Eight great dinner party ideas

Tuesday, 31 January 2023 09:00

By Mary Goodsell

Looking for a little inspiration to spice up your next dinner party? Here's eight of our favourite ways to entertain at home!

1. Italian night

The secret to any memorable Italian dinner party is to make sure everything you do is effortless, yet impressive, and this begins with the 'aperitivo'. We love a classic Negroni or Bellini to set the mood for the evening. Once your guests have settled, make sure that you have a good selection of Italian red and white wines to drink; chianti, sangiovese and montepulciano are a few of our favourite reds but don't forget the Italians make a fabulous pinot grigio. In terms of what to cook, the options are limitless! The beauty of Italian cooking, and hosting, is that it lends itself beautifully to casual dining, and a relaxed host/ hostess. We love 'make your own' pizzas, antipasti selections or homemade pasta if you're looking to really wow your guests.

2. Tapas party

Similarly to Italian food, tapas, originating in Spain, make a great option for hosting a dinner party. It's as simple as creating a selection of small, flavourful dishes inspired by the authentic Spanish dishes. Try making croquetas (you could buy these too, but they're really easy to make), empanadas, and patatas bravas. Pair these dishes with a great quality rioja and some lightly fried chorizo sausages, olives and crusty bread with oils. Perfection.

3. Sushi party

Sushi party's are great fun and easier than they look once you have everything you need. Don’t worry too much about the difficulty. Rolling sushi is easier than you might think, and actually really fun. Not all of your rolls will be perfect, but even the less prettier ones will taste great. Plus, you and your guests will have a good time learning how to do something new together.Don't forget to add in a few extra additions; edemame beans can be bought frozen and boiled before being served with chilli or garlic and salt, gyozas are also ideal if you have anyone who doesn't fancy raw fish, and again can be bought frozen if you don't want to make your own. Itsu have a great range available in most UK supermarket frozen aisles.

4. Mexican fiesta

By far one of my favourite cuisines to cook for friends or my husband, primarily because nachos are just so easy to cook. I always start with a very well seasoned dish of nachos, sometimes loaded with Mexican flavoured beef mince, or more simply dressed with good quality hard cheese, jalapeños, chillies, freshly chopped coriander and served with sour cream dip and tomato salas. It goes without saying that a Mexican dinner party would be incomplete without a cracking margarita to kick off the evening, go easy on the tequila though!

5. Hawaiian:

Hawaiian food is flavourful, colourful and fresh. I particularly love the island-inspired poke bowls that are ever so popular these days. A traditional poke bowl (pronounced poh-KAY), consists of white rice topped with raw fish that's been marinated in a blend of sesame oil, soy sauce, green onions and other spices, usually served with a raw kimchi style salad or similar. These make a great dinner party option as they are so simple to prepare, requiring hardly any time when your guests are with you, leaving more time to host and mingle!

6. Wine tasting dinner

An interactive way to entertain, the wine tasting dinner not only creates a great atmosphere, but is an easy way to ask your friends to chip in, by asking them to a bring a particular bottle they love for the night! Get every guest or couple to choose a wine, and structure the evening around foods to pair with those bottles, simple!

7. Mediterranean mezze

There's lots of ways to go with this - but we'll focus on how to make a greek mezze board as it's delicious and oh so simple. Start by whizzing up a whipped feta dip (blend feta, olive oil, seasoning and herbs), add some warm shop-bought flatbreads for ease, buy the best olives you can afford and throw together a simple greek salad. Extras you could add here are roasted artichoke hearts, fresh anchovies, tzatziki dip and fried halloumi. Delicious, easy, nutritious.

8. Dessert party

Skip the main course and go straight for the sweets? This is admittedly, an interesting concept for a dinner party, but if elements of this can be applied to numerous situations; children's birthday parties, baby showers, christening celebrations, taking a board of desserts over to a friends home who is hosting? We love dessert boards. Make some showstopper cakes and then adorn the board with cute cupcakes, fruit and biscuits, it's a real crowd pleaser!

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