1. Food
About.com
Busy Cooks

Discuss in my forum

Top 10 Favorite Picnic Recipes

By , About.com Guide

Summer is picnic time! Whether your picnic is taking place on the beach, on a boat, in a park, or in your own backyard, these recipes will make the gathering a true celebration. They're all delicious, easy, portable, and guaranteed to be a hit. Be sure to follow Food Safety Rules (and to test your knowledge, take my Summer Food Safety Quiz), provide lots of napkins and cold beverages, and have a marvelous summer.

1. My Mother's Potato Salad

My Mother's Potato SaladLinda Larsen
Every picnic must include this recipe for the best potato salad in the world. Follow the instructions to the letter, and please, don't substitute ingredients, especially for the dressing; each is an integral part of a wonderful melody.

2. The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies
These cookies, with the ground oatmeal and white chocolate and tons of chocolate chips, are superb. They are also wonderful for making ice cream sandwiches; just sandwich about 1/2 cup of any flavor ice cream between two cookies and press down. Freeze until firm, then devour!

3. Turkey Cobb Wrap Sandwiches

Turkey Cobb Wrap SandwichesLinda Larsen

These delicious sandwiches are like eating a Cobb salad in a tortilla. They're easy to eat, fun to make, and perfect for any picnic location.

4. Blueberry Muffins

Blueberry MuffinsLinda Larsen
Muffins might seem an odd choice for a picnic, but think about it - they're totally portable, travel beautifully, and everybody loves them.

5. Divinity Frozen Fruit Salad

Divinity Frozen Fruit SaladLinda Larsen
This fabulous frozen salad is really wonderful for a picnic; serve it in ice cream cones! The kids will love the novelty of this idea, and serving is super easy for you.

6. Cheesy Carrot Sandwich Buns

These delicious rolls hold their shape when filled with lots of luscious sandwich fillings. This recipe doesn't last long; freeze them after one day for longer storage.

7. Muffuletta Sandwich

A muffuletta is an Italian sandwich, with lots of meat and cheese layered with olivada, which is an olive paste. You can make your own olivada, as in the recipe, or buy one from any gourmet or specialty shop. As a matter of fact, you can find olivada in your regular grocery store!

8. Tex Mex Black Bean Wraps

My love of Tex Mex cooking comes out in this fabulous recipe. What's so nice about wrap sandwiches on picnics is that they're so easy to eat! The bread doesn't get soggy (one of my pet picnic peeves) because it can't, and you can fill them with anything you like.

9. Cantaloupe Popsicles

Cantaloupe is loaded with Vitamins A and C, yet it's so sweet, juicy, and succulent. Each one of these popsicles provides your kids with 30% of their daily requirement of Vitamin A and 60% Vitamin C. Plus, they're delicious and nicely portable.

10. Super Easy Fruit Salad

Use any flavor of pie filling in this easy recipe. You can also spoon it into muffin cups or small drink cups and freeze it for more portability.

©2013 About.com. All rights reserved.