Fourth of July BBQ Made Easy

Tara Berger is the Creative Director and Owner of One Stylish Party, a creative studio and online party boutique featuring designs and inspiration for entertaining in style.

Fourth of July is just around the corner and, if you ask me, this patriotic holiday is the perfect excuse to host an outdoor BBQ with friends and family! While hosting for a crowd can be daunting at times, today I am sharing some ideas for summer entertaining made easy.

As an American, Fourth of July is a holiday I especially take pride in celebrating, so I decided to put together an Americana backyard barbeque. I turned to Heinen’s Grocery Store to figure out my party menu, which was not only delicious, but took under 30 minutes to prep and serve 6 people!

Here’s a breakdown of what my Americana BBQ menu included:

Main Dish

I used Heinen’s ready-made kabobs as the main dish. I grilled 3 Teriyaki Steak and Vegetable Kabobs and 3 Sun-dried Tomato Chicken and Vegetable Kabobs for the party. The kabobs come assembled and marinated so the only thing I had to do was grill them, which was as easy as could be!

Salads

I purchased two pre-made salads from the Salads We Love bar at my local Heinen’s Grocery Store. I chose to include a Broccoli Salad and Greek Pasta Salad, which both complemented the grilled kabobs perfectly. To serve 6 people, I picked up 2 quarts of each salad.

Vegetable

I served Roasted Mexican Street Corn as a vegetable at my dinner party. This was the only item on my summer BBQ menu that required any prep work (which was still pretty minimal). I purchased 6 ears of corn from the Heinen’s produce section and used the recipe below to garnish the corn after it was grilled.

Ingredients:

6 ears of corn (husks removed)
¼ cup of mayonnaise
¼ cup of sour cream
½ tsp garlic powder
Juice of 1 lime
½ tsp of chili powder
½ cup of cotija cheese
¼ cup of chopped cilantro

Directions:
Grill corn for 15 -20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes until corn is soft and slightly charred. Meanwhile, combine mayonnaise, sour cream and garlic. Once corn is removed from the grill, brush on the mayonnaise mixture and garnish with fresh squeezed lime, cotija cheese, a dusting of chili powder and chopped cilantro.

Dessert

I kept desserts even more simple by assembling s’mores buckets for each of the party guests. These were so easy to make, but the presentation made it feel extra special. I used mini metal buckets and red checkered wax paper to hold all of the fixings to make a perfect summer s’mores! This required little-to-no prep work and was also a budget-friendly item included on the menu.

Beverages

I decided to come up with a festive signature cocktail / mocktail for my Americana BBQ. The adults sipped on prosecco with an upside down raspberry popsicle and the kids swapped the prosecco for soda instead. The best part of this signature drink was that it tasted great whether the popsicle was still frozen or melted. I also love that the raspberry popsicle gave the tablescape a pop of red to tie in the Americana color palette.

Decor

Once the menu was set, I moved on to planning some of the decor elements. I covered my patio table with a blue wheaton striped tablecloth and used galvanized metal chargers under my everyday white dinner plates. Classic silver flatware, navy star napkins and blue water glasses rounded out each place setting.

Fourth of July place setting & food

To contrast with the blue table linens, I incorporated a floral arrangement with fluffy white peonies, blush garden roses, deep red ranunculus and soft greenery. I also added a single red ranunculus on top of the folded napkin at each place setting.

For a little extra flair, I suspended a vintage ribbon American flag behind my patio dining table to fully bring the Americana theme to life. This particular flag was rented, however a traditional American flag could very easily be swapped in its place for a similar effect.

Whether you are serving a Fourth of July dinner for just your immediate family or hosting for a large crowd, I hope some of these menu suggestions and decor details help with planning your own patriotic summer BBQ!