Picnic
81 recipes found
Roasted Potato Salad With Lemon and Feta
Roasting the potatoes rather than boiling them gives this potato salad great texture and deep caramelized flavor. Potatoes are a great canvas for all sorts of flavors; this salad pairs them with creamy feta, briny olives, punchy pepperoncini, juicy tomatoes and lots of herbs for a bright twist on a classic picnic side. Take care not to season the potatoes too heavily with salt, as the feta and olives will add lots on their own.
Tahini Ramen Salad
A breeze to make on busy weeknights, this fresh, colorful ramen salad is equally tasty at room temperature or chilled — which means it’s particularly picnic-friendly. Chickpeas add creamy texture, contrasting the crisp bite of vibrant veggies. Use your favorite combination: Yellow bell peppers, cucumbers, snap peas, radishes, celery, asparagus and cabbage are all great options. You can make the salad an hour ahead and let the savory tahini-garlic sauce soak into the noodles (at room temperature); just give it a quick toss before serving so that everything is evenly coated in the luscious sauce. If chilled, pull the salad from the refrigerator 10 minutes before serving to allow the sauce to soften, then give it a nice mix.
Raspberry Pie Crunch Bars
These raspberry crumble bars have all the buttery, jammy, brown sugary charms of a raspberry crumb pie. But they’re a whole lot easier to serve at a large gathering and picnics, and can be eaten out of hand. You can make them a day or two before and store them in the fridge.
Fried Egg Salad From Ideas in Food
Ideas in Food's fried egg salad recipe comes together in no time, without missing the crunchy, savory, and creamy components. No egg peeling required!
Sweet Corn Butter From Whitney Wright
This corn ‘butter’ recipe was a staple on station at Per Se, where we stirred it into a sweet corn risotto. The magic happens due to the natural corn starches.
Our Best Classic Mimosa
The best mimosa recipe and a guide to how to make a mimosa, and how to riff on ingredients (like using store-bought orange juice, or swapping other fruit juice)
Greek Yogurt Potato Salad
Instead of rich mayo, there’s tangy Greek yogurt in this modern potato salad recipe. Add in torn oil-cured olives (briney! buttery!), and plenty of fresh herbs.
The Orchard Mocktail
The Orchard mocktail gets its striking fuchsia hue from blueberry juice, which has a concentrated berry flavor that pairs wonderfully with fresh basil.
Beet Kvass
Beet kvass is a fermented drink that tastes sweet and earthy. It's is full of probiotic bacteria, and easier to make at home than you might imagine.
Marinated Zucchini, Kalamata Olive, & Mozzarella Salad
The perfect no-cook dish for last-minute summer dinners.
Green Beans With Lemon Vinaigrette
Grab-and-go offerings of picnicky food are almost universally mediocre and exasperatingly expensive. Resist the temptation to outsource and make your own. This recipe is built to last. You can make it a day or two ahead of time, or leave it out on the counter if you're going to eat these green beans within a few hours of making it.
Green Beans With Lemon Vinaigrette
Grab-and-go offerings of picnicky food are almost universally mediocre and exasperatingly expensive. Resist the temptation to outsource and make your own. This recipe is built to last. You can make it a day or two ahead of time, or leave it out on the counter if you're going to eat these green beans within a few hours of making it.
Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake
This lemon poppy seed pound cake is summery and quick to make, and perfect for a picnic. One tip: Cut up the pound cake before the picnic but leave it in the baking pan. It makes it easier to transport, and the pan protects it, too. Then serve it on its own, with ripe berries, and let the ants enjoy the crumbs.
Blackberry Caipirinha
This blackberry caipirinha has a bold hue and complex fruity flavor for a cocktail sure to brighten your happy hour. Grab your muddler and enjoy!
Tuna Salad Composée
This recipe is a far departure from the mayonnaise-based tuna concoctions that Americans expect. Tuna (packed in olive oil, please) is mixed with peppers, fresh herbs and nuts and dressed in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice and two types of mustard. It can sit in the fridge for up to three days, making it excellent picnic food or just a departure from the usual sad desk sandwich.
Macaroni Salad With Lemon and Herbs
Consider this a macaroni salad for the 21st century: Like the original, it’s a welcome accompaniment to picnic fare and pairs with virtually anything off the grill. But this version also happens to be bright, acidic and herbaceous. The traditional elements have been preserved — elbow macaroni, mayonnaise and a pinch of sugar are mandatory — but they’ve been bolstered by bright flavors: lemon zest, tangy capers and pickles, crunchy celery and tons of fresh herbs. It goes lighter on mayonnaise than the original, swapping in tangy buttermilk for a dressing that is more glossy than gloopy. It can be served straight from the fridge or at room temperature. A splash of water stirred in restores its silky sheen.
Chess Pie Squares
These heavenly little bars, adapted from the Southern cookbook author Julia Reed, are a modern-day, perfect-for-a-picnic version of a traditional custard pie made from flour, cornmeal, sugar, eggs, butter and buttermilk. They are like lemon bars without the lip-puckering citrus: a blanket of egg-rich custard generously laced with vanilla atop a lightly salted, crumbly shortbread crust. (If you don't have buttermilk, you can make an easy substitute by combining one tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice with a cup of milk. Let stand for 5 minutes, then measure out 3/4 cup.)
Carrot Tart With Ricotta and Feta
Carrots work beautifully in this simple tart, but onions, parsnips, beets, zucchini or pumpkin work just as well. The key is to cook the vegetables before putting them on the tart, since the moisture released by baking raw vegetables would make the puff pastry soggy and prevent it from rising. Once you remove the tart from the oven, let it cool for 10 minutes before cutting to allow the cheese to firm up slightly. The tart can be served warm, or cooled to room temperature, and would make a great addition to a picnic.
Chickpea Salad With Fresh Herbs and Scallions
A lighter, easier take on classic American potato salad, this version uses canned chickpeas in place of potatoes and favors Greek yogurt over mayonnaise. The trick to achieving the creamy texture of traditional potato salad is to mash some of the chickpeas lightly with a fork. It travels well, so it deserves a spot at your next picnic or desk lunch.
Lemon-Tahini Slaw
This vegan recipe fulfills the need for a creamy slaw that can sit out in the sun. Instead of dairy and raw egg yolks, this slaw is slicked with tahini and mustard. Capers, lemon zest and scallions are smashed into a coarse paste, then massaged into the cabbage to lend umami and a salty punch. Snap peas and radishes add crunch, but feel free to swap in celery, jicama, fennel or other vegetables. This is a decidedly savory slaw; if you want some sweetness, add honey to the dressing, to taste. The slaw can sit out — poolside, deskside, at a picnic — for up to 3 hours, and it keeps for 3 days in the fridge.
Quinoa Salad With Swiss Chard and Goat Cheese
This versatile salad, or pilaf, may be construed as a home cook’s answer to a fast-casual lunch bowl. But it does not need to be piled high with a freewheeling array of additional ingredients. As it is, this could be a stand-alone first course, a lunch dish or a side to serve alongside meat or seafood. Serve it hot, warm or at room temperature. The quinoa adapts well to advance preparation, and letting the salad sit before serving improves the texture. In summer, this dish is prime picnic material.
Cauliflower Salad Sandwiches
Pulling from the greatest hits of chicken salads, with crunchy walnuts, crisp apples, sweet raisins and a spiced mayo-yogurt dressing, this best-of-all-worlds sandwich subs out the chicken for cauliflower. The aggressively roasted cauliflower serves as a sponge, soaking up all the flavors of the dressing while adding layers of bitterness and earthiness. This salad only gets better as it sits, allowing the flavors to meld and the cauliflower to soak up even more dressing. Even once it’s built, this sandwich improves after it has sat for a few hours. Do you plan ahead? This makes an ideal picnic dish. Not sure when you’ll get a chance to eat or where the day will take you? This cauliflower salad sandwich is here for you.
Orzo Salad With Peppers and Feta
Piperade, a classic Basque dish of stewed peppers, onions and tomatoes, becomes a flavorful sauce for this pasta. Colorful bell peppers simmer in olive oil and aromatics until meltingly soft, and juicy tomatoes simmer alongside until they burst, lending both tangy and sweet notes. Briny feta adds salty bites to complement the sweet pepper sauce, but tart aged goat cheese makes a good alternative. This side is even better at room temperature, making it the perfect make-ahead dish for summer picnics or potlucks.
Roasted Potato Salad With BBQ Dressing
If barbecue potato chips were a salad, then this would be it. It’s hard to pick which component of this picnic dish is the greater star: the crispy roasted potatoes or the smoky, paprika-tinged barbecue sauce dressing. Bejeweled with crunchy red onions, which are soaked in water to mellow their bite, and showered with fresh dill, this colorful side dish is the savory crowd-pleaser you’ll want to bring to any cookout or potluck.