You're in the Throes of Dinner Party Planning - What Should You Serve?

Your dinner party planning is underway and you've come to the menu. What should you serve?

Whenever you are planning a party remember that one of the most important points of a successful party is a host that is free to mix and mingle with guests and enjoy the party as much as the guests do. So when you start your dinner party planning keep these things in mind.

Dinner Party Planning Menu "Rules"

Keep it simple
Be able to complete most of the preparation in advance
Stage all of your plate ware, serving dishes and utensils the day before
Use your oven - it requires little oversight and tending.
Consider hiring someone to help with clearing the table and clean up. (High school students can be a great help here.)

Menu Ideas

One dish meals are always a good dinner party planning approach because you can get it all together in advance and just finish it off as your guests arrive. If you want something a little more elegant however, consider these suggestions to lighten your load.

Serve just one appetizer that only needs to be heated and served or just plated and served. Good ones are pickled vegetables, olives, cheese cubes, nuts, or frozen puff pastry filled snacks that can be prepared the day before.
Purchase salad greens and dress them up with interesting add-ins that don't require any fixing - like: nuts, grapes, raisins, dried cranberries, toasted seeds, grape tomatoes, finely pre-cut vegetables, Chinese noodles, and diced water chestnuts. Then top it with a tasty homemade dressing you can make in advance.
Choose a main entrée that requires only final quick and easy cooking like a steak or chop. Or choose an entrée that cooks for a longer period of time in the oven and requires only final portioning and plating like a roast, Cornish game hens, or tenderloin of beef.
Serve one starchy side dish that can be prepared in advance and finished in the oven. Rice pilaf, Noodles Romanoff, or a potato casserole are all good choices that can be prepared, cooked, cooled and reheated the day of the party.
One leafy green or other colorful vegetable that doesn't require anything but cooking, buttering and plating can be a nice finish to an attractive plate.
Leave your dessert preparation to your local baker or choose something that can be fully prepared in advance with only cutting and plating to do at the time of service.

As your dinner party planning begins keep some of these in mind:

Principles of Menu Planning

Choose menu items of different colors and shapes of food to make an attractive plate. An all brown or all white plate of round balls of food may taste OK, but it will look boring.
Mix flavors - plan some sweet, savory, tart, and peppery items to add interest. Adding cayenne pepper to every dish can be overpowering. All sweet dishes can be just "too much."
Vary the textures of the food - plan something tender, something crunchy, something smooth, and something a little chewy to vary your guests' senses.
Have a variety of consistencies and ingredients also - If you're serving a sauce on one dish, serve the others un-sauced. You wouldn't want all soupy foods or to have the same ingredients, such as tomatoes, mushrooms, or nuts, in every course or dish.

Dinner party planning can be as complex or easy as you want it to be. Just remember that enjoying your party and your guests is a top priority for you and for them! Plan accordingly!

E. Ann Hill is a successful party planning expert and hospitality professional with many years of personal and professional party and event planning experience. Her goal is to instill the #1 objective for entertaining - the host should enjoy planning the party and the party itself as much as his or her guests.


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