When you’re the dietitian, you’re often asked for nutritious dishes, suitable for feeding a crowd at a potluck, which taste great and cost little. And when you’re the dietitian, you appreciate the question and want to provide recipe suggestions that both the home cook and crowd they’ll be feeding will be excited about. Since party season is upon us, it’s a good time to create a go-to list of perfect pot-luck menu ideas so that I’m ready the next time I’m asked.
Just make sure you give yourself a bit of time for them to marinate. I love dishes that are easy to serve (and it doesn’t get easier than skewers). Shopping tip: Look for affordable frozen shrimp at your local market. Use cold water to quickly defrost and prepare shrimp for grilling.
Bring along small tortillas and taco fixins’ so guests can give build their own small taco.
While you spend the day keeping up with your holiday list, your slow cooker will create a flavorful chicken dish that will pair well with other pot luck dishes. Take it a step further by suggesting other guests contribute Greek dishes too like salad, hummus or tapenade.
You can easily double or triple this versatile roasted vegetable recipe. If you prefer to use different vegetables, it’s easy to modify this recipe and it pairs well with a variety of other dishes.
This salad is easy to double if needed and offers a bit of grain to make it a crowd-pleasing dish. Tip: Use a shallow dish to layer vegetables and grain, serve additional dressing on the side.
A Few New Fun Ideas
Panini bar: If you have a panini maker, make a panini bar. Pick great bread out at your local bakery and ask them to slice it thin. Offer guests a variety of cheeses, lunch meats, and jams to create small, unique paninis. Guests will have fun trying different combinations.
Mashed potato bar: Make mashed sweet or russet potatoes and let guests enjoy with a variety of toppings like shredded cheese, roasted or steamed veggies, beans, and the like.
Chili bar: Set the slow cooker going in the morning with this chili and let guests serve themselves with a variety of toppings.
Share the love: If you’re hosting, ask guests to send you their recipes so that you can put together a quick “recipe book” to share online with everyone who may want to make a recipe again.