When you get invited to a potluck celebration, do you find yourself panicking about what recipe to bring? Though a potluck can be a great way to get people together, the expectation that everyone brings their own dish can be stress-inducing, especially if you don’t know the host very well. But, never fear: TABLE’s potluck recipes can help. Try these suggestions or create your own spin.
Tips for Picking a Potluck Recipe
You want something easily shareable, easy to make in bulk, and easy for a wide range of people to enjoy. Think big, hearty, and simple—pasta, potatoes, meat, salads. A potluck might not be the time to bust out your foie gras recipe, unless you really know your audience and their tastes. Plus, who wants to put a ton of time and invention into a recipe, only to watch a bunch of strangers pick at it? The best strategy, in our opinion, is to go simple and classic while remaining upscale and really leaning into the presentation. Potato salad and lasagna don’t have to look boring. People eat with their eyes first!
The History of the Potluck
Some people say the word potluck is a mispronunciation of the Tlingit word potlach, meaning “to gather together,” but evidence suggests that this is coincidental. Potluck first appeared as a word meaning a communal meal in a 16th century English play. But the practice really became popular in America during the Great Depression, when money was tight, so everyone bringing their own food was a way to pool available resources. Now potlucks from friend groups to office parties happen all the time!
TABLE Magazine‘s Ultimate Guide to Potluck Recipes
Meat and Fish
Seafood Lasagna
Really, all of Chef Jackie Page’s cooking is potluck-ready, with hearty flavors and simple ingredients. Her Braciole is another strong contender in this category. But lasagna makes a great potluck food because portion-wise, it’s perfect for sharing. With not a lot of effort, a seafood lasagna makes a show-stopping potluck recipe.
Maqluba (Makloubeh) with Lamb Meatballs
Meatballs are another perfectly shareable dish. Maqluba lamb meatballs from the Middle East takes them to a more interesting place than the classic (and familiar) Italian meatball. This recipe from Rafe Vencio requires a trip to the grocery store for spices, but if you’re looking to show off, these meatballs are a good choice.
Chicken in Mustard and Appelstroop
You can get Appelstroop, or Dutch apple syrup, online if you’re not lucky enough to live in the Netherlands. This Chicken in Mustard and Appelstroop is one of our most popular meat recipes, because it takes often bland and basic chicken and shows just how much a wonderful flavor can elevate a dish.
Summer BBQ Smoked Peach Pulled Pork
Headed to a barbecue this summer? This Smoked Peach Pulled Pork from Anna Franklin is mouthwatering. The combination of peaches, hot sauce, and smoky pulled pork is to die for. As a food magazine, we don’t always eat all of our creations, but this one definitely disappeared after the photograph was taken.
Pasta and Bread
Green Chile Mac and Cheese
If you’re making mac and cheese but worried it’s too basic, consider James Beard Award-nominated chef Cheryl Alters Jamison’s spicy Green Chile Mac and Cheese from her cookbook, American Home Cooking. Cheryl lives in New Mexico and often incorporates Southwestern ingredients into her recipes.
Baked Mac and Cheese by Aunt Cheryl
What’s better than one potluck-ready mac and cheese recipe by an excellent chef named Cheryl? Two, obviously. This Baked Mac and Cheese by Pittsburgh chef Cheryl Johnson is a classic, no-frills recipe that will warm the heart with its comforting, cheesy flavor. It’s easy to add other ingredients to this recipe if you want to dress it up, but it’s also just the perfect potluck food on its own.
Greek-Style Greens Galette
Mixing it up from pasta a little bit, consider a hand pie or a galette like this adaptation of a Jacques Pépin recipe. For a potluck party with a big group of contributors, sometimes bringing a side is a bolder move than bringing a main. This galette makes a nice savory dish to have along with a beer or a glass of crisp white wine.
Magical Zucchini Pasta Sauce
If you’re trying to hide your vegetables from picky eaters, this Magical Zucchini Pasta Sauce’s power is that it makes zucchini disappear into pasta. Zucchini is another tried-and-true potluck food because it’s filling and can be easily dressed up or down with seasoning. Another Zucchini and pasta combo is also our very popular Spaghetti alla Nerano inspired by Stanley Tucci.
Potatoes
Easy Ozette Potatoes Recipe with Corbaci Peppers and Sausage
This recipe has everything: starch, meat, and spice. Ozettes are the oldest variety of potato grown in the Pacific Northwest region, and Corbaci peppers are a rare pepper from Turkey known for their rich flavor. You might have to make an extra trip to the grocery store, but this delicious dish is worth it.
The Best Potato Salad Ever
Chef Monifa Dayo brings us the Best Potato Salad Ever from her chapter of the wonderful cookbook Black Food: Stories, Art, and Recipes from Across the African Diaspora. Potato salad is another one of the absolute classics of potluck dinner recipes, but a bad potato salad can be…really bad. Monifa Dayo’s recipe gives you a version that will make you the most popular potato salad chef at any party.
Easy-Bake Beans and Potatoes
This Easy Bake Beans and Potatoes takes inspiration from Dinner: Changing the Game: A Cookbook by Melissa Clark. This recipe uses a sheet pan, so it’s even easier to cook in bulk. It’s full of protein, and both healthy and delicious!
Smashed Sweet Potatoes
If you’re not about regular potatoes, consider experimenting with sweet potatoes. This recipe from Veda Sankaran uses Icelandic sea kelp and nori to give an extra salty kick from natural ingredients rather than sprinkles of table salt.
Vegetables
Easy Rainbow Pesto Veggie Flatbread Pizza
This is a great example of a presentation crowd-pleaser. For a summer or Pride-themed potluck, you can’t beat the beautiful farm-fresh rainbow colors of this flatbread pizza. It’s an ideal summer potluck dinner dish, and with just Trader Joe’s Lavash flatbread and Quattro Formaggi, you’ve turned a salad into a pizza!
Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad
The combination of Manchego cheese, cranberries, and pomegranate seeds makes this Brussels Sprouts Salad from Cheryl Alters Jamison more than just Brussels sprouts. Homemade dressing also creates some zest.
Easy, Refreshing Summer Pasta Salad
You can’t go wrong with a pasta salad. This refreshing pasta salad uses handmade Fusilli and St. Malachi’s cheese along with fresh cherry tomatoes and diced cucumbers. Perfect for a summer picnic!
Baby Kale Salad with Citrus-Marinated Artichoke Hearts
Artichoke hearts are a delicious and unique vegetable, with tons of health benefits. If you combine them with kale, you get a winning salad that everyone will enjoy.
If you’re planning a drink program for a potluck dinner, also check out…
Story by Emma Riva
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