Summer is finally here. We are excited about sunny days and spending time outside. And just around the corner is one of our favorite holidays – the Fourth of July! Independence Day is all about spending time with family and enjoying the great outdoors.
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We love to fire up the grill and celebrate Independence Day with pizza. We love to grill pizzas and make new pizza creations using unique toppings for all of our Fourth of July parties.
How to Celebrate Independence Day
This year we have some fun ideas to celebrate Independence Day with pizza in different forms. We share how we enjoy the holiday with lots of treats.
So if you are tired of burgers and hotdogs, we have some other ways to make Fourth of July special with some pizza and pizza-related snacks. After all, our blog is all about homemade pizza, not those other dishes.
Celebrate Independence Day with Pizza
So, we love to express ourselves through food, and a summer Independence Day party is the perfect place to get creative and have some fun while feeding our friends and loved ones. So here are our favorite snacks and patriotic pizzas to share at your Fourth of July gathering.
Appetizers
When we get our friends and family together for any celebration, we always have lots of snacks and appetizers. A great pizza-themed appetizer is as easy as sliding goodies on a toothpick. No joke!
All you need are:
- Toothpicks
- Small mozzarella balls
- Cherry tomatoes
- Basil leaves
That’s it, easy peasy. It’s like a mini Margherita pizza, perfect for a hot summer day celebration.
There are a few different variations of this you can try as well:
- You can use pineapple chunks, cubes of ham, and mini mozzarella balls to recreate one of the favorite American pizzas, the Hawaiian.
- Or do a take on the classic American sandwich, the B.L.T. Just put some bacon, lettuce, and tomato on a toothpick to create this beloved sandwich. (The bacon works best if you use a half slice folded over and don’t get it too crispy.)
- Another favorite that is not necessarily pizza but is definitely Italian is using prosciutto and cantaloupe on a toothpick to create a light sweet and salty appetizer.
Making these appetizers is a great way to get little ones involved. Kids love being part of the festivities, and this is a super easy way to get them involved in the party. Letting kids help gives them the opportunity to show their independence on Independence Day.
Flag Pizza with Bacon
Since we are going to celebrate Independence Day with pizza, then you know we are going to make a flag pizza. We make our savory flag pizza with the colors of the flag. All you need to make this pizza is:
- Bacon
- Blue cheese
- Mozzarella
- Frozen spinach
Since we are going to make a rectangle pizza, you will need a good rectangle pizza pan. We use our own homemade pizza dough, but you can use store-bought dough, too. An oval flatbread or naan will also work if you don’t have time to deal with dough.
Just roll out your dough, brush with olive oil, and par-bake in the oven. If you are grilling, grill the dough on both sides and set it aside to add toppings. Brush on marinara and sprinkle mozzarella as a base.
Then make your flag using cooked bacon strips as stripes and put blue cheese for the white strips. If blue cheese is too strong for your tastebuds, just mix in more standard mozzarella.
Use the frozen spinach to make a square in the corner and make a few mozzarella stars. A small star cookie cutter works great for this. If you have a steady hand, you can cut stars with a knife instead of a cookie cutter.
Of course, you can alter this and use other toppings. Cherry tomatoes or pepperoni make good stripes—Kalamata olives or purple cabbage for the blue square and mini mozzarella balls for stars.
Really, the possibilities are endless! This is also another fun one to get the kids involved with recreating the American flag through pizza. If you’re throwing a kids pizza party, this could be one of your creative ideas.
Dessert Pizza
Everybody loves dessert. Sweet, creamy, crunchy goodness is what you get here in our dessert pizza. We have made this several times over the years, and we love trying different toppings, but the base always stays the same because it’s just that good.
All you need to make this yummy dessert pizza are:
- 1 package of Sugar cookie dough
- 1 tub of Cool Whip
- 1 package of cream cheese
- Strawberries
- Raspberries
- Blueberries
- White chocolate chips
Roll out the cookie dough on a square pan. Bake as directed and let cool. In a bowl, combine Cool Whip and cream cheese. Spread on the square cookie base. Then, decorate with fruit.
Or if you want more of an appetizer than a full pizza, try some sweet pizza twists instead.
Pro Tip #1: The cream cheese and Cool Whip should be at room temperature to avoid clumps.
Pro Tip #2: Roll the sugar cookie dough about ¼ of an inch. If it’s too thin, it can break and if it’s too thick, it’s too doughy.
There are a lot of variations that you can do with this one while keeping the sugar cookie crust and whipped cream base.
For example, instead of a rectangle flag pizza, you can use a round pizza pan and do a patriotic spiral of raspberries, blueberries, and white chocolate chips. Or just do colorful stripes in red, white, and blue.
Your friends and family will love the extra effort to celebrate Independence Day with pizza. Whether savory or sweet, pizza always makes everything better.
What are your favorite ways to celebrate Independence Day with pizza? Let us know what you think.
And, Happy Fourth of July!
