I love a good picnic with friends on a warm spring day when the weather is just right. But finding the perfect picnic finger food can be tricky, especially if you want to impress everyone with something fancy. I’ve searched far and wide for recipes, and these 26 are some of my favorites.
26 Delicious Picnic Finger Food Ideas That Look Fancy
1. Creamy Asparagus Puffs
These creamy asparagus puffs are perfect for a picnic, and they’re so easy to make. Adorable carrot-shaped puff pastries are stuffed with asparagus tips, slices of smoked turkey and a creamy spread.
You’ll need pastry horns to give these treats their shape. I also recommend using ready-to-bake puff pastry sheets, but feel free to make your own if you want.
2. French Pressed Sandwich Bites
These French pressed sandwich bites have ultra-fresh ingredients and are full of flavor. They’re perfect for picnics, and you can substitute any ingredients you want. This recipe uses smoked salmon, radishes, hummus, pesto, baby spinach, beets, cucumber, red onion and other tasty sandwich ingredients. I recommend getting fresh ciabatta from a local bakery if you can.
3. Mini Lasagna Roll-Ups
Who says lasagna can’t be picnic finger food? These little roll-ups are kept together with small skewers, making the perfect little bite-sized appetizers. The addition of tiny fresh basil leaves makes them look so fancy. I recommend making your own tomato sauce, but if you’re in a hurry, quality jarred sauce will work perfectly.
4. Italian Pinwheel Sandwiches
These little pinwheel sandwiches are so simple but the way they’re rolled makes them look fancy. The Italian cream cheese spread is divine and loaded with flavor. The rest of the ingredients are simple. Use your favorite cold cuts (salami, ham, capicola, etc.) and toppings (lettuce, tomato, onion, etc.).
Related: 23 Low Carb Lunch Ideas You Can Meal Prep
5. Mini Pancake Skewers with Strawberries
These mini pancakes are the perfect picnic food because they taste great cold, and you don’t have to worry about anything spoiling. These skewers are loaded with mini pancake rounds, Nutella and strawberry slices. If you’re not a fan of Nutella, you can use peanut butter or apple butter.
6. Mini Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Sundried Tomatoes
These gourmet-style grilled cheese sandwiches are loaded with flavor, thanks to the sundried tomatoes. Instead of the usual cheddar cheese, these sandwich bites are stuffed with cream cheese and topped with melted Parmesan cheese. Add a toothpick to each bite-sized slice to keep everything together.
7. Pepperoni Pizza Pinwheels
Portable. Fancy. Pizza. Need I say more? These pizza pinwheels are the perfect picnic finger food, and they use puff pastry sheets to save time. Top the sheets with a good marinara sauce, pepperoni (optional) and mozzarella cheese. Roll it all up, cut it into 2-inch slices, bake it, and enjoy.
8. Cold Tortellini Salad Kabobs
Fresh tortellini, juicy tomatoes and cheese – all on a stick. These kabobs are great for picnics because they’re easy to pack and transport. All you need are tortellini, pesto (jarred or homemade), balsamic vinegar, grape tomatoes, mozzarella balls and wooden skewers.
9. Watermelon Feta Bites
If you want to pack something light and refreshing, these watermelon feta bites are perfect. You’ll need about two cups of cubed watermelon for this recipe. If you want to make it extra fancy, you can use cookie cutters to make your bites into fancy shapes.
10. Cucumber Tea Sandwiches
Cucumber tea sandwiches are a classic picnic food, and with the right toothpicks and fresh herbs, you can make them look extra-fancy. To make these sandwiches, you’ll need fresh bread (crust removed), mayo, cream cheese, English cucumber, chives, dill and a few spices.
11. Greek Salad Skewers
Here’s a picnic finger food that everyone is sure to love. I love that it’s such a simple dish, but the presentation makes it look so fancy. For this recipe, you’ll need fresh feta sliced into chunks, oregano, black olives, tomatoes and mini cucumbers. Slide each ingredient onto a skewer and serve.
12. Mini Cannoli Cups
If you want to pack a dessert for your picnic, try these mini cannoli cups. Use pre-made refrigerated pie crusts and a mini muffin pan to shape and bake your cups. The filling is super simple (ricotta cheese, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla).
Related: 17 Best Camping Meal Prep Ideas
13. Pink Deviled Eggs
These pink deviled eggs look so fancy, but that’s all thanks to the pink food coloring and garnishes (sprouts and baby’s breath). The trickiest part here is removing the yolks, but the rest of the steps are super simple. Use a pastry piping bag to make the filling look perfect.
14. Pickled Peach, Mozzarella & Prosciutto Skewers
Here’s a unique finger food to serve as your picnic. Homemade pickled peaches with mozzarella pearls, fresh basil and spices, all wrapped in prosciutto slices and assembled on cocktail skewers. The pickled peaches are the star of the show here, and your guests are sure to devour them.
15. 10-minute Pickle Roll Ups
If pickles wrapped up in deli ham and ranch-flavored cream cheese sound good to you, then you’ll love this 10-minute recipe. I Am Homesteader shares this recipe with us and it uses just four ingredients.
Dry ranch seasoning is the one ingredient you’ll likely not have in your pantry.
16. Strawberry Brownie Kabobs
Four ingredients and a handful of skewers are all you need to make these kabobs. You can either use premade brownie bites or make your own. And then, you’ll put one strawberry, a brownie, a marshmallow, a brownie and finally a strawberry (all in this order) onto the kabob and serve.
17. Spinach Puffs
Do you have a muffin tin? If so, you’re going to love these spinach puffs because they’re filled with flavor and not overpowering like some of the spinach puffs on the market. You’ll need some frozen puff pastry, feta cheese, scallions, garlic, eggs, parsley and some chopped spinach.
And the hardest part is ringing all of the water out of the spinach before adding it in to keep the shell from getting too soggy.
18. Cheesy Bruschetta Bites
Bruschetta is so easy to make, and with this recipe, it takes maybe 15 – 20 minutes to make. You’ll need phyllo shells, which you’ll find in most grocery stores, along with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, Roma tomatoes and a soft cheese spread.
19. Mini Pimento BLT Cheddar Biscuits
If you don’t mind a heavier snack, I can’t recommend this picnic finger food enough. You’re mixing pimento cheese, strips of bacon, lettuce and tomato on cheddar biscuits for your own little slices of BLT bliss.
And, like with most of the recipes on our list, you’ll need a few toothpicks.
20. Mini Quiche Bacon and Cheese
Mini quiche is something my aunt served at one of her parties long ago, and I’ve had an affinity for them ever since. You will need ready-made puff pastry, cheese, bacon, spring onion, eggs, heavy cream, milk and a few spices.
A round cookie cutter will help you shape your quiche perfectly.
21. Bacon Cheeseburger Meatballs
Bacon. Meatballs. Melted cheese? Sign me up. You can add a pickle, lettuce and a tomato and make little skewers with toothpicks for this delicious treat. You’ll stack all of your favorite ingredients of a hamburger onto your toothpick, and you can skip the bread to keep this a low-carb finger food – if you like.
22. Mashed Avocado Finger Sandwiches
These mashed avocado sandwiches are filled with healthy fats and take 15 minutes total to make over a dozen. You’ll need to be an avocado-lover for this food, which includes fresh herbs, lime juice, tahini, cucumber, microgreens, avocadoes and sandwich bread.
Related: 23 Mouthwatering Finger Food Desserts We Love the Most
23. Mini Grilled Cheese Sandwich
I’m a sucker for any picnic finger food that includes grilled cheese. And with fresh melted cheese and a few additions, this flavor-filled treat will definitely hit the spot. You’ll need to use a French baguette cut into small slices, aged cheddar cheese, mushrooms, basil, arugula and sundried tomatoes.
And if you don’t like some of these ingredients, you can easily omit them.
24. Peach Caprese Bites
Fresh, delicious and good for you? I never would have thought of making this recipe on my own, but I’m so happy that I found it. You’ll need basil leaves, balsamic glaze, mozzarella balls and peaches for this recipe.
And I love how Homemade Hooplah has neat additions that you can add, such as black pepper, fresh mint and prosciutto.
25. Smoked Salmon Cucumber Rolls
Twenty minutes is all it takes to make smoked salmon rolls for ten people. But I promise you, these are different from any other rolls that you’ve tried. With your large vegetable peeler, you’ll create wraps from the cucumbers and then roll in your smoked salmon, cream cheese, arugula leaves and a handful of other ingredients.
26. Strawberry Shortcake
Delectable doesn’t even begin to describe these sweet buttermilk biscuits. You can bake these in just 35 minutes, and with eight servings, there’s more than enough for everyone to enjoy. All you need are a few basic ingredients, such as strawberries, sugar, flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, heavy whipping cream, butter and eggs.
