Potlucks have been common at work for decades, especially around the holidays. An office potluck is a great way to bring people together while stepping back from the stress of work. However, a normal potluck can be forgettable. Choosing the best office potluck ideas can make or break your special day.
So today, we’re going to provide 25 fun potluck ideas for work. We’ll look at themes and potential recipes, as well as a few more unique ways to incorporate food into your team building event.
Potluck Themes for Work
Before you start asking, “what to bring to a potluck at work,” you have to figure out a theme. A theme will determine the overall vibe and feel of your potluck. A good theme can set your potluck apart, making it more impactful.
That said, there are tons of office potluck themes to consider. Choosing one theme from the endless amount of options is often overwhelming, so we’re going to break it down a bit and provide a handful of potential themes.
- Holiday Favorites
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- Holiday themes are always a safe bet. With tons of dishes to choose from and plenty of decoration options, a holiday luncheon is a simple but reliable choice.
- Around the World
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- Encouraging attendees to bring dishes from around the world is a great way to promote bonding through shared new experiences.
- Breakfast for Lunch
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- Who doesn’t love a good breakfast? Breakfast for lunch is a fun potluck theme that can take everyone back to school snow days, eating pancakes for lunch.
- Family Recipes
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- A family recipe potluck is a fantastic way to help employees learn more about each other, their families, and their culture.
- Healthy Resolutions
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- While junk food might taste great, a healthy resolution potluck can help you and your team prioritize healthy eating at work while still having a fun time bonding over a meal.
- Tailgate Feast
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- For a more fun twist on the potluck, try a tailgate feast theme. Attendees can bring their favorite tailgate dishes like buffalo chicken dip, pigs in a blanket, and more.
25 Potluck Ideas for Work
Once you’ve picked a theme, then you need to start coming up with work potluck ideas. What kind of dishes do you want to bring? Something easy? Cold? Hot? Something that matches the theme?
But don’t worry; we’ll provide 25 recipes and potluck ideas for work that fit in with a variety of themes, giving you plenty to work with for your own potluck.
Easy Work Potluck Ideas
Sometimes when you’re looking for a work potluck idea, you just want something simple and easy. That’s okay! Here are a few simple recipes to consider:
- Macaroni and Cheese: a beloved classic that is always good and—most importantly—quick and easy to make.
- Fruit Salad: another common dish for potlucks and gatherings that tastes great and can be made quickly.
- Veggie Tray with Dip: if you want a quick and easy recipe for a potluck, it doesn’t get much easier than a veggie tray with dip.
- Chicken Salad: this is a simple and easy to make dish that is often a favorite at potlucks and gatherings.
- Cheese and Cracker Platter: while it may not be the most exciting dish at the potluck, it’s always a welcome addition.
Hot Work Potluck Recipes
If you’re planning a potluck that requires hot dishes, here are a few potluck ideas for work to get you started:
- Crockpot Chili: this is an easy dish to make thanks to the crockpot, plus it’s a delicious hot dish that is sure to warm up everyone at the potluck.
- Chicken Alfredo: a classic dish loved by nearly everyone, this is a perfect potluck dish that’s bound to please.
- Pulled Pork Sliders: if you want something a little bit more fun and unique, pulled pork sliders are a great choice.
- Loaded Baked Potatoes: this is a perfect side dish for a potluck that goes great with just about any main dish.
- Tater Tot Casserole: a hearty tater tot casserole is a perfect hot dish for a potluck that tastes great and serves tons of people.
Cold Potluck Ideas for Work
Need a cold dish for a potluck appetizer or summer-themed potluck? Check out these great cold potluck ideas for work:
- Pasta Salad: a simple but reliable choice that is a longtime staple of potlucks all across the country.
- Chicken Caesar Salad: this is an incredibly popular salad that is healthy, tastes delicious and is easy to prepare.
- Deviled Eggs: no potluck is complete without some good sides, and deviled eggs are absolutely essential for any potluck.
- Shrimp Cocktail: while not everyone loves or can eat shellfish, a shrimp cocktail is a great side dish to make your potluck seem a bit classier.
- Asian Noodle Salad: if traditional pasta salad isn’t exciting enough for you, try spicing things up with a delicious Asian noodle salad.
Holiday Work Potluck Ideas
Looking for office potluck recipes to pair with some holiday or winter team building? We’ve got you covered with some holiday potluck ideas for work below:
- Christmas Jello Salad: some red and green jello with cool whip is a great simple side to bring the holiday cheer to any potluck.
- Turkey and Cranberry Sliders: two holiday classics combined in slider form is sure to go down as one of the best dishes at a holiday luncheon.
- Brussel Sprouts with Bacon: another holiday classic, brussel sprouts with bacon are a great healthy side to round out your selection of dishes.
- Honey Glazed Ham: while this dish might take a little bit more effort than most, the effort is certainly worth the absolutely delicious end result.
- Vegetarian Shephard’s Pie: this is a great warm dish for a potluck that will warm people up and is inclusive thanks to being vegetarian.
Office Potluck Desserts
You can’t have a potluck without some delectable desserts, but what do you make? Here are some ideas for great dessert potluck ideas for work:
- Mini Cheesecakes: a cute spin on a favorite of many, mini cheesecakes taste great and are easy to serve.
- Cookie Tray: whether it’s the holidays or not, a tray of freshly baked cookies will always go over well at a potluck.
- Rice Krispies Treats: this is a simple and easy to make dessert that rarely leaves leftovers when brought to a get-together.
- Lemon Bars: lemon bars are an addictive and delicious dessert that will leave your coworkers desperate for the recipe.
- Parfait Bar: for a healthier option, a make-your-own parfait bar with all the necessary ingredients and toppings is a perfect choice.
Other Ways to Have Fun with Food at Work
Though we’ve provided plenty of workplace potluck ideas and office holiday party ideas so far, it’s important to mention that there are other ways to have fun with food at work.
At TeamBonding, we offer a suite of culinary team building programs. These programs can take the work off of you and your employees so you can fully enjoy the fun and food. Here are three of our best culinary team building programs:
Food Truck Challenge
In this event, your teams will work to create your own food truck. You’ll choose your dishes, logo, branding, and more as part of this delicious and exciting challenge. Once completed, your food trucks will be judged, and one team will be crowned the victor of the Food Truck Challenge. This event encourages creativity, teamwork, communication, and bonding.
Cooking for a Cause
Teams break up into groups to prepare nutritious meals for those in need. This event is not only fun, but it also gives you and your team a chance to give back to your community. You’ll donate three types of food to those in need—hot food for soup kitchens, sandwich/snack donations for food drop-offs, and “food bag” pantry donations.
Teams can improve their morale, teamwork skills, and time management skills with this event while also building bonds.
Team Chili Cook-Off
In this highly competitive event, attendees are broken up into small groups that work together to compete in a chili cook-off. Teams have to work together to try and come up with the best chili recipe possible, cook it, and hopefully have their chili deemed the best chili in the contest.
Time management, teamwork, leadership skills, morale, negotiation, and resource management are skills that can be improved with this event.
Make Your Office Potluck a Success
Now you have all the tools to make your office potluck a success! But while it’s easy to follow a written list, it may be harder to actually plan out.
If you’re struggling to plan your office potluck, don’t stress. TeamBonding can help make your next office potluck a success. By partnering with us, we can handle all the details and hard work so you can focus on enjoying the food, bonding, and having fun.
Don’t wait until the last minute and let your potluck be underwhelming and unimpressive. Partner with TeamBonding and make your potluck unforgettable. Check out our list of events and get in touch with us to get started planning your next potluck.
