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Our Best Dinner Party Recipes
Bottom line: Having friends over for supper can be a breeze. But the trick to easy entertaining is creating a menu that doesn't keep you, the host, in the kitchen forever.
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Crab Cake Sliders
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.
Get the Recipe: Crab Cake Sliders with Blood Orange Aioli
Best Tomato Soup Ever
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.
Get the Recipe: Best Tomato Soup Ever
Maple Bread with Soft Cheese
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.
Get the Recipe: Maple Bread with Soft Cheese
Roasted Stuffed Cauliflower
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.
Get the Recipe: Whole Roasted Stuffed Cauliflower
Roasted Chicken with Balsamic Vinaigrette
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.
Get the Recipe: Roasted Chicken with Balsamic Vinaigrette
Orzo Salad
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.
Get the Recipe: Orzo Salad
Buffalo Chicken Crescent Ring
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.
Get the Recipe: Buffalo Chicken Crescent Ring
Chicken Stew with Biscuits
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.
Get the Recipe: Chicken Stew with Biscuits
Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic
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.
Get the Recipe: Chicken with Forty Cloves of Garlic
Scallops Provencal
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.
Get the Recipe: Scallops Provencal
Egg-Stuffed Ravioli
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.
Get the Recipe: Egg-Stuffed Ravioli
Cheese and Spinach Puff Pastry Pockets
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.
Get the Recipe: Cheese and Spinach Puff Pastry Pockets
Coq au Vin
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.
Get the Recipe: Coq Au Vin
Baked Rigatoni with Bechamel Sauce
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.
Get the Recipe: Baked Rigatoni with Bechamel Sauce
Bloody Mary
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.
Get the Recipe: Bloody Mary
Pizza Pizzas
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.
Get the Recipe: Pizza Pizzas
Blackberry Cheesecake Squares
Get the Recipe: Blackberry Cheesecake Squares
Real Margaritas
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.
Get the Recipe: Real Margaritas
Hot Browns with Pimento Cheese Mornay
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.
Get the Recipe: Hot Browns with Pimento Cheese Mornay
Aperol Spritz
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.
Get the Recipe: Aperol Spritz
Southwestern Egg Rolls with Salsa Dipping Sauce
Our fans are obsessed with these vegetarian egg rolls that have a Southwestern twist. Plus, they're the perfect finger food.
Get the Recipe: Southwestern Egg Rolls with Salsa Dipping Sauce
Shrimp Scampi Pizza
Get the Recipe: Shrimp Scampi Pizza
Buffalo Shrimp Tempura
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.
Get the Recipe: Buffalo Shrimp Tempura
Easy Cheesy Fondue with Fingerling Potatoes, French Bread and Select Vegetables
Serve Rachael's super-easy, super-cheesy fondue with an assortment of your favorite dippers —crudites, baguette, baby potatoes and pickles.
Get the Recipe: Easy Cheesy Fondue with Fingerling Potatoes, French Bread and Select Vegetables
Chicken Kiev
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.
Get the Recipe: Chicken Kiev
Chicken in Creamy Tomato Curry: Chicken Tikka Masala
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.
Get the Recipe: Chicken Tikka Masala
Standing Rib Roast with Cabernet au Jus
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.
Get the Recipe: Standing Rib Roast with Cabernet au Jus
Cajun Mashed Potatoes
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.
Get the Recipe: Cajun Mashed Potatoes
Garlic Butter Dinner Rolls
Get the Recipe: Garlic Butter Dinner Rolls
Grilled Peach and Corn Salad
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.
Get the Recipe: Grilled Peach and Corn Salad
The Best Cauliflower Ever
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.
Get the Recipe: The Best Cauliflower Ever
Mini Turkey Meatballs
Get the Recipe: Mini Turkey Meatballs
"Fauxrizo" Taco Filling
Damaris makes a vegetarian-friendly taco spread where guests can add their own fixings.
Get the Recipe: "Fauxrizo" Taco Filling
Pimento-Cheese Cakes
Instead of cupcakes, serve these savory hand-held treats that feature a moist cornbread topped with a homemade pimento cheese spread.
Get the Recipe: Gina's Pimento Cheese Cakes
Lemon-Pepper Roast Chicken
Get the Recipe: Lemon-Pepper Roast Chicken
Cheesy Baked Tortellini
Get the Recipe: Cheesy Baked Tortellini
Vanilla Panna Cotta
Get the Recipe: Vanilla Panna Cotta
Spicy Muffin-Tin Tacos
Get the Recipe: Spicy Muffin Tin Tacos
Grilled Shrimp, Watermelon and Feta Salad
Get the Recipe: Grilled Shrimp, Watermelon and Feta Salad
Wedge Salad Burgers
Get the Recipe: Wedge Salad Burgers
No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Thumbprints
Get the Recipe: No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Thumbprints
Soft Polenta with Mascarpone
Get the Recipe: Soft Polenta with Mascarpone
Stewed Escarole with Feta
Get the Recipe: Stewed Escarole with Feta
Individual Fruit Pizzas
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.
Get the Recipe: Individual Fruit Pizzas
Banana Muffins with Mascarpone Cream Frosting
Get the Recipe: Banana Muffins with Mascarpone Cream Frosting
Sesame Toasts
Get the Recipe: Sesame Toasts
Avocado and White Bean Dip
Giada brings California to Tuscany with her avocado and white bean dip.
Get the Recipe: Avocado and White Bean Dip
Grown-Up Mac and Cheese
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?
Get the Recipe: Grown Up Mac and Cheese
Baby Lamb Chops with Lemon
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.
Get the Recipe: Baby Lamb Chops With Lemon
Sheet Pan Petit Fours
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.
Get the Recipe: Sheet Pan Petit Fours
Affogato
This after-dinner treat couldn't be simpler (or more impressive). Simply pour a shot of expresso over a vanilla ice cream and top with chocolate shavings and chopped nuts.
Get the Recipe: Affogato
