These 20+ Recipes Are Ideal for Bringing on a Fall Picnic

It makes a lot, can be served warm or cool, and keeps well, so it’s the perfect make-ahead potluck dish. The sweet flavor of the roasted squash makes it equally fitting to serve for brunch or a side dish at dinner.

This sandwich is one of those incredible combinations that’s so perfect, you can’t believe you never thought of it before: roasted slices of sweet potato, sun-dried tomatoes mixed with goat cheese, a mound of peppery arugula, and chewy whole-grain bread to hold it all together.

Along with these sandwiches, some homemade broccoli slaw, a couple of these cookies, and some bottled sodas are my idea of perfect picnic fare.

The base of these muffins is more cottage cheese and egg than flour, so the result is less like a springy baked good, and more like a pleasant meet-up of quiche and muffin. Or, as Heidi puts it, “Soufflé’s heartier, denser, more portable cousin.” If you’re not a fan of cottage cheese, don’t be put off by its inclusion; the texture disappears into the muffin, leaving only a pleasant creaminess.

Our meat-eating friends never notice the lack of animal protein in my pumpkin chili. It can easily be made vegan, too, by adding extra olive oil to replace the butter, and serving dairy-free toppings in place of the cheddar cheese and sour cream, or skipping them entirely.

This vegan sweet potato chowder delivers everything you want in a warm fall soup. It has a velvety broth laced with seasonal spices, like sage and paprika, and chunks of tender root vegetables. It’s delicious the day you make it, but like most soups, it’s even better the next day. So make a big batch of this plant-based chowder and enjoy it all week long.

Imagine a recipe that combines the two things we love about cold-weather cooking: the toasty, caramelized notes of roasted vegetables and a steaming vegetable broth. In this vegetarian recipe from Kathy Gunst’s new book, Soup Swap, we have found our new favorite soup of fall.

Ever wonder why snack mixes are called party mixes? I suspect it’s because, like parties that have an interesting mix of people, snack mixes are always an interesting combination of ingredients, with every handful different from the last. This recipe is a hybrid of traditional Chex mix and those delicious honey-mustard crunchy pretzels. Are you ready to join the party?

This recipe for peanut butter popcorn, sweetened with honey, belongs for me in memories of my family. This was our favorite movie-night treat — a quick snack with sweet and gooey peanut butter coating every kernel. I vastly prefer it to crunchier caramel popcorn.

These particular cookies are soft and dense, with lots of buttery flavor and the ease of a no-mixer, nearly one-bowl method. They are very likely going to become one of your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes, too.