Easy things to take to a potluck

[Brad Johnson]

Potlucks are always fun so I wanted to start a thread for everyone's favorite contributory foodstuff.

Crock pot meatballs.

Whatever amount of frozen plain meatballs your crock pot or slow cooker will hold. One large bottle of Tiger sauce per pound of meatballs. Pour meatballs and sauce into a container and let marinate overnight in the fridge, turning a couple of times. A large ziplock freezer back works very well for this. Pour into warming vessel of choice and bring to temp before serving. Total prep time numbers in single minutes and it's different from the sea of smashed 'taters or green bean casseroles which usually show up.

I like Tiger sauce but use whatever sauce or marinade floats your boat.

Brad

[MillCreek]

https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/sausage-cheese-balls/6a2a7890-c685-4991-b699-743fd880486f

Sausage cheese balls, and they are better if you use sharp cheddar cheese.  Depending on the number of people, I cut the recipe in half.

[zxcvbob]

Deviled eggs.

I also frequently make something kinda like lasagna (I used to make real lasagna):
Brown half a pound of ground beef and half a pound of breakfast sausage (not the maple kind) with some fennel seeds and red pepper flakes.  Add onions and cheap jarred spaghetti sauce.  Simmer, and adjust the spices (usually needs oregano and garlic)  Meanwhile, cook a pound of bowtie pasta.  Drain the pasta, and add a carton of cottage cheese and about a cup of sour cream onion dip.  Stir that up, and add it some parsley flakes and fresh black pepper.  Put a layer of noodles in a 11x14 lasagna pan, then a layer of meat sauce, another layer of noodles and the rest of the sauce.  Sprinkle a little cheese on top, mostly for decoration, and bake.

If I have to make something at the last minute, I have a few cake recipes that are really quick and easy.

There's nothing wrong with buying a bucket of chicken, there's just no chicken place anywhere near my church.

[41magsnub]

Pulled pork, BBQ sauce, and buns.  Served in crockpot.

Don't be a wanker...  smoke it.

Edit - it is as easy to do multiple pork butts as it is to do one, I have a bunch of smoked pulled pork in the freezer most of the time.  Have "pulled" from that one more than one occasion for a pot luck.

[zxcvbob]

https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/sausage-cheese-balls/6a2a7890-c685-4991-b699-743fd880486f

Sausage cheese balls, and they are better if you use sharp cheddar cheese.  Depending on the number of people, I cut the recipe in half.

Recipe saved.  Can these be baked the day before, refrigerated, and then reheated for serving?  Or do I need to bake them the morning of?

[Brad Johnson]

Recipe saved.  Can these be baked the day before, refrigerated, and then reheated for serving?  Or do I need to bake them the morning of?

All of the above are valid. No real way to do them wrong. A little gummy if reheated but just as tasty.

Brad

[Andiron]

Baked beans. 

I like a hybrid mix of B&M and Campbell's.  Fry up an lb of bacon and an onion and dump it in with the cans of beans.  Add Worcestershire, ketchup, mustard and molasses to taste.

[MillCreek]

All of the above are valid. No real way to do them wrong. A little gummy if reheated but just as tasty.

Brad

I agree.  I have certainly made them the day or two before when I needed the oven on the day of the event.  If I do this, I zap them in the microwave for 30 seconds before putting the platter out. 

[Perd Hapley]

Around here, what always shows up are these stupid, half-baked cookies from Wal-Mart. And they're mostly frosting. 

[just Warren]

I'm not the sort that goes to pot lucks these days but back when I was a youngster my mom and I would go to many pot lucks as she was involved in so, so many organizations.

Her favorite thing to take was a Tator Tot casserole. If she got picked for a salad then she did her fruit salad ambrosia. And she would make the top-end recipe. She never made it just for us. 

Her best side-dish was slow-cooked baked beans with rib meat. Yet another thing I only got at pot lucks!

[Scout26]

Aldi and and Crokpot


Aldi now has several types of baked beans, Maple, Home Style, Southern BBQ, etc.   Several cans of those in a crockpot on low for 1-2 hours prior.


Also, their cocktail sausages in BBQ sauce.  Again 1-2 hours on low prior to departure.

[bedlamite]

Cocktail weenies or meatballs. Sauce is half ketchup, half grape jelly, squirt of Tabasco. Sounds horrible, tastes awesome. Just don't tell anyone the secret recipe.

[KD5NRH]

Cheap mix cornbread, but with about 3/4 of the butter it calls for, and the remaining 1/4 replaced with about 1/3 the called for amount of lard.  Also milk in mix that calls for water, and sometimes cream if I have it on hand.

Yes, that's ~13/12 of the "right" amount of butter-or-substitute, and some more extra fat.  Still works well, and tastes just enough different that people think it's not cheap mix.

[BlueStarLizzard]

My mom always did a green bean salad that was a hit. Actually, she did a lot of bean salad type dishes, but the green beans were my favorite.

[K Frame]

I make an onion and sausage casserole that's been such a hit that I'm always requested to bring it to several annual potlucks I attend.