Raise your plates to a nation with taste!
Celebrating Canada Day with a patriotic meal is pretty easy — the only hard part is choosing which Canadian delicacies to include. To help get your culinary juices flowing, we present delicious inspiration from across the country. Choose your favourites for the big day, and remember — you have all summer to try the rest!
West Coast Trail Burger & Beet-Carrot Slaw
Celebrating Canada like a British Columbian — with a nature hike, of course — is easy after powering up with this burger. The veggie slaw gets a dash of tang from rice wine vinegar, a nod to B.C.’s diverse population, while the pumpkin seeds and alfalfa sprouts pay homage to the province’s bohemian reputation.
Grilled Chicken Thighs with Curried Peaches
Juicy Okanagan Valley peaches are British Columbian gold – in fact, roughly 20 per cent of the country’s peaches come from B.C. Mix them with curry sauce and smother over barbecued chicken for a dish that celebrates the province’s peachy produce and its large South Asian population.
There’s no better way to honour Canada’s cowboy spirit than with a juicy Chuck Burger, made from 100% AAA Canadian beef and topped with steak-spice and sautéed mushrooms. You’ll be guaranteed a stampede of hungry guests as soon the aroma of burgers comes blowing off the grill.
Bacon-Topped Pea & Mint Crostinis
The Prairie provinces produce and export more peas than anywhere else in the world. More importantly, these bacon-topped apps only require one hand to eat, so you can use the other for important Canada Day pursuits, like playing table hockey or swatting mosquitos.
Around 90 per cent of Canada’s chickpeas are grown in Saskatchewan, making these delicious, lemon-infused burgers a perfectly patriotic option for vegetarians. Garnish them with your favourite burger toppings and give’r!
Eggs are popular across Canada, but Ontario chickens produce more than twice as many as their closest competitors, the ‘poulet’ of Quebec. This cottage-perfect breakfast can be partly prepped the night before, allowing for plenty of time to take a dip in the lake at sunrise.
Honour Ontario pork farmers and celebrate summer’s sweet corn by serving these freshly grilled cobs spiked with smoked paprika and fresh thyme. It’ll be your go-to corn recipe for the outdoor cooking season.
Butter tarts are a quintessentially Canadian dessert, and the oldest printed recipes are said to come from Ontario. So save a spot on the table or in your picnic basket for our sweet, gooey Classic Butter Tarts.
If you can’t get to one of Montreal’s famed delis, the next best thing is to open one in your own backyard by combining smoky beef and sweet pickle relish atop crisp slices of baguette. Whether they inspire loud ‘ouis’ or ‘yesses’, they will be a hit.
Poutine — we’re indebted to the French for this delicious indulgence. And that’s what these Quebecois-influenced burgers are all about. Topped with crispy potatoes and oozing fresh cheese curds, these satisfying treats are part burger, part poutine and totalement délicieux!
Grilled Plums with Yogourt & Spiced Maple Syrup
It’s no secret that Quebec is the largest producer of this sweet and sticky Canadian pantry staple in the world. Pay tribute to this prized export by drizzling grilled plum halves with ginger and cinnamon-infused syrup and try not to gloat to out-of-country guests about its year-round availability.
The Caesar may sound Roman, but it’s a Canuck invention! It’s actually a clam-infused spin — and in our humble Canadian opinion, improvement — on the Bloody Mary. Don’t forget to make a toast to Canada!
Feeling gut-foundered? (That’s Newfoundlander for hungry, by the way). This medley of sweet lobster meat, crusty sourdough bread and juicy, grilled cherry tomatoes will put any tummy rumblings to rest. The salad pays homage to the East Coat, which is one of the largest exporters of lobsters around the world.
Donair Burger with Halifax Sauce
Late-night donairs are a Halifax tradition. The Canadian Chuck Burgers form the perfect base for this messy sandwich topped with the signature cream sauce made with condensed milk and vinegar. One bite and you’ll be partying like a Bluenoser no matter where you are.
No matter where you’re celebrating on July 1, this patriotic cake will be the perfect party centrepiece — just remember to get the slices ready in time for the fireworks show!
