A Picnic Menu For A Crowd

What better way to end a weekend with friends or family than with an early supper at your local park or beach, or even in the backyard. Picking up sandwiches and chips is an easy solution for a picnic meal, but it can quickly add up and is certainly not as nutritious as a home-cooked meal.

To give you a leg up in the kitchen, we've put together the menu below featuring hearty dishes that can be made ahead, readied for serving, and packaged in spill-proof containers of all kinds. Use this cool pie basket to ensure your pudding doesn't get ruined, and get one of these easy-to-assemble totable tables to layout the spread. Serve the meal along with a pitcher of sangria for the adults and Watermelon Coolers for the kids (having a bunch of these to ensure no glasses are spilt might be wise, too). 

Mozzarella, Cherry Tomato, and Basil Skewers

An easy, delicious appetizer that is very portable.

Grilled Flank Steak

Grill the meat in advance and pack it up sliced. Serve it at room temperature.

Greek Lemon Potatoes

This is a pretty traditional Greek dish — lemoni patatas — made in a very American, non-traditional way. Since I've done away with...

— Valaer Murray

Roasted Broccoli

This is a no-fuss side that will come together in minutes. Just make sure the broccoli florets are uniform in size to ensure...

— Peggy Bourjaily

Brownie Pudding

More gooey than a brownie, this pudding-like dessert is easily portable when wrapped well.