No, you’re not lazy for hosting a potluck

By Heather Leith

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I have potluck baggage. 

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Maybe like me, you lean toward wanting to do it all when you throw a party. You might have major fears around your guests resenting the fact that you’re asking them to cook a full dish just to enter the doors.

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Mostly, I worry that people will think I’m a lazy host for not cooking an effortlessly gorgeous multi-course meal. 

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Sometimes, my intrusive thoughts tell me that potlucks are tacky. Outsourcing the cooking for an event you chose to host? Ending up with a whole table of premade dips and 10 bags of tortilla chips as your cuisine? Not chic.

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But recently my partner and I had a wildly successful potluck-style birthday party, and it changed how I view this humble party style.

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May I make the case for potlucks really quick?

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I’ve totally changed my mind—potlucks rock, and here’s why.

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You get to focus on your people, not cooking

The memories of my joint 33rd birthday party with my partner are not of me being stuck in the kitchen. They’re all of us packing into our tiny backyard on blankets watching the magician we hired (yes, magician). It's us passing out ice cream bars for dessert during sunset and everyone eagerly picking their flavor. It's the smell of honey mustard grilled chicken and pesto pasta salad and fresh pineapple. It’s seeing friend groups merge and mingle, scooting their camping chairs to welcome people into their circle.

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Yes, I could have had these reflective moments with a standard dinner party, but knowing me, I’d be way too focused on perfectly timing every element of the meal, making sure everyone likes the food, and putting away the leftovers before they sat too long.

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For this party, my partner and I provided hot dogs and chicken (and had a more introverted friend run the grill, which he was happy to do), and asked friends to bring sides. We had two drinks: $5.99 Trader Joe’s Vinho Verde and sparkling water. That’s it! 

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As an anxious host, a low-lift meal allowed me to truly relax and enjoy my party.

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You’ll guarantee you have enough food

The beauty of a potluck is that the food scales with the amount of guests you have. If you have 10 people, all 10 will be fed because each person is bringing something to share. If you have 57 people, like we did (those plus-ones add up quick), you will have enough food for them all. If five people drop out last-second, your menu automatically scales down and you avoid food waste.

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Going potluck-style eliminated my "Will everyone go hungry?" fears that plague me before every party. There was a time where I ate freezer soup for a full year because I way overestimated how much I needed for my Galentine’s Day party. I haven’t been able to cook that recipe ever since because I just taste freezer burn and sad lentils. 

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If you’re a host with anxiety (like many of us), a potluck is the perfect scalable menu solution. Might as well start browsing potluck Invitation templates now.

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You’ll give your guests the chance to contribute

Hey, guess what? You are worthy of people cooking with and for you! In unpacking my potluck baggage, I realized that I had a deep-seated fear that no one would want to put forth effort for our party. 

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But I was wonderfully wrong: Our friends had tons of fun with their dishes. Four people made beautiful pasta salads, each with unique ingredients from their gardens. One person made fresh bread with butter—a simple dish that disappeared fast and sparked conversation among the sourdough girlies. One couple brought fresh oysters on ice, complete with lemon wedges and hot sauce (very dolce vita).

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If we had just cooked ourselves, we wouldn’t have been able to see our friends’ unique culinary personalities come out. The conversation about the meal would have been all about us, or otherwise not very interesting. 

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But a potluck leads to homemade touches, backstories, bonding over bringing the same flavor of pie, and “who made those brussels sprouts, I need the recipe” texts in the aftermath. 

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You can ask for sign-ups to quell planxiety

Listen, Type A girls are gonna Type A! If you have a theme in mind or you want to avoid the dreaded cluster of chips and dip while everyone searches the table for some protein, you can use Evite’s event sign-ups tool on your Event Page or Invitation.

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For hosts that find comfort in a bit of control (hi, it’s me), you’ll love being able to see who’s bringing what. 

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Let’s say you want to make sure the potluck is balanced and includes stuff for vegan friends—you can say you want 3 appetizers, 5 sides, 5 main dishes with meat, 2 vegan mains, and 5 desserts. You can also ask guests to include specifics about what they’re bringing so you can spot any gaps. 

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If you’ve got a menu in mind, have friends sign up for items you determine, like fig jam, apple cider, pumpkin brioche, and cured meats for an autumnal potluck. 

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You can embrace a small space

A sit-down dinner party requires square footage. Our house is small, and we certainly don’t have room for 57 people to sit down and eat a fork-and-knife meal. 

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Potlucks are automatically casual. Most people bring foods that are easy to eat standing up. You just need one surface to pile all the dishes, and people can eat wherever they find a spot.

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You’ll enjoy easier, faster cleanup

An underrated potluck benefit: Everyone brings their dirty dishes home with them, cutting cleanup in half. It was a delight to see two empty buffet tables with just some scattered serving spoons and leftover dips in the aftermath.

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Yes, we did have to find a home for six Costco-sized bags of chips that our guests bequeathed to us, but the cleanup was still glorious compared to a full dinner party.

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Potluck converts: Start brainstorming

Do you see why I'm addicted now? 

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My successful potluck even has me trying harder at other peoples’ potlucks. I was a chip/dip contributor before, but for a recent park potluck, I made a whole barbecue chicken/peach/corn dense bean salad situation. It was so fun to see people enjoy it. I’m transformed.

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If you’re inspired to be a Potluck Person, get everyone to the table in just a few taps with an Event Page from Evite. Once you start browsing the cute designs, you’ll be texting the invite to your friends before you even know what you’re making.

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Heather Leith is a freelance writer from Portland, Oregon and lover of punny menus, Trader Joe’s flowers, and crisp white wine. She writes about event planning, weddings, bachelorettes, invitations, and gatherings of all types. She wishes she was a chill host, but she will make you write your name on your cup when you arrive at her party.