Who doesn’t love a good picnic! These 11 picnic food ideas are perfectly portable – to make your picnic feel really special!

Collage of 4 images showing some picnic food ideas.

To be perfectly honest, I love a tasty sandwich as part of my picnic basket! But sometimes a special picnic calls for something a little bit different.

Our favourite portable picnic recipes:

Cornish pasties on a black baking tray
4.96 from 24 votes

Cornish Pasties

Cornish Pasties – moist and tender traditional hand pies filled with steak, onion, potato and swede (rutabaga)
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Large bowl filled with pasta salad on a light background
5 from 2 votes

Pasta Salad with Italian Dressing

A simple pasta salad with mozzarella and veggies plus an easy Italian dressing. Customize with whatever you've got in!
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Coronation chicken on a bed of salad, topped with flaked almonds
5 from 6 votes

Coronation Chicken Recipe

Coronation chicken – cooked chicken in a creamy, spicy sauce with sultanas and apricots. It makes a fantastic sandwich filler, jacket potato topper or serve with a lovely crisp salad.
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Creamy potato salad in a blue bowl on a wooden table. Chopped vegetables in the background.
5 from 14 votes

Easy Creamy Potato Salad Recipe

Easy Creamy Potato Salad – My dad’s recipe that I’ve been eating (and making) for over 30 years!
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Vegetarian sausage rolls piled up on a cooling rack
4.86 from 21 votes

Vegetarian Sausage Rolls That Meat-Eaters Love Too!

A simple pastry treat for vegetarians and meat-eaters alike. Really easy to make at the same time as meaty sausage rolls – to keep all your guests happy.
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Cheese and Tomato Tarts with a rich tomato ragu and creamy béchamel sauce encased in shortcrust pastry. The best vegetarian lunch!
5 from 4 votes

Cheese and Tomato Tarts Recipe

Cheese and Tomato Tarts with a rich tomato ragu and creamy béchamel sauce encased in shortcrust pastry. The best vegetarian lunch!
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creamy coleslaw in a bowl. Cheese and cherry tomatoes in the background
5 from 13 votes

Homemade Coleslaw

A quick and easy creamy coleslaw with plenty of crunch – just like those luxury supermarket versions. Made at home in 5 minutes.
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These Chorizo Scotch Eggs are epic! Crispy and smoky on the outside with a perfect runny-egg filling!
5 from 2 votes

Chorizo Scotch Eggs Recipe

These Chorizo Scotch Eggs are epic! Crispy and smoky on the outside with a perfect runny-egg filling!
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Square image of sausage rolls on a cooling rack on a dark blue background
5 from 21 votes

Sausage Rolls Recipe

Buttery golden pastry with a delicious meaty filling. Three ingredients are all you need to make a plateful of fantastic sausage rolls.
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Portable Apple Crumble Jars - with a custard core!! Eat them hot or cold for a fab picnic treat!
5 from 1 vote

Portable Apple Crumble Jars

Portable Apple Crumble Jars – with a custard core!! Eat them hot or cold for a fab picnic treat!
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Square image of individual blueberry and blackberry cheesecakes in mason jars on blue background.
5 from 9 votes

Individual Berry No Bake Cheesecakes

These blueberry and blackberry mason jar cheesecakes are so quick and easy! Great for picnics and packed lunches. Gluten Free instructions included.
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That’s my top 11 picnic food ideas! I Also need to do a special callout to some of my other picnic food ideas that didn’t quite make the top 11:

Do you have any picnic favourites? Let me know in the comments below.

What if I want a sandwich recipe?

Try my French Pressed Sandwich Bites!

Do I need to bring cutlery on a picnic?

Only for the dessert recipes!

Can I make these recipes ahead?

Yes, all of these recipes can be made ahead.

 

This post was first written in July 2017. Updated in Aug 2021 with new recipe ideas.

Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links – which means if you buy the product I get a small commission (at no extra cost to you). If you do buy, then thank you! That’s what helps us to keep Kitchen Sanctuary running. The nutritional information provided is approximate and can vary depending on several factors. For more information please see our Terms & Conditions.

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Hi, I'm Nicky and I love to cook! I want to share with you my favourite, delicious family friendly recipes. I want to inspire you to create fantastic food for your family every day.

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Comments

  1. Heya.
    I love a picnic in order to use natural light in the summertime. These are my go to lunch ideas for any picnics. Try making a entire platter of fruit and sandwiches. You can opt for cakes and biscuits. Take a blanket, a camera and a bottle of water with you on the day in question. Alternatively you can have lemonade or tea instead. Good luck.

    Use tins to carry the food in. I take sandwiches, a tin of biscuits, fruit salad, cake, and a free bottle of water. I even bring a blanket plus a working camera too. Sometimes I have leftover organic meat and other fun dishes like crumble. Or mashed potato.

    Reply

  3. Absolutely nice idea, Our family when go to picnic they always do online orders. For online Orders, we Prefer country kebab. The quality of all foods is outstanding. Country kebabs have fast food. Like Chicken Biryani Ballarat, HSP kebab, Cheese Burgers, etc. The taste of all foods is very delicious.

    Reply

  4. Hi Nicky. Not a picnic food but how about chicken egg foo young? I’ve been making it for the last 3 weeks but it comes out as scrambled egg. I reckon you could do it better than restaurants.

    Reply

  7. Absolutely lovely ideas…I can turn all the recipes into vegetarian ones apart from the chicken, which would end up as fish.

    Reply

  10. A great set of picnic ideas! I love the sound of those doughnuts and those sausage rolls look amazing!

    Reply