Our Best Recipes for a Spring Potluck

March 06, 2019
Photo: Hector Sanchez; Styling: Buffy Hargett Miller
Spring is full of reasons to celebrate—Easter, Mother's Day, graduation, and the resurgence of life and warmer weather are all justifiable reasons to get together with friends and family and feast. There's no better way to host—or attend—a shared springtime meal than preparing dishes that show off the seasonal fruit and vegetable bounty. Try one of these crowd-pleasing favorites for your next springtime potluck. 
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Robin's Egg Malt Cupcakes 

Photo: Gina DeSimone; Prop Styling: Kashara Johnson; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall
Robin's Egg Malt Cupcakes  Recipe

Inspired by an Easter basket favorite, these malted chocolate cupcakes are sure to be the cutest dessert you serve this spring.  The moist cake is a fun play on a chocolate malted egg; you can typically find malt powder either on your grocery store’s baking aisle or shelved near the canned milks. Once you top these rich cupcakes with a buttery, bright blue frosting, creating the signature Robin’s egg speckling is easy—and a fun project to let older kiddos help with. You simple thin out your brown food coloring with a little bit of water, dip a paint brush in, and then “flick” the brush’s bristles to splatter the dye on the surface of your frosted cupcakes. 

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Blood Orange and Radicchio Salad

Photo: Jennifer Causey; Food Styling: Catherine Crowell Steele; Prop Styling: Thom Driver
Blood Orange and Radicchio Salad Recipe

This salad is a beautiful addition to any table spread with its vibrant orange and deep magenta hues. Hearty radicchio and fennel have real staying power--even after they've been tossed with dressing--which makes this ideal for times when you need a make-ahead salad for a buffet or to take to a potluck. We love the color of blood oranges, but you can use all navel or Cara Cara oranges.

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Buttery Deviled Eggs

Photo: Jennifer Causey Styling: Lindsey Ellis Beatty
Buttery Deviled Eggs Recipe

Choose arugula, basil, or mustard microgreens for a pretty and peppery finish.

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Frogeye Salad

Photo: Alison Miksch; Food Styling: Mary Clair Britton and Kady Wohlfarth; Prop Styling: Prissy Lee
Frogeye Salad Recipe

It doesn't get more Southern than frogeye salad, which can't help but make eaters reminisce on church potlucks or childhood dinners spent at grandparent's house. 

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Cheesecake Crescent Rolls

Photo: Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Rishon Hanners; Prop Styling: Missie Crawford
Cheesecake Crescent Rolls Recipe

For holiday brunches, overnight company, and any manner of potluck, consider this recipe your secret weapon. Easy as they are to make, these Cheesecake Crescent Rolls will always score rave reviews. 

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Pressure Cooker Brunswick Stew

Photo: Daniel Agee; Food Styling: Robin Bashinsky; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis
Pressure Cooker Brunswick Stew Recipe

 For our largely hands-off take on the classic comfort food, we create an intensely flavorful base by first pressure cooking a whole chicken on top of a combination of boxed tomatoes, potatoes, onions, and a handful of flavor power player ingredients.

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North African Marinated Lamb

Photo: Daniel Agee; Food Styling: Mark Driskill; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis
North African Marinated Lamb Recipe

This vibrant lamb dish features an incredibly vibrant North African-inspired marinade, also known as chermoula. Though simple to whip up, the combination of fresh herbs and bold spices in the marinade help to bring out the richness of the lamb and really make this grilled dish (which became a fast staff favorite in the test kitchen) shine. When purchasing the lamb leg, ask your butcher to go ahead and cut it into your desired portions. And If you have trouble finding lamb, feel free to swap it for beef or pork in this recipe—you’re still going to have a delicious dinner, no doubt. Serve this meaty entree with roasted potatoes and/or grilled veggies. 

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Spaghetti with Pistachio-Mint Pesto and Spinach

Photo: Jennifer Causey; Styling: Lindsey Lower
Spaghetti with Pistachio-Mint Pesto and Spinach Recipe

This meatless meal definitely doesn't skimp on flavor. With a bright and fresh spring pesto and lots of healthy spinach, getting your greens has never been so easy. 

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Goat Cheese Poppers with Honey

Photo: Jennifer Davick; Styling: Linda Hirst    
Goat Cheese Poppers with Honey Recipe

In addition to being a delicious appetizer that feels special, these Goat Cheese Poppers with Honey make for extra awesome croutons on salads and as "meat" balls for vegetarian pasta dishes.

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Sesamillionaire’s Shortbread

Photo: Aaron Kirk; Prop Styling: Christina Daley; Food Styling: Robby Melvin  
Sesamillionaire’s Shortbread Recipe

A toasty twist on the traditional Millionaire’s Shortbread, these decadent layered cookie bars feature toasted sesame seeds in the shortbread, a luscious tahini caramel, and more sesame seeds sprinkled over top for good measure. 

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French Onion Soup Bites

Photo: Caitlin Bensel; Prop Styling: Christina Daley; Food Styling: Karen Rankin
French Onion Soup Bites Recipe

Easy to assemble and perfectly portable, these French Onion Soup bites are the perfect addition to any holiday party spread. They’re like your favorite Trader Joe’s freezer aisle find, but tastier. 

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Chocolate-and-Peanut Butter Banana Pudding

Meredith Food Studios
Chocolate-and-Peanut Butter Banana Pudding Recipe

This decadent chocolate-peanut butter banana pudding is easy to make and perfect for a crowd. It’s a staff favorite from The All-New Official SEC Tailgating Cookbook.

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Charred Eggplant Dip with Tahini

Sara Tane
Charred Eggplant Dip with Tahini Recipe

Perfect for entertaining or a hearty spread to snack off of all week, this nutritious charred eggplant dip is as easy as to make it is delicious. Roasting the eggplant at a super high temperature leads to a creamy flesh that's the perfect backbone for a your dip. Don't worry if the skin is extra charred and looks burnt—this makes for a more flavorful end product. Mixed with Greek yogurt and tahini, this Meditteranean-inspired spread is ultra rich. Serve it with fresh veggies, warm pita, or smear it across a piece of toast. You could even use it as your sauce for a flatbread or pizza; simply top with roasted or fresh veggies and a sprinkle of crumbled feta or goat cheese.

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Chicken, White Bean, and Spinach Salad

Photographer: Greg Dupree; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Torie Cox 
Chicken, White Bean, and Spinach Salad Recipe

The beans, chicken, and dressing can all be made a day ahead in your slow-cooker. Assemble this meal in minutes and round out this light summer salad with a loaf of crusty bread. If you have any leftover, it will make a great lunch the following day. Slow cooking requires little fat, so trim the excess from meats and poultry. Preserve the flavor of fresh herbs by adding them to the dish once it comes out of the slow cooker. Removing the slow cooker lid while cooking releases valuable heat, so resist the urge to check on the dish as it cooks.

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Moroccan Spiced Carrots

Caitlin Bensel
Moroccan Spiced Carrots Recipe

A heady blend of spices makes these roasted carrots hard to resist. If you can find tender baby carrots, they make a great shortcut; just give them a good scrub—no peeling required. Check the carrots during cooking; smaller carrots could overcook, yielding mushy results. Pair these carrots with roasted lamb or beef or your favorite curry dish.

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Tangy Lemon Cheesecake Bars

Photo: Jennifer Causey; Styling: Claire Spollen
Tangy Lemon Cheesecake Bars Recipe

Classic lemon squares can contain 36g sugar per piece. We put a puckery cheesecake spin on ours--cutting sugar to just 6g per bar--which allows the bright citrus to shine.

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Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad

Photo: Alison Miksch
Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad Recipe

Chef Jonathan Waxman taught me how to make this fall salad many years ago. Riff with the ingredients to find the flavor balance you prefer.

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Tahini-Blueberry Sheet Cake With Strawberry Buttercream

Photo: Aaron Kirk; Prop Styling: Kashara Johnson; Food Styling: Pam Lolley
Tahini-Blueberry Sheet Cake With Strawberry Buttercream Recipe

Perfect for a graduation party or summer cookout, this impressive dessert offers the ease and crowd-friendly factor that we associate with a sheet cake, as well as a delightful twist of creativity and surprising vibrancy with the incorporation of tahini and fresh berries. If you have a jar of the trendy sesame seed paste hanging out in your pantry, trust us—it’s high time to go beyond hummus and welcome it into your dessert life. Tahini lends a delicious toasty quality to the tender cake while fresh blueberries dotted throughout the batter balance this nutty depth with their bright, juicy sweetness. A simple strawberry buttercream ties everything together and makes for a low-effort, eye-catching presentation. 

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Vegan Mini Strawberry Cream Pies

Jamie Vespa
Vegan Mini Strawberry Cream Pies Recipe

These adorable, fruity delights are no joke. The blush pink, creamy center is the perfect balance of sweet strawberries and coconut cream, and it's so rich and thick you'd think it were frozen soft-serve yogurt.

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Beet Yogurt Dip

Photo: Caitlin Bensel
Beet Yogurt Dip Recipe

Harness beets' striking color and earthy-sweet flavor in this glorious spread inspired by Jerusalem: A Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. For a little extra heat, use up to 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper. You can try 1 1/2 teaspoons za'atar spice blend as a substitute for fresh thyme, but skip ground thyme because it lends a dirt-like taste. Serve with raw carrot slices, cucumber slices, pita bread, or rice crackers for scooping.

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Tarragon Asparagus with Eggs

Hector Manuel Sanchez
Tarragon Asparagus with Eggs Recipe

Choose thick asparagus instead of thin for this dish. The wider spears have an excellent sweet flavor and can stand up to the bold tarragon vinaigrette.

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Carrot-Walnut-Coconut Sheet Cake

Photo: Kelsey Hansen; Food Styling: Karen Rankin; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis
Carrot-Walnut-Coconut Sheet Cake Recipe

This moist, delicious carrot cake has traditional ingredients like carrot, pineapple, and walnuts, with the addition of toasted coconut flakes to dress up cream cheese icing.

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Pineapple Casserole

Photo: Alison Miksch; Food Styling: Mary Clair Britton and Kady Wohlfarth; Prop Styling: Prissy Lee
Pineapple Casserole Recipe

We altered this traditional casserole to balance out the sweetness, allowing the pineapple and cheese to really shine. The intense flavor makes it an ideal side dish for baked ham. 

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All the Green Things Salad

Photo: Hector Manuel Sanchez
All the Green Things Salad Recipe

This salad is absolutely chock-full of lovely green spring produce, with textures ranging from crunchy to creamy. You can make the zippy lemon dressing and blanch, drain, and chill the peas and asparagus up to 2 days ahead, but combine all the elements shortly before serving to preserve the color of the avocado and the crunch of the greens. Delicate pea tendrils or shoots would be spectacular here, but watercress makes a delicious peppery substitute. Though you may be tempted to use only one herb, we urge you to use both: The parsley adds a burst of freshness, and the mint contributes deep herbal goodness.

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Braided Lemon Bread

Photo: Aaron Kirk; Prop Styling: Christina Daley; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall
Braided Lemon Bread Recipe

The perfect recipe for spring. This slightly sweet, lemony, and tender braided bread lands somewhere between brioche and challah. Serve the impressive poppy seed-studded loaf with dinner, use it to for sandwiches, or make an unconventional French toast. 

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Easter Candy Snack Cake 

Photo: Gina DeSimone; Prop Styling: Kashara Johnson; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall
Easter Candy Snack Cake  Recipe

Dotted with pastel Easter candies and drizzled with white chocolate, this easy snack cake is the perfect, simple treat to whip up for an Easter celebration. In fact, the buttery dessert caught our test kitchen crew completely off-guard; it may appear “cute” and unassuming, but rest assured, this snack cake is no joke in terms of being addictively delicious. It’s not a cake you’ll be able to have “just a little piece” of. 

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Snap Peas with Herb Butter

Photo: Brian Woodcock; Styling: Rachael Burrow
Snap Peas with Herb Butter Recipe
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Pineapple-Lime Upside Down Cake

Photo: Aaron Kirk; Prop Styling: Sarah Elizabeth Cleveland; Food Styling: Julia Levy
Pineapple-Lime Upside Down Cake Recipe

Fresh lime zest adds just enough of a zingy “something special” factor to our foolproof take on the classic pineapple upside-down cake. This easy cake is a fan favorite for good reason—it’s so simple to make and is loaded with a delicious balance of buttery-caramelized and tropically sweet flavors. Pro-Tip: Finish incorporating the ingredients by hand, this will prevent over-mixing your way to a tough cake. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream for a perfect finish. 

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Roasted Salmon with Thyme and Honey-Mustard Glaze

Photo: Dylan + Jeni; Styling: Scott Horne
Roasted Salmon with Thyme and Honey-Mustard Glaze Recipe

A bed of fragrant fresh thyme lends wonderful flavor to the fish. Have your fishmonger remove the pin bones from the fillet, and choose one cut toward the head end of the fish.

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Asparagus and Peas with Warm Tarragon Vinaigrette

Photo: Dylan + Jeni; Styling: Scott Horne
Asparagus and Peas with Warm Tarragon Vinaigrette Recipe

Fresh spring produce needs little embellishment, although a quick toss with bacon never hurts.

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Best-Ever Macaroni and Cheese

Victor Protasio
Best-Ever Macaroni and Cheese Recipe

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Lemon-Ricotta Herbed Flatbread

Photo: Dylan + Jeni; Styling: Scott Horne
Lemon-Ricotta Herbed Flatbread Recipe

A light layer of creamy ricotta sprinkled with fresh herbs dresses up store-bought crust in this bread starter. Lemon juice and rind add just the right flavor lift.

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Perfect Strawberry Pie

Photo: Kelsey Hansen; Prop Styling: Sarah Elizabeth Cleveland; Food Styling: Pam Lolley
Perfect Strawberry Pie Recipe

Fact: There is no better celebration of just-ripe summer strawberries than this classic berry pie; that’s why we called it perfect. The just-sweet-enough strawberry filling retains an admirable level of juiciness, thickening just enough to allow for a clean slice, thanks to a combination of cornstarch and tapioca. This duo of thickening agents stabilizes the pie filling without erring into goopy territory, as can often happen with all-purpose flour in cooked, fruit fillings. While lemon is the traditional citrus of choice for summer berry pies, we found lime to be an exceptional complement to the sugary-bright strawberries.   

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Crock Pot Scalloped Potatoes 

Alison Miksch; Food Styling: Mary Clair Britton and Kady Wohlfarth; Prop Styling: Prissy Lee
Crock Pot Scalloped Potatoes  Recipe

This highly comforting, classic dish has never been easier thanks to your trusty slow cooker. Yielding a creamy, savory potato side the whole family will love, this recipe for crock pot scalloped potatoes is sure to be a new holiday go-to. 

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Roasted Red Pepper Deviled Eggs

Photo: Brain Woodcock; Styling: Missie Neville Crawford
Roasted Red Pepper Deviled Eggs Recipe

Fresh, hard-cooked eggs can be a nuisance to peel, but steaming them makes it easy. You can cook the eggs and prepare the filling two days in advance, but wait to fill the whites until the day you plan to serve them.

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Homemade Dinner Rolls

Photo: Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall and Kady Wohlfarth; Prop Styling: Kay Clarke
Homemade Dinner Rolls Recipe

Soft, tender, pillowy, and buttery. What's not to love? Once you go homemade, it's hard to go back to store-bought dinner rolls.