Best Recipes To Bring To A Party

Throwing a party can be a lot of fun, but it can also be stressful, especially if you're in charge of the cooking. But if you choose the right recipes and do a little advance planning, everyone will be amazed at how relaxed you are while they are enjoying your delicious food!

I've culled through hundreds of Panning The Globe's most delicious recipes for entertaining to bring you the best of the best easy and make-ahead party food - dishes that will totally wow the crowd! Plus some pro tips to make your next party a stress-free success.

Let's start with the starters - small bites with big flavors. These little nibbles will light up the party with excitement and whet people's appetites without filling them up too much, so they will be ready to enjoy the next course.

Best Party Food

Chop the smoked salmon, toss it with lemon zest, minced shallots and white pepper, and serve it with thinly sliced cucumber rounds or sesame rice crackers. Finish with a garnish of sour cream and chopped chives. This elegant smoked salmon appetizer is gourmet finger food with wonderful delicate flavors - a fantastic crowd-pleasing party appetizer that you can make in 15 minutes.

I make this goat cheese appetizer for all occasions. It takes 10 minutes to prepare and everyone goes crazy for it. Take a log of goat cheese, make some slits along the top, whisk up the garlicky parsley dressing and spoon it over the cheese. Serve with a basket of crackers or a thin-sliced baguette or both and watch it disappear fast. If you like to entertain, you need this recipe!

This is my all time favorite curried chicken salad recipe - definitely worthy of a special occasion. It's easy to prepare, it can be made the day before your party, and it makes a great hors d'oeuvre. Serve it on endive spears or crackers or, even easier, set a bowl of curried chicken salad out next to a basket of crackers, sliced baguette or endive spears, and let everyone help themselves.

Party Food Recipes

Tender, juicy shrimp encrusted with flavorful spices, and a tangy lime remoulade sauce for dipping or drizzling.This dish takes 20 minutes to prepare start to finish (including the sauce) and it's delicious warm or at room temperature - perfect party food.

Easy to make and incredibly satisfying, this slightly spicy shrimp tapas dish will be a hit at your party. All you need to make this recipe is shrimp, garlic, olive oil, crushed red pepper flakes and 15 minutes. It has to be served hot, right from the pan, and you'll need bread to soak up the insanely delicious garlicky oil. Let everyone gather around and dig in. I use this pan to make a big batch.

When you really want to make something irresistible for a party, Devils on Horseback will do the trick. An historic British appetizer of pitted prunes stuffed with goat cheese, wrapped in bacon, and served warm. These are perfect for a party. Everyone loves them and they can be assembled ahead of time and popped in oven in the oven at the last minute.

Easy Party Recipes To Feed A Crowd

Serve this fig and goat cheese appetizer at your next gathering and watch it disappear! The intensely flavorful combo of tangy goat cheese, caramelized onions and sherry-steeped figs is served warm, spread onto baguette slices or crackers. This easy recipe can be completely assembled a day in advance - the best kind of party food!

These caprese kebabs are the best party finger food and they can be made ahead of time and are customizable to whatever ingredients you like. Keep to the classic caprese recipe of mozzarella, tomatoes and basil or create delicious variations using olives, pepperoncinis, salami or prosciutto. Set the kebabs on a platter and, just before serving, season them with a drizzle of olive oil and some salt and fresh cracked pepper.

If you want to host a sit-down dinner and serve extraordinary food that your guests will utterly adore, but you don't want to be exhausted and scrambling around in the kitchen after your guests arrive, I can help!

Recipes That Are Perfect To Bring To A Party

Here are the most delicious, elegant and easy party food recipes that will make your guests extremely happy without stressing out the cook - so you can enjoy the party too.

This shrimp dish is phenomenal and easy to prepare - a steaming pot of shrimp in a spicy, lemony, buttery garlic sauce with melted feta that's ready in 35 minutes. Serve this luscious shrimp with crusty bread to sop up every delicious drop of amazing sauce or serve it over linguini or orzo, with a leafy green salad alongside. Any way you serve this, you'll have an outstanding meal that you can make with ease.

This no-fuss recipe will take you just 20 minutes of hands-on kitchen work to make a big pot of fabulous French beef bourguignon with meltingly tender beef and mushrooms in a rich savory red wine sauce.Your guests will be in heaven and you will be in disbelief at how easy this beef bourguignon recipe is!

Best Super Bowl Party Recipes & Ideas

Chicken Marbellais a famous, favorite dinner party recipe fromThe Silver Palate Cookbook. Chicken is marinated overnight with prunes, olives, capers, olive oil, vinegar and loads of garlic and oregano, and is baked just before serving. It's an easy dish to cook for a crowd and the flavors are extraordinary. I developed this elegant boneless version of Chicken Marbella to serve to a large crowd at my annual New Year's Eve Party - it's a cinch to make and always a big hit at the party.

Here's an amazingroast chickenrecipe from chef Yotam Ottolenghi. Chicken thighs are spiced with za'atar and sumac, tossed with onions, lemons and garlic, and roasted. This is a great dinner party recipe because you can do all the prep ahead. The chicken is tender and juicy and the flavors are fantastically delicious!

I make this salmon dish all the time and for every occasion. The recipe couldn't be easier. Coat the salmon with a 4-ingredient marinade/glaze of apricot preserves, soy sauce, lemon juice and garlic, and then follow my special cooking technique that yieldstender, juicy salmon every time. The sweet, tangy, garlicky glaze is utterly irresistible. I love serving this salmon with baked or mashed potatoes and a leafy salad - a great dish for dinner parties and for the weekly dinner rotation, too.

Best Party Food Ideas

Italian sausages are chopped, simmered with garlic and crushed red pepper and are then tossed with orecchiette pasta, broccoli rabe and pecorino cheese. This is a fantastic dinner party recipe because it's easy, you can do all the prep ahead, and the flavors are outstanding.

Thisbraised chicken with shallotsis one of my favorite chicken dishes to cook for a dinner party. It takes minimal time to prep, cooks in one pot, and you get beautifully browned, fork-tender chicken thighs and sweet caramelized shallots bathed in mustard wine sauce, enlivened by minty tarragon and fresh cherry tomatoes. Serve this dish with mashed potatoes bread or rice - something to soak up the luscious pan sauce.

When you host a party, it's great to strike a balance between serving rich dishes and lighter options, so everyone can enjoy the food and feel great. Choose one or two of these healthy, delicious salads to round out the meal.

Easy Recipes For A Dinner Party

Italy’s famousInsalata Tricolorerepresents the colors of the Italian flag. This beautiful salad uses a trio of lettuces, a vibrant lemon vinaigrette and is finished with parmesan cheese. A great salad for any occasion and a must with any Italian meal.

I named this The Best Green Salad because I brought it to a potluck and that's what everyone kept saying about it. This simplehealthy saladwith two lettuces and kale has a bright lemony Dijon vinaigrette and a robust sprinkling of parmesan cheese. It will delight and satisfy on any occasion, whether a holiday feast or a weeknight dinner.

This salad couldn't be simpler or more delicious. Shredded Tuscan kale is tossed with a dressing of honey, lemon, shallots, olive oil and parmesan cheese. Everyone who tries this salad this is bowled over - it's truly spectacular – one of my all time favorites.

The Best Super Bowl Food Ideas

ThisBrazilian hearts of palm saladis irresistibly good, and ridiculously easy to make. What I love about this dish is how a couple of cans of artichoke hearts and hearts of palm can transform a simple salad into an exotic tropical side dish. The creamy lemon-mustard-garlic dressing brings it all together for a colorful, substantial salad that goes with everything and is easily doubled or tripled to feed a crowd.

Vibrant Argentinean chimichurri dressing transforms fresh broccoli into a fabulous side dish. The bright fresh flavors of vinegar, garlic and herbs are front and center in this crave-worthy broccoli salad. And it takes only 20 minutes to prepare.

Sometimes you don't have to work that hard to make something great. This Moroccan raw carrot salad is an easy recipe that can be thrown together in 10 minutes. It's a healthy dish that goes with everything, it's absolutely delicious and it looks beautiful on the buffet table and on the plate.

The 40 Best Party Food Ideas

These side dishes are