27 Recipes to Pack Your Perfect Picnic Basket

Hello and welcome to this thing we’re doing where we help you figure out what you’re gonna put in your mouth this week. Some of these are recipes we’ve tried, some of these are recipes we’re looking forward to trying, all of them are fucking delicious. Tell us what you want to put in your piehole or suggest your own recipes, and we’ll talk about which things we made, which things we loved, and which things have changed us irreversibly as people. Last week, we gave ourselves garlic breath (but it was totally worth it). 

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Now that it’s almost summer, New York has finally begun to embrace spring. That means it’s actually (just barely) warm enough to spend more than 15 minutes outside at a time, and the entire world is starting to bloom, so there’s a lot to look at. It’s also perfect picnic weather.

Packing a picnic is about finding a lot of small, easily packaged things that won’t spoil if they’re out of the fridge for an hour or so. You don’t want to pack huge portions, because ideally you won’t have leftovers, but you do want to have a variety of things to munch on while you enjoy the sunshine in the company of a fun person or a good book. Think basics: carrots, apples, chips, sandwiches, hard-boiled eggs. If you have some ice packs (and a short trip to the park) throw in a popsicle or two, too. Wrap it all up in the perfect basket/bag/backpack and head out into the warm, wonderful world.

1. Hard-Boiled Eggs

2. Pasta Salad with Peas and Pesto

3. Lemon Cream Icebox Cake

4. Elena Ruz Sandwich

via Saveur

via Saveur

5. Hot Potato Salad

6. Summer Fruit Panzanella

7. Blackberry and Grape Popsicles

8. Farmer’s Lunch Sandwich

9. Italian Caprese Chopped Salad

10. Esquites (Warm Mexican Street Corn Salad)

11. Spiked Watermelon Pops

12. The Best Egg Salad Sandwich

13. Tzatziki Dip with Fresh Vegetables

14. Polenta Tart with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

15. Homemade BBQ and Sour Cream & Onion Potato Chips

16. Reuben Danish

17. Chai Cinnamon Pudding

18. Smoked Gouda and Apple Butter Sandwich

via Saveur

via Saveur

19. Lemony Eggless Egg Salad

20. Herbed Cucumber Radish Tea Sandwiches

21. Blueberry Picnic Bars

22. Broccoli Feta Pasta Salad

23. The Best F&$king Grilled Chicken Sandwich Ever

24. Banana Nutella Fudgesicles

25. Za’atar-Spiced Beet Dip with Goat Cheese and Hazelnuts

26. Grilled Corn Cheddar Quinoa

27. Salted Dulce de Leche Bars

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Kaitlyn

Kaitlyn lives in New York, which is the simplest answer you're going to get if you ask her where she's from. She went to journalism school and is arguably making the most of her degree as a writer and copy editor. She utilizes her monthly cable bill by watching more competitive cooking shows than should be allowed.

Kaitlyn has written 69 articles for us.

7 Comments

  1. OMG. That Rueben danish. And the grilled chicken sandwich with the chips inside. Also that egg salad though. Could actually eat #allofthethings.

    • Not gonna lie…I wrote this while pretty hungover, and for some reason all I could think about the whole time was egg salad. This list actually started out as like five egg recipes, and then I spent the rest of the time being like “What do people eat at picnics other than eggs? Is there even food that isn’t eggs? Eggs???”

  4. #18, OMG. My favorite fruit + favorite cheese. Fruit and cheese were made for each other. Other favorite combinations include cheddar-pear pie, goat cheese with craisins, and blueberries with ricotta.

  5. Well, this is excellent. I’m about to spend the next month at the movies, & this looks like it might help me eat like a person instead of some kind of monster raised on coffee & popcorn.

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