Our Best Dinner Party Recipes

Jeff swaps in butter crackers for breadcrumbs in this finger-friendly crab cake appetizer. The crackers do double duty in helping the cake bind together as well as infusing the crab with delicious butter flavor.

Soup is always a strong way to start a dinner party — and when it's Ree's comforting tomato soup, everyone's happy. Plus, you can make this the night before so that on the day of the get-together, all you have to do is reheat it.

Magic happens when you fry bread in butter and maple syrup. It gets lacquered and candied; and when you use a good bread like sourdough, it stays chewy on the inside. Topped with a soft cheese, it's exactly what your guests want to eat as a starter with wine.

One of our favorite vegetables gets the royal treatment: It's filled with a cheesy and bacony kale stuffing, coated in crispy breadcrumbs, and baked until melting and tender.

A simple marinade of balsamic vinaigrette works magic on roasted chicken. And who doesn't want to go over to someone's house for chicken? Giada's recipe is elegant yet welcoming.

When hosting dinner, it helps to have a repertoire of tasty sides at your disposal. Take, for instance, this colorful orzo salad: It's a light, vibrant pasta dish that will make your main course shine.

Buffalo chicken dip is always a crowd-pleaser, but serving it in a warm, doughy ring makes it extra special. And its fun presentation is sure to grab everyone's attention.

Just because you're feeding friends doesn't mean it has to be anything fancy. In fact, serving something like Ina's comforting chicken stew with biscuits — a sort of fuss-free, big-batch chicken pot pie — is what entertaining is all about: providing sustenance and comfort for the people you love.

Slow-cooked comfort meets fancy-ish French bistro in this regional classic. Chicken portions get braised in a Dutch oven with wine, herbs and garlic — yes, forty cloves — that mellow out and sweeten in flavor. A touch of cream brings everything together at the end.

Though a bit on the pricier side, scallops are an easy, elegant dinner option when your party is small and intimate. Our fans are obsessed with Ina's recipe, which borrows from the flavors of France.

This pasta dish is guaranteed to impress guests with its eye-catching surprise inside: a beautiful runny egg yolk. Though worthy of a restaurant appetizer, it is super easy to put together when you use store-bought pasta sheets.

Think: spinach dip in finger food form. Frozen puff pastry shells and frozen chopped spinach are quick shortcuts to Giada's Cheese and Spinach Puff Pastry Pockets.

Make this one-pot French classic Ina's way: Braise chicken, mushrooms and pancetta with cognac, Burgundy and chicken stock until it's ultra-tender and rich in flavor.

Is there a dinner party food more perfect than a cheesy, one-pan casserole? You only need a handful of ingredients for this comforting pasta bake.

Ina says, "The only cocktail you can reasonably have at breakfast is a Bloody Mary." It's the perfect make-ahead cocktail, because it gets better as the tomato mixture sits.

Make tonight pizza night: Alton's Pizza Pizzas are so tasty, easy and fun to make at home with friends and family, you may never order in again.

It helps to start dinner with a pitcher drink you can make a batch of, like Ina's essential margarita recipe. Lime juice, lemon juice, Triple Sec, tequila and ice are pureed in a blender, then shaken with ice.

Smother bone-in turkey and sourdough bread in Mornay cheese sauce — but not just any Mornay cheese sauce. This one's filled with chopped roasted red peppers and bacon, and it leaves the oven bubbling in individual-sized cast-iron dishes.

The Aperol Spritz is the perfect big-batch cocktail to whet your guests' appetites. It's bitter, sweet and refreshing — and it's making a comeback.

Our fans are obsessed with these vegetarian egg rolls that have a Southwestern twist. Plus, they're the perfect finger food.

After you're done devouring this light and crispy fried shrimp (with blue cheese and hot sauce dips!), bookmark this recipe permanently. You'll want to use the tempura recipe over and over again for dishes like tempura veggies too.

Serve Rachael's super-easy, super-cheesy fondue with an assortment of your favorite dippers —crudites, baguette, baby potatoes and pickles.

These stuffed, fried fillets of chicken breast are perfect for dinner parties because you can prep them ahead of time and fry them the day of. Most importantly, they're single portions, making them a breeze to serve.

Serve Indian takeout at home with Aarti's fan-favorite mild curry recipe. It's big, hearty and feeds a hungry crowd in one fell swoop.

Tyler allows the beef to rest on a carving board for 20 minutes to let the juices settle. The internal temperature of the meat will continue to rise about 10 degrees to achieve perfectly cooked results.

It helps to serve a starchy side your guests can fill up on. Means you can focus your hosting energy on the details of smaller bites and the main course. These dolled-up mashed potatoes get a homemade Cajun seasoning mix of paprika, garlic powder and cayenne pepper.

This BIG salad boasts the best of summer produce (juicy peaches and crisp, sweet corn), and bumps up the flavor even more by charring the ingredients on the grill. Piled on a bed of peppery arugula, the dish is unexpected but certainly crowd-pleasing.

Need a side dish to go with dinner? The name of this recipe speaks for itself and is proof that cauliflower can be incredibly delicious if you treat it right.

Damaris makes a vegetarian-friendly taco spread where guests can add their own fixings.

Instead of cupcakes, serve these savory hand-held treats that feature a moist cornbread topped with a homemade pimento cheese spread.

Ree tops homemade cookie crusts with a creamy mixture and displays them with a platter of fruit. Let everyone build their own pizza with as much fruit as desired for a treat that's perfect for a sleepover or any kid-friendly event.

Giada brings California to Tuscany with her avocado and white bean dip.

Ina's grown-up mac and cheese is celebratory enough for a dinner party, featuring three BIG cheeses: Cheddar, Roquefort and Gruyere. How bad can that be?

Lamb chops sound fussy, but they're actually super quick and easy to cook. A flash fry in the pan is all you need. Plus, your friends will totally think you're fancy when you serve them on a large platter like this.

Petit fours are special-occasion mini fancy cakes that can be eaten in one bite. Bakery shop versions can take hours to construct, but you can make these with our basic sheet pan cake! It is wide enough to punch out multiple rounds using a cookie cutter and thin enough for filling and stacking.