Potluck Ideas for a Labor Day Picnic

Labor Day's last big cookout of the season is the perfect time to try out new potluck ideas. The best picnic casseroles made for an outdoor event can be used later in the year for the indoor potluck meal also. Potluck ideas for a Labor Day picnic need to consider temperature of the food. Does your casserole need to be served piping hot? Does your potluck choice require refrigeration? If so neither may be a good for an outdoor Labor Day picnic. Consider these potluck ideas and tips for best casseroles or dishes to take to a picnic.

Picnic Casseroles for the Grill
If your Labor Day picnic or potluck gathering will include grilling burgers or hotdogs, ask if there will be room on the grill to keep a casserole warm. If so, plan to bake your potluck dish in a disposable pan. Placing your glass casserole dish on the grill is not advisable and the charcoal or gas cooking can damage your aluminum baking dish. One picnic casserole choice for the grill would be a Baked Bean dish.

Picnic Potluck Idea #1: Baked Bean Casserole
½ pound bacon, cut into small pieces
3 15 oz cans pork n beans
1 medium onion chopped
½ tsp salt
2 tsp mustard
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
½ cup dark brown sugar
Tomato sauce, 8 oz can

Mix tomato sauce with Worcestershire, mustard, sugar, salt and onion. Let mixture sit to mix flavors. Brown bacon, drain fat. Add the beans to the sauce mixture and stir until well mixed. Add bacon and lightly mix. Pour into 9X13 disposable pan. Bake in 300 degree oven for one hour. At the 30 min mark, you can add a biscuit or cornbread topping to the casserole if you wish. Using canned biscuits or a prepared jiffy cornbread mix, drop pieces of dough around the edges of the pan. Do not cover the center. Return to the oven for the last 30 minutes. Check at the 15 minute mark. If dough is already browned cover the potluck dish with foil for the remaining cooking time.

Potluck Ideas for Non-Heated Dishes
If a source to keep your food hot is not available, your potluck ideas are more limited. You may consider bringing a cooler of ice and preparing a non-cooked potluck dish. Jello salads are popular at potluck dinners and can be easily kept cold until time to serve. To make a jello salad for your Labor Day picnic, choose a flavor of jello and an accompanying fruit. Choices may be orange jello with mandarin oranges, lime jello with pineapple or strawberry jello with chopped berries. Use the following recipe to make your potluck dish.

Labor Day Potluck Idea #2: Jello Salad
1 3oz pack of jello
1 8 oz can crushed pineapple
1 small frozen whipped topping
1 3 oz pack of cream cheese
Nuts

Mix jello with 1 cup of boiling water. Place in refrigerator until this jello begins to set. While the jello is refrigerating, cream the cream cheese with the crushed pineapple. Add the whipped topping and nuts. Stir in your choice of fruit. Once the jello is soft set, add the whipped mixture and spoon into a bowl which fits inside your cooler. Refrigerate until time for the Labor Day potluck.

Dessert Ideas for a Labor Day Potluck
Desserts are an easier option than picnic casseroles or cold potluck dishes. Popular potluck ideas for desserts include pies and homemade cakes, cookies or brownies. You may also consider an easy potluck dessert dish like a Dump Cake or a Quick Cobblers.

Dessert Potluck Ideas: Dump Cake
1 can Pie Filling
1 small can Crushed pineapple
1 cake mix
1 stick margarine

Dump the pie filling and pineapple in a 9X13 dish (disposable if you want to leave your dessert for others when you leave). Stir until the pineapple juice mixes with the filling. Sprinkle the dry cake mix on the filling. Cut up the stick of margarine into small pices and place on the cake mix. Bake at 350 for 30 to 40 minutes. Start checking the cake at the 30 minute mark. The cake is done golden brown and not wet to touch.

Dessert Potluck Ideas: Quick Cobbler
Empty one large can of peaches into 8X8 dish. Sprinkle with cinnamon
Mix 1 Cup Baking Mix with ¼ cup milk and 2 tablespoons melted margarine.
Add two tablespoons sugar.
Beat until well mixed.

Drop by spoonful on top of peaches. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until browned.

Pick a Potluck dish idea for your Labor Day picnic which works best for your situation. Choose a casserole, desert, or salad which will allow you the freedom to enjoy the picnic without worrying about the food.