Life's a Beach! Here's How to Have a Picnic at One
Come for the surf, sand, and sun. Stay for these scrumptious seafood salad sandwiches and crowd-pleasing caprese kebabs.
Jun 30, 2025
Planning a beach picnic involves more than throwing on a bathing suit and flip-flops, packing towels, and filling a cooler with deli sandwiches and adult beverages. Sure, there's nothing wrong with going that route... but you can use this checklist for supplies and prepare my special menu of delicious seafood salad sandwiches and caprese kebabs to make your beach picnic shine!
Beach picnic checklist:
- Picnic basket or markettote
- Large beach blanket and towels
- Cooler filled with ice, bottled water, soda, beer, perhaps a hard seltzer or two, andwine
- Portable speaker (make sure it's charged) and beach tune playlists
- Beach umbrella and/or tent
- Beach chairs
- A variety of finger foods, likecheese,fruit,crackers,jams,dips/spreads, honey, baguettes,nuts, olives, cookies,snack mix, bruschetta
- Plates, napkins, glasses, cutlery, a few cutting boards, platters, and small bowls
- Volleyball and net, paddle ball, football, Frisbee
- Beach hats, sunglasses, sunscreen, bug spray
- Portablegrilland charcoal, grilling tools
- Hand wipes, trash bags, recycling bags, paper towels, hand sanitizer, first aid kit
Swim hard, eat light
I love supplementing a beach picnic with lighter fare such aswineandcheese, charcuterie,fresh fruitandvegetables,nuts,crackers,dips and spreads, and a baguette, all served on platters andboards. This is an easy way to serve a group of people chilling at the beach. Plus, no cooking is required — more time to swim, relax, and have fun! Just throw down a huge beach blanket, serve the food, uncork the wine, and get this party started!
Two of my favorite recipes to make for a beach picnic are seafood salad sandwiches and caprese kebabs. They're both super delicious, super easy to make (and pack!), and great to display on a platter for a crowd.