Throwing together a dinner party can be an incredibly rewarding experience that brings out your inner home chef. But what happens when you need to throw together a gathering and don't have time to plan complex meals that take hours to complete? Don't worry! You don't have to slave over the stove for a millennium to tempt your guests’ taste buds. Here are five easy dinner party meal ideas you can whip together with little to no cooking.
Make it Italian Night
Looking for some Italian dinner party meal ideas? Artisanal bread, rich sauces, al dente pasta, fresh vegetables, and notable wines are all positively Italian and positively brilliant. But you don't have to spend hours cooking to get that authentic Italian vibe. In fact, you can completely skip the cooking by heating up a Family Size bag of Bertolli® Chicken Parmigiana & Penne. It tastes amazing, and your guests will never know the difference. Another convenient option is One Skillet Chicken Parmesan and Pasta. Just bread and cook your chicken, boil your pasta, and mix all the ingredients in a single skillet to finish. It’s quick to prepare and downright delicious.
Try A Hot or Cold Soup
It doesn’t get any easier for dinner party meal ideas than soup. It can be served cold during the summer (try Creamy Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons cold), or piping hot during the frosty winter months. Even a good hot bowl of Creamy Potato Soup (a twist on a classic!) takes just 3 to 5 minutes to warm up. Want to kick it up a notch? Create a soup hearty enough to feed a crowd in about 30 minutes with Pasta Fagioli.
Get Festive with A Mexican Lunch
There are around 60,000 Mexican restaurants in the U.S. for a reason: We love Mexican food, but it's notoriously time-consuming to make. You have a few quick options here if you want to make Mexican at home. You can go the classic taco route and make some Zesty Beef Tacos, which are extremely quick to prepare and involve almost no cooking. Or, you can opt to go with a Frontera® Frozen Meal (we love the Chicken Fajita Skillet), which takes no preparation and still brings those beloved Mexican spices and flavors to your table.
Treat your Taste Buds with A Sweet & Savory Brunch
Want to host a meal for friends or family that brings all of your favorite sweet and salty flavors to the table? Consider a sweet and savory brunch with PB&J Stuffed Vegan French Toast. Or save time at the stove and heat up some of your favorite breakfast sausage. No matter which way you go, you can’t miss with these perfectly matched flavor profiles.
Go East with an Asian Lunch
Asian food incorporates complex spices, ingredients, and cooking techniques, so even thinking about throwing together an Asian-themed gathering can throw you into stress-induced sweats. Don't worry! You don't have to spend your whole paycheck buying ingredients from an Asian specialty store. Instead, try cooking some simple-and-easy Firecracker Shrimp or Street Noodles with Sesame Sauce. You could also heat up some P.F. Chang's® Orange Chicken to get that classic restaurant taste straight from the oven for a quick dinner party meal idea everyone will love.
Dinner without Dread
Throwing together an amazing dinner party or hosting your next gathering doesn't have to be difficult. You don't have to cook anything complex, and you can use the right ingredients and the right recipes to throw together delicious budget-friendly meals without all of the hassle. And, you can go completely no-cook mode with the right frozen meals. Remember, dinner parties aren’t just about the food. They’re about the company you share it with, how you present it, and the love you share while eating it.
