I love potlucks. It’s a chance to get together with friends without breaking the bank, your sanity, and still getting to sample what is usually “the best dish” your friends have to offer. I have gotten some of THE BEST recipes from potlucks, my all time favorite being Carole’s Creamy Grape Salad!
If you’ve only gone to potlucks, and never hosted, here’s the 411 on on how to host a potluck dinner. Being the hostess with the mostest, now that’s something to aim for. 😉
How To Host A Potluck Dinner
- Set a theme. This will help to make sure you don’t get hoagie rolls and lunch meat next to a plate of enchiladas. I like to go with ethnic themes: Mexican, Italian, etc. but you could also do BBQ or Soups and Subs, for example.
- Ask your guest to commit to a course. For example: appetizers, sides, entrees, desserts. That way, you will know if you are “dessert” heavy {which is usually the case} and you can ask them to bring something else.
- When you invite guests, make sure to tell them how many people they need to provide for. If you have invited 20 people, let them know that. Also, let them know how many people are bringing the course they committed to, because they don’t necessarily need to make enough for 20, for example, if 3 other people are bringing desserts.
- Ask guests if they will need oven space, a plug-in {for their crock pot}, or fridge/freezer space. That way, you can clear them space BEFORE they arrive. It will limit the chaos.
- Be prepared to provide serving utensils. A lot of times, people bring the dish, but no serving utensils. I like to have plenty of spatulas, large serving spoons, salad tongs, etc. on hand so that I am prepared.
- You are responsible for presentation. Your guests will bring their dish, but you will need to lay out table cloths, napkins, utensils, cups, etc. {unless you assigned those items to a guest}.
- If you’ve ever hosted a potluck, then you know: have back-ups ready. People cancel at the last minute–like, all of the time. Be prepared to whip something up if you get left short–it’s the hazards of being the hostess.
Those are my tips on how to host a potluck dinner. Did I miss anything? What are some of yours?
~ Mavis
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Bec in the PNW says
I love a potluck! It’s always fun to get to sample a variety of foods. As a host, you kind of have to be prepared for anything. I once had guests show up with a whole, un-cut watermelon and corn that needed to be de-tasseled and cooked. They then disappeared to the backyard. You live and learn, so next time I asked them to bring sodas!
Katelyn says
They didn’t bring a dish – they brought a job! Yikes!
Linda Practical Parsimony says
I had someone come and bring food that needed the oven. That was chaos as they seemed to need the whole kitchen. I had people bring something that needed a bowl. Well, that is not much to ask, but it seemed everyone needed something. Now, when I go to a potluck, I take everything ready to serve so I can set it on the table.
When I had a potluck in the backyard, bbq or picnic food. I took all plates, tablecloths, utensils to back yard in my little red wagon. After it was all over, I used the wagon to bring everything back to house in the dark.
I had the dishwasher empty, so putting all the plates and such in there was easy. Yes, I used real dishes outdoors.
The first time I had people over, I was going to buy plastic utensils and dreaded the cost. I happened to be in a drugstore where I found really cheap utensils two for a quarter. I bought 20 sets of utensils. Since I did this for two years every month, I spent $10 for stainless steel that went into the dishwasher and was kept separate from the ones I used. People thanked me for real dishes instead of disposable plates and plastic forks. It was a great two years with a potluck at my house every month, 8 months outdoors.
Also, I made a huge stack of colorful napkins that could be washed. I move a newish trash can to the shrubs near the side yard for trash. When we were outdoors, I had a small table with insect repellents. For outdoors, I bought funky, cheap containers to put citronella candles in around the perimeter of the yard.
I had plenty of tables and chairs, but one time, I needed one more seat. I grabbed a blanket from indoors and people were fighting to sit on the ground. So, from then on, I had blankets ready for all the people who would rather sit on the ground.
Randini says
I interview people for a living, one of my favorite interview questions to put them at ease and break the ice is , “we like to gather together and eat potluck style 🙂 What is your go-to potluck dish?” I’ve scored some great recipes and some great employees this way!
PSUCHIC06 says
That’s a great opener! If someone asked me that, I would think it was a great place to work !
Mary says
I love that grape salad! Last month, I had to go to a potluck, I knew one of the guests couldn’t have gluten and made that for him to eat…. Well, so did everyone else- the dish came home empty.
Linda Sand says
I once went to a surprise party that was a potluck. Since it couldn’t be discussed in front of the person being honored, the host called each attendee and told them what they’d like them to bring. When we arrived people started asking each other what they brought and the answer was always salad! The host had one bring a fruit salad, another bring a seafood salad, another bring a chicken salad, etc. It was great fun!
JulieP says
We don’t really have potlucks in the UK which is sad as they sound great! Maybe I should start the ball rolling with all these tips if we ever have a summer!
Jules says
We have a large extended family so most gatherings are potlucks. We’ve found that it helpful for the host to have extra to-go containers for any leftovers…. a great way to reuse empty butter containers or whipped cream containers