16 Upscale Potato Recipes for a Crowd Worthy of Your Next Party (2024)

Baked, smashed, roasted, or fried—it's hard to go wrong with potatoes. Plus, with a rainbow of rich add-ins such as bacon, cheese, veggies, and more, the flavor possibilities for fancy potato dishes are endless. So whether you're hosting a holiday get-together or enjoying dinner with friends, these delicious potato recipes for a crowd are guaranteed to make everyone happy.

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Hasselback Potatoes with Seasoned Bread Crumbs

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16 Upscale Potato Recipes for a Crowd Worthy of Your Next Party (1)

Give baked potatoes a bit of pizzazz by thinly slicing them before coating with butter, bread crumbs, cheese, and fresh herbs. The impressive potato recipe comes out of the oven perfectly crisp on the outside and tender on the inside.

23 Easy 5-Ingredient Meals to Include in Your Weeknight Repertoire

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Cheesy Garlic Potato Gratin

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Elevate grandma's classic dish with this fancy potato recipe for a crowd. The layers of potatoes are there, along with oodles of cheese (you can choose between Swiss, Gruyére, provolone, or Jarlsberg) and garlic. A generous pour of whipping cream completes the dinner party potato dish.

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03of 16

Cheesy Mashed Potatoes with Gouda and Crispy Pancetta

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Skillet-crisped pancetta and shredded Gouda cheese kick up a creamy blend of russet and red-skin potatoes. Finish the potato side dish with fresh green onions or chives.

Test Kitchen Tip: Want to make this easy potato dish vegetarian? Simply substitute the pancetta for an equal amount of chopped artichoke hearts.

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Twice-Baked Pesto Mashed Potatoes

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Present guests with a grab-and-go party potato recipe. The filling is made by mixing the hollowed potato pulp with basil pesto and cheese. A sprinkle of toasted pine nuts gives the dish an added element of sophistication.

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Lemon-Garlic Mashed Potatoes

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Mashed Yukon gold potatoes get a sunny facelift with freshly squeezed lemon juice and peel. Balance the citrus with salty capers and chopped parsley.

12 Healthy Potato Recipes You Can Make in a Snap

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Air-Fryer Rosemary Garlic Baby Potatoes

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When you need an easy potato recipe for a crowd for dinner, allow your trusty air fryer to help you out. Toss potatoes with a bit of oil, garlic, rosemary, and salt before giving them a quick run in the air fryer. Don't crowd them! They'll need room for all the sides to get crispy.

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Fried Smashed Potatoes

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Simple ingredients and an easy cooking technique create one of our favorite potato dishes for a crowd. After boiling, smash and bake the potatoes with olive oil and salt until they're crisp and golden. Get a head start on party prep by scrubbing the potatoes up to 24 hours in advance.

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Goat Cheese Mashed Sweet Potatoes

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Goat cheese, or chevre, is a little tangy, incredibly creamy, and a total knockout when blended into fluffy mashed sweet potatoes. Finish the 30-minute fancy potato side dish with crunchy roasted pistachios.

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Scalloped Sweet Potatoes with Fontina Cheese and Thyme

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This elegant potato recipe for a crowd updates classic gratin with sweet potatoes, shredded Fontina cheese, and fresh thyme. As if its thick and bubbly cream sauce wasn't enough, you can make the potato side dish casserole even more irresistible with a sprinkle of crisp-cooked bacon.

10of 16

Scalloped Potatoes

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For one of the best holiday potato recipes, our Test Kitchen's scalloped potatoes never disappoint. Layer thin slices of spuds with a creamy sauce to make this stellar side. Adding some shredded cheese to the rich sauce can also bring the flavors up a notch.

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Mashed Sweet Potatoes with White Cheddar

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Sharp white cheddar proves the perfect complement to sweet potatoes in this easy make-ahead potato recipe. Sautéed apple slices supplement the potato dish with cozy fall flavor. Fresh-snipped sage adds the perfect herbal note.

10 Healthy Sweet Potato Recipes Bursting With Flavor

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Rustic Garlic Mashed Potatoes

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Give guests a traditional holiday recipe they know and love with slow-cooked mashed potatoes. Fluffy potatoes, garlic, milk, chicken broth: You know the drill. And don't forget the pepper and pats of melty butter.

Buy It: Crock-Pot 6-Quart Programmable Cook and Carry Slow Cooker ($50, Target)

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Meringue-Topped Sweet Potato Casserole

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Your holiday spread would hardly be complete without at least one sweet potato casserole recipe. We topped ours with a homemade meringue, but you can easily adjust the recipe to accommodate fluffy marshmallow creme.

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Cheesy Mashed Potato Pots

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Brimming with heavy cream and cheese, these are the ultimate dinner party potato dishes. They'll make the perfect accompaniment to your holiday roast beef, turkey, or ham.

Buy It: DOWAN 10-Ounce Ramekins ($35, Amazon)

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Crispy Potatoes with Rosemary Salt

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This potato dish is so good you might never want to serve the spuds another way. Thinly sliced russet potatoes (use a mandoline to keep the sizes uniform) are lined up in mini loaf pans and coated in melted butter. Make extra rosemary salt to keep around for other dishes.

Buy It: OXO Handheld Mandoline ($19, Target)

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Basil and Olive Potatoes

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Who says potato salad can't be an elegant side? Instead of the creamy dressing version you find at picnics, we fancied ours up with a warm basil dressing. Olives add just the right amount of brightness to the potato dish.

16 Upscale Potato Recipes for a Crowd Worthy of Your Next Party (2024)

FAQs

How many mashed potatoes for 16 people? ›

Plan on 1/3 to 1/2 pound potatoes per person for your feast.

How many pounds of mashed potatoes to feed 30 people? ›

On average, potatoes lose about 25% of their weight during the peeling and cooking process. So, if you start with 10 pounds of potatoes, you'll end up with approximately 7.5 pounds of cooked potatoes. Based on this calculation, you have enough cooked potatoes to serve 30 people.

Can you make mashed potatoes ahead of time and reheat them? ›

Make-ahead mashed potatoes are a great option for the holidays. You can do nearly everything — boil, peel, and mash; stir in milk and salt — up to two days ahead. Before serving, reheat. Adding butter at the last minute makes them taste freshly mashed.

How many potatoes per person? ›

The ultimate potato weight table for feeding a crowd
Number of peopleTotal potato weightNumber of medium-size potatoes needed
10.5 lb.1
42 lbs.4
63 lbs.6
105 lbs.10
Jul 14, 2021

How many people does a 5 lb bag of mashed potatoes feed? ›

How many pounds of potatoes per person for mashed potatoes? A 5-pound bag of potatoes makes 10 to 12 servings of mashed potatoes.

How many russet potatoes for 16 people? ›

I figure one medium sized russet potato per person. If I'm cooking for 8 or more I'll add an extra one.

How many potatoes to serve 20 people mashed potatoes? ›

For a big spread with lots of side dishes, you'll want to have about four ounces (125 grams) of potato (that's precooked weight) per person. If you're serving fewer sides, you can up it to about eight ounces (250 grams) per person.

How do you bulk up mashed potatoes? ›

1. Add a Thickening Agent. This is the most common, and perhaps the simplest way, to thicken mashed potatoes. You can use what you have on hand: Flour, cornstarch, or powdered milk are all solid options that are probably already in your pantry.

How many people will 10 lb of mashed potatoes feed? ›

10 lbs is enough mashed potatoes for around 8 adults getting reasonably sized servings (ie large).

Is it better to boil or bake potatoes for mashed potatoes? ›

For the silkiest fluffy mashed potatoes, start with firm, cool Russet Burbank spuds, also known as baking potatoes. They're the easiest to mash without becoming pasty and are even tastier steamed instead of boiled.

How do you keep mashed potatoes warm for a party? ›

The Best Way to Keep Mashed Potatoes Warm

The best method is to use a slow cooker to keep the prepared spuds warm for hours. Add the mashed potatoes to the slow cooker and keep them on warm for hours leading up to the meal. This way, you don't have to worry about them burning.

How many pounds of potatoes do I need for 12 adults? ›

How Many Pounds of Potatoes Per Person You'll Need
Number of peoplePounds of potatoes
63 lb.
84 lb.
105 lb.
126 lb.
2 more rows
Jan 5, 2024

How many potatoes do I need for 25 adults? ›

How Much Food to Serve at a Party
FOODSERVE 25SERVE 50
Meats
Peas (fresh)12 pounds25 pounds
Potatoes9 pounds18 pounds
Potato salad3 quarts1–1/2 gallons
35 more rows
Apr 1, 2024

How many pounds of potatoes do I need for 10 adults? ›

How much Mashed Potatoes should you make? As a side dish, you should plan on ½ pound of potatoes per person. That means if you are planning on 10 people, use 5 pounds of potatoes. 4 people use 2 pounds of potatoes.

How many lbs of potatoes for mashed potatoes for 15 people? ›

How much Mashed Potatoes should you make? As a side dish, you should plan on ½ pound of potatoes per person. That means if you are planning on 10 people, use 5 pounds of potatoes. 4 people use 2 pounds of potatoes.

How many people does 10 lbs of mashed potatoes serve? ›

10 lbs is enough mashed potatoes for around 8 adults getting reasonably sized servings (ie large). That should be enough for most of the kids, that said, I scale up a bit because I get to eat the left overs and I like makign sure everyone can have their fill.

How many mashed potatoes for 12 people? ›

How Many Pounds of Potatoes Per Person You'll Need
Number of peoplePounds of potatoes
63 lb.
84 lb.
105 lb.
126 lb.
2 more rows
Jan 5, 2024

How many people will 7 pounds of mashed potatoes feed? ›

Before you buy your potatoes, you'll need to know how many people you plan to serve. In general, you'll want to plan to make between one third to one half pound of potatoes per person. So if you're cooking for a group of 10, plan to mash up anywhere from three and one third to five pounds of potatoes.

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