everything Salmon Skewers With Sriracha Aïoli

Once you sprinkle everything bagel seasoning on salmon, you won’t want to season it with anything else. The blend, which you can make at home in less than 5 minutes, adds flavor and crunch to the deliciously fatty salmon pieces. The recipe suggests cooking the skewers on a grill pan, either outside or inside, to prevent them from sticking.

Glazed Chicken and Pineapple

A Hawaiian-inspired marinade of pineapple juice, tamari, ketchup, honey, and mirin (a Japanese rice wine) makes these bone-in, skin-on, chicken thighs come off the grill juicy, tender, and full of flavor. While they're marinating, throw some pineapple rings on a hot grill for just a few minutes to concentrate their sweetness and flavor.

Grilled Cauliflower Steaks With Romesco and Manchego

BBQ menus don't have to be meat-centric. Here's an option for vegetarian guests that even meat lovers will enjoy. This recipe complements meaty grilled cauliflower steaks with a Spanish-inspired romesco sauce—made by blending almond butter, roasted red peppers, and sherry vinegar—and a peppery arugula salad.

Grilled Sausage Hoagies With Mango Salsa

This recipe cooks up a BBQ staple but gives it a twist that no one will see coming: a sweet-and-spicy tropical salsa featuring mangoes, bell pepper, onion, jalapeño, lime juice, and cilantro. Make it ahead so it's ready to top perfectly charred sausages nestled in hoagie rolls schmeared with siracha-mayo. Yum!

Steak-and-Potato Skewers With Orange Salsa

Steak-and-potatoes on a stick is what Fourth of July dreams are made of, especially when they're seasoned with a chili-based spice rub. Those skewers share the grill with thick slices of red onion and bell pepper quarters until softened and slightly charred. Serve everything with a bright, citrusy salsa.

Grilled Pizza With Chicken and Peach

Combine a sure-fire party dish, a popular juicy summer fruit, and a hot grill, and you have this crowdpleaser that'll knock everyone's sandals off. Start with grilling oil-brushed peach halves for barely a minute and then swap them out with stretched-and-rolled fresh pizza dough for a quick grill. (Yes, right on the grates. Trust us!) Add a ricotta mixture, mozzarella, cooked chicken, and slices from those charred peaches, return it to the grill for a final 10-minute cook, and slice!

Grilled Chipotle Steak with Okra and Corn

Everything but the sauce gets grilled for this recipe: first, the flank steak, and then, while it rests, ears of fresh corn and whole, skewered okra. Off the grill, slice the kernels, chop the okra, and toss them in a light lime dressing. Plate the veggies with juicy steak slices for the picture of summer grill perfection.

No-Churn Chocolate-Cherry Ice Cream

This recipe starts by cooking frozen pitted dark sweet cherries and sugar for a simple jam. It gets folded into a rich creamy ice cream base along with dark chocolate chunks. Cover and freeze (no churning required, as advertised) for at least 4 hours for the ultimate Black Forest-flavored treat.

Banana Pudding Pie Bars With Meringue

Imagine eating a giant bowl of banana pudding, except it's served atop a Nilla Wafer crust and comes topped with toasty, fluffy, marshmallowy meringue. If you plan on making this dessert, plan on guests asking for seconds.

Honey Whole Wheat Strawberry Clafoutis

Have you ever roasted or broiled strawberries? We suggest you try it ASAP: It brings out their natural sweetness and softens them to an almost spoonable consistency. Here, broiled berries flavor a clafoutis, a French crustless tart, providing the obligatory red to accompany white and blue on your tablescape.

Lemon-Blueberry Cake

Layer vanilla sandwich cookies, lemon sorbet, and blueberry jam for a delicious start to a no-bake "cake" that requires just 25 minutes of hands-on prep. Top the layers with homemade whipped cream and pop it in the freezer (at least 6 hours). When you’re ready to serve, decorate with fresh blueberries, lemon slices, and mint, and dig in!

Frozen Strawberry Trifle With Ladyfingers

If you need a make-ahead dessert, this trifle is it. Made with only five ingredients—strawberries (frozen and fresh), sugar, cream, ladyfingers, and ice cream—it's refreshingly cool and your freezer does most of the work. You can serve this dessert year-round, but it's especially tasty in summer topped with freshly harvested strawberries.

Cantaloupe-Coconut Ice Pops

These fruity, creamy ice pops require only 20 minutes hands-on and, since you make them ahead, leave you more time to enjoy your Fourth. Shop for top-of-the-season summer cantaloupe to pair with this recipe's sweet basil-coconut cream. A finishing touch of toasted coconut adds a satisfying crunch.

Summer Berry Trifle With Elderflower Cream

A great trifle is all about layers, and this five-ingredient recipe is no exception. A cloud of elderflower-spiked whipped cream draws out layers of fresh summer berries and crushed cookies, which soak up the berry juices until they're perfectly soft. The result is a gorgeous sculptural delight of patriotic proportions.

Nectarine Olive Oil Cake

This cake doesn't have a fussy frosting that's subject to melting in hot weather, and we don't think you'll miss it. What it does have is two nectarines—in the form of puree—that add sweetness, flavor, and moisture to the batter. Bake one up to 2 days ahead or, better yet, bake two: one for the Fourth and the other for snaking or served as a breakfast treat!

Frozen S'mores Cake

This recipe helps cool off celebrants on a hot Fourth of July by turning the iconic campfire favorite into a frozen dessert. Warning: Unless you have a culinary blow torch, you need to turn on the oven to broil the toasted marshmallow topping, but only for a few minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is a traditional Fourth of July menu?

  A traditional Fourth menu features BBQ classics: hot dogs, hamburgers, and grilled vegetables. Typical sides are pasta or macaroni salad, green salad, potato salad, cornbread, and other corn-centric dishes. Desserts commonly lean into a patriotic (red, white, and blue) theme best carried out by cakes, pies, and fresh fruit platters.

• What foods are most commonly consumed on the Fourth of July?

  Some of the most commonly consumed foods on the Fourth are potato salad, baked beans, deviled eggs, macaroni salad, and grilled corn. Other popular dishes are ribs, coleslaw, and fried chicken.

  Learn More:Here's What Everyone Is Cooking for July Fourth

• What's a good side dish to take to a Fourth of July party?

  A good side dish to contribute to a Fourth party is pasta salad, baked beans, potato salad, grilled corn, or fruit salad. If you need guidance, reach out to the host!

  Whichever you decide on, make sure your dish (and all the other dishes with perishable components) are left out at room temperature for no longer than 2 hours. If the temperature is above 90°F, that time limit is shortened to just 1 hour.

  Learn More:Fourth of July Side Dishes