Keep Your Salads Cool With An Iced Bowl This Summer

Fresh items like potato salad are staple side dishes at cookouts, picnics, and all of the other al fresco dining events that many of us partake in during the summer. The various salads you might serve rely on a cool temperature to stay crisp and fresh, especially if they have creamy ingredients like mayonnaise. No matter what type of outdoor serving ware or highly-rated containers you might use to transport the salads to the backyard or park, you might want to up your game with an iced bowl instead.

An iced salad bowl is not technically a new invention, but it can really elevate your picnic and keep salads fresh in transit or for the stragglers and whoever wants a second helping. It's certainly more appealing than pulling out a container that's dripping water from the cooler. The bowls come in many different models, but typically consist of a separate ice compartment to regulate the temperature of the salad.

Some variations require ice to be placed at the bottom of the container, while a smaller bowl for the salad rests on the ice. Other types have a small insert for ice that sits above the section where your salad goes. Overall, the different designs function in the same way, allowing you to replace any melted ice without disturbing the salad in the bowl.

There are many types of iced bowls in stores and online, so we browsed around to recommend a couple of highly-rated options. On Amazon you can snag a 4.5-quart serving bowl for $55, as of publication, with a 4.7-star rating based on more than 500 customer reviews. It consists of a plastic bowl with room for ice at the bottom, a stainless steel bowl for your salad, and a lid. For a larger option, Walmart sells a 5.5-quart bowl priced at $35 that features a clip-on dome lid. There are plenty of other options available online, including smaller containers.

After you secure yourself an iced bowl, perhaps you'll want some new salad recipes to test it out for your next al fresco meal. For a classic picnic option, cook Tasting Table's creamy macaroni salad recipe with celery and tomatoes. This mint and melon fruit salad is guaranteed to be a hit with your guests, and you can't go wrong with a corn salad in the summer. These salads and other chilled dishes will all last longer and spoil less quickly outside when stored in an iced bowl.