Quick picnic ideas | BBC Good Food

Fill your picnic basket in a flash by taking advantage of no-cook ingredients, speedy sandwiches and quick salads. Our picnic nibbles are perfect for an impromptu outing, leaving you more time to bask in the sun. Make sure your blanket is spread with an abundance of goodies and get the best picnic accessories to match.

Speedy salads

Tray of salad with orange, prosciutto and chickpeas

The benefit of seasonal summer salads is that they need minimal prep and cooking. Plus they’re easily packed away. Try this vibrant orange, chickpea and prosciutto salad for something really special, or a minty beetroot, feta & bulgur salad for a helping of grain goodness.

Prefer pasta salads? Cook a batch of creamy cashew and edamame pesto pasta with rocket salad if you’ve 30 minutes to spare, or use leftover pasta shapes in our storecupboard pasta salad. If you want something seriously speedy, try this 10-minute couscous salad.

Super-quick sandwiches

Sandwiches are a picnic staple and we have plenty of creative recipes that you can assemble in minutes. For vegans, these olive wraps are a simple way to get in plenty of healthy veggies – or experiment with ‘egg-less’ mayo sarnies, which put tofu to good use.

A lighter BLT with layers of crispy prosciutto and buttery avocado is always a winner, while our Italian sub is full of classic flavours with crunchy ciabatta for texture. Or go classic with this ultimate Ploughman’s sandwich, with mustardy mayo, fresh apple and smoked ham.

Dips and crisps

No picnic would be complete without dip. This no-cook avocado & cannellini bean dip takes 10 minutes to prepare and would be a great option for vegans. Whizz up some layered hummus with spiced tortilla chips (great for sharing), or if you’re willing to use the oven, spend 30 minutes baking a batch of sweet potato crisps for dipping. Add more pop to the picnic with this sweet and spicy popcorn, ready in less than 10 minutes.

Drinks

Make your summer picnic extra special with a batch of raspberry lemonade slushies – they’re simple to blend and bottle. Or for something even more refreshing, try our really easy lemonade. Just grown-ups at the picnic? Make it special with coconut & pineapple rum coolers, made with coconut rum and served in jam jars.

Sweets

Chocolate cake with marshmallows and sprinkles on top

Finish your perfect picnic with something sweet. Children will love making and eating these chocolate Rice Krispie cakes (ready and packed in 20 minutes), or for something more sophisticated you can prepare small jars of lemon curd & yogurt fool in just 10 minutes. Serve with fresh raspberries and crisp shortbread for a lovely summer dessert. Why not also pack up our blackberry version for a selection of fools?

If you want something super simple, try this grapefruit, orange & apricot salad with a honey drizzle. Or if you’re in the mood for chocolate, you can make a slab of chocolate tiffin (this recipe gets more than 50 5/5 reviews) in 20 minutes. Just make them on the morning of your picnic, to give them time to set in the fridge.