Independence Day Cookout Menu and Recipe Ideas
One of the most popular ways to celebrate Independence Day is with a cookout. If you’re planning a cookout or barbecue, you might be looking for some menu ideas and recipes. Read on – following is a list of suggestions for classic main courses, drinks, desserts, and so forth for your cookout.
1. Grilled Chicken Breasts
Cooking chicken on the barbecue or grill is a healthy version of the traditional fried chicken often served at Independence Day picnics and cookouts.
Recipe for 4:
-4 chicken breasts
Marinade:
-1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
-1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
-1 tablespoon kosher salt
-2 teaspoons black pepper
-1/4 cup minced onion
-1/4 teaspoon each thyme, paprika and sage
The morning of the cookout, mix all marinade ingredients in a zip top plastic bag or glass dish with cover. Add chicken breasts and marinate for 6 to 8 hours, turning every couple of hours. Grill the chicken until the juices run clear, or the chicken breasts reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.
2. Potato Salad
What Independence Day menu would be complete without tangy potato salad?
Recipe for 5:
Ingredients:
-1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes
-2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or liquid from sweet pickles
-1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
-1/4 teaspoon each kosher salt and black pepper
-1/2 cup chopped celery
-1/4 cup chopped red or yellow bell pepper
-1/2 cup minced onion, preferably a sweet variety
-1/2 cup chopped sweet pickles
-2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
-1/3 cup mayonnaise
Directions:
Peel and chop the potatoes into 1-inch pieces. Place them in a saucepan and add cold water to cover and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Drain and cool. Mix together all other ingredients and, when cool, add the potato pieces and stir to combine. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.
3. Watermelon
Another Independence Day tradition, watermelon can be sliced and served as-is, or carved into a basket shape and filled with other chopped fruits. Here’s how to carve one.
Ingredients:
-1 large, oblong watermelon (not the little round ones)
-chopped fresh fruit of your choice
Method:
Lay the watermelon on its side. Locate the approximate center. Using a flexible, sharp knife, make a downward cut halfway down the watermelon, 2 inches to the right of the center and another one 2 inches to the left of the center. Then come in from the sides or ends of the melon and make a horizontal cut inward until you meet the vertical cut. Do the same on the other side. You should be able to remove a large wedge of watermelon from each side of the center. Next, cut the melon flesh out of the arched top – the basket’s handle – and use a melon baller to hollow out the inside.
4. Dessert – Ice Cream
It’s another Independence Day classic! You can churn your own if you have a hand churn – that’s fun at a cookout. Or, just dish up vanilla ice cream and top with strawberries and blueberries – red, white, and blue! You can also layer this patriotic combination in parfait glasses.
5. Drinks
Lemonade is traditional on Independence Day. You can also serve lemon punch or lemon slushies. Cola is also an American treat.