In order to come up with creative recipe ideas, ingredient pairings, and cooking tips, we create some of our content with the assistance of customized AI tools alongside our own kitchen testing and editorial review. All images are human photographed. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
When cooking for potlucks, I’ve learned that it’s not about how fancy or complicated the meal is. It’s about the mass of food! Picture the car ride, the folding table, and the one person who u201cjust wants a tiny scoop,u201d and ends up shoveling.
These recipes are designed to withstand the usual church basement potluck conditions, like being in a large pan, being easy to serve, and having the perfect amount of flavor to keep people coming back for seconds. Most of them are made ahead of time, and it’s kind of the only way to keep me nice while I look for the matching lid.
Baked ziti is a staple dish for potlucks. It’s also really easy to serve because no one has to dig into the pan and get burned edges on the top. I like to make two pans of baked ziti for twenty people because that means everyone gets a nice crispy edge, plus a lot more.
For your sauce, make sure to use a hearty marinara and lots of mozzarella, and if youu2019re feeling generous (I usually am), you can add a ricotta layer. Baked ziti is great for leftovers because it stays good even after it’s reheated a few times.
2) Baked Mac And Cheese
This is the mac and cheese people would remember, the one with a proper baked top and that faintly dramatic cheese pull.
For crowds, I like to use a custardy base including eggs and evaporated milk, which is Southern-style servings. This type of base helps the dish set, so it can be cut and served easily. If you are worried about the dish drying out, cover it with foil for most of the bake, but remove the foil to brown it for the last few minutes.
Pulled pork is a potluck cheat code because the slow cooker does the heavy lifting while you do literally anything else. Pork shoulder (or Boston butt) is very forgiving and scales up easily for 20 hungry guests. I enjoy laying out the buns, pickles, and a crunchy slaw so that people can construct their own. Set the slow cooker to “warm” so it will remain tender throughout the entire line.
Nostalgia is a tricky thing, especially when you’ve never done any of it before. The meatball recipe calls for a sweet and spicy sauce made from a mixture of grape jelly and chili sauce. If you want to keep your sanity, just buy frozen meatballs. For an ambitious homemade version, you’re gonna need forks. Let’s get creative with our sticks, instead of using them to poke the meatballs.
6) Deviled Eggs
Deviled eggs usually annoy the hell out of people when they have to spend time unwrapping a million of them to get to the eggs, but it’s still kind of a compliment. Expect to lose a lot of eggs at the end of the event. They’re going to be saying “one more for the road” and eating three or more from the platter. My recommendation for avoiding the problem of flat eggs is to mix mustard, mayo, and sharp pickles, relish, or vinegar (just a splash). They are going to start looking like abstract art from the road.
7) Broccoli Rice Casserole
This casserole is what helps balance out all of the beige food on the table. It is an easy, classic, and popular veggie option that is always combined with cheddar and rice and it can be doubled for a big crowd to fill two pans.
This is something people appreciate more than they admit. It has to be scoopable even as it cools, and yes, I know it’s a good thing. That’s how the potluck goes.
8) Green Bean Casserole
How about trying something different for the dish? Instead of just the crunchy onion topping, you could do a creamy mushroom sauce and add fresh or frozen green beans. I’ve seen people who “don’t like green beans” go back for seconds. To spread the crunch onion topping and minimize the complaints, use a wider baking dish.
9) Baked Beans
Baked beans are a great side with grilled meat, especially with pulled pork. The added bacon and brown sugar make them good even to serve them with ham or barbecue from the potluck. I learned an important lesson about how to serve them when I added too much sugar and forgot to taste them first. Slow cookers are great for keeping food warm for hours.
10) Crowd-Pleasing Chili
Chili is forgiving and scalable, which is my favorite type of recipe. A big pot like that can serve about 20 people really easily. Especially when topped with cheese, sour cream, and diced onions.
For texture, mixing different beans in your chili is better. And you can even make tasty slow-cooked chili with one type of bean.
Additionally, ladle that is sturdy, or you’ll have chili drips on the tablecloth all night.
11) Cornbread
Chili’s best accompaniment is undoubtedly the cornbread, as it can also serve a function for the beans. I enjoy baking it in 2 large boxes so it can be sliced into neat squares for a big crowd. If you put in sugar, it will be sweet, and if you don’t, you can skip it. Lots of people have different preferences. Since it makes everyone happy, I usually bring honey on the side.
12) Classic Potato Salad
Potato salad doesn’t have to be dull. A picnic kind of flavor is added by mustard, chopped pickles, and chopped celery. This should be made the night before so the flavors can blend and mellow. When potlucks start, those rooms begin to heat up.
My favorite dressings have a tangy taste that wakes up my mouth.
I like a bit of a mix of mayo with a splash of vinegar here to lighten it up. If you want to go lighter, you can go fully vinegar-based go fully vinegar-based. It also holds up well if kept chilled and isn’t overdressed. My slaw stopped getting watery the day I learned to salt the cabbage first and squeeze it dry.
14) Italian Pasta Salad
For potlucks, I love to make a pasta salad because it’s so easy to make in bulk. For a good pasta salad, make sure to use rotini noodles and a wide variety of crisp and crunchy veggies. Don’t forget the dressing. Otherwise, the salad will be bland.
If you want to make it more of a meal, you can add meat like salami or cheese like mozzarella. I think it’s a really good potluck dish. I made it the night before and it was one of the rare occasions I was successful at cooking that late. It tasted great the next day.
15) Slider Sandwich Tray
These are sandwiches that are easy to eat a lot of.
I prefer bringing them a bit underbaked to the event, and warming them up at the venue if there is an oven. If there isn’t, they’ll be fine at room temperature.
n
16) Egg Casserole
n Potluck will be an egg casserole. Combine eggs, cooked sausage, cheese, and either bread cubes or hash browns, then bake until set. It’s filling, simple, and easy to cut into pieces for serving. I’ve seen dedicated salad eaters snag a bite of this.
n
17) Cocktail Sausages
They are super easy to eat which will quickly win you some goodwill. Just simmer some little sausages in a sweet and spicy sauce (BBQ sauce with something sweet plus a little chili flakes for spiciness works well). If you keep them in a slow cooker, they’ll look inviting and make people stand nearby as if they were waiting for a bus.
n
18) Chicken And Dumplings
This is super cozy and it feels unfair how it can feed an entire crowd.
Using a rotisserie chicken will save some time, then cook your broth until it’s creamy, and add your dumplings last! The dumplings should be soft and tender, so don’t stir too often, just let them be. This meal is so good that everyone in the room will be quiet.
19) Vegetable Soup
19) Vegetable Soup
Whenever I feel like being a little virtuous, making a big batch of vegetable soup for a potluck is one of my favorite things to do. It is completely flexible, and is super warm, and inviting to eat!
It can be paired with some rolls to make it super easy to eat (nobody’s jaws will have to dislocate) and can be enjoyed by almost everyone.
20) Cheesy Potato Casserole
The name is a mouthful, but it is just as fitting as any other name for this comfort dish. It is a crunchy topped, creamy, cheesy potato dish. It is a crowd favorite, and incredibly easy to scale for larger quantities. All you need is some frozen hash brown potatoes, some sour cream and cheese, and for the topping some crushed corn flakes, or a mixture of butter and crumbs. I have seen a pan of this get so clean you could have served dessert in it!
21) Baked Ham
If you want to show that you mean business, bring a ham.
It can feed twenty people easily and is incredibly simple to serve; just cut it and let people help themselves. The honey or brown sugar glaze gives the sweet touch that is highly sought after. I recommend bringing your own carving knife, as the “collaborative knives” could be… unusual.
22) Roast Turkey Breast
Turkey breast is a great option if you want a classic dish that is not as heavy as ham. Simply roast it with some herbs and a decent amount of salt, and then prepare a simple gravy with the drippings or broth. It can be served warm (which is nice!) or at room temperature and will still be a wonderful contribution to a buffet. It will be appreciated especially by those who want Thanksgiving flavors without the hassle of a full production.
23) Stuffing
Bringing stuffing to a potluck takes guts, but it shows love for comfort food and tradition. To achieve the perfect amount of toasty top and gooey middle bits, bake your stuffing in a wide, shallow pan. Classic stuffing recipes include sage and onion and you’ve got to use good quality broth. I’ve made the mistake of forgetting to add salt and tried to season it at the table. Don’t season your stuffing live at the table, it’s a bad idea
24) Caesar Salad
For Caesar, keep the dressing separate so that the romaine remains crisp and perky.
Croutons and shaved Parmesan elevate the dish enough to stand up to the casseroles. It also provides some relief for those who want a fresh option between bites of mac and cheese (which, let’s be honest, is most of us).
25) Taco Salad Bar
26) Chicken Alfredo Bake
Alfredo in a big pan is unapologetically rich and that is the point. Use cooked chicken (leftover roast chicken works great), toss with some pasta and a creamy sauce then add broccoli so you can tell yourself it’s balanced. Bake until bubbling and light brown. If you are serving this to 20 people, this one goes fast, especially with teens.
27) King Ranch Chicken
King Ranch chicken is a bit cozy, a bit rowdy and is layered with all the good stuff that I look for in a potluck casserole.
Imagine chicken, cheese, tortillas, peppers, and a creamy sauce all merged together and baked to a crisp. This isn’t something that’s trying to be fancy, because it definitely isn’t. Bring a serving spoon that can do a big scoop; this is NOT a “dainty spatula” job.
28) Shepherd’s Pie
Marcus
Shepherd’s Pie can be made with US beef instead of lamb which is used in other countries. It may not be the prettiest thing to look at, but it is very fulfilling and you can even cut it! Just be careful when serving it, you don’t want the filling to be oozing from every side!
When you make mashed potatoes, you can achieve the beautiful golden top by roughing the surface with a fork. And don’t forget to use peas and carrots as they really lift the overall look of the dish! This dish makes you feel really fortunate and also very able.
Baked Spaghetti
29) Baked Spaghetti
Baked spaghetti is a little retro and I mean it in a good way. It is pasta with sauce and cheese, baked to the point where it sets like a casserole and can be cut into squares. It is ideal for pot lucks. This dish is inexpensive, serves 20 people, and makes it look like you really put in a lot of effort, when in reality, you really didn’t.
Enchilada Casserole
30. Enchilada Casserole
30) Enchilada Casserole
If you have to make 40 rolled enchiladas, that can seem like a personal attack. But don’t roll them—make them layered instead! ’s task: Stack tortillas with sauce, cheese, and shredded chicken or beans, and bake until it all melds together. It’s forgiving, delicious, and easy to serve. To brighten it up, add sour cream and chopped cilantro.
31) Jambalaya
31. Jambalaya
Jambalaya is one pot meal with some personality. It has the unique characteristics of andouille sausage as well as the addition of chicken and rice, so we will keep the cooking temperature at medium. People react to heat differently, so I keep hot sauce on the side. If you manage to do this, people will ask you for the recipe. That is both flattering and slightly inconvenient if you were just winging it.
32) Corn Casserole
32. Corn Casserole
Sweet and soft corn casserole is comforting, like a cousin of cornbread. It’s customizable. Use a big oven-safe dish and have it with ham or chili. The casserole seems oddly like a mixture of pudding and bread. You won’t get it until you try it. I have made the dish back up before, and I have seen it outperform the main, centerpiece casserole.
Although some may see this as disrespectful, I must
say I appreciated the information.
33) Dinner Rolls
Great butter and roll from the store quality
Most likely you will be doing the job of mopping up sauce and gravy spills. If you’re trying to buy yourself some time, this is the best option to create work for someone else. But don’t forget to bring serving tongs so that it isn’t just a free for all.
34) Sheet Cake
A sheet cake is a sensible option for dessert for twenty. Practical is good and enjoyable. If a soft, fudgy crumb appeals to you, then Texas sheet cake is a good choice. It’s tasty and has a warm poured frosting. I like to cut the cake into small squares, this way guests will take more than one, which is part of your plan! I’ve seen cake calm a room full of hungry people faster than any announcement.
Pantry & Tools I Reach For When Cooking for a Crowd
This is the kit that does the heavy lifting for virtually all kinds of potluck contributions. Affiliate links: HomeViable earns a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase through these links.
MIAOJIE Insulated Casserole Carrier. The carrier that keeps the baked ziti hot in the car ride to the church basement.
ThermoMaven Instant-Read Meat Thermometer. Pulls the ham at the right temperature, the turkey breast without overshooting, and the drumsticks before the skin starts to bronze past the point of return.
Nathaniel Lee is the self-taught chef and recipe developer behind HomeViable. No culinary school, no nutrition degree. He learned by watching, tasting, and refusing to stop asking why. Every recipe here teaches something. He wants you to understand your food, not just cook it.
*](data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAy4AAJdRCAYAAAItpb9RAAAACXBIWXMAAB7C7Z8Pq8AAAAAAHRFWHRDcmVhdGlvbiBUaW1lOjIwMjMtMDEtMDNUMTI6MDc6NDU5DQ1zdWJzY2F0ZWQ=)
*](data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAy4AAJdRCAYAAA
