Plan The Perfect Picnic With These 13 Weight Watchers Recipes With 5 Points Or Less

The dog days of summer simply scream for a plaid picnic blanket draped over a grassy, sun-dappled park and a spread of scrumptious, portable foods fit for a summertime feast. Unfortunately, plenty of favorite picnic fare can be uber-high in calories and fat, derailing your dreams of fitting into that A-Line August party dress. These thirteen foods hit the skinny picnic trifecta with easy-to-pack portions, delicious flavors, and five points or less per serving.  

1. Mini Corndog Muffins

I love these muffins because they satisfy my sweet and savory needs in one ideal little bite. Yellow cornmeal has a naturally summery flavor and provides the moist and rich base of the muffin, combined with some low-fat milk, an egg, and a pinch of sugar. Studded with meaty turkey or chicken hot dogs, these portable gems are like miniature corndogs, just in perfectly portioned bites with absolutely no clean-up. Best of all, they’re just three points per tasty muffin.

2. Deviled Eggs

One-point deviled eggs are my picnic MVP, and thanks to a zesty combination of tangy Greek yogurt, mustard, shredded cheddar cheese, and bacon filling, they taste phenomenal. These guilt-free deviled eggs fit perfectly in your picnic basket, and you can top them with spices of your choice for a personalized creation that fits well within your diet. I find that a mixture of chives, garlic powder, dill weed, and smoky paprika takes these culinary all-stars to the next level.

3. Sweet Corn Salad

This two-point sweet corn salad is a celebration of summery colors with cheerful yellow corn, bright red tomatoes, and fiery green jalapenos for a serious dose of spice. Red onion adds another burst of color and gives the salad a welcome textural element that’s simply out of this world. Plus, I love that it’s super quick, coming fully together in just 10 minutes, and the longer you let all of the yummy ingredients mingle, the tastier it becomes.

4. Keto Chicken Nuggets

If you’re on the Keto diet or simply want to indulge in a meaty treat on your next picnic sans a side of guilt, these air fryer chicken nuggets are for you. At four Weight Watchers points per serving, they’re like a better-for-you version of fast food nuggets made with whole pieces of chicken breast and a crunchy, almond-flour-based breading that perfectly counterbalances the juicy chicken inside.

5. Carrot Cake Muffins

These sweet treat carrot cake muffins have built-in portion control and will only set you back three Weight Watchers points per tasty serving. I love the different textures and flavors that all work together in these epic picnic treats, from rich and sweet brown sugar to ribbons of shredded carrots and chopped walnuts. The secret to these muffins’ diet-friendly composition is unsweetened applesauce, which lends them a moist and dense consistency that only tastes calorie-heavy. 

6. Three Bean Salad

If you want the perfect picnic salad in a flash, this three-bean option is the way to go. Throwing it together is as simple as opening up cans of green, white kidney, and red kidney beans and topping it all with garlic, brown sugar, balsamic vinaigrette, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper to taste. It’s my ultimate last-minute go-to recipe because it comes together in a flash, and the longer the flavors marinate together, the better it tastes. Plus, you’ll get all this goodness for zero Weight Watchers points per serving. 

7. Garlic Cheddar Biscuits

Something about the combination of earthy garlic and smooth cheddar makes my tastebuds stand up and take notice. These four-point biscuits celebrate this dynamic duo in a way that will help you stick to your diet plans. Since they’re portable and pre-portioned, they’re also excellent picnic foods. The base is full of rich buttermilk and gooey cheddar cheese, and each biscuit is crowned with Italian seasoning, a light brush of butter, and garlic powder to tie it all together. 

8. Mini Peanut Butter Cupcakes

If the terms “peanut butter cupcakes” and “diet friendly” don’t exist in the same sentence in your vocabulary, let me introduce you to this slimmed-down mini version that is only one point per cupcake and is bound to satisfy your sweet tooth. Plus, each one has snack-sized Reese’s peanut butter cups nestled right into a lovely smear of vanilla icing. The cake base is nice and flavorful too, thanks to a shortcut white cake mix and applesauce for a bit of oomph without the calories.

9. Creamy Cucumber Salad

This ultra-velvety salad celebrates one of the summer’s favorite fruits, the humble cucumber. Yes, cucumbers are botanically a fruit, and yes, this recipe might make them surpass strawberries as your favorite summertime treat. Plus, each serving is only one Weight Watchers point, and you’ll get a generous scoop of ultra-fresh English cucumbers swimming in a decadent sour cream, Greek yogurt, mayo, and lemon juice base topped with a sprinkle of salt and pepper and some fresh dill for a bright note on the end.

10. Yucca Fritters

If you want to think outside the picnic basket and savor some of the flavors of South and Central America, these yucca fritters are just the ticket. I was a bit intimidated when I first encountered this recipe, but yucca is super easy to cook and grate. Then, all you need to do is mix it with cottage cheese, flour, and egg, round it into evenly-sized balls, and pop them into your air fryer. The result is a crispy-on-the-outside, creamy-on-the-inside bite that sets you back a mere five Weight Watchers points. 

11. Pizza Muffins

If it were easy, feasible, or diet-goal reasonable to take a whole delivery pie on a picnic, I’d be the first one to do it, but I know how much a single slice can set me back. Instead, I embrace all of the flavors of my favorite pizza with portable and fun pizza muffins at two points per cheesy, carby serving. With a combination of mozzarella, asiago, and parmesan cheeses, some crumbly bacon, and sliced pepperoni, they are even better than takeout.

12. Apple Yogurt Salad

Give boring fruit salads the boot this summer, and opt for this three-point apple yogurt instead, with surprise superfood elements, like chia seeds, tucked right into the zingy yogurt base. Plus, it’s one of those excellent salads that get better the longer the flavors meld together. All you need are a few apples, warm spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, and some dried cranberries, raisins, and pumpkin seeds, plus Greek yogurt to meld it all together. 

13. Chocolate Chip Banana Loaf

This chocolate chip banana loaf is the ideal end note for your mid-July picnic with gooey, sweet chocolate chips and a banana bread base that gives you the best of all worlds for only five Weight Watchers points per serving. Plus, you can pre-slice and pack it for easy distribution at your picnic. The base is full of rich brown sugar, sweet, ripe bananas, and a touch of vanilla to balance everything out. Use sugar-free dark chocolate chips for those flavinoids and to keep it waistline-friendly, and you’re good to go.

These five point or less picnic foods will help you enjoy all of the warm evenings and summer sunsets of the season while still sticking to your diet plans. I make them time and again, and once you try them, I’m sure that you will, too.