25 picnic recipes

No-mayo Tuscan potato salad dressed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, and fresh herbs. Served at room temperature, this light Italian side dish is a refreshing swap for heavy picnic potato salads.

Savory egg sandwich filling scrambles eggs with sauteed onion, tomato, and parsley, then binds it all with mayo for a richer-than-egg-salad spread. Picnic-friendly, ready in 25 minutes.

Seafood pasta salad with rotini, shrimp, bay scallops, artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, and olives in an anchovy-Parmesan vinaigrette. Crowd-feeding cold salad for parties and picnics.

Blueberry snack cake with cinnamon, lemon zest, and flour-coated berries that stay suspended in a tender crumb. A one-bowl bake great for picnics and lunchboxes.

Brown rice salad tossed with French dressing, water chestnuts, snow peas, mushrooms, and red bell pepper. A crunchy, make-ahead cold rice salad for potlucks and picnics.

Tri-color rotini tossed in a creamy Dijon vinaigrette with crispy bacon, hard-boiled eggs, celery, and scallions. A make-ahead pasta salad for potlucks, picnics, and summer cookouts.

Dilly beef salad with cubed cooked beef, stuffed olives, pickled onions, and green pepper in a beer and dill mayonnaise dressing. A tangy, cold meat salad for lunch or picnics.

Red potato salad with bacon dresses skin-on baby reds in a vinegar-spiked mayo with crisp bacon, yellow onion, scallions, and hard-boiled eggs. The picnic side dish that disappears first.

Grilled tuna and roasted pepper sandwiches: meaty grilled tuna layered with sweet roasted peppers, capers, and parsley salad on focaccia. A Mediterranean pan bagnat style picnic sandwich that only gets better after chilling.