Best Snacks for a Picnic

There are few things more idyllic than grabbing a best friend, a blanket you don’t care about, and a whole bunch of your favorite foods and heading out to a beautiful park to bask in the sun and stuff yourself with snacks. And we here at Sporked know that while, yes, any snack can be a picnic snack if you try hard enough, some snacks just hit different in the great outdoors. So, here are our picks for the best snacks for a picnic, from salty to sweet to bougie.

Honey Dijon Kettle Chips

Who goes on a picnic without chips? Couldn’t be me. And if I am going to be bringing chips anyway (as is the law), may as well bring the best Kettle brand chip flavor out there: Honey Dijon. Sporked Contributor Danny Palumbo said these chips were “just so sweet, tangy, and mustardy. The flavor is almost caramelized—it’s powerfully rich and deliciously savory.” In other words, do yourself a favor and throw these in your picnic basket.

Old Croc Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Sometimes it isn’t a “junk food and chill” picnic. Sometimes it isn’t even a “grab sandwiches and chill” kind of picnic. Sometimes, it’s a bougie, fancy, well-deserved, charcuterie board picnic date. And whether that’s with your s/o or your besties, one of the top snacks for a picnic date (especially a charcuterie-centric one) is this delicious cheddar from Old Croc. Managing editor Gwynedd Stuart called this cheese “special-occasion sharp cheddar,” and I fully agree. This aged cheese has “those tasty little crystals” as Gwynedd called them, and just an overall aura of quality and fanciness. Add it to your charcoot list; you won’t be disappointed.

Back to Nature Peanut Butter Creme Cookies

I don’t know about you, but I only really ever eat peanut butter outdoors. On hikes, eating lunch outside, picnicking—those are all peanut butter occasions. So, naturally, one of the best snacks for a picnic has got to be these delicious peanut butter cookies from Back to Nature. Jordan summed it up beautifully: these cookies are perfect. Jordan described them as having the “perfect balance of sweet and salty. The cookie is crunchy, while still being tender and crumbly. The peanut butter flavor is strong without being overpoweringly nutty.” Truly a peanut butter lover’s dream. So if peanut butter is your jam, throw these in the basket!

Flipz Milk Chocolate Covered Pretzels

There are few things as versatile as chocolate-covered pretzels. They can be a snack, a dessert, an addition to a charcuterie board, or a whole meal (in a pinch. We don’t advocate for eating a diet of strictly chocolate-covered pretzels, though we do think that would be fun). So whether your picnic is a lunch date with your gal pals or a Hinge date with a stranger, these pretzels can be a great fit for either. Not to mention these are just so. dang. good. Jordan pointed out that “the ratio of chocolate to pretzel is perfect” in these, and that the sweet and salty components are perfectly balanced. Have I mentioned these are perfect?

Mezetta Garlic Stuffed Olives

Sure, you might be stuck picnicking in the crummy park near your apartment, but you can pretend you’re in a Tuscan olive grove if you pack these salty babies. These were the best olives Danny tried during his green olive taste test—”pickled, pungent, firm, salty, oily, and briny,” as he put it. They feel fancier than other olives, too, thanks to the big, bold flavor of the garlic clove that’s been nestled where the pit used to be. Throw some in a baggie and impress your picnic pals.

Lime LaCroix

You gotta have a bev to go with your snacks, and while glass bottles might not survive being transported in a picnic basket, cans are compact, stackable, and easier to crush and take with you post picnic. There are lots of canned beverage options, obviously, but Lime LaCroix is a real crowd pleaser. How do I know? It’s the preferred LaCroix flavor of Rhett, Link, and the Sporked crew. See? A crowd! “To me this tastes like a good seltzer with a squeeze of real lime juice,” Gwynedd wrote in her ranking of the best LaCroix flavors. “It’s bright and refreshing and also happens to pair very nicely with liquor—vodka, gin, and even whiskey.” Okay, you might have to make an exception for those glass bottles.