Let’s go on a picnic. Summer is the best time of the year to go on a picnic. The weather is perfect, the landscape is blooming and it feels like a mini vacation to be outside. I love packing up a picnic basket and heading outdoors to enjoy the fresh air and beautiful scenery. This special get-away doesn’t cost much and is an enjoyable way to spend some time with family and friends. To get you inspired, below I am sharing my favorite best summer picnic salad recipes ever.
Salads are a refreshing and easy dish to take on a picnic. They can be made ahead of time – ready to eat, they stay fresh in a cooler and offer a nutritious lunch packed with energy. A salad can be the main course or a side dish to your favorite picnic meal.
Fresh ingredients can be found in your backyard garden or at the local farmer’s market. There is no other season that offers such fresh quantities and quality than summer.
Picnic Essentials Checklist
- Table Cloth – Use a traditional red and white checked cloth or simply a blanket, or beach towel. A tablecloth will make the table or ground look festive and offer a clean place to sit and eat.
- Picnic Basket or Large Container
- Plates, Cups, Silverware, Paper Towels (Use as Napkins)
- Condiments if Needed
- Water for Drinking and Washing Up
- Cooler
- Salad – Main Course or Side Dish
- Fresh Bread
- Favorite Main Course if Salad is a Side Dish (Chicken, Hamburgers, Brats, Sandwiches, etc.)
- Fruit for Desert
- Wine or Favorite Beverage
Just pack up and go – enjoy the season.
1. Summer Fresh Garden Salad
This is one of my favorite summer salads. Start with a layer of greens and add some fresh produce from the garden. Nothing tastes better than a freshly picked tomato or green pepper. Yum!!!
Sprinkle on a light layer of dressing or just eat as is. Add some protein to your salad with a few of your favorite nuts, eggs or cheese.
Mix and Match Ingredient List
- Bed of Greens – Spinach, Lettuce, Spring Mix, etc.
- Fresh Garden Tomatoes Wedges
- Fresh Green, Red or Yellow Pepper
- Shredded Red Cabbage
- Fresh Sliced Cucumber
- Fresh Carrot Strips
- Sliced Radish
- Olives
- Nuts
- Hard Boiled Egg Wedges
2. Fresh Melon and Berries
Choosing a salad that combines fresh melon and berries offers plenty of water to keep you from becoming dehydrated in the summer heat. The sweet tasty watermelon is perfect for eating outdoors. Prep the melon beforehand into cubes so it is easy to eat with a toothpick or fork. This type of salad can be served as a cold plate or mixed in a bowl.
Ingredients – Mix and Match
Use any of the ingredients below or add your favorites to create a delicious Fresh Melon and Berries Salad. Mix it all together or serve as a cold plate.
- Baby Spinach or other Fresh Greens
- Fresh Melon – Water, Cantaloupe or Honeydew
- Fresh Strawberries
- Fresh Pineapple
- Fresh Blueberries
- Fresh Strawberries
- Fresh Raspberries
- Cheese Cubes
- Favorite Nuts – Walnuts, Pecans, Peanuts, Cashews
- Other Berries & Melons
3. Left Over Rotisserie Chicken Salad
Combine last nights leftover main course into today’s salad. Top a bed of greens and vegetables with leftover chicken, ground beef, shredded beef, steak or pork. The tasty bits of meat add flavor to a salad, and it is a fast and easy recipe for serving last nights leftovers. This is also a tasty salad to take to work for a delicious lunch.
Mix and Match Ingredients
- Bed of Greens
- Tomato Wedges
- Sliced Cucumber
- Chopped Green Onion
- Sliced Radishes
- Shredded Carrots
- Shredded Red Cabbage
- Boiled Egg Slices
4.Salads for a Large Crowd
A fun way to make a salad for a large crowd is to create a mini salad bar. This is not only an easy way to prepare for a big event, it also allows your guests to choose what they want in their salads.
Prepare the ingredients ahead of time and place in individual containers.
Mix and Match Ingredients
Pick and choose a variety of colorful ingredients that would go well on a salad. Avoid ingredients that most people would avoid. Keep it simple or make it as elaborate as you want. Everyone loves a salad that contains their favorite foods.
5. Just for Kids – Build a Salad
This a favorite among the younger crowd. Set out a table full of ingredients and let the children design their own salads. They will have a lot of fun making it and even more fun eating it.
Check out this story that I wrote for children to think about while creating a Halloween Salad. Children love to cook and create in the Kitchen. Making a salad is a safe and inspiring way for young chefs to learn the magic of making their own food.
6.Unusual Salads
These are super fun to make because you can use your imagination and combine it with the ingredients that you have on hand to make something unique.
The salad below is sprinkled with Chia Seeds to give it a unique taste and look. What other things could you use as a topping on your salad?
7. Spinach and Fruit Salad
Start with a layer of spinach placed evenly on a plate, add your favorite fruits and a scoop of cottage cheese. No need to add dressing to this type of salad.
8. The Best Fresh Vegetable Salad
Are you looking for a vegetable salad for someone who is vegetarian or on a special diet? There are so many vegetables on the market today that it should be easy to create a salad for that special person.
The best place to start is by asking the person you are cooking for what they can and cannot eat. Then create a delicious salad that is sure to please.
- Find out which ingredients they can eat.
- Discuss if it needs to be organic. (Best)
- Are there toppings/dressings that they can eat?
- Better to plan ahead than to have an unhappy guest.
9. The Best Quick and Easy Picnic Salad
A quick and easy salad is one that the ingredients are in your fridge and you have a few minutes to wash, cut and dice.
If you know you will be short on time during the week then use the weekends to do your grocery shopping and prep as many of the ingredients as you can. Some ingredients need to be washed and prepped just before eating.
10. The 10 Best Summer Picnic Salad Recipes Ever Video
What is your favorite salad to take on a picnic?
Please share your favorite recipes below.
I absolutely love salads! It took a while for me to really love them as I never used to care about healthy eating habits in the past but the more educated I am, the more I fall in love with eating healthy food.
Nowadays, there are an abundant amount of varieties of salads and these variations that you’ve listed look amazing!! I typically love eating salads with some types of meat in them, but I love trying out new recipes and new flavours without having meat all the time.
I will be trying some of these salads out 🙂
I have changed my eating habits also from the past. The word Supper Food was never in my vocabulary but now I like to eat them daily. Sometimes I just have a salad as a meal and it provides with enough energy and I feel satisfied after eating.
As we learn more about how food affects our bodies I believe salads will become even more popular.