Looking for inspiration to help you pack the perfect picnic for a day out with your family? If so, here are some fantastic blogs to make your adventures extra special. For simple recipe ideas and healthy snacks for the entire family to enjoy, these are the blogs to bookmark while cafes and restaurants remain closed…

Feeding Boys

Looking for ways to keep your picnics ‘junk free’? How about ditching sandwiches for tasty wraps, switching crisps for home-made popcorn, and batch-baking sweet treats that you can freeze and grab when needed? Sound good? Check out the rest of food writer Katie Bryson’s top 10 tips for a junk-free picnic for more great ways to keep kids happy and healthy on days out.

In fact, if you’re looking for wholesome eating inspiration, Feeding Boys is just the place for you. Packed with exciting and delicious-looking recipes the whole family will enjoy, you’re sure to find plenty of new ideas here. Anyone for a roasted tomato and basil filo quiche? It’s a lighter snack and perfect for al fresco nibbles.

Eats Amazing

Cold cottage pie makes a somewhat unusual picnic dish, but Grace at Eats Amazing says it’s the bee’s knees: “Initially I wasn’t convinced by the idea, but after I tried some cold leftover cottage pie for lunch one day, I was forever converted.” Other less controversial treats in Grace’s post – 10 Alternatives to Sandwiches include couscous, noodles, and potato salad. Yum.

A mine of brilliant picnic and lunchbox ideas, Grace is a food artist, recipe developer, and photographer par excellence. You’ll love her Quick and Easy Savoury Skewer Ideas – our fave – feta cubes, red grapes and cherry tomatoes.

Jam and Clotted Cream

Who wants to spend hours preparing food for a picnic? Cornish Mum of three, Beth at Jam and Clotted Cream knows a great work around for enjoying fresh pizza on the beach, with none of the fuss that goes into making dough. She says you can make her Yeast-Free Scone Base Pizza in just 30 minutes, providing a substantial picnic meal for you and the kids with little hassle.

Anyone for a sweet treat? Make sure your kids continue to pack in lots of healthy vitamins and minerals even as they enjoy a biscuit or three with Beth’s awesome recipe for Banana Cookies. Beth says as well as appealing to kids with a sweet tooth, her cookies “also supply vitamin B6, fibre and complex carbohydrates, which are great for maintaining energy levels.”

Lunchbox World

Get your kids eating all the right stuff with Caroline’s bright and brilliant rainbow sandwiches. Packed full of healthy salads and veggies, children will love helping to choose the ingredients for these multi-coloured picnic snacks. As Caroline says: “Look at all the colours and textures! I mean wow!”

Not a sandwich lover? What about sitting down to a tub of chicken, pasta and crunchy salad on your next day out? Just take the dressing in a small jar and pour over at the last minute. If you’re looking for healthy food ideas to help keep you and your children fed and watered on good wholesome ingredients, Lunchbox World is for you. The brainchild of mum of three, Caroline, says her site was born of necessity: “with 3 school aged kids, packing a lunch day in and day out needed some fresh FUN!” There’s plenty of new and interesting ideas to be found here, along with her YouTube channel.

Mrs Rachel Brady

Savoury scones make the most delicious snack food that’s perfect for picnics, and are sure to delight tastebuds young and old. Mum, Mrs Rachel Brady says the recipe was inspired by what was growing in her garden at the time: “We have so much sage in the garden and a load of cheese in the fridge so it just made sense.” The result: these awesome Cheddar, Sage and Onion Scones.

A lady who loves to make use of whatever’s in the cupboard to create tasty nutritious food for her family, Rachel offers plenty of inspiration for picnickers everywhere. How about a potato recipe to keep kids topped up with energy? Try this Leftover Potato, Greens and Cheddar Frittata.

Mummy Cooks

If you’re looking for a picnic staple that’s simple to prepare, substantial enough for your growing family, and not too messy to eat, you really can’t go wrong with these potato and carrot waffles from Mummy Cooks. Ideal for preparing ahead of time, just pop them in a container until it’s time to eat, then layer with your favourite toppings.

Siobhan Berry founded Mummy Cooks as a cookery school to teach parents how to wean their babies, so if you’re picnicking with very little ones, this is an excellent resource to use. Her motto is “cook for family, adapt for baby” which is great because it means her delicious apple and blueberry oat muffins are suitable for everyone.

One Yummy Mummy

Bacon and cheese jambons are one of the most tasty finger foods for picnics and you can save time by preparing them the night before. Follow them up with a thick wedge of rhubarb crumble cake. It makes the perfect picnic treat but be warned, it’s so moreish, it might never make it out of the house! As Jolene from One Yummy Mummy says, it has a “Bakewell tart vibe to it and has honestly made me a rhubarb convert.”

Jolene is an Irish cook with years of experience under her belt as a nanny cooking healthy, nutritious meals for the families she worked for in Dublin. Now married and with a five-year-old daughter, she shares her culinary secrets. A great resource for busy parents, everything Jolene makes has to be: “Easy to cook with accessible ingredients found in your local supermarket, [and] taste delicious with no faffing about.”

Daisies & Pie

A strawberry and feta salad is perfect for summer lunches, says Wendy of Daisies & Pie: “The sharp peppery flavour of rocket and watercress in the salad makes the strawberries taste even sweeter and the feta cheese adds a tangy salty flavoursome bite.” It’s hard to imagine a nicer dish to enjoy at your picnic.

Daisies & Pie is your one stop shop for everything “from easy recipes and meal planning to how to keep on top of the housework” and has plenty of ideas to inspire a delicious picnic. Check out Wendy’s fabulous mini Orio cheesecakes – they’re sure to be a hit.

Eat Your Veg

Carrot and celery sticks are great for dipping – and never more so than when you’re enjoying this zesty guacamole dip from Louisa at Eat Your Veg. Not only is it super simple to make, it’s packed with healthy nutrients and guaranteed to be a hit with young and old alike.

Lousia is a “passionate foodie, healthy eater, gardener, children’s cook and gardening teacher and fresh street food stall owner,” and she’s a single mum to two budding chefs. With so much to do, no wonder her recipes are fuss-free. If you’re a busy parent, you’ll love Lousia’s nice and spicy roasted chickpeas – a fun alternative to crisps that take just 5 minutes to prep.

Gourmet Mum

Anyone for homemade houmous and tortillas? Filipa, aka, the Gourmet Mum presents an easy recipe for this favourite summer picnic dip. Her top tip: “use aquafaba (the water from the can of chickpeas) to loosen the houmous to the desired consistency.” And if your kids love cocktail sausages but you don’t want to serve up the salt-laden shop-bought variety, find out how to make your own in 10 healthy picnic ideas.

Mum of three, Filipa says she loves “fresh simple food, comforting family meals and homemade sweet treats.” Her Portuguese roots have a big influence on her style of cooking which makes Gourmet Mum a must for anyone who loves Southern European flavours – you must try her quick Escabeche-style mackerel – it’s the ideal picnic food.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our pick of some of the best picnic ideas from our selection of excellent family food blogs. Have we missed a picnic favourite of yours – or a blog featuring your favourite portable treats? Drop us a line via our Facebook page; we’d love to hear from you.

Lead image: ESB professional