50 Recipes For National Picnic Day

It's that time of year again when the weather is getting warmer and we're all drawn toward being outside. It's just a matter of time before you're heading to Memorial Day cookouts and Fourth of July pool parties, but before that happens, might we interest you in an April picnic? If we've grabbed your attention, you're in luck, because 2023's National Picnic Day falls on April 23, and we've put together an awesome roundup of some of our very favorite picnic-ready recipes that are sure to please all your friends and family in attendance.

Whether you're holding your picnic in your backyard, at a local park, or even on the beach, we've got your back with some of the best crowd-pleasing recipes. Need a dip? We've got everything from salsa to caramelized onion dip to creamy jalapeño dip. How about sandwiches? We've got those too, ranging from tuna salad to muffalettas to tomato sandwiches. Time for dessert? How about a sheet cake or the best chocolate chip cookies out there? Maybe you're thinking the perfect picnic recipes do not exist, but after sorting through this list, we're convinced you'll be fishing out your picnic basket and other picnic essentials and planning your next picnic soiree. Enjoy!

A great salsa perfect for dipping tortilla chips — might we suggest a homemade tortilla chip recipe? — is practically mandatory for a picnic. You can always go for a jarred, store-bought version, but when you make salsa from scratch, it's just that much tastier. Luckily, we've got an easy salsa recipe from recipe developer Nathaniel Lee that will make preparing homemade salsa a breeze. Lee shows you how to slice, season, and bake the ingredients before putting them in a blender to create the smooth salsa.

Recipe: Easy Salsa

Everyone loves pigs in a blanket. Not only are the hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls pretty cute, they're also pretty darn tasty. Plus, they'll travel well to a picnic. What's even better is you'll need just two ingredients for these pigs in a blanket: a package of hot dogs — recipe developer Laura Sampson recommends Nathan's hot dog brand – and a can of crescent rolls. Sampson loves serving the finished product with some Sriracha for dipping, but notes ketchup and mustard are also pretty yummy, too.

Recipe: Pigs In A Blanket

Something about potato salad just screams outdoor picnic on a blanket in the sun, and recipe developer Miriam Hahn's twist on potato salad is no different. Hahn adds pickled jalapeños, assuring that they're not too hot, and cilantro to her potato salad. You'll also need Yukon potatoes, celery, red onion, dill, mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, and Dijon mustard to execute this potato salad recipe. The recipe will take you just 15 minutes from start to finish.

Recipe: Classic Potato Salad

You'll most certainly need a dessert at your picnic, and depending on how many guests you might be having, you may need a pretty sizable one. That's where this quarter sheet-sized copycat Costco sheet cake from recipe developer Molly Allen comes into play. While not as large as a Costco sheet cake, it serves up to 16 people. Allen shows you how to make the vanilla cake as well as the buttercream frosting. Top with sprinkles and you're ready to rock and roll.

Recipe: Copycat Costco Sheet Cake

There's no better way to turn your picnic into a high tea than with traditional cucumber sandwiches with the crust cut off. To make the sandwiches, you'll spread some cream cheese across two pieces of white bread then add slices of Lebanese and English cucumbers and, if desired, some slivers of purple onion. Cut off the crusts and pack these babies up because they'll hold well while being transported to the site of your picnic.

Recipe: Traditional Cucumber Sandwiches

While you may think apple fritters might be more suited for a fall picnic, we're pretty sure you'll enjoy them at a picnic any time of year. Recipe developer Jessica Morone calls these old-fashioned apple fritters "crispy little donuts chock-full of apples." Do we have your attention now? You'll need quite a few ingredients for this recipe, including Granny Smith apples and Morone's secret ingredient: cornstarch. Morone shows you how to make the batter, fry the fritters, and make the sugary glaze.

Recipe: Old-Fashioned Apple Fritter

If you're looking to put together an ever-popular charcuterie board for your picnic, you'd be remiss not to include this sweet and savory mango chutney on it. This particular mango chutney from recipe developer Miriam Hahn combines a sweet fruity flavor with savory smokiness, the latter thanks to the addition of some paprika. While making a chutney might seem intimidating, Hahn walks you through each step from chopping up the mangos to cooking all the ingredients together.

Recipe: Sweet and Savory Mango Chutney

Got tons of zucchini left over from your gardening and getting quite tired of having zoodles for dinner in your effort to use it all up? You're in luck because recipe developer Catherine Brookes has found a way to put all that zucchini to good use in a chocolate zucchini loaf cake. Brookes says the zucchini taste is almost nonexistent, and rather, the zucchini "keep[s] the cake super moist." It's the perfect chocolatey treat to round out your picnic.

Recipe: Chocolate Zucchini Loaf Cake

You can never have too many different types of salad at a picnic, and this shredded carrot salad offers a colorful option your guests are sure to want to dig into. The salad is relatively easy to make; it's simply shredded carrots with green onions and parsley, then the rest of the ingredients go toward the sweet and sour dressing. Recipe developer Catherine Brookes says this shredded carrot salad will go great with all those burgers you're cooking up at your picnic.

Recipe: Shredded Carrot Salad

Soft pretzel bites are not only delicious, they're easy to transport to your picnic and even easier to eat when you can just pop one after the next into your mouth. Recipe developer Molly Allen shows you how to make these soft pretzel bites from scratch in your own home with just a few simple ingredients needed for the dough: water, active dry yeast, salt, sugar, vegetable oil, and flour. Allen walks you through how to proof the yeast before forming the pretzel bites. Whatever dipping sauce you choose to enjoy these pretzel bites with is up to you!

Recipe: Homemade Soft Pretzel Bites

This spinach artichoke flatbread is a great item to bring to a picnic. It's a bit more creative than your classic pepperoni pizza, but it's still sure to be a crowd pleaser with its unique and scrumptious flavors. It's ulta creamy with three types of cheese — Parmesan, mozzarella, and Gruyere — plus sour cream and mayonnaise among the ingredients. Recipe developer Jessica Morone shows you how to prep the dough and then top it with the homemade spinach artichoke mixture.

Recipe: Spinach Artichoke Flatbread

Falafel collard wraps with a made-from-scratch tzatziki are sure to be a hit at your picnic. Recipe developer Maren Epstein walks you through how to make the falafel in your food processor and how to bake it to perfection before wrapping it up in a collard green leaf with some hummus, bell peppers, and the tzatziki sauce. Having some trouble doing the wrapping? Epstein has tips for making that part easier including pre-steaming the collard greens and removing the stems.

Recipe: Simple Collard Wrap

Looking for something a bit more creative than your traditional chicken salad for your picnic sandwiches? Look no further than this deli-style turkey salad from recipe developer Jenny Kellerhals. Kellerhals shows you how to prep the produce including shallots, celery, lemon, and dill, then how to whip together the zesty dressing. Once you finish making the turkey salad, you can serve it on sandwiches with cranberry sauce or use it as a dip with some crackers.

Recipe: Deli-Style Turkey Salad

You'll certainly need a wide selection of dips at your picnic — really, the more the merrier — and this creamy corn dip is the perfect addition to your dip recipe collection. This dip has a kick of heat thanks to the addition of some jalapeño, but it also has creamy cheddar cheese, sour cream, and mayonnaise to balance it all out. To prepare, recipe developer Miriam Hahn starts out with frozen white corn, but also notes you could use canned corn instead as long as you're sure to drain it.

Recipe: Creamy Corn Dip

It isn't a party without a whoopie pie, and thanks to recipe developer Mark Beahm, we have a great recipe that's sure to wow everyone at your picnic. The whoopie pie is a dessert sandwich of sorts with two chocolatey, chewy ends and a light vanilla filling. Not really into chocolate? No worries, you can instead make the cookies strawberry or even pumpkin flavored, if you desire. Beahm shows you how to make the cookies and then whip together the airy filling before assembling these whoopie pies.

Recipe: Whoopie Pie

Chances are you'll be pre-making sandwiches for your picnic, so why not make a sandwich that is both scrumptious and carries well? Here, recipe developer Susan Olayinka shows you how to make a classic BLT — bacon, lettuce, and tomato, that is. Be sure to choose a quality bacon, then Olayinka says it's up to you to cook it however you'd like — grilling, in the microwave, etc. Olayinka says sourdough bread is the ideal type of bread for your BLT.

Recipe: Scrumptious BLT Sandwich

This cinnamon-y, sweet bread is the perfect treat to bring to your picnic, sure to be devoured either as part of the meal or as a dessert. Recipe developer Catherine Brookes says this cinnamon bread "has an amazing moist, fluffy texture" that everyone will love. To prepare, you'll make the batter and the cinnamon sugar topping separately, then layer them in a bread pan before swirling it all together and baking. What's even better is you can make this cinnamon bread up to four days before your picnic and it will keep in an airtight container.

Recipe: Classic Cinnamon Bread

If you're a fan of Chili's southwest egg rolls, get excited! You no longer have to pay a visit to the restaurant itself to enjoy these babies as recipe developer Kristen Carli has come up with a great copycat recipe that you can prepare in your own home. The Tex-Mex twist on the classic Chinese-style egg roll will require quite a few ingredients including flour tortillas, spinach, corn, black beans, jalapeños, chicken, taco seasoning, and Mexican cheese. You'll make the dip from a mixture of guacamole and ranch dressing.

Recipe: Copycat Chili's Southwest Egg Rolls

Mini sandwiches are the ideal food for a picnic, and these easy roast beef sliders with melted Swiss cheese and roast beef served on buttered slider buns are no different. Recipe developer Susan Olayinka shows you how to assemble the sandwiches and prep them for a short time in the oven. She brushes butter over the buns before sprinkling on some Italian seasoning. Olayinka recommends serving with some coleslaw or watermelon for the most optimal tastiness.

Recipe: Easy Roast Beef Sliders

Recipe developer Kate Shungu shows you how to make this cornbread she calls "super moist," thanks to ingredients like sour cream and creamed corn. She uses store-bought boxes of Jiffy corn muffin mix, but says you can also use other brands with success. Preparation is as simple as mixing together the ingredients to create a batter, then pouring it into a pan to bake for about 40 minutes. Use this cornbread to scoop up some of the dips on this recipe roundup or on its own with a little butter.

Recipe: Easy Cornbread

Getting kohlrabi ready to roast requires a bit of preparation and peeling, but recipe developer Kate Shungu says the finished product is well worth the effort, stating the roasting "mellows the flavor of the kohlrabi" and adds a "light sweetness." Shugnu also adds in some lemon, Parmesan cheese, and garlic to amp up the flavor. This roasted kohlrabi goes with just about anything and is a great side dish for your picnic, or you just might find yourself enjoying it as your main vegetable.

Recipe: Roasted Kohlrabi

Having chicken tenders on your picnic menu is a good choice, especially if you're expecting lots of picky little ones. What's even better is these breaded chicken tenders are baked instead of deep fried, making them much healthier than a chicken finger you might order at a restaurant. Recipe developer Catherine Brookes shows you how to coat the chicken tender with a mixture of panko breadcrumbs and spices before they bake in the oven. Brookes likes dipping these chicken tenders in ketchup, mayo, sweet chili, or honey mustard.

Recipe: Breaded And Baked Chicken Tenders

Zeppole recipes traditionally hail from Italy and the sweet is often consumed on Saint Joseph's Day in the modern era, but we think they'd be great for a picnic any time of year. Here, recipe developer Jessica Morone makes a version of zeppoles filled with ricotta cheese and assures the dough is simple to make. Once the dough is made, Morone walks you through how to fry the doughnut-like balls in vegetable oil in a Dutch oven. Coat the finished product with some confectioner's sugar for extra sweetness and presentation, if desired.

Recipe: Easy Ricotta Zeppole

You'll most certainly need a beverage for the guests at your picnic, and this lemonade is the perfect thirst quencher. Recipe developer Lindsay D. Mattison put together this particular lemonade recipe that mimics the popular one served at Chick-Fil-A made from just water, sugar, and, of course, lemons. Mattison assures you won't need a fancy juicer to juice the lemons, as she instead uses a handheld citrus press. Once finished, pour this lemonade into a cooler and you're ready to serve it at your picnic.

Recipe: 3-Ingredient Copycat Chick-Fil-A Lemonade

With plenty of healthy, delicious grilled veggies including eggplant, yellow squash, zucchini, arugula, and red bell pepper sandwiched between pieces of grilled ciabatta bread, you can't go wrong with this vegetable sandwich from recipe developer Cecilia Ryu. The sandwiches also contain mozzarella cheese and basil pesto. Ryu shows you how to prep the veggies, then grill them along with the ciabatta before making the dressing made from a bit of balsamic vinegar and olive oil and finally assembling the sandwiches.

Recipe: Grilled Vegetable Sandwich

You may be used to incorporating feta cheese in your traditional Greek salads, but for this recipe from recipe developer Ksenia Prints, you'll use cheese curds instead, which are "[marinated] in herbs and oil" and taste like "a young cheddar." Other fresh ingredients include Lebanese cucumbers, tomatoes, red pepper, onion, and kalamata olives. Prints shows you how to marinade the cheese curds in a jar and how to use the leftover oil to make the salad dressing.

Recipe: Greek-Ish Salad With Marinated Cheese Curds

This four-ingredient bean dip is a great option to make for a picnic because it is easy to prepare and comes together in minutes. Recipe developer Kristen Carli makes this bean dip that's sure to delight from cream cheese, refried beans, taco seasoning, and Mexican shredded cheese. To prepare, you simply mix the first three ingredients together and spoon into a casserole dish before sprinkling the cheese on the top and popping it in the oven. Serve with tortilla chips.

Recipe: Bean Dip

Recipe developer Jessica Morone describes these Southern tea cakes as a thick sugar cookie. Morone walks you through making the dough, after which you'll then need to refrigerate before scooping to balls, flattening into cookies, and cooking on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Top with some granulated sugar for extra sweetness if you'd like. This recipe will yield 12 cookies, but they're so tasty, you'll probably want to make more so every guest at your picnic can have a couple.

Recipe: Southern Tea Cakes

This three-ingredient sausage roll recipe may be meant for breakfast, but we think they'd also be a great addition to the food spread at your picnic. To make these sausage rolls, you'll need just store-bought puff pastry sheets — seriously, you don't have to make the puff pastry from scratch – one pound of ground Italian sausage, and an egg. That's it! Recipe developer Molly Pisula shows you how to put the rolls together before cutting them into pieces and covering them with an egg wash. Pisula recommends serving with grainy mustard, ketchup, or chutney.

Recipe: 3-Ingredient Sausage Roll

Egg salad is a classic picnic dish, especially when you use it as a sandwich filling. What's great about this egg salad recipe from recipe developer Laura Sampson is that it's made without mayonnaise, making it healthier than its mayo-laden counterpart. Instead, you'll mix the mashed hard-boiled eggs with a vinaigrette made from olive oil, apple cider vinegar, salt, and pepper. If you're going to make a sandwich with this egg salad, Sampson recommends taking it up a notch by adding some alfalfa sprouts.

Recipe: Egg Salad Without Mayo

Recipe developer Kate Shugnu makes these Southwest chicken empanadas as an appetizer, and we think they're perfect for serving at your picnic as either an app or a main dish. The single serving is an easy-to-eat hand-held food, so you won't have to worry about cutlery. Shugnu uses store-bought puff pastry and makes a filling of chicken, Colby Jack cheese, bell pepper, green onions, cilantro, and lime juice, then shows you how to wrap and seal the filling in the puff pastry.

Recipe: Southwest Chicken Empanadas

This dessert cake has a unique flavor thanks to the combination of lemon and blueberry in the batter. Recipe developer Catherine Brookes shows you how to make this cake, including when to add an important ingredient: buttermilk, which Brookes says "helps to keep the cake super moist and fluffy." The cake takes 35 minutes of prep time and 50 minutes of cooking time, so be patient when making it; trust us, it's well worth your time!

Recipe: Lemony Blueberry Cake

Deviled eggs are practically a picnic requirement, and this twist on the classic recipe from recipe developer Eric Ngo takes them to a whole new level. You'll start with a pretty traditional deviled egg procedure, hard boiling eggs, cutting them open, putting the whites aside, and using the yolk to make a filling. The fun part comes in after you pipe the yolk mixture into the whites; you'll top your deviled eggs with bacon bits, diced jalapeño, and chives.

Recipe: Bacon Jalapeno Deviled Egg

We all love a cheese pizza with red sauce, but this New York-style white pizza is pretty darn good, too. We mean, it's got three types of cheese: ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan, plus some red chili flakes for extra spicy flair. What's not to like? Recipe developer Kristen Carli uses a refrigerated pizza dough, then tops it with olive oil and the cheese before baking. Picnic-goers will certainly be impressed and enjoy this creative twist on New York-style pizza.

Recipe: New York-Style White Pizza

Wings are great for a picnic because they're easy finger foods, and these copycat Buffalo Wild Wings Parmesan garlic wings certainly fit the bill. Recipe developer Feta Topalu shows you how to make the Parmesan garlic sauce then how to fry the wings in a Dutch oven, being sure to fry them in batches so you don't overcrowd and cause the wings to undercook. Topalu recommends serving the finished wings with some celery and carrot sticks.

Recipe: Copycat Buffalo Wild Wings Parmesan Garlic Wings

Spinach artichoke dip is always a popular crowd pleaser, and if you're short on time, you're in luck. You can make everyone happy at your picnic with this recipe you can prepare in just five minutes. That's right, five minutes! Recipe developer Christina Musgrave mixes together artichoke hearts and frozen spinach along with sour cream, cream cheese, and shredded mozzarella cheese. Musgrave suggests serving the finished cold spinach artichoke dip with some pita chips. Enjoy!

Recipe: Cold Spinach Artichoke Dip

Deep-fried pickles are always tasty, but they're not always so healthy. This air fryer fried pickles recipe from recipe developer Miriam Hahn yields a just-as-tasty healthier version of the snack that's sure to charm everyone at your picnic. Hahn uses six dill pickles for this recipe and walks you through how to make the spicy panko mixture you'll coat the pickle slices in before frying them. Serve the finished product with your favorite dipping sauce.

Recipe: Air Fryer Fried Pickles

Why bring a box of regular 'ole donuts from the local donut shop to your picnic when you can easily make your own fancy éclairs at home? This recipe will take over two hours to execute, and while recipe developer Eric Ngo says this is an "intermediate-advanced level type of recipe," we all know that with practice, anything is possible. Ngo walks you through making the pâte à choux, pastry cream, and chocolate glaze for the éclairs.

Recipe: Eclairs

Recipe developer Erin Johnson made this southern chicken salad recipe super easy by forgoing cooking chicken breasts and instead using a store-bought rotisserie chicken. The chicken salad takes just five minutes to put together — not counting the time Johnson suggests chilling it in the fridge before serving. This chicken salad recipe is made complete with the addition of onion, sweet relish, celery, hard-boiled eggs, Duke's mayonnaise, and some spices. Johnson likes serving it on croissants as sandwiches with chips and a pickle.

Recipe: Fast And Easy Southern Chicken Salad Sandwich

This couscous recipe is great because it yields a versatile dish, one that can be served as a side at your picnic with some burgers or you can spice it up by adding some chickpeas or chicken and make it the main entree. Whatever you choose, you're in good hands when preparing this couscous recipe, thanks to recipe developer Kate Shugnu, who carefully walks you through each step. Prep is as easy as cooking the couscous, then making the vinaigrette and adding in cucumber, onion, parsley, mint, and feta.

Recipe: Mediterranean-Inspired Israeli Couscous

Calzones are a superb idea for a picnic — an Italian-inspired one or not. Recipe developer Stephanie Rapone shows you how to make the pizza dough from scratch — although she also notes you could use frozen pizza dough instead — then how to make the filling of Italian sausage, baby spinach, cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, and mozzarella cheese. While the calzones are cooking, you'll put together Rapone's special recipe for a tomato sauce-based dipping sauce with dried basil in it.

Recipe: Calzones

Recipe developer Eric Ngo shows you how to make this lemon glazed loaf cake — similar to the one from Starbucks – in two forms: one, as a traditional loaf, and two, as individual mini-sized cakes made using a silicone cube mold. Ngo walks you through making the batter before baking it and then making the citrusy glaze for the cake. This lemon-glazed loaf cake is sure to be a hit at your picnic, so be sure to make plenty to share with everyone.

Recipe: Lemon Glazed Loaf Cake

You can never have too many dips at a picnic, and this copycat Chuy's creamy jalapeño dip will charm all your spicy food-loving guests. This recipe calls for sour cream, mayonnaise, ranch dressing mix, pickled jalapeños, cilantro, lime juice, and garlic powder, all of which you'll mix together in a blender before adding in buttermilk, a little at a time, until you have the creamy consistency you desire. Serve with tortilla chips or some sliced vegetables.

Recipe: Copycat Chuy's Creamy Jalapeño Dip

The secret to recipe developer Susan Olayinka's easy toasted tomato sandwich is using the freshest, ripest tomatoes possible, so, since it's not quite tomato season yet, be sure to pay a visit to your favorite grocery store just before your picnic to sift through and pick the best tomatoes you can get your hands on. Olayinka recommends sourdough bread for this sandwich, which you'll broil with some butter before adding mayonnaise, basil, salt, pepper, and, of course, the tomatoes to complete the sandwich.

Recipe: Easy Toasted Tomato Sandwich

No picnic would be complete without cookies, and we love this particular chocolate chip cookie recipe from recipe developer Mark Beahm. It's simple, classic, and downright delicious. Beahm specifically likes these chocolate chip cookies because they have "crisp edges, but a soft and chewy interior," he says, and he gives a tip for how to make them even chewier, if desired. Beahm sprinkles a little sea salt on top of the cookies at the end before baking for a coveted salty and sweet flavor combination.

Recipe: The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

You don't have to head to KFC to get a bucket of fried chicken for your picnic when you can make it at home thanks to this copycat recipe from recipe developer Lindsay D. Mattison. Get ready, because there are quite a few herbs and spices that go into the flavorful coating, 11 to be exact, so you'll either need to look through your pantry or pay a visit to the supermarket. Mattison shows you how to break down the chicken and then soak it in a buttermilk marinade before you'll coat the chicken in the seasoning and fry it in a Dutch oven.

Recipe: Easy Copycat KFC Chicken

Muffuletta sandwiches make a perfect food for picnics as they pair well with just about anything, including, as recipe developer Kristen Carli notes, "potato chips, potato salad, or fruit salad." Carli uses a homemade olive tapenade to make this sandwich, which will only take you a couple of minutes to make, and, besides that, all that's left to do is to put together the sandwich before you can dig in. Once you spread the tapenade on the Italian loaf, load on the provolone and Swiss cheeses, salami, mortadella, and capicola.

Recipe: Easy Muffuletta Sandwich

Recipe developer Kristen Carli has taken a dish we all know and love — onion dip — and elevates it to the next level by removing the dehydrated onions and adding in something much more flavorful: caramelized onions. Carli shows you how to perfectly caramelize the yellow onions, which will take some time, so be patient. Then, once the onions have cooled, you'll mix them with sour cream, mayonnaise, and garlic to make the delectable dip. Serve with some Ruffles.

Recipe: Caramelized Onion Dip

This simple tuna salad recipe from recipe developer Kristen Carli goes beyond just tuna fish and mayonnaise, adding a burst of flavor thanks to some Dijon mustard, red onion, and lemon pepper. Carli also makes some suggestions if you want to add even more pizzazz, including adding diced pickles, fresh dill, paprika, or Greek yogurt. Prep will take you only five minutes and involves just mixing together the ingredients before spreading the finished tuna salad on some bread to make a sandwich.

Recipe: Simple Tuna Salad Sandwich

Chances are, you're going to want to serve some burgers at your picnic. Preferably, you'd want to be able to grill them at your picnic site, but that's not always possible. If the latter is the case, we love this Five Guys burger recipe for you. You can make them ahead of time, wrap them in aluminum foil, and transport them to your picnic. Recipe developer Jake Vigliotti went all out creating this copycat recipe, from finding the perfect meat to getting the dressing ratio perfect.

Recipe: Five Guys Burger