#crowd-pleaser
8 viral recipes tagged #crowd-pleaser.
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Sweet and Sour Pork — Cantonese Gu Lou Yuk
The Cantonese classic (gū lōu yuk): cubes of pork coated in a light batter and fried until crisp, then tossed in a glossy sweet-and-sour sauce with pineapple, bell pepper and onion. The contrast of crunchy pork and bright, tangy, glistening sauce is what makes it a takeaway favourite the world over — far better made fresh.
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Katsu Curry — Japanese Curry with Crispy Cutlet
Japan's ultimate comfort plate: a thick, mild, slightly sweet curry sauce ladled over rice and a crisp panko-crumbed cutlet (katsu). The sauce is built on a roux with onion, carrot and warm curry spices; the katsu shatters under the fork. Endlessly popular in Japanese homes and diners — and far better than the instant-cube shortcut.
japanesecomfort-foodweeknight -
Breakfast Casserole
This is the classic hold-everything breakfast bake: a bed of shredded hash browns layered with browned breakfast sausage, sweet peppers, and sharp cheddar, all bound in a savory egg-and-milk custard. It bakes up with crisp golden edges, a creamy set center, and enough heft to feed a crowd from one pan. Salting and draining the potatoes and letting the layers soak keeps every slice custardy instead of watery, so it holds its shape when you cut it.
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Ham and Cheese Sliders
Soft Hawaiian rolls piled with layers of deli ham and melty Swiss, brushed with a buttery Dijon-poppy seed glaze and baked until the tops turn glossy and golden. The contrast is the whole point: sweet pillowy bread, salty ham, gooey cheese, and a savory-tangy crust on top. Baking the whole slab connected keeps every slider juicy inside while the glaze caramelizes across the surface, so you pull apart a dozen sandwiches that taste like they took far more effort than they did.
americanappetizerparty-food -
Seven Layer Salad
A retro potluck classic built in a clear glass bowl so the stripes show off: crisp iceberg, crunchy celery and red onion, sweet peas, a cloud of creamy mayo-and-sour-cream dressing, sharp cheddar, and smoky bacon. The dressing is spread edge to edge like a lid, which seals out air and lets you assemble the whole thing a day ahead without the lettuce wilting. Toss it at the table and every forkful comes away cool, crunchy, tangy, and rich.
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Ramen Noodle Salad
This is the crunchy, sweet-tangy cabbage salad that disappears first at every potluck: crisp slaw tossed with toasted ramen, almonds, and sunflower seeds in a glossy rice vinegar dressing. Toasting the crushed noodles and nuts in the oven — instead of stirring them in raw — deepens their flavor and helps them stay snappy longer once dressed. Because the noodles go in at the last minute, every forkful keeps that addictive crackle against the cool, juicy cabbage.
potlucksummermake-ahead -
Frog Eye Salad
Frog eye salad is a retro American potluck dessert built on tiny acini di pepe pasta pearls — the "frog eyes" — coated in a silky cooked pineapple custard, then folded with mandarin oranges, pineapple, marshmallows, and clouds of whipped topping. The result is cool, creamy, and gently tangy, with a fun tapioca-like pop from the pasta. Cooking the custard with the reserved canned pineapple juice is the key move: it seasons every pearl from the inside and keeps the salad from tasting like plain pasta in whipped cream.
potluck-favoritemake-aheadretro-classic -
Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese
Tangy, butter-slicked buffalo chicken folded into an ultra-creamy cheddar and Monterey Jack sauce, then baked under a crunchy panko crust. The trick is adding cream cheese to the sauce, which buffers the vinegary hot sauce so the cheese stays silky instead of breaking, and undercooking the pasta so it finishes tender, not mushy, in the oven.
comfort-foodgame-daybaked-pasta