Spring Picnic Salad Recipes range from sweet to savory, hot to cold, and everything in between! Throw out your veggie-only salad stereotypes and find something exciting for every palate. The optimal picnic recipes are made ahead, easy to prepare, and, most importantly, light enough so you enjoy the sunshine without feeling sluggish. If you’re anything like me, you will fall in love with a few of these finds! Let’s dive right in
Fun in the Sun Picnic Salad Tips
One of my favorite things to do when the days grow long and warm is to enjoy a meal outside. Getting fresh air, soaking up some rays, and indulging in great food and drink is my ideal dinner time experience.
When you first think of salads, you may think of a veggie-filled bowl consisting of a lot of lettuce. The salads listed here are anything but! Grains, fruit, legumes, these salads are certainly thinking out of the box.
When it comes to prepping dishes for the outdoors, you have to consider the temperature, the time it will be unrefrigerated, etc. With salads, it’s best to say “no” to lettuce and cut it out completely. Fragile vegetables such as lettuce will wilt or get soggy if prepared ahead.
Stick with hearty bases that will not soil with time or room temperature conditions – rice, chickpeas, or fruit, to name a few.
If using any dairy or meat, keep your dish on ice as much as you possible can with ice packs or cooler bags while en route. This will preserve the food and keep it fresh as long as possible.
Check out even more tips for a flawless spring picnic!
Rainbow Orzo Salad
Rainbow Orzo Salad is a bright and colorful salad that's perfect for warmer weather. It's crunchy, light and fresh.
Fresh Citrus Summer Salad
Light and refreshing, this Fresh Citrus Summer Salad with goat cheese and pistachios will be the centerpiece or your next picnic or potluck.
Rainbow Slaw with Lemon Garlic Tahini Dressing
Turn vegetables into a colourful, vibrant coleslaw! With a little help of a food processor this stunning Rainbow Slaw with Lemon Garlic Tahini Dressing is ready in just 10 minutes!
Vegan Pasta Salad
Delicious, quick and easy Vegan Pasta Salad that takes less than 20 minutes to make start to finish. It’s made with simple ingredients that are healthy, colorful, and tasty.
Mediterranean Chickpea Salad with Kalamata Olive Salad Dressing
This crisp summer salad topped with flavorful lemon Kalamata olive dressing makes for the perfect appetizer or a main course. Healthy and delicious!
Watermelon Cucumber Salad with Feta
Watermelon cucumber salad with feta is the freshest salad on the planet. Juicy watermelon with cucumbers, kalamatas, and feta tossed in lime and honey dressing is the perfect picnic salad.
Vegan Broccoli Salad (Gluten-Free, Allergy-Free) - Strength and Sunshine
A super simple and easy recipe for Vegan Broccoli Salad! This classic Southern side dish is a must for all your cookouts, potlucks, and picnics! Just 8 ingredients, this healthier vegetarian broccoli salad is gluten-free, allergy-free, no-cook, and can be whipped up in 10 minutes!
Classic American Potato Salad (Gluten-Free, Vegan)
An essential to any summer bbq or cookout! The Classic American Potato Salad, now as a gluten-free, vegan, and top allergy-free recipe! Super easy to whip up and serve to your guests. You'll be turning everyone into a potato salad fan!
Vegan Mexican Street Corn Salad (Gluten-Free, Allergy-Free) | Esquites
This Vegan Mexican Street Corn Salad is everything you love about grilled Mexican street corn without the mess! Fresh, grilled corn on the cob (elotes), sliced off the cob (esquites), and paired with a cool, creamy, and tangy gluten-free, allergy-free mayo-based sauce with cilantro, lime, and a dash of spice! An easy summer side dish recipe!
Mexican Quinoa Salad Recipe | Randa Nutrition
This healthy Mexican quinoa salad recipe makes a delicious summer bbq side dish or a high fiber and high protein meal that's perfect for meal prep!
Udon Noodle Salad - 30-minute-meal easy-to-make
Thick toothsome Japanese-style udon noodles in a light soy-ginger dressing with fresh stir fried veggies. Serve this Udon Noodle Salad cold for a great picnic option.
Grilled Peach Panzanella Salad With Feta
A delicious summer Panzanella salad with charred peaches and tangy feta cheese. Sweet, savoury, crunchy and smooth all in one! Take it to a picnic in a ziplock bag and add the dressing at the last minute to soak into the bread
Chicken and Grilled Peach Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing
Celebrate summer and the warmer months to come with this tasty Chicken and Grilled Peach Salad with crunchy pecans, fresh blueberries and a delicious homemade honey mustard dressing that pulls it together for a perfect bite every time.
Pesto Tortellini Pasta Salad
Easy 5-ingredient Pesto Tortellini Pasta Salad recipe. This simple pasta salad takes just minutes to make and is packed with flavor.
Spring Picnic Salad essentials
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Making Spring Picnic Salad Recipes
Do you have any picnicking plans in your future? Grab a blanket and whip up a few of these delectable salads for a guaranteed memorable time. Are there any recipes here that get you excited or have your mouth watering? Start with those and uncover some dishes that will turn into keepers!
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Yum!!! These look delicious!! I’m obsessed with the pasta salad one!! Thanks so much for sharing!
This is a great collection! Perfect for spring and summer parties.
Love all the choices in here- such variety and awesome for either sides or to bring to a party!
Oh these all look fabulous I’d love to try making the rainbow Orzo salad I think even my picky eater children might try it!
They all look quiet yummy. I will be trying the chickpeas, chicken and the pasta ones.
Thanks for sharing.
Great round-up of fantastic recipes. Definitely will try making a few that have caught my attention.
Thank you for sharing.
Nice variety of recipes. yay vegan! (Am vegetarian with vegan-ish tendencies!)
Great variety of recipes! You have such good ideas.
These all look so good. The citrus salad is definitely calling my name and will be trying it soon!
These look so tasty and summery. Perfect for a picnic.
I absolutely love this post! I plan on trying each and everyone of these salads because they all look and sounds fantastic for Spring!
Yum! I love a good salad during the summer, they’re light but also fill you up for those summertime activities. These are making my mouth water, now I’m hungry. haha.
What an awesome list of recipes! Definitely gonna have to try some of these!
These look so delicious and perfect for the warmer weather especially a picnic. I love salads so this was an interesting post for me! Thank you for sharing these recipes!
Lauren
These all look absolutely delicious. Filing away for picnic season!
This is such an amazing collection. All salads look so delicious and healthy. I can’t wait to try them all.
thanks for this amazing round up! i cant wait to try them all
perfect collection of recipes to get me thru this season!
Great round up, exactly what I needed! I’ll be making several of these recipes this summer
I’m so happy there are some great vegan choices here — all of them sound incredible!
Yum! These salads look absolutely delicious, I love salad whatever the weather but there’s something about a picnic that makes them sparkle. I love the sound of the vegan pasta salad x
What a great variety of ideas!
These look delicious! Especially loved the orzo salad and the pesto salad! I’m in love with cold pasta salads when the weather gets warm. They are filling and absolutely delicious. Thanks for sharing!
The recipes look delicious! I especially like all the vegan and GF options!
All look delicious! I’ll have to check whether I can easily get these ingredients here, as it can be a bit hard in Japan unfortunately..