‘Tis the season:
spend time with those you love,
don your ugliest Christmas sweater,
(my own Dick van Dyke!)
shop it up
and enjoy festive feasts 
I’m not sure about you, but our schedule is jam-packed until after New Year’s with holiday events! Many of them: bring a side dish or dessert.
Anyone else experiencing a pot-lucking overload?
What to bring?!
I always debate what I should bring to a holiday party. I’d like to make something semi-healthy, since I know I’ll be indulging in the treats and libations at the party, something festive/seasonal, and something that guests will enjoy and remember.
So, as I pick my brain, I thought I’d share a list of my favorite crowd-pleasing potluck dishes and those I have yet to try, but have been scoping out:
(most of them tend to be on the savory side since parties this time of year are heavy on the sweets)
Artichoke dip from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan- bring it in the slow cooker with tortilla chips (can do homemade) or a crudités platter
My favorite fall salad (greens, goat cheese, dried cranberries, candied pecans, balsamic dressing)
Red and green quinoa lentil salad
Acorn squash with cranberry apple stuffing
Pumpkin hummus and crackers
Bakes brie phyllo cups with cranberries and walnuts
Quick, on the fly ideas:
-Make hummus or white bean sundried tomato dip, chop up some veggies or pita triangles
-Goat cheese stuffed dates
-Boxed cake or brownie mix with homemade frosting, like this peppermint one or this peanut butter one
Are you pot-lucking like crazy this holiday season? What are you making?? Feel free to link away- it will be a great way to share ideas and inspiration with each other!
xoxo
Gina
Hi, I'm Gina. Welcome to The Fitnessista! I love blogging about my adventures as a new mom, military wife and fitness instructor, as well as sharing new workouts and recipes. Check out the About page for more info - thanks for stopping by!
That is my FAVORITE bruchetta recipe!!! I can’t wait to try the white bean sun dried tomato dip! It looks amazing!!!
I’m taking a jug of Pomegranate Sangria (http://www.eatliverun.com/pomegranate-sangria/) to my “Ladies in Red” potluck shin-dig this Friday! It’s pretty, easy, yummy AND, most important, red!
excellent list! I will definitely be referring back to this list in the next couple of weeks for ideas of things to bring for holiday parties.
I always love the idea of semi healthed up artichoke/spinach dip (w/ greek yogurt) and less cheese, but I rarely do it. I always like a fresh locally baked loaf of ciabatta w/ olive oil, vinegar and some cracked pepper. Or cheese plate with pear slices and crackers.
Bruschetta is always always a go to. ALWAYS. Easy to make and who doesn’t like it?
I LOVE potluck season!! I’m the casserole queen so I usually just open the fridge and see what I have and make a casserole. I’m also loving making dips lately. I’ve made quite a few buffalo chicken dips and they’re a HUGE success. I have dairy allergies so I always make something that I know I can eat!
Love your cute decorations! Especially the snowman, adorable
Great roundup of potluck ideas, it’s always so hard to decide what to make!
I remember that Xmas sweater post like it was….yesterday! Wow…time flies!
Dips and spread are always popular and I love spinach/artichoke dip, too! Slow cooker idea is a good one.
And of course…desserts. Most people can’t say no to something gooey or chocolaty
Omg your sweaters crack me up! Love it, haha!
I’ve got many holiday events too. I love to bring toasted mini wholegrain bagels topped with chopped tomatoes, basil and garlic, or a little salmon and horseradishmousse. http://fit-swiss-chick.onsugar.com/Wholegrain-Bagels-Veggie-Omelettes-25761464
Great post and perfect timing! We have a couple potluck holiday parties this weekend, and I’ve been racking my brain to figure out what to bring. I want to try something new, so these are perfect!
Any dip is good! I will be making some of my PB2 Poppers
http://www.skinnyminniemoves.com/pb2-poppers/
And bringing something for the pups!
http://www.skinnyminniemoves.com/cheesy-chicken-puppy-treats/
We’ve been going to quite a few lately. I made a huge salad with dried cranberries, feta, and apples and it was a big hit. I thought a salad was a weird thing to bring, but it was one of the first things to go.
I need something appetizer-ish for this weekend, so I will definitely look through your recommendations. I love the sweet -savory combo of fruit and cheese
You have NO idea how excited I just got about the Greek 7 layer diP!!! we are having a baby shower/potluck for one of my co-workers tomorrow and I was still undecided until now….it sounds SOOO amazing and it looks like one of those that people will be asking for the recipe for all day long. I should print recipes now to hand out LOL….thank you SOOOOO much for saving me from the “typical potluck food”
Omg I want to make all of these! Thanks for the ideas!
I just finished eating lunch and was full….until I saw all the pictures of the amazing food!
I want to make/eat all of those dishes immediately. Yummy
Thanks for the ideas!
I almost always bring a dip. Either buffalo chicken, Mexican 7 layer or the greek layer. I made the Greek for the first time last weekend and it was a HIT! I didn’t do artichoke hearts but I added banana peppers.
The pumpkin hummus looks sooo yummy! I always usually bring a dessert to a holday party…you can nevre have enough dessert! Plus it’s a good way to get it out of my house
I am a complete noob when it comes to cooking ANYTHING. I love pumpkin hummus, but it is so expensive to buy it at the store. I was so excited to see your recipie. At the risk of looking like a complete moron I am going to ask this question: It says to mix the pumpkin with a can of chickpea’s. Does all of that get mixed in a food processor? Or do just the chickpeas get processed, then mixed with everything??
Great timing!!! I was just looking for something to bring to a potluck dinner. I am pretty new to this whole cooking-for-people-other-than-myself thing so my head starts to spin whenever a recipes has more than a few ingredients. All of these recipes look awesome – I cannot wait to try them out. Perhaps I will start with a salad for everyone’s safety
Ah, where did you find that Christmas sweater last year? I need one for a Santa pub crawl Saturday and not sure where to look! I also don’t want one that is TOO awkward looking on, if you know what I mean.
mujadarra! i brought it to a potluck today, and got rave reviews.
I love all the great ideas here! I usually bring Christmas cookies to parties around this time of year. But now I want to find that artichoke dip recipe because it sounds awesome!
Great ideas in this post! That bruschetta has my mouth watering… can never go wrong with that!
Love love love Greek layer dip! And goat cheese stuffed dates… Mmmm.
Great pot-luck ideas! I always feel a bit weird being “that guy” who brings something healthy to a pot-luck, but most of the time people don’t even realize it.
Also, love the sweaters…
All of that sounds awesome. I want some goat cheese stuffed dates!
I just hosted a dinner party/potluck last night!
We had:
- butternut squash risotto (not sure I’d recommend this though, it was a bit of a pain to re-heat up)
- salad with goats cheese, green apples, christmas spiced pumpkin seeds & maple dijon dressing
- mustard roasted parsnips
- pear crumble
- lots and lots of wine/mulled wine!
A bottle of mulled wine is definately an easy thing to bring to any party!
I really want to make your red & green quinoa salad for a potluck this weekend x
I googled the spinach dip and saw that it comes from a cookbook by Dreena Burton. I looked at the indexes on the cookbooks (on Amazon) and they all sound amazing. If I’m only going to buy one of her cookbooks, is there one you would recommend?
eat, drink and be vegan is my fave