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Easy Food Ideas for a Picnic: Build Your Own!

Think coming up with food ideas for a picnic involves a lot of shopping and planning and chopping and cooking? Think again. The truth is, planning a picnic is just about the simplest thing in the world. Why? Because all that really matters is that you have nice weather and nice company. The rest is just... accessories.

Checkerboard Tablecloth and Picnic Basket That said, however, you still want to serve great food when you plan a picnic, of course! Fortunately, you can do that without spending a lot of time in the kitchen or even cooking a thing. You don't even have to do any real planning if you don't want to. Some of the best food ideas for a picnic actually require your guests to make their own meal! You provide the fixins, they provide the recipe. With the following picnic basket ideas, you'll put together a tasty, simple menu that your guests will love-- because they'll make it themselves.

Looking for ideas for some specific picnic food recipes? There are tons of great suggestions of food ideas for a picnic on this page. And we have tons more picnic menus, planning help, theme ideas, and more at our picnic planning central!

Assemble Your Own Easy Picnic Menu:
Build Your Own Wrap, Sandwich, or Pita

You don't need to spend hours planning and preparing to pull off a superb picnic. Really! All you need is a simple concept and a few simple ingredients. Then your guests can create just the meal they like the best.

With the following list of breads, toppings, and condiments, the sky's the limit when it comes to what picnic food recipes you choose to make. Either let your guests pick and choose what they'd like to eat, or choose your favorites and make the whole thing up ahead of time. My suggestion? Pick five meats/cheeses, five to ten toppings, and five condiments, pack them up and arrange them on a platter, and let your guests go wild.

Then toss together a couple of picnic side dishes, and you have a perfect picnic meal!

Bread Choices:

Flour Tortillas or,
Sub buns (or other choice of bread) or,
Pitas

Meat/Filling Choices:

Turkey or Chicken
Ham
Pepperoni or Salami
Pastrami or Corned Beef
Roast Beef
Tuna, Chicken, or Egg Salad
Various Cheeses (cheddar, goat cheese, feta, roquefort, brie, you name it)
Prosciutto
Cooked Crisp Bacon
Marinated Tofu
Peanut Butter
Paté
Breaded Chicken Breast
Cold Cooked Shrimp or Fish
Smoked Salmon

Additional Toppings:

Spinach, Lettuce, or other Greens
Sliced Onions
Sliced Tomatoes
Sliced or Whole Olives (green, black, kalamata, etc.)
Sliced Avocado
Sliced Cucumber
Alfalfa Sprouts
Sundried Tomatoes
Artichoke Hearts
Fresh Basil Leaves
Pickled Vegetables, Peppers, or Jalapeño Slices
Fresh or Roasted Red or Green Peppers
Thinly Sliced Apple or Mango
Garbanzo Beans
Cole Slaw or Shredded Cabbage

Condiments:

Mayonnaise
Aioli
Mustard or Honey Mustard
Olive Oil & Vinegar
Salt & Pepper
Ranch, Caesar, or Blue Cheese Dressing
Chutney
Pesto
Cream Cheese
Salsa or Vegetable/Fruit Salsa
Guacamole
Balsamic Vinegar Reduction
Barbecue Sauce
Horseradish Sauce
Hummus
Lime Slices

As you can see the variety of things you can bring for your guests to use are endless. Which is what makes this sort of picnic so much fun! You can bring exactly the same things ten weekends in a row, and never eat the same thing twice. Simply serve your wraps, sandwiches, or pitas with some other food ideas for a picnic (we have lots of picnic recipe ideas on this page, including both main dishes and side dishes), like olives, chips, salads, etc., and you have a meal.

And all of it with very little work from you. What could be better?

Looking for more food ideas for a picnic? We have 'em here!

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Ready For Romance?

The holidays are over and the cold winter stretches ahead. No worries! Valentines Day is on its way to heat things up. And what better way to do it than with a wonderful romantic dinner?

Visit Valentines Day Dinner Planning

for help planning a Valentine's so steamy, your sweetheart won't know what hit 'em.