If there’s one thing that Americans love to do, it’s grill. We’ll do it all summer long, it doesn’t matter what the occasion is or why people have gathered together. Heading out to the country? Let’s do some grilling. Having a family reunion or get-together? Sounds like it’s time to break out the grill.

That’s why summer campgrounds, backyards, lake-side properties, and even parking lots all across the United States are covered in the sweet intermingling of scents that include savory meats, hardwood smoke, and tangy BBQ sauce. Of course, there is one day of the summer that’s an especially busy time for grilling, and that’s the 4th of July.

Yes, Independence Day is the day when just about everyone has fired up their grill, or if they aren’t personally grilling, then they’re in close proximity to someone who is. And now that we think about it, why wouldn’t that be the case? There just isn’t a better way to celebrate the birth of the United States than with some smoked meats, beer, fireworks, and friends.

Putting together a menu for an Independence Day celebration is no small feat, however. It takes planning and some originality. Sure, there are plenty of 4th of July celebrations that only feature hamburgers and hot dogs, but more and more people are thinking about what they can do to elevate their celebrations.

That’s why we’ve decided to put together this little guide. We wanted to provide everyone with some great 4th of July food ideas and recipes that will help them impress their friends and family members. Let’s check ’em out, what do you say?

BBQ Pork Steaks

In the Midwest, BBQ pork steaks are one of the most popular items at many barbecues. For those people not familiar with them, they are basically pork shoulder steaks that come from a pork butt or Boston butt roast. They are cut to about 3/4-inch thick, slathered in barbecue sauce, and grilled. This creates a pork steak that falls apart and is more like “meat candy” than just about anything else.

How the pork steak is prepared and cooked is really important, however. First, it needs to be marinated. Some people like to use soy sauce, honey, and spices to marinate their pork steaks, but we like to keep it simple and use only beer. Soaking the pork steaks in a good quality beer for 2-3 hours is sufficient to make a great pork steak.

After marinating, make a mixture of equal parts brown sugar, garlic powder, garlic powder, and smoked paprika. Spread that mixture across the meat, along with a good shot of salt and pepper. It’s now time to grill.

A good way to grill pork steaks is low and slow, for about 12 minutes per side. After flipping it once, coat it with BBQ sauce and then grill it for 5 more minutes on each side until the BBQ sauce has bonded to the meat. Now you have a pork steak so delicious you’ll want seconds.

Grilled Watermelon

Another dish that will elevate your 4th of July celebration is grilled watermelon. When you grill watermelon, you are not only giving it some nice-looking grill marks, but you are also giving the watermelon a smoky flavor and caramelizing the sugars in the melon.

Before you begin, you first have to cut the melon. We recommend cutting it into thick triangular-shaped wedges that will hold up to the grilling process. The rind should be left on so that the watermelon doesn’t fall apart. Grill the watermelon wedges for approximately 2-3 minutes, or until grill marks are visible.

After grilling, you can hit them with a special honey lime sauce. Take a ¼ cup of honey and the juice from 2 limes. You will also need a little bit of the lime zest (the colored part of the lime’s peel, not the white part) cut into strips. Mix all of that in a bowl with a ¼ teaspoon of sea salt. Now microwave it for approximately 10-15 seconds. Drizzle that over the grilled watermelon and serve immediately for a dessert dish that will blow everyone away.

All-American Potato Salad

No American BBQ would be complete without potato salad. Fortunately, this is a dish that is easy to make and is about 100 times better when it’s homemade. Sure, you can buy store-bought potato salad, but it won’t have the zing that our recipe has. Check it out below.

Ingredients:

• 5 yellow potatoes
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup chopped celery
• ½ cup sweet pickle relish
• ½ cup chopped red onion
• ¼ cup of mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon of prepared mustard
• ¼ teaspoon celery salt
• ¼ teaspoon garlic salt
• Ground black pepper to taste.

Instructions:

Step One: 

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes until cooked tender, but still firm. That should take about 15-20 minutes. Drain potatoes and let them cool.

Step Two: 

While the potatoes are cooling, place eggs in a pot, and then add cold water until the eggs are covered. Bring the pot to a boil, cover, and then remove from heat. Allow the eggs to remain in the water, covered, for about 12 minutes.

Step Three: 

Remove eggs from hot water and place them into an ice bath. Peel and chop them up. When potatoes are cool, peel and chop them into bite-size chunks.

Step Four: 

Combine the potatoes, eggs, celery, relish, mayonnaise, mustard, garlic salt, celery salt, pepper, and onion in a large bowl. Mix them well and then refrigerate them until the mixture is cool. Congratulations! You have just made an amazing potato salad.

Elevating Canned Baked Beans

We think it’s perfectly fine to serve baked beans as a side dish to all the other great food. However, we do feel that canned baked beans are often missing flavor, so we decided to improve on them. Below are our recommendations for turning an ordinary can of these beans into something truly special and perfect for the 4th of July.

Ingredients Needed:

• 6 strips of smoked bacon
• 2 28-ounce cans of Baked Beans
• 1 small yellow onion
• ¼ cup of ketchup
• 2 tablespoons of light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons of spicy brown mustard
• 2 tablespoons of molasses
• 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
• 2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar

Step One:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray an oven-safe 4-quart casserole dish with cooking spray and set aside.

Step Two:

Cook bacon in a frying pan until it’s crispy. Remove it and place it on a paper towel-lined plate to drain.

Step Three:

Dice up the onion and cook in the leftover bacon fat in the frying pan. Cook for about 6 minutes, or until the onions are soft.

Step Four:

Add the beans, bacon, and onions to the baking dish. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.

Step Five:

Bake for 40 minutes, or until the top of the beans has caramelized. Now serve!

That does it for this holiday celebration. We hope the above tips and tricks will allow you to take your 4th of July celebration to the next level. Until next time, be safe dear readers, and be sure to come back for more holiday fun!