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See why.The Best Picnic Baskets and Backpacks
With matching plates, glasses, and other outdoor dining gear, these picnic sets offer both convenience and charm. Are they the key to a perfect picnic?
By Published June 15, 2021
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What You Need To Know
Whether you’re heading to an outdoor concert or planning to spend a sunny afternoon at a park, it can be a hassle to wrangle all the gear you want. It’s often more convenient to use a picnic basket or backpack equipped with everything you’d need for a picnic, from silverware and plates to cloth napkins and wineglasses. We especially liked three models we tested. The Sunflora Picnic Backpack for 4 was the most portable, with wide, padded straps that made it comfortable to wear even when the backpack was full. We also like the Picnic at Ascot Collapsible Insulated Picnic Basket for Four, a canvas basket that collapses with all its items still tucked inside. For those who want the charm of a traditional wicker basket and don’t anticipate walking long distances, the Picnic at Ascot Buckingham Picnic Basket for Four is a good option. It’s significantly larger and heavier than our other favorites, but the basket’s charm and its stainless-steel silverware and real wineglasses make every picnic feel like a special occasion.
What You Need to Know
If you bring a cooler or a regular insulated shopping bag on a picnic, you need to round up all the necessary plates, silverware, glasses, and napkins before you head out the door. Many people prefer to use a picnic basket or backpack that comes equipped with its own gear and has little pockets to store it all safely. The items are reusable (which cuts down on trash and recycling), and you don’t need to worry about accidentally losing the plates and glasses you use at home.
You can choose from traditional wicker baskets, canvas baskets, and even picnic backpacks. Although their size and shape vary dramatically, each of the models we tested offered room for food and came with assorted picnic equipment. All of them came with knives, forks, and spoons; plates; and wineglasses. Many were equipped with cloth napkins, tiny cutting boards, corkscrews, serrated knives, and salt and pepper shakers. While the included corkscrews and serrated knives got their respective jobs done, they didn’t perform as well as our favorite wine opener or serrated utility knife. The cutting boards were small (generally just 6 by 6 inches or smaller), so their usefulness was limited.
Each model had a slew of tiny interior pockets and straps to keep the gear safe during transit and in easy reach during picnics. We found no significant difference in the quality of the pockets or straps across all the models we tested. All the items stayed put during transit, and none of the straps or closures showed any signs of wear and tear even after we intentionally tugged at them or repeatedly opened and closed them.
What to Loo...
Everything We Tested
Highly Recommended
- Design: 3 stars out of 3.
- Comfort: 3 stars out of 3.
- Accessories: 2.5 stars out of 3.
Thanks to its wide and comfortable straps, this backpack is much more comfortable to carry than traditional picnic baskets. A wide strip of fabric at the top of the backpack unzips, providing very easy access to food. The stainless-steel silverware was comfortable to use; the glasses were a touch heavier than other plastic models and had a very attractive shape, giving this backpack a slight edge over others in our lineup. The fleece blanket, which measured roughly 4¼ by 5 feet, had a water-resistant backing that gave it some structure. The wine pouch and corkscrew were useful additions, but we wish the pretty 6 by 6-inch bamboo cutting board was a bit larger.
- Design: 3 stars out of 3.
- Comfort: 3 stars out of 3.
- Accessories: 2.5 stars out of 3.
This insulated canvas basket is ideal for people short on storage space at home: It collapses to a compact 7-inch-tall oval with all its picnic gear still inside it. We also liked that we could hook its long handles over our forearms, giving our hands a break or freeing them up to carry other things. It comes with complete place settings for four people but no extra gear. Although the basket isn’t especially elegant, it’s a very practical spin on traditional wicker models.
- Design: 3 stars out of 3.
- Comfort: 2 stars out of 3.
- Accessories: 3 stars out of 3.
This charming wicker basket contains stainless-steel silverware and attractive wineglasses made from real glass, which elevates a picnic to a fancy affair even though the plates are plastic. The trade-off is that the basket is big and heavy—it weighs more than 8 pounds before you add food and drinks. Its dual doors fold out and stay open for easy access to the basket’s contents. It’s not insulated, but it comes with an insulated storage container that’s about the size of a small lunchbox.
- Design: 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Comfort: 3 stars out of 3.
- Accessories: 2.5 stars out of 3.
We were impressed by how comfortable it was to wear this backpack when it was full or packed with heavy food and drinks. We also liked the design of its front storage compartment. The base of the backpack is very wide and stable. The plastic cutting board is small (just 6 by 6 inches) and not very elegant, but it came in handy. The included blanket is big enough to fit two people (about 3¾ by 4⅓ feet) and has water-resistant backing that provides some protection and rigidity. The silverware is stainless steel with plastic handles, and the bowl of the spoon is quite large.
Recommended
- Design: 2 stars out of 3.
- Comfort: 3 stars out of 3.
- Accessories: 2.5 stars out of 3.
Although this backpack was just as comfortable as the others we tested and looks very similar to them, its food storage compartment was a touch smaller. It often took several tries to arrange our food so that it all fit. The wood cutting board is very attractive, but it’s about 1 inch narrower than those included with the other models. The fleece blanket, though soft, lacks a water-resistant backing. Those small criticisms aside, this backpack is still very comfortable to carry and fairly easy to use.
- Design: 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Comfort: 3 stars out of 3.
- Accessories: 2.5 stars out of 3.
This petite wicker basket is charming, but it required a bit of finesse to arrange our food and drinks so that they all fit. The glass wineglasses are positioned in the bottom of the basket, and we didn’t want anything very heavy or hard to scratch or crush them. (If you bring a bottle of wine, we suggest packing it separately.) However, we loved the attractive shape of the glasses, which are made of real glass. The plates are a bit small (just 7 inches in diameter), so they’re better suited for snacks than full meals.
Recommended with reservations
- Design: 2 stars out of 3.
- Comfort: 3 stars out of 3.
- Accessories: 1.5 stars out of 3.
The lightest of the baskets we tested, this model was relatively easy and comfortable to carry even for long distances. Although the plates were small and the silverware and glasses weren’t as elegantly shaped as in our favorite baskets, it all worked well. The angled doors slope upward and tended to flop shut, bumping into our arms and blocking our access to the basket’s contents. That said, we found it easy to fit and arrange food in the relatively spacious basket.
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The mission of America’s Test Kitchen Reviews is to find the best equipment and ingredients for the home cook through rigorous, hands-on testing.
Kate Shannon
Kate is a deputy editor for ATK Reviews. She's a culinary school graduate and former line cook and cheesemonger.
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