Looking for potluck ideas? Here are 50 tasty and easy potluck recipes that will make you the star of the party.
- What is a ‘Potluck’?
- What is a good dish to take to a potluck?
- What should you not take to a potluck?
- Appetizers/Dips/Snacks For Potluck
- Main-Course Potluck Recipes
- Side Dish Recipes for Potluck
- Dessert Recipes For Potluck
What is a ‘Potluck’?
A potluck is a social gathering where each guest or family brings one dish to the table. Later, the potluck members share all the dishes for a meal.
It is an excellent way of eating good food together without burdening the hostess. And probably one of the fun ways to feed a large crowd with a delicious variety of food.
Before jumping to the potluck recipes, let’s look at some essential points to keep in mind when planning the perfect potluck dish:
Potluck Themes: Does your potluck have a theme? If so, adhere to it and think of potluck recipes that align with that theme. For example, if the theme is Chinese Takeaway Meals, don’t carry an Italian main course.
Don’t be Stingy : When we used to have office potlucks, some colleagues were notorious for not bringing enough portion sizes or signing up for low-quality food that no one wanted to touch. Don’t be that person.
What is a good dish to take to a potluck?
Potluck Recipes should be easy to pack and eat (even at room temperature), safe to carry around, and should be able to sustain the travel time.
Ask yourself these questions before picking a dish for the potluck:
- Will my dish taste good if served after a couple of hours?
- Will I have access to a microwave or a refrigerator? (storage depending on whether your dish needs to be served hot or cold). E.g. carrying a homemade ice cream to a potluck and ending up serving a milkshake.
- Is this a dish that requires additional cutlery to be eaten with? Is additional cutlery available at the venue? (if it isn’t, are you prepared to carry/purchase it?)
- Will my dish survive a few minutes/hours of travel time?
What should you not take to a potluck?
You should never take to a potluck the dishes that:
- have a peculiar smell
- contains a bizarre variety of meat or seafood
- too spicy for everyone’s palate, especially kids
- have too much synthetic flavour, colour, and preservatives
Overall, potlucks are a time to come together and share good food. So try to put your best effort into making a dish that tastes good and shows off your cooking skills.
Here are easy and tasty potluck recipes that are always a crowd favourite.
Appetizers/Dips/Snacks For Potluck
A no-mayonnaise potato salad recipe is perfect for potluck.
Greek Orzo Pasta Salad is a perfect choice for potluck.
This Mediterranean Couscous Salad is – fresh, vibrant, and vegan.
Creamy Pasta Salad with pineapple flavour .
Chicken Pasta Salad with a Herb Dressing. You can carry the dressing separately.
Mexican Style Mixed Beans Salad is easy to make and budget-friendly.
Gluten Free Lentil Salad is a great healthy salad for a potluck.
Indian Style Spicy Lobia (Black Eyed Peas) Chaat or salad.
Vegetarian Mediterranean Chickpeas Salad
Creamy Macaroni Salad is a perfect side dish for a family picnic or potluck.
Hummus is always a popular potluck recipe.
Beetroot Hummus add so much colour to the potluck table.
Roasted Red Pepper Dip is perfect for dipping snacks and chips.
Tomato Salsa is a vegan, gluten-free, and paleo-friendly dip perfect for tacos, burritos, nachos.
Corn Salsa is a perfect 15-minute snack for the crowd.
Fresh Mango Salsa is always a crowd favourite dish. Accompany it with a bag of chips.
Indian Style Peas Kachori is a crispy, flaky vegetarian pastry that will remain fresh for hours.
Corn Chaat is a is a widely popular Indian street food.
These mae ahead teatime sandwiches are perfect for potluck.
A delicious vegetarian skewer perfect for potluck or BBQ party.
Main-Course Potluck Recipes
Creamy Vegetable Bake is one of the best main course for potluck.
Serve Asian Style Chicken Meatballs with with fried rice or noodles.
Shepherd’s Pie is one of the best vegetable casseroles for a potluck.
When it comes to potluck, you can never go wrong with a classic Tomato Sauce Pasta .
Potato Bake is a delicious, comforting, gluten-free casserole of potatoes
Instant Pot Indian Chicken Pulao is one of my favorite potluck recipes that always win tons of compliments.
Try hearty, wholesome, vegetarian Instant Pot Lentil Stew for feeding the large crowd.
Kung Pao Chicken is a delicious Chinese style chicken stir fry with peppers and peanuts.
You can never go wrong with a classic Indian Dal Makhani when it comes to potluck.
Vegetable Pulao is a perfect one-pot meal for the potluck.
Indian Mushroom and Peas Pulao makes an excellent main course for potluck.
Thai Red Curry is a flavoursome, bold, aromatic curry.
This one-pot paneer curry requires 30 minutes and is perfect to feed the crowd.
This keema curry is a celebration of bold Indian flavours and comforting textures.
Side Dish Recipes for Potluck
Roasted Potato is the easiest and the most delicious way to eat crisp potato bites.
This Easy Rosemary Garlic Focaccia is perfect savory bake for the potluck.
Indian Style Coconut Rice compliments all the main-course dishes.
Spicy Indian Style Masala Potato Fry .
Refreshing Green Boondi Raita is a cooling and refreshing side dish for a potluck.
This is roasted tomato chutney recipe with a delicious smokey flavour.
Here is a restaurant style sweet and savoury pineapple raita recipe .
Matar Pulao is one side dish that compliments all the Indian main course dishes perfectly.
Dessert Recipes For Potluck
Lemon Pound Cake is the perfect teatime bake with the flavour and aroma of fresh lemons.
This Eggless Chocolate Cake is fudgy, super moist, and easy to prepare from start to finish.
A Classic Chocolate Brownie is always a huge hit among adults and teens when it comes to potluck.
These Mocha Muffins are perfect for brunch or teatime potluck.
A Vanilla Sponge Cake is always in demand when it comes to potluck. Easy to bake and carry around.
Baked Shahi Tukra is a popular Indian bread pudding made with bread, milk, and sugar.
This Carrot Halwa recipe is a family heirloom that requires only 10 minutes in an instant pot or pressure cooker.
Gulab Jamun is a popular Indian sweet. They are easy to pack, reheat, and serve.
You can make Phirni a day in advance and serve it cold or at room temperature.
Eggless Tutti Frutti Cake is a delightful dessert for potluck.
This is a mithai-style semolina cake inspired by the Ottoman delicacy Basbousa
Coconut Ladoo is a tasty and easy Indian sweet.
This no-bake strawberry cheesecake is one of the easiest desserts for a crowd.
Mango Shrikhand is an ultimate summertime delight.
Whether it’s a festive occasion or potluck, a Badam Kheer never fails to impress.
Seviyan Kheer is a perfect dessert for festive potluck dinners.
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Kulfi is a creamy and rich traditional Indian ice cream. For this kesar pista kulfi recipe, you need only 6 ingredients. Be sure to watch the video!
- About Indian Kulfi
- Ingredients Required
- Watch Kulfi Recipe Video
- My Tried and True Tips
- FAQs Kesar Pista Kulfi Recipe
- Kesar Pista Kulfi Recipe
About Indian Kulfi
Kulfi is a popular dessert across Northern India. It is believed to originate during the Mughal era in the 16th century. There are specific entries about Kulfi in the Mughal Emperor Akbar’s Ain-i-Akbari.
Since then, Kulfi has never failed to charm the taste buds of food lovers in India. The distinctive feature of the Kulfi is its conical shape. There are special moulds available for freezing and shaping kulfi.
The word ‘Kesar’ in Hindi means saffron , and ‘pista’ is the short name for pistachio . Hence, the saffron and pistachio flavoured kulfi got its name – kesar pista kulfi .
It is traditionally made by slow cooking the milk until it reduces to at least half, resulting in a rich and sweet condensed/caramelized goodness. Kulfi, prepared via slow cooking the milk, also renders a unique smooth mouthfeel devoid of ice crystals.
Ingredients Required
- Milk – Full Cream or full-fat milk is best for this kulfi recipe. Avoid using toned or skimmed milk.
- Sugar – Adjust the amount of sugar according to your taste preference.
- Saffron (Kesar) – For this kesar pista kulfi recipe, saffron is an essential ingredient. It gives the kulfi a beautiful yellow colour and a rich taste.
- Pistachio – The ground unsalted pistachio is the secret ingredient that makes my kulfi recipe successful.
- Mawa (Khoya) – To thicken the milk and give it a creamy texture, we add mawa/khoya/evaporated milk to this kulfi recipe. Use unsweetened khova to make kulfi.
- Green Cardamom gives kulfi a sweet aroma and slightly spicy taste.
Additional Flavours:
You can experiment with the taste of the kulfi by adding a few of these additional ingredients:
- dried rose petals
- any sweet berry or fruit puree
- melted, semi-sweet dark chocolate
- betel or paan leaves for making paan kulfi
- sweet mango puree for making mango kulfi
Watch Kulfi Recipe Video
My Tried and True Tips
- Always use full-fat or whole-cream milk to make kulfi or any other Indian dessert .
- Allow the milk to simmer over low heat and stir at regular intervals. This slow-cooking process turns milk into thick, creamy, caramelized goodness like we did for this baked shahi tukra .
- Add cardamom powder and saffron while slow-cooking the milk and not towards the end.
- Add crumbled mawa (khoya), sugar, and pistachio powder only when the milk is reduced to half . This is because adding these ingredients, in the beginning, will never allow milk to thicken.
- Before freezing, allow the kulfi mixture to cool down completely at room temperature.
- Please note that once frozen, the dessert’s sweetness reduces a notch. Hence, after cooling the kulfi mixture, taste it and, if required, add more sugar.
- While unmoulding the kulfi, dip the moulds in room temperature water for 10 – 20 seconds to easily remove the kulfi.
Kulfi tastes like ice cream but is denser and creamier and does not melt as quickly as ice cream. Ice creams are made by whipping heavy cream, whereas a Kulfi is made by condensing milk.
Kesar Pista, Rose, and Mango are the traditional and most popular Kulfi flavours. In addition, Kulfis are now enjoyed in new exotic flavours like Paan, Gulkand, Strawberry, Roasted Almond, etc.
If you wish to skip adding Khoya (mawa), you can add condensed milk (milkmaid) to thicken the milk. Adjust the amount of sugar according to your taste because the store-bought condensed milk is too sweet.
More Indian Dessert Recipes
- Badam Kheer
- Basundi Recipe
- Kesar Shrikhand
- Mango Ice Cream
- Mango Shrikhand
- Baked Shahi Tukda
- Mughlai Style Phirni
- Instant Coconut Ladoo
- Mint Pineapple Popsicles
Ingredients
- ▢ 1 litre full fat milk
- ▢ 200 gram khova/khoya/mawa (evaporated milk)
- ▢ ½ Cup granulated white sugar or to taste
- ▢ ¼ Cup unsalted pistachio
- ▢ 1 teaspoon green cardamom powder (elaichi powder)
- ▢ 1 teaspoon saffron (kesar)
Instructions
- To make Kulfi, first in a blender grind pistachio to a coarse powder. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
- Now in a heavy-bottomed saucepan heat milk over low heat. Add cardamom powder, saffron, and keep on stirring the milk occasionally. Let it simmer over low heat till it reduces to half the original quantity and thick in texture.
- Once milk thickens, add grated khoya, sugar, and pistachio powder. Stir to mix nicely. Simmer the milk till sugar and khoya are nicely dissolved in the milk. Taste and add more sugar if required. Turn off the heat
- Let the kulfi mixture cool down to room temperature.
- Pour the liquid into the Kulfi molds or in an airtight stainless steel or glass box with a tight fitting lid. Set Kulfi in the freezer for 5 – 6 hours or best overnight.
- Kulfi molds come with lids. So if you want to insert an ice cream stick in the kulfi, do not put the lid. Cover the top of the mold with aluminum foil and insert a skewer or ice cream stick poking a hole in the aluminum foil.
- To serve or to unmould the Kulfi, allow the kulfi molds to remain at room temperature for a few seconds or rub them between your palms for a few seconds. Then unmold the kulfi or pull out using the ice cream stick inserted.
- Serve kesar pista kulfi chilled.
Recipe Notes:
- Always use full-fat or full cream milk for making kulfi.
- Add cardamom powder while slow cooking the milk and not towards the end.
- Add crumbled mawa (khoya), sugar, and pistachio powder only when milk is reduced to half .
- Before freezing allow the kulfi mixture to cool down completely at room temperature.
- Please note once frozen the sweetness of the desserts is reduced a notch. Hence, after cooling the kulfi mixture, taste it and if required add more sugar.
- While unmoulding the kulfi, dip the molds in room temperature water for 10 – 20 seconds to easily remove the kulfi.
- Kulfi can be served on a stick like other popsicles or in scoops like ice cream.
Nutrition
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