7 Old-Fashioned Picnic Recipes

The picnic is a pastime thousands of years old, shaped by culture and personal preferences. For your next picnic in sunny San Diego, consider going old-fashioned style and creating the following dishes.

1. Southern-Style Potato Salad

This recipe goes great with barbecue ribs, a casserole, or homemade burgers. But if you’re doing an old-fashioned picnic, the Southern-Style potato salad is a must.

For the recipe, you’ll need potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, mayonnaise, sour cream, celery, onion, sweet pickle relish, mustard, salt, pepper, bacon, parsley, and grape tomatoes.

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2. Buttermilk Fried Chicken

Skip KFC and make your own homemade, buttermilk fried chicken. For the buttermilk marinade, you’ll need chicken, buttermilk, salt, black pepper, Old Bay Seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, ground thyme, Tabasco, and Worcestershire sauce. For the flour coating, you’ll need all-purpose flour, salt, black pepper, Old Bay Seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, ground thyme, and vegetable oil.

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3. Tomato Tea Sandwiches

A delicate appetizer, tomato tea sandwiches are a light and easy-to-make dish to have at your vintage picnic. You’ll need cream cheese, black pepper, salt, white bread, tomatoes, onion, and Summer Sauce.

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4. Pimiento Cheese & Crackers

Create your own cracker topping with pimiento, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, yellow onion, cayenne pepper, and cheddar cheese.

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5. Black Bean Dip

This black bean dip is easy to make and bursting with flavor. The ingredients include black beans, cilantro, yellow onion, garlic, jalapeño, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, salt, black pepper, and cotija cheese.

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6. Lemonade Iced Tea

An old-fashioned picnic is incomplete without lemonade iced tea. To make your own iced team, you’ll need water, tea bags, fresh mint leaves, sugar, lemonade concentrate, and fresh citrus slices. 

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7. Blackberry-Peach Cobbler Bars

Home-baked, sweet, and fruity, the blackberry-peach cobbler will be a picnic favorite. To make the cobbler, you’ll need butter, packed light brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, baking powder, salt, all-purpose flour, fresh blackberries, peaches, bourbon, and pecan.

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If you’d like to skip the cooking, call Picnic People to learn more about our catering and entertainment services.