43 Potluck Desserts That Travel Well and Feed a Crowd (2024)

32 Winning Appetizers, Sides, and Desserts for When You Need to Bring a Dish

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Your favorite cake but in mini form. These cupcakes are moist, sweet, lightly spiced, studded with golden raisins, and finished with the classic cream cheese frosting.

Big-Batch Triple-Chocolate Brownie Bars

An absolute winner, these bars score for taste and ease and can be made ahead and frozen—so you can prep them when you have time, pop them in the freezer, and pull them out for the potluck. Oh, did we mention the recipe makes a lot? Just right for your potluck.

Peach-Pie Crumble Bars

A most delicious hybrid of peach pie and crumble bars, these are a treat for any potluck when peaches are in season. They have a press-in shortbread crust for ease.

Peanut Butter Cookies

If you need a quick and easy dessert for the potluck, make these classic peanut butter cookies. They take about 15 minutes to make and 12 to bake—and use just a few basic ingredients.

Coconut-Pecan Tart

It tastes like the best candy bar you've ever eaten, and it's easy to make. Those are just two reasons you'll want to make this elegant gluten-free tart for a potluck. It has a no-bake, press-in crust made with coconut and almond flour, so you don't need to roll out or blind bake. The filling is an irresistible combination of butter, sugar, cream, and condensed milk with semisweet chocolate and pecans.

Chocolate-Zucchini Sheet Cake With Cream-Cheese Frosting

Sheet cakes are easy to make, travel well, and feed a crowd, so they're one of our favorite potluck desserts. This moist sheet cake has a chocolate base enhanced with grated zucchini, and it's topped with a luscious cream cheese frosting.

Vegan Blueberry Crisp

Whether they are vegan or not, everyone will enjoy this dairy-free delight. The filling of juicy blueberries is beneath a crunchy oat and almond topping—and the whole dessert takes just 15 minutes to prepare.

Orange-Cardamom Bundt Cake

The warmth of cardamom—a traditional spice found in chai tea—combined with the brightness of fresh orange zest and juice are an inspired flavor combination in this stunning Bundt cake. It's sure to wow potluck party-goers.

Crispy Cereal Treats

Prep these crowd-pleasing treats in just 15 minutes. They're also easy to transport to your potluck party. We have four sweet variations on the classic Rice Krispies treat—cocoa nutty, trail mix, tropical breeze, and berries and cream.

Everything Cookies

Chock-full of crunchy extras like cereal flakes, pretzels, and toffee bits, these over-the-top chocolate-chip cookies will be the first dessert to disappear from the potluck table.

Lemon-Glazed Sheet Cake

A potluck dessert that looks and tastes like pure sunshine, everyone will want a slice of this lemon cake. Because it's just a single layer with a lemony glaze on top, it's easy to transport and can be served at room temperature.

Black-Bottom Cupcakes

These chocolate cupcakes (the recipe yields 24) have a marbled cream cheese filling that's also their topping—no decoration necessary. They're sure to go fast at any potluck.

Fig-and-Plum Cake

Rich, plump figs and plums peek out of the top of this almond cake that's easy to bake and even easier to love. Making it requires less than half an hour of hands-on prep work.

S'mores Bars

Guests will feel like they're sitting around the campfire when they take a bite of one of these s'mores-inspired treats. Broken graham crackers and chopped chocolate are folded into the puffed-rice cereal and melted marshmallow mixture, then everything is pressed into a pan to set. Cut the bars into fun shapes for an irresistible potluck dessert.

Strawberry Biscuit Sheet Cake

Inspired by one of the most classic summertime desserts—strawberry shortcakes—this sheet cake is perfect for a crowd. The biscuit base is topped with sweet cream and macerated strawberries.

Raspberry-Almond Crisp

Make the most of fresh raspberries when they're at their peak in summer with this juicy and crunchy dessert. The crumble is made with melted butter, rolled oats, sliced raw almonds, and light brown sugar.

Fudgy Turtle Brownies

As if brownies aren't delicious enough, these decadent bar cookies are made with pecans and a caramel cream sauce. The finishing touch is a sprinkling of flaky sea salt, which adds crunch and contrast.

Vanilla-Rhubarb Tart

Rhubarb is arranged in a geometric pattern atop a buttery pastry crust for this spectacular potluck dessert.

Butter-Pecan Blondies

Dark rum is the secret ingredient that takes these rich, caramel blondies to a whole new level. The recipe yields 24 blondies, and they'd make a perfect addition to any potluck.

Buckwheat Chocolate-Chip Cookies With Sea Salt

These nutty, salted cookies take chocolate chips to a new level. A combination of all-purpose flour and buckwheat flour creates a unique base that will have all the guests talking.

Lemon Curd Soufflé Tart

When life gives you lemons, make this light-as-air tart with a four-ingredient filling made with eggs, granulated sugar, lemon juice and zest, and butter.

Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

Gently pressing a Hershey's Kiss into each peanut butter cookie creates the signature cracked finish to these popular treats.

Three-Layer Pound Cake

This multi-layered dessert is rich, fudgy, and sweet as can be. Cocoa powder and melted semisweet chocolate are added to the batter for the chocolate layers.

Pull-Apart Vanilla-Wafer Cupcake Cake With Berries

Hosting a Fourth of July or Labor Day potluck party? There's no more suitable dessert than these vanilla cupcakes topped with blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries. They're patriotic, pretty, and perfect for a large group.

Lime Sandwich Cookies

A bright, zesty lime cream filling is sandwiched between sugar cookies. Dust the tops with powdered sugar for a sweet finish.

Rhubarb Crumb Cake

Rhubarb stars in this buttery, crumbly cake made for a crowd.

Dark Chocolate-Walnut Date Bar

It looks and tastes decadent, but this gluten-free, vegan dessert is made with healthy ingredients, including coconut oil, walnuts, dates, peanut butter, and semisweet chocolate.

Big Almond-Orange-Ginger Cookie

This bake-and-slice potluck dessert is flavored with orange zest and orange marmalade, ground cardamom, and fresh ginger. It's a warm, inviting treat to serve family and friends.

Marshmallow Fudge

Cut into bite-sized pieces, this six-ingredient fudge recipe is perfect for a potluck party. The one-pot base is made with mini marshmallows, evaporated milk, bittersweet chocolate, sugar, and vanilla.

Snickerdoodle Crumb Bars

Anyone who likes coffee cake and snickerdoodle cookies will love this spiced dessert. Cinnamon and sugar flavor the streusel filling and are mixed into the topping for irresistible flavor.

Caramel-Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

A caramel is stuffed into each chocolate-chip cookie for this ooey-gooey recipe. These treats are sure to be a hit at your potluck.

Apricot Cobbler

This potluck dessert is pure sunshine. Hidden beneath an oat drop-biscuit topping is a juicy combination of apricots and strawberries.

Hummingbird Carrot Cake

No matter where your potluck is being held, guests will enjoy this classic southern spice cake made with pineapple, coconut, and bananas. We've added shredded carrots to the batter for extra moisture and even more texture.

Bourbon-and-Brown-Sugar Cake With Berries

Bourbon complements brown sugar in this berry-studded cake that looks enticing and tastes delicious. We like a combination of raspberries and blueberries for a festive finish, but feel free to use whatever kind of berries you have.

No-Bake Blueberry Cheesecake for a Crowd

Consider this your easiest-ever cheesecake—no fussy water bath needed! It's made in a large baking pan, which makes it easy to transport.

Strawberry-Swirl Bundt Cake

Freeze-dried strawberries, pink gel-paste food coloring, and sliced fresh strawberries create the pretty pink swirls in this Bundt.

Vanilla Pound Cake

Guaranteed to please one and all, pound cake is the perfect easy potluck dessert. We've elevated the recipe from the classic version, but there's still nearly a pound each of butter, eggs, sugar, and flour.

Blueberry Crumble

Juicy blueberries are exactly what we want when they're in season. So, why not turn them into this casual, crunchy dessert that pairs well with vanilla ice cream? Everyone at the potluck will be asking for seconds.

Chocolate-Chip Streusel Brownies

Can't decide between chocolate chip cookies and brownies? Now you don't have to, thanks to this genius potluck dessert recipe. Chocolate chip cookie dough is sprinkled on chewy brownie batter for the ultimate two-in-one dessert.

Cowboy Cookie S'mores

Take the classic campfire treat to the next level by sandwiching jumbo toasted marshmallows between cookies. But not just any cookies—these are loaded with shredded coconut, pecans, chopped chocolate, and oats.

Chocolate Sheet Cake With Vanilla Buttercream

Nothing is more crowd-pleasing than a sheet cake, especially one made from the ultimate flavor duo that is chocolate and vanilla. The finishing touch is a shaving of chocolate, so everyone knows there's a bit of both in this fudgy treat.

Coconut Cake With Berries and Cream

A riff on tres leches, this coconut-spiked sponge cake is soaked in condensed milk, heavy cream, and coconut milk, which stands in for the usual evaporated milk. Serve it with mixed berries and whipped cream.

Strawberry Cupcakes

These moist white cupcakes—crowned by a meringue buttercream made with strawberry jam—will be the hit of any potluck. Top each cupcake with a fresh strawberry just before serving.