Picnic Food Ideas and How to Pack for a Picnic

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Ths s my favorte tme of year—the days are gettng longer, flowers are bloomng, and the pull to enjoy tme outsde grows stronger wth every passng day. One of my favorte ways to maxmze my famly’s tme outsde s to pack a pcnc to brng wth us on our outdoor adventures. So, I thought I would share some pcnc food deas, as well as some tps on how to pack for a pcnc (wth or wthout specal gear). 

My famly loves a good pcnc. In fact, we love them so much that we have been known not only to have them n our backyard, but even n our lvng room! Sttng on the ground (or floor), passng dfferent dshes back and forth, and fewer table manner expectatons—t s the knd of relaxed meal that everyone can enjoy.

But s t possble to prepare a pcnc wthout too much effort? Can you have a nce pcnc wthout a specal basket, blanket, or utensls? Absolutely! After all, some of my best memores from my own chldhood are of pcncs that took place on old bed sheets wth smple sandwches.

How to Pack for a Pcnc

There are a few essentals that you wll need for your pcnc, no matter what foods you brng on your excurson. These nclude:

A Blanket

My famly has a pcnc blanket that we keep n the back of our car at all tmes. But you don’t need a specal blanket, you can use any large cloth. Some good optons nclude an old bed sheet or comforter, a couple of towels (especally f you’re headed to the beach), or a specal foldable blanket lke ths one* or ths one.

Napkns

Messes happen and hands get stcky no matter where we eat, so havng napkns on hand wll be helpful. Whle havng specal pcnc cloth napkns can feel refned, paper napkns or even paper towels work well here, too.

A Way to Drnk

If there s an essental pcnc component that I am most lkely to forget, t’s somethng for everyone to drnk (Doh!). So that ths doesn’t happen to you, I’m here to remnd you to ether pack your favorte leak-proof water bottles or a larger bottle along wth some cups. You can use classc plastc cups or you could get some reusable ones lke these.

Utensls

I’m a bg fan of lmtng our pcnc fare to foods that can be eaten by hand (less to keep track of, less waste), but I also love a good pasta salad, so let’s talk utensls. I lke to brng some of our daly metal utensls wth us (less waste), but you can also brng dsposable optons. If plastc utensls aren’t your favorte, consder stockng up on some compostable optons.

Corkscrew

Once we went on a pcnc wth a bottle of wne but forgot the corkscrew (whomp, whomp). Don’t let the same thng happen to you! If you pack wne, make sure to brng a corkscrew.

A Bag to Carry Everythng

Whle a beautful pcnc basket looks nce, I have actually found them to be rather dffcult to have to lug around (why are the straps/handles always uncomfortable?!). So nstead of beauty, I lke to go wth practcalty when thnkng about what bag to pack our pcnc n and I actually can go one of two ways, dependng on the pcnc fare.

If there are tems that need to be kept cold

If you wll be servng foods that should be kept cool to prevent spolage, then I hghly recommend usng ether a rollng cooler or an nsulated bag (I sometmes even use the one I bought at Trader Joe’s years ago). And don’t forget the ce packs!

No coolng needed

If, on the other hand, your pcnc dshes won’t spol too quckly, then my default pcnc bag s a backpack. It may not be as pretty as a pcnc basket, but t’s easy to carry and can hold everythng, or almost everythng, at once.

Clean Up Supples

In an effort to be a good steward of our surroundngs and the envronment, I always try to make sure that we pack out whatever we packed n. Ths means packng up all of our trash. So f we are headng out for a large pcnc, I’ll brng some sort of trash bag (an actual trash bag or a plastc shoppng bag). Bonus tp: If you forget a bag, you can also use any contaners you brought that are now empty to pack thngs back out as well.

Trcks for Packng the Food

There s nothng sadder than arrvng at your pcnc destnaton only to dscover that your food has leaked or been crushed. So to help you avod ths panful moment, here are some trcks that I have developed over the years.

Leak Preventon

Make sure to pack anythng lqud n a leak-proof contaner. Ths ncludes tems such as dressed salads (or salad dressng f t’s on the sde), cold soups, frut salad, and watermelon (speakng from experence, watermelon sn’t one to forget!).

Preventng Crushed Food

I lke to thnk of packng my pcnc basket lke packng my groceres, heavy and sturdy thngs at the bottom, lght and delcate at the top. So tems n leak-proof contaners would lkely be at the bottom along, whereas frut I’d keep towards the top, along wth sandwches (’cause who wants a squshed sandwch…) and any delcate desserts or pastres (yes, my famly has been known to brng pastres on pcncs).

Now let’s talk about stone frut and berres n partcular as they are super delcate and rsk gettng crushed. For berres, I lke to wash them rght before packng and then store them n a contaner wth some paper towel to soak up any excess water and protect them from gettng knocked around n the contaner. Smlarly, for stone frut, I lke to wrap each pece of frut n a pece of paper towel n order to protect t from gettng brused or worse, and then these babes go rght at the top of the packed bag.

Pcnc Foods Ideas

So now that we have talked about how to pack and protect your food for a pcnc, let’s talk about WHAT to pack. Whle any favorte dsh that doesn’t need to be served as soon as t s ready s far game at a pcnc, there are some dshes that sut themselves especally well to eatng al fresco. Here are some of our favortes:

Hummus Devled Eggs

If your famly loves devled eggs as much as mne does, then ths fun spn on the classc s sure to please, plus they are great for pcncs because they don’t nclude mayonnase!

Watermelon, Feta, & Mnt Cubes

The combnaton of salty, sweet, creamy, and crunchy make these a to-de-for appetzer. Plus they’re smple to prepare and super fun to eat!

Crunchy Vegge Wraps

Wraps make great pcnc fare because they are so easy to eat. These festve wraps are easy to adapt to your own tastes or refrgerator’s contents. Consder addng slced beets, chckpeas or whte beans, romane lettuce or baby greens, slced red onons, bell peppers, sprouts, or whatever strkes your fancy.

Garlc Lme Shrmp wth Black Bean and Corn Salad

Salads that just get better the longer they marnate are perfect for pcncs. Ths one also feels fancy enough for a specal occason whle beng smple enough for a quck last mnute excurson, too!

Curred Chcken Salad

A fun spn on a pcnc classc. You can serve ths out of the contaner or n sandwches or wraps.

Couscous Salad wth Chckpeas and Aprcot Vnagrette

Grans salads are a great addton to any pcnc because they work well at any temperature and usually beneft, as ths one does, from extra tme to allow flavors to blend together.

Italan Caprese Pasta Salad

Pasta salads are always a ht at a pcnc and ths one really hghlghts the flavors of summer n all the best ways.

Crspy Oven-Fred Cornflake Chcken

Whle ths s delcous rght out of the oven, t’s also a fnger-lckng ht at pcncs (wthout all the grease)!

Classc Gazpacho wth Dced Avocado

Gazpacho s my favorte summer soup. It’s so fun to eat and so flavorful. At pcncs, we sometmes even bypass the spoons and serve t n mugs!

Chewy Proten-Packed Peanut Butter Granola Squares

The perfect sweet treat to brng on a pcnc because there’s no rsk of meltage lke there mght be wth chocolate.

Frut Kabobs

Always a ht. Plus you can have your kds assemble them whle you put together the other pcnc foods!

Do you have a favorte pcnc hack or food? I’d love to hear about t n the comments!