With fireworks popping and the heat rising as the day goes on, it’s important to keep your friends and family fed and hydrated! A Fourth of July party should highlight the theme of American pride, which includes the food you’re serving. Whether you host a party at your house or attend one down the block, we have some of our favorite dishes that’ll make the party patriotic and refreshing. From beginning to end, you can’t go wrong with these options:
Patriotic Pasta Salad
Pasta salad is a true staple for any summer cookout party, especially on the Fourth of July. Keep this classic dish true to the holiday by adding some cherry tomatoes for some festive flare. A classic pasta salad includes your choice of pasta, dressing and loads of veggies. To keep with the holiday festivities, it would fun and more importantly delicious to add a blue cheese dressing to your salad. Although, the pasta salad won’t literally be blue, you’ll have red and white for the visual effect and blue for the sensory effect. It’s an entirely American experience in one dish.
Fresh Fruit Salad
Between all of the grilled hotdogs and burgers, make some time for fresh and sweet fruits to cleanse the palette. There are so many fresh fruits to choose from during the summer, and luckily many of them are either red or blue! The most festive ingredients for a Fourth of July fruit salad are definitely strawberries, blueberries and watermelon. You can substitute any of your other favorite fruits to personalize it for your party, but these are definitely a great base. Some other substitutes that fall in the patriotic category include red grapes, cherries and raspberries. Make it you own or stick to the basics. Either way, this dish makes for an awesome and sweet addition to any spread.
Raspberry Banana Yogurt Freezer Pops
What’s the best way to cool down on a hot summer day? Popsicles, of course! It’s hard to go wrong with ripe bananas, fresh raspberries and vanilla yogurt. Liven things up with a cold treat to break up the heat waves. Early July in Jacksonville with a frozen popsicle is a recipe for an awesome day. The red from the raspberries and white from the yogurt and bananas will add to the theme and brighten up your meal, what could be better? We suggest adding a touch of honey to the mix to satisfy everyone’s sweet tooth.
Tequila Cream and Fresh Berries
The team at Julington Creek Fish Camp is all about incorporating fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables into our dishes. While we put a huge emphasis on this at the restaurant, we also make an effort at home! Oh, and did we mention the tequila in these? This adult treat will keep the buzz going all day long. Just mix whipped cream in some chilled tequila mix and then add in some red and blue berries! Simple, easy and absolutely delicious.
Not interested in cooking for a large group? Don’t worry, your friends at Julington Creek Fish Camp can help you out. Pick up one of our awesome dishes for any of your July Fourth parties and everyone will surely leave happy and full.