Sun, Snacks, and Sangria: Your Beach Picnic Starts Here

Zero-fuss snacks for your beach day.

By
Rabi Abonour
Rabi Abonour is a contributing writer at Serious Eats.
Rabi Abonour
Rabi Abonour is a planner specializing in transportation, but has also been a photojournalist, writer, and editor for several online and print publications.
Learn about Serious Eats' Editorial Process
Published July 06, 2025
A bowl of potato salad garnished with herbs and sliced boiled eggs

Serious Eats / Stacy Allen

Any food or drink that comes to the beach with me must be portable, unfussy, and enjoyable at room temperature: Chips and dips, for instance, make perfect sense. Other finger foods, like sandwiches, popcorn, or nuts, are also great options, as are picnic-friendly pasta or potato salads. And while you soak up the sun, you'll probably want a drink; it should be cold and crisp, like an Arnold Palmer, sangria, or a zippy fruit-infused water. Below, you'll find an assortment of snacks and refreshments to keep you sated and hydrated during your beach day, including a punchy pickle dip, creamy potato salad, and crunchy, salty-sweet honey-roasted peanuts.

July 2016

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  • Mala-Spiced Chex Mix

    Overhead view of mala spiced chex mix

    Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

    Málà, which means “numbing” and “spicy” in Mandarin, refers to both a flavor and a feeling—the pleasant tingling sensation left in your mouth after consuming food spiced with chiles and Sichuan peppercorns. Here, a málà spice blend and chili crisp give the cereal, pretzels, and peanuts a spicy, savory kick that will keep you coming back for more.

  • Italian Pasta Salad

    Overhead view of a Italian pasta salad

    Serious Eats / Greg Dupree

    Pasta salad is a picnic staple. More often than not, however, the dish is served at the wrong temperature, the pasta is the wrong texture, and the dressing is unpleasantly acerbic. For a truly outstanding pasta salad, we cook the pasta just past al dente—which ensures it's soft but not mushy—and incorporate briny olives, banana peppers, and capers for brightness and acidity.

  • Lemony Orzo Pasta Salad

    A bowl of orzo pasta salad with chickpeas, garnished with fresh herbs, served with utensils

    Serious Eats / Qi Ai

     This zero-fuss pasta salad is light, bright, and bold: It's packed with crunchy radicchio, creamy chickpeas, and tender basil, with a lemony dressing to bring it all together.

  • Hummus B'Tahini (Hummus With Tahini)

    Overhead view of hummus b'tahini

    Serious Eats / Mai Kakish

    Cookbook author Reem Kassis' foolproof recipe for hummus takes less than 10. minutes to make—and requires no food processor. All you need are some canned or jarred chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt. Plop the ingredients into a large measuring cup, blitz it all up using an immersion blender, and voilà: You've got yourself smooth, nutty hummus.

    Continue to 5 of 17 below

  • Cornflake Marshmallow Treats

    Overhead view of cornflake crispies

    Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

    These delightfully chewy cornflake marshmallow treats are another great way to enjoy corn during the summer. Toasting the cereal and browning the butter brings out the cornflakes' naturally sweet, earthy flavor, and generously seasoning the bars with salt ensures they have just the right balance of salty and sweet.

  • Classic New Orleans Muffuletta Sandwich

    Sliced muffuletta sandwich in an enameled metal tray.

    Serious Eats / Mateja Zvirotic Andrijanic

    The classic New Orleans muffuletta consists of cold cuts, cheese, and olive salad—and is one of the few foods that actually gets better as it sits around at room temperature. So make a few of these sandwiches, wrap them up, and chuck them into your beach bag.

  • Labneh Tuna Salad

    Side view of labne tuna salad

    Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

    In this twist on classic tuna salad, creamy, tangy labneh takes the places of mayonnaise. Pickled onions add a pop of brightness, and fresh dill brings a herbaceous note.

  • The Best Egg Salad Sandwich

    An egg salad sandwich, cut in half, with the two halves stacked on top of each other. The sandwich contains egg salad, butter lettuce, and thinly sliced radishes.

    Serious Eats / Eric Kleinberg

    Keys to a better egg salad: perfectly cooked eggs, a touch of acidity, and crunch.

    Continue to 9 of 17 below

  • Green Goddess Potato Salad

    A bowl of potato salad garnished with herbs and sliced boiled eggs

    Serious Eats / Stacy Allen

    Potato salad? Good. Green goddess potato salad with boiled eggs, crisp green beans, and plenty of fresh herbs? Better. This salad is creamy, zippy, and green in all the right ways, making it a great addition to your beach picnic or potluck.

  • Honey-Roasted Peanuts

    Bowl of honey roasted peanuts on a textured green fabric next to a glass of beer

    Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

    These honey-roasted peanuts are crunchy, salty-sweet, and incredibly snackable. Potato starch helps the glaze cling to the peanuts, resulting in a satisfyingly crisp exterior.

  • The Best Arnold Palmer (Half and Half Iced Tea + Lemonade)

    Two tall glasses of Arnold Palmer, each with a sprig of mint. In the top left corner of the image is a pitcher holding more Arnold Palmer.

    Serious Eats / Julia Estrada

    This Arnold Palmer is bright and fresh, with tartness from lemons and sweetened just enough to make it drinkable by the pitcher. Macerating the lemon peels with sugar draws out the fruit's natural oils and results in a more aromatic and flavorful drink.

  • Crispy Chocolate Popcorn

    20170523-chocolate-popcorn-vicky-wasik-13.jpg

    Serious Eats / Vicky Wasik

    With a handful of simple ingredients, you can turn plain popcorn into a crisp and crunchy chocolate candy. The butter browns during the cooking process, imparting a rich nuttiness to the popcorn, and the candy syrup dilutes the dark chocolate, producing a mellow cocoa flavor.

    Continue to 13 of 17 below

  • Grape Salad

    Grape Salad with fresh mint leaves on a purple surface, with a purple striped towel.

    Serious Eats / Morgan Hunt Glaze

    Is this grape salad a rich side or a dessert? You decide. Juicy grapes and crunchy almonds are tossed in a blend of cream cheese and yogurt, resulting in a salad that's creamy, sweet, and tangy all at once.

  • Easy Fruit Swirl Ice Cream Sandwiches

    Side view of ice cream sandwiches

    Serious Eats / Robby Lozano, Food Stylist: Julia Levy, Prop Stylist: Tucker Vines

    Made with a giant homemade vanilla cookie and store-bought ice cream swirled with jam, these easy ice cream sandwiches come together in just 15 minutes.

  • Red Sangria

    A glass of sangria adorned with an orange wedge.

    Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

    Quench your thirst with a big pitcher of red sangria. Made with chilled wine, sugar, and fruit, the beverage is refreshing and especially pleasant to sip on during a hot summer day. Just be sure to avoid apples, oranges, and lemons, which are the best fruit to make sangria with.

  • Fried Pickle Dip

    Bowl of pickle dip garnished with panko, dill and pickles, surrounded by a wooden plate full of potato chips, on a green tabeltop

    Serious Eats / Robby Lozano

    This creamy, tangy dip is all about the pickles: Using pickles and pickle juice in the dip ensures the dip is bursting with tangy, briny dill pickle flavor. Serve it with regular potato chips or go the extra mile with pickle potato chips.

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  • Grapefruit and Blackberry-Infused Water

    View of grapefruit, blackberry, and sage infused water

    Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez

    This gorgeous infused water recipe combines sweet, tart, and woodsy flavors for a refreshing and balanced drink.

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