8 Yummy Picnic Food Ideas For Your Summer Picnic!
A lovely British summer picnic is a wonderful way to spend a day in the park. We are always telling students to make the most of the nice weather when it comes around. If you see the sun is out, get that picnic hamper ready, pack it full of staple treats and fancy sandwiches in your student apartment and head off for a nice day with your friends. We’ve put together a list of some of our favourite picnic food ideas that are easy to prepare.
1. Simple, tasty sandwiches and crisps
The best picnic food ideas are often the simplest. A staple of the great British picnic is the simple sandwich.
A vehicle that offers an easy to eat bite that can be packed with as much flavour and different ingredients as you like.
Whatever ingredients you choose as the filling always make sure that you choose a sturdy bread that won’t get soggy, and place any hard fillings on the outside, with softer ingredients in the middle.
Make sandwiches that are suited to your own personal taste, but for us we would recommend trying out a classic toasted egg and cress sandwich or that quaint English afternoon tea favourite, cucumber and cream cheese.
Always have a few packets of crisps (various flavours, such as cheese and onion and salt and vinegar) ready to share out alongside the sandwiches.
2.Sausage rolls and finger foods
You’ll be hard-pressed to find a British person who doesn’t love a sausage roll, we would do anything for them, and there are so many different variations these days that there is no excuse when it comes to packing your picnic food ideas.
Whether you want the classic sausage roll, a fancy black pudding sausage roll or a vegetarian version, that flaky pastry and sumptuous filling is always a winner. Perfect picnic food. Similar picnic food ideas include pork pies and scotch eggs.
3. A selection of meat and cheese
A simple picnic charcuterie selection is a great way to bulk up your hamper with delicious food. Layers of prosciutto and salami, olives, cheddar cheese, halloumi, crostini and grilled artichokes.
Fancy little bits of food that pop with flavour in your mouth. Adding some meat and cheese to your picnic adds that little bit of decadence to proceedings.
4. Your five-a-day selection
Pack a selection of fruit with your picnic to add those little bits of goodness that are fantastic to pick at throughout the day, in between picnic courses or just for a little bite at certain points.
Summer fruits and berries, such as strawberries, kiwi, banana, cherries and pineapple, provide you with that ‘pop’ of flavour when you most need it.
5. Pasta and Quinoa
A side dish full of flavour and protein is a must.
There are different choices to be made, such as whether to choose a quinoa salad that is packed with veggies, olives, chickpeas and a light dressing, or go down the pasta salad route where you can use penne and add cherry tomatoes, olives, red onion and a selection of veg.
Both of these dishes are great when you add some crumbled feta cheese on top.
6. Salad in a jar
There are different ways to approach the salad in a jar as a great picnic idea.
It depends whether you are looking at the side salad to go with the savoury food, or a fruit salad to end the meal with.
Either way, taking a solid mason jar and layering up your ingredients in a certain way makes it delightful on the eye and a great way to ensure everything remains fresh throughout the day.
For the savoury salad, take your dressing of choice and make this your first layer, we like a honey mustard dressing, to make sure the other ingredients don’t go soggy.
The second layer is the crisp ingredients, such as your cucumbers, your red onion, peppers, tomatoes, carrots, whatever vegetables you choose to add. Top with slightly softer ingredients that can get a bit wet in dressing, such as any beans and lentils, peas, broccoli and corn.
7. Homemade lemonade
Alongside all the different picnic foods you definitely want a drink that is ice cold and refreshing.
Homemade lemonade is always a big success and takes that edge off a scorching hot day, helping you to cool down and act as the perfect companion to your picnic food.
To make at home, take 4 unwaxed lemons and 175g of golden caster sugar. Blitz the lemons in a blender with half of the sugar and some ice cubes and 500ml of water. Strain into a jug and put the pulp back into the blender.
Add the rest of the sugar, another 500ml of water and blitz it again. Strain this into the jug, seal up and take with you to serve with plenty of ice at the picnic.
8. Chocolate brownies
A classic, crispy on the outside and a sumptuous gooey middle is what you are looking for with the perfect chocolate brownie.
The beauty with a brownie is that they can be baked in advance, you can test them out for quality control, and then they are simple to cut into pieces, stack together without damaging them and easy to transport with you on a picnic.
That balance of fudge, dark chocolate and a little bit of sweet is the perfect way to end a picnic.
9. Packing for a picnic
It is very important that you think carefully about how you pack the picnic food ideas you’ve come up with.
The last thing you want is to get to your destination, put down the blanket, look out on a calm view that will be home for the next few hours, open the picnic hamper and discover that the salad and dressing has covered the rest of the food, the top of the lemonade has opened and spilled, and everything tastes the same.
Instead of an old-fashioned picnic hamper, choose a hard material that acts as a cooler, to keep the food fresh and tasty.
Pack everything in sealable containers, separate from each other, with any soft items on the top and drinks and other liquids in a separate compartment or carrier if possible.
We hope you enjoyed our yummy picnic food ideas! Let’s just hope that the sun actually comes out to play and it doesn’t rain! The best part? There are plenty of lovely green spaces close by to your student accommodation just waiting for you to visit. Wanting to download some wellbeing walking apps? Check out our latest blog here for all the top tips.