What’s your go-to dish to make when you have people round for dinner?

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bishibashi@reddit

I quite like Indian cooking so last time we had people round I did chicken makhani, a black dal, aloo gobi and a raita, with “restaurant rice” (aka the quite involved method from dishoom book) and some paratha (frozen ones). It did take most of the day though. I think chili is a perfectly good thing to do if people are coming round. Maybe elevate a bit by making some guacamole and other bits to have alongside or before. Garnishes and sauce/dips you wouldn’t bother with for a rainy Tuesday night.

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illbepedro@reddit

I'm with you. Dishoom's Chicken Ruby is my go-to, I can make it well in advance so I don't need to stress when the guests are round. With my normal dhall curry and plain rice - I need to level that up and get my mother in law's yellow rice recipe though! Plus a big pavlova for dessert

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pinkpineapplepeaches@reddit

Do you have the recipe for the curry please? I have heard amazing things about it but live in Ireland where (unfortunately) there is no dishoom!

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illbepedro@reddit

The cookbook is great if you can find it but there are a couple of the hits (including the chicken ruby) in this article: https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/sep/07/four-classic-indian-recipes-dishoom-chaat-dal-salad-jackfruit-biyani-chicken-makhani-curry

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pinkpineapplepeaches@reddit

Thank you so much!

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sookietea@reddit

Indian is a great answer because you can make plenty of bits the day before. Curry tastes so much better the next day. Make a couple of options and then just a plain or pilaf rice on the day and heat up some naan and poppadoms. Add lots of dips and serve help-yourself style.

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LegolasleChat@reddit

Yeah elevated chilli is perfect, I've done it before, especially if people will be having a few drinks as well.

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Bifanarama@reddit

Something that you can prep, and do most of the clearing up, before people arrive. Even the day before. Jamie's fish pie recipe is lovely.

Or a big lump of roast something. It can easily sit for 90 minutes under foil, when cooked, so it's ready to carve when people arrive. Veg can all be roasted or boiled in advance. Something like slow braised red cabbage can be made the day before.

Or a nice stew/casserole. Even a big curry. All doable the day before.

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oceanicitl@reddit

Roast dinner but I make anything and everything from pizza to thai green curries. Recently started making Greek food and love that. Very tasty and easy to make:

Greek potatoes
Marinated griddled chicken breast
Greek salad

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0ttoChriek@reddit

I've started doing a slow-cooker sausage ragu that's really good, and really easy. Just some chopping and measuring, then bung it all in and leave it to do its thing. If I'm feeling ambitious, make my own garlic bread (well, the garlic butter to spread on bread that I bought. I'm no baker).

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DesignerBug2800@reddit

Smokey Spanish meatballs, a recipe from BBC good food. Its always a winner, you can make them ahead of time. Serve with mini cubed roast potatoes and roasted veg.

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Stegosaurus1311@reddit

Cottage pie because it’s make-ahead and finish in the oven when you’re just about ready to eat!

And a tiramisu for dessert because it’s soooo easy, no bake, and is best straight from the fridge so could even make it the day before

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gone-in-a-spark@reddit

Tuscan chicken, which is chicken breast, orzo, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, Parmesan, spinach and cream in one pan.

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Bloody-smashing@reddit

Cajun chicken pasta, pretty easy but tastes amazing. https://natashaskitchen.com/creamy-cajun-chicken-pasta/

Desi cottage pie (basically just cottage pie with added spices). Swap out the recipe for beef mince for a cottage pie https://tiffinandteaofficial.com/indian-shepherds-pie/#recipe

Butter chicken, takes a while but you can do it all before people arrive then heat it up.

I like whatinthechef's recipe on tiktok

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LittleMissAbigail@reddit

If you have vegetarians, butter paneer/halloumi is a great substitute as well! (I might even slightly prefer it to chicken!)

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catmadwoman@reddit

Ready cooked chicken (not hot) from either Tesco or Asda (don't know why but they taste the best when reheated). Medium fry in pan with butter. Stick sweet corn in airfryer with butter. Then fries/chips/squashed small potatoes. Plus any salad if choice. Everyone loved it.

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OneRandomTeaDrinker@reddit

I have a recipe for chicken and chorizo pie that’s basically half to a whole roast chicken (depending on numbers), cut up and mixed with homemade mustard bechamel sauce, wilted spinach, fried chorizo and an onion fried in the chorizo fat, topped with puff pastry. It takes quite a long time to make and goes down well but can mostly be prepped the day before, just put the pastry on top and egg wash on the day.

Otherwise, a big Indian feast or a lasagne

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ptr120@reddit

I do a roast chicken and Cheat with frozen roast potatoes

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tsophies@reddit

Yep - roast dinner! The timings are so easy, and always delicious. Simple!

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Brave_Pain1994@reddit

Cheese on toast and if they dont like it, they can order us a takeaway.

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DennisDunkdalk@reddit

Toast done in the microwave is another good option if you’re out of cheese.

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Prudent-Pressure2146@reddit

This tray bake serves six and is the easiest thing in the world to prepare, it’s just assembling everything in the trays and cooking for an hour, swapping the trays in the middle: https://www.nigella.com/recipes/spanish-chicken-with-chorizo-and-potatoes

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Top_Violinist4161@reddit

Lasagne. I can prepare it ahead of time, and that means there is minimal time spent in the kitchen when guests are actually here.

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Prudent-Pressure2146@reddit

I have two lasagnes, one takes four hours and is an absolute feast: https://www.nigella.com/recipes/lasagne-of-love

And one is v easy and takes half an hour: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/classic-lasagne

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Ok_Cow5684@reddit

Jamie Oliver's duck breast with creamy white beans only takes 20 mins but feels fancy.

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Perfect_Sink_6542@reddit

Ottolenghi’s cherry tomato bulgur with roast aubergine and lemon mint dip. I roast a chicken to have with it

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perkywinefan@reddit

Lasagne, Garlic Bread, Salad

Chicken Satay with rice and pickled cucumber

Thai green curry, noodles/rice and naan

Butternut Squash and bacon risotto, garlic bread, salad

Dessert wise - Chocolate brownies with ice cream, Pavlova, fruit crumble and custard, Eton Mess

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Cosmic-burst@reddit

Panna cotta for dessert. Simplest and fanciest dessert

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Absentmined42@reddit

Pavlova is my “signature” pudding. It always goes down well and looks really impressive.

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TheGreatBatsby@reddit

We have friends over tonight I spent yesterday making 3 trays of enchiladas. Accounted for two each, but these are big and well stuffed, so hoping that some will only have one and I can gorge like a pig.

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_isolati0n@reddit

I usually go for either thai red chicken curry noodles or prawn and chorizo paella. Both are very simply but full of flavour and always gets a good response. If it's a Sunday it has to be a roast though, that's the rules.

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tramliner@reddit

I highly recommend the "roasting tin" series of books by Rukmeni Iyer. The core principle is loads of dishes you can put in a tin (ie prep before your guests arrive) and then they're fuss-free to serve. Everything comes out looking great and tasting "cheffy" enough.

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Sharp_Budget_4416@reddit

Slow-cooked mushroom ragu, the proper kind with dried porcini, a glass of red wine and a good two hours on the hob, served over pappardelle. Make it the day before, reheat while you boil the pasta, finish with parmesan and torn basil. Even committed meat eaters don't notice the absence and the kitchen smells incredible from the moment people walk in.

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Iforgotmypassword126@reddit

I like to make jambalaya or paella. Jambalaya I find much easier tbh. I like it because you can really feed a lot of people so there’s a lot left over to accommodate extra people or extra portions.

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ginbandit@reddit

Chicken, chorizo and mascarpone pasta bake for us, that's an easily 'scale up' dinner especially with some garlic bread or a salad.

Chop the chorizo, fry for a couple of min & tip out leaving the oil. Add in a chopped onion then the chopped chicken. Once cooked add back in the chorizo with a tin of chopped toms and half a tub of mascarpone. Mix with how much pasta you need/want.

Tip into a baking dish, cover with bread crumbs and bake for 10-15min.

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Sleepyllama23@reddit

That sounds awesome

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ginbandit@reddit

It really is! It's a favourite of my kids for an easy Saturday dinner.

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Subaruchick99@reddit

We always have steaks and french fries in the freezer so our quick go-to, especially if guests turn up is steak&frites and a good red wine.

Another one is sausages & mash (veggie sausages for the non meat eaters) with an extra good bottle of red wine - which feels very decadent.

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socksbeforeshoes@reddit

I like fajitas - really easy to make, lots of different options and guests can assemble themselves which is fun and means no chance of anyone being forced to eat something they don’t like.

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Subaruchick99@reddit

Fajitas are great and it’s also easy to have a vegetarian option without much extra work alongside any meat options

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rositree@reddit

I find any kind of build it yourself thing really fun for getting people talking and passing bits around. If kids are involved a pizza or jacket potato station where you can add your toppings is great.

If you want more of an adult 'i made an effort' dinner party food, chicken breasts stuffed with cream cheese/pesto, wrapped in bacon or long slices of courgette and served with roast on the vine tomatoes and baby potatoes. Looks a bit fancy, easy to do and can make ahead so just a few oven dishes to wash up.

Also anything with dauphinoise potatoes instantly impresses me!

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Ok_Shirt983@reddit

Unless the don't like fajitas!

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cheflifecdf@reddit

Just so you know, Chilli and spag bol shouldn't be quick. They should take a good few hours, and preferably rested overnight

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tmr89@reddit

I agree, both of those shouldn’t be quick, so they likely don’t taste anywhere near as good as they would

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Banana-sandwich@reddit

My Italian friend disagrees. Spaghetti bol is her quick and easy option. She said in Italy it's very no fuss and seen as a quick midweek option. She always uses carrots, celery and 50:50 pork mince: beef mince. I do mine in the slow cooker and hide in as much veg as possible.

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-Po-Tay-Toes-@reddit

Agreed, it takes me like half an hour just to do the mirepoix for a batch of Ragu because I chop it so tiny! Nothing beats a proper Ragu.

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Banana-sandwich@reddit

The Bored of Lunch slow cooker recipe book is amazing. The chicken and chorizo pie always goes down really well.

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TheHootOwlofDeath@reddit

Sunday it will be a roast.

Any other time, I will usually do a homemade macaroni cheese because if you have really nice garlic bread and salad, it's an easy crowd pleaser.

For pudding, trifles are easy to make in advance or I will do a crumble.

I am not a brilliant cook but I think if you keep it basic and use good quality ingredients, you can produce something nice with less stress.

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IndependenceInn@reddit

Home made pizzas, some kind of self assembly tacos/wraps/gyros, salmon on a bed of rice with carrot, apple and kale slaw (it’s not for everyone though!).

Dessert is usually a trifle, choc ganache pits (really easy to make) or just coffee and fancy things from the bakery. Jamie Oliver is always good for easy but fancier desserts though.

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OutdoorApplause@reddit

The slow cooker is my go to so you're not stuck in the kitchen for prep when guests are here. Or things which go in the oven which can be prepped in advance

Recently I've made * (served with rice, pickled carrots and cucumber) * (served with tagliatelle, salad leaves and tenderstem broccoli) * Lasagne * this pasta bake

For dessert again something prepped in advance * Crumble * Cake/brownies * chocolate fondants - these can be made way in advance and frozen raw. Then just add a couple of mins onto the cooking time to cook from frozen. Perfectly gooey centres every time!

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PossibleAddress1000@reddit

If you want to impress with not much actual work, I suggest twice baked cheese soufflés as a starter. You can make them couple of days in advance and then it just takes 20 minutes to finish them off in the oven. Loads of recipes online but I use the BBC Food one.

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Superspark76@reddit

It depends how many people.

For a large group curry and chilli are good because it's easy to feed a lot of people.

For a small group the options are massive but you don't want to spend too much time in the kitchen when you have guests. I find one pan dishes like paella are a good option or something like a Bolognese that can be made in advance and that the pasta needing cooked, even pasta can be made in advance and rolled out in minutes (If you're going to cook for guests make pasta, show off a little)

If you want something fun having ready made pizza dough and toppings for the guests to make their own pizza is a good laugh, more so if you make them shape their own dough. I find that's a better summer activity with an outside oven as people aren't dressed as smart.

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BillyJoeDubuluw@reddit

I love to entertain and cook and enjoy trying new recipes.

I wouldn’t say I have a go-to dish when it comes to dinner parties and house parties or just having the family piled in.

I am a bit of a traditionalist on Sundays… It is absolutely always a Sunday roast with all the trimmings, a curry with all the trimmings or some kind of interpretation of a ploughman’s on the rare occasion the weather is playing out…

Going by the dishes you tend to cook it seems like you might enjoy your “low and slow” dinners that aren’t too time consuming and nearly take care of themselves?

If you like Indian cuisine then you could enhance your range in terms of home made curry, perhaps familiarising yourself with a handful of dishes…

Additionally, some home made stir fry dinners might go down well…

A classic one pot slow burner for me (and I suppose a bit of a go-to) is a beef bourguignon or a big pan of broth and dumplings…

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ButtercupBento@reddit

Youvetsi - Greek lamb, orzo and feta - with a Greek salad and bread. Tastes special but is easy to prep in advance and pop in the oven or air fryer

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UniquePotato@reddit

Jambalaya- A family favourite Rick Stein recipe. Simple big pot dish

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calpolqween@reddit

Vodka pasta

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AlrightLove75@reddit

Carnitas. You can do all the prep in advance, just to reheat before serving and it's delicious and looks impressive with all the sides.

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blumizers@reddit

Beef bourguignon!

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Ultra_Leopard@reddit

If they're coming for lunch I like to make shakshuka with feta.

Dinner- winter- spicy chorizo and beef casserole. Summer- various salad options, new potatoes and baked salmon/seabass

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