8 Simple Steps To Packing The Perfect Picnic Basket

Packing The Perfect Picnic Basket

Those long, and sometimes lazy spring summer days are just ahead of us now, and you need to consider all of the ways that you can pack that extra daylight time with fun and exciting things to do. The thing is, not everything that you do this spring and summer has to be a thrill seeking adventure. And with the pandemic over the past few years – merely getting outdoors for a walk or hike was adventurous enough for many! And with the outdoors came dining outdoors and picnics certainly made a comeback in a big way.


Further Reading: Travel the Island of Ireland


Warm sunshine afternoons in the local fields, bumblebees bouncing between flowers and your blanket of food laid out while the kids play – sounds idyllic, right? That’s because it can be!


8 Simple Steps To Packing The Perfect Picnic Basket - Poulanassy Waterfall, Mullinavat, Kilkenny
Poulanassy Waterfall, Mullinavat, Kilkenny

Start by finding the perfect spot for your outdoors feast. Our latest adventure was to Poulanassy Waterfall in Kilkenny. Next step is finding the perfect wicker basket and cooler bag to carry all of your food. Then make sure you have the right storage containers – we’re featuring our favourite in this article. Next you’ll need the right food and recipes to suit the whole family, and if you really want to make the most of picnic time, you need to bring along some games and sports equipment, too!

Picnic’s offer great opportunities to make memories with family and friends this spring and summer (and autumn if we’re lucky!). So, with this in mind, here are eight ‘Simple Steps To Packing The Perfect Picnic Basket‘.



8 Simple Steps To Packing The Perfect Picnic Basket

  1. Ice Packs. The perfect sunny day is only perfect if the food hasn’t gone all warm and gross on the drive to the finest picnic spot. You want to keep your food cool, particularly the stuff that comes from the refrigerator. You need to keep the food fresh, and you need the cold for that. Bring ice packs and pack them under and around your food and drinks. You can crack open a cold can of lemonade and enjoy every sip under the sun.
  2. A Blanket. You can sit directly on the grass if you want to, but most people prefer to bring a large blanket with them. You can even add cushions and a few boards to create a stable table to rest your dishes on them.

    8 Simple Steps To Packing The Perfect Picnic Basket - The Picnic Spread


  3. Containers. Your picnic is going to be so much better if you can compartmentalise your food and keep everything separate. Salad is going to be so much crisper if it’s not with the sandwiches – and add a piece of kitchen paper to the box of salad to keep it crispy. Featured in this article are some of our favourite reusable food and drink containers which we not only use for our picnics but also use on a daily basis – see below for full details.
  4. Reusable Cutlery and Crockery. If you’re bringing the kids, you can often find that it’s easier to ensure that they eat if you can plate up their food. You’ll need forks, too, especially if you have wet foods like coleslaw and potato salads.
  5. Wipes or Reusable Cloths. Even without children, you need wipes. Hands and faces can be cleaned before and after dining. And to save you a complete mess to sort out when you get home – you can use your clothes to wrap any dirty cutlery or crockery before you pack them into your wicker basket or cooler bag.
  6. Masks and Sanitiser. The restrictions may be lowered, but it’s always polite to make sure that you have masks with you. Bringing sanitiser is also a good idea because you can’t really wash your hands before you eat in the middle of a field.

    8 Simple Steps To Packing The Perfect Picnic Basket - Leave No Trace


  7. Rubbish Bag. A spare ‘bag for life’ supermarket bag works here. Use it to pack away any dirty cutlery or crockery, or to sort the recyclable from the non-recyclable, if you have any. REMEMBER BRING HOME EVERYTHING YOU BROUGHT WITH YOU AND LEAVE NO TRACE!
  8. Don’t Forget a Bottle Opener. A Picnic can be a very romantic date idea! Once the ‘designated driver’ has been agreed on – enjoying a glass of chilled white or red is a lovely way to end a date in the sunshine. Once you have some glasses, the only problem that can arise is if you’ve brought a bottle with a cork and don’t have a bottle opener! Although you could always try using your shoe – you might be hard pressed to find a wall!

These are the eight ‘Simple Steps To Packing The Perfect Picnic Basket’ and they will make a big difference to your picnic planning efforts. Now all you need is the perfect spot and some sunshine to make some happy memories. And remember if the later doesn’t shine for you, picnics in the car are great too!


8 Simple Steps To Packing The Perfect Picnic Basket - Stojo Collapsible Bowl with Pasta


Some Extras for Packing The Perfect Picnic Basket:

  1. Bring a Barbecue. Check the local rules, but if you bring a barbecue with you, you can cook up delicious chicken skewers and serve them up with dips and veggies. You can prep the chicken on the skewers at home with the marinade of choice!
  2. Pasta Salads or Sushi Rolls. If you want to go a little different with your picnic, get rid of the sandwiches and go for homemade pasta salads or sushi rolls. You could even bring breadsticks and garlic bread, or soya for your sushi! Here’s a pesto recipe we love – Heh Presto – A Parsley and Walnut Pesto Recipe

Featured Products for Packing the Perfect Picnic Basket

Packing the Perfect Picnic Basket with Stojo

Designed by dads in NYC, Stojo are a fantastic company who are ‘committed to designing earth-conscious products that bring more to life than what they take away.’

I absolutely love their products and have kept a Stojo Collapsible Cup in my bag for years! It’s so handy and takes up such little space that I’ve even brought it on walks in my pocket!

‘Stackable, nestable, portable wizardry’, Stojo products are perfect for picnics, hikes, walks, for bringing to work, especially for those spur of the moment aprés-work drinks – no to bulky lunch boxes, yes to a collapsible containers you barely notice in you bag!

For lots more info visit stojo.co



Stojo Collapsible Bowl – ‘Goodbye, bulky containers. Hello, collapsible bowl of your dreams.’ 1.1l (36oz), dishwasher and microwave safe, handles hot and cold, LFGB approved. BPA and BPS free.



Stojo Collapsible Bottle – ‘Made from food grade silicone and polypropylene plastic’. BPA and lead free, dishwasher safe and recyclable.



Stojo Collapsible 12 oz Cup – 15cm (5″) expanded and only 5cm (2″) collapsed! Made from recycled materials, a food grade silicone that’s dishwasher safe, lead free, BPA free and most importantly if you’re using it for hot tea or coffee – it’s leak-free!


Packing the Perfect Picnic Basket with HIP

Hip are ‘delicious to the eyes, delightful for the planet! designer eco-friendly solutions to get you through your day.’

We love everything Hip stands for, which is all about looking after our planet and being the change by ‘recycling billions of pounds of discarded materials that already exist in our oceans today.’ In fact Hip have partnered with oceanworks®, the largest global marketplace for sustainable materials. And in doing so they are able to source ‘discarded ocean bound plastics from developing communities’ which directly helps coastline communities with no existing recycling infrastructure.


8 Simple Steps To Packing The Perfect Picnic Basket - Hip Ocean Bound Plastic Products


In other words Hip:

  1. Collect waste plastic to prevent it ending up in the ocean.
  2. Process this waste into food-grade plastic.
  3. Create Hip products make with the aforementioned ocean-bound plastic!

For more information visit be-hip.com

Hip with Purpose Single Straw & Case – The SqueakyCleanStraw is the only straw that opens and closes for easy cleaning – now that’s product design! Dishwasher safe and made from recycled plastic that’s BPA free.


8 Simple Steps To Packing The Perfect Picnic Basket - Hip Bowls, Hip Straw and Hip Clutch


Hip with Purpose Set of 3 Bowls – 350ml (12oz), 700ml (24oz) and 1.2l (41oz). Designed for a multiple of uses, in the fridge, freezer and microwave (the later with the lid removed). You can use these fab bowls for storing, heating and serving food. Made from recycled BPA free plastic.



Hip Clutch – this ‘all-in-one set’ consists of a leak-proof 1l (33.8oz) bowl, dressing container 48ml (1.6oz) and utensils (knife, fork, spoon and chopsticks). Microwave safe, dishwasher safe and BPA free the Hip Clutch is such a hip clutch you’ll be happy to wear it anywhere!


Disclaimer: some of the featured products were received as gifts but we’d buy them in heartbeat, and plan on adding more to our collection.


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