The Most Skipped Dishes At Every Potluck

Potlucks can be hit or miss. Some people bring their A-game, others bring foods that nobody wants to eat. But have you ever wondered what the most skipped dishes at every potluck are? The foods that are outdated, unappealing, or uninspired, that nobody bothers putting on their plates.

I love a potluck, in theory. I enjoy the idea of getting together with friends and family members, all bringing their favorite dishes and enjoying a delicious meal. And, when you trust the people you've invited — and their cooking skills — it's great. But, it's when you head to potlucks with large groups of colleagues, extended family, community groups, and so on, that you just can't be sure what you're getting. Some people lack the commitment, creativity, or cooking talent, and show up with a dish that everyone's going to skip.

So, what are those dishes everybody avoids at a potluck? I've done some research, checking out Reddit to see what foods people hate to see at a bring-and-share meal. I also have some big opinions on what I think is and isn't okay to bring to a potluck. I get it, not everybody has the time or inclination to cook, and that's alright. But, you'd better get something really good from the store. Or, better yet, pick something up from an independent deli or bakery. Knowing what people tend to avoid will help you up your game, so you can bring dishes that will wow at a potluck dinner.

If you think pasta salad involves making pasta, mixing it with some chopped cucumber and olives, and dousing it in Italian dressing, you're doing it wrong. And, if you bring pasta salad made with bottled Italian dressing to a potluck, you can be sure most of it will be left at the end of the night. We're just telling it like it is.

It's an Italian food myth that this dressing is remotely Italian. Half of my family still lives in Italy, I've spent summers there, I've cooked with relatives who were born and raised there, and I've never encountered bottled Italian dressing. It's basically a crime against pasta to consider using it in this way. What's more, it just doesn't taste good — store-bought Italian dressing uses poor quality oil, vinegar, and dried herbs. It can end up adding a bitterness to pasta salad, especially when made ahead of time, which potluck dishes usually are.

This doesn't mean pasta salad is off the menu, but you need to get more creative. The stuff made with Italian dressing is tired. It belongs in the past, and any self-respecting potluck goer is going to skip it these days. Instead, treat pasta salad more like a regular pasta dish, but cold, and less like a salad. Don't dress it, but sauce it with pesto, olive oil, or even raw tomato sauces (but generally avoid ragus and marinara-style sauces). Use roasted and sauteed vegetables instead of raw ones. And if adding cheese, use mozzarella or ricotta.

You might have the best beer chili recipe or have won your local chili cookout, but most people don't want chili at a potluck. Some people claim it's a crowd-pleaser. And maybe it was 10 or 20 years ago, but these days, it's a skipper. It's awkward to serve, overdone, and often not that good.

It might be contentious, because for many people, it's the go-to dish they bring to a potluck, but it's time to move on and bring something else. While chili can be delicious, it's easy to make mediocre chili. Often, the kind that people bring to a potluck just isn't a standout. The flavors are muddy, it's over-seasoned, or it's just plain bland. An over-seasoned version can dominate a potluck plate, while a bland one doesn't bring anything to the party. Plus, if you ask me, chili is about the extras: chopped avocado, cheese, crushed tortilla chips, a dollop of sour cream. So, unless you're setting up a whole chili station, it's probably going to be disappointing.

Chili is logistically annoying at a potluck, too. It's usually fairly runny, like a thick soup or a stew. And if you just spoon it onto your plate, it's going to spread and run into everything else. So, you either need to use a separate cup or bowl to eat it from, or to come back for some chili after you've eaten everything else. And, honestly, most people are just going to skip it rather than work out how best to tackle it.

If you're still bringing box mix brownies to a potluck, you need to have a word with yourself. Just a quick glance will tell people your sad brownies came from a packet mix, and most folks will skip them in favor of a dessert made from scratch. While there are some low-key potlucks where it's expected you'll bring something quick and easy, it's usually a sign that somebody has put in minimal effort. It can be seen as disrespectful to those who've gone the extra mile.

Making brownies from scratch really isn't that hard. It's a simple bake with no frosting or decorative skills needed, so there's really no excuse. It probably takes about 10 minutes longer to bake them yourself than to use a box mix. But, if you really must take the shortcut, the least you can do is upgrade them. Using whole milk in your boxed brownies, rather than water, will make them denser and fudgy. There are also all kinds of mix-ins you can use to level up a boxed mix. Swirls of peanut butter, nuts, chocolate chunks, and chopped candy bars. Any of these items make boxed brownies more appealing, but people who bring them really should try harder.

There's nothing wrong with bringing potato salad to a potluck. It's a crowd-pleaser that usually goes down well — unless it's store-bought. We've all been at a potluck and seen a lackluster grocery store potato salad still in the plastic tub it was sold in, and decided to move onto the next dish. It doesn't taste good and it shows a lack of respect for the spirit of the potluck.

One of the big reasons why people skip certain foods is a lack of effort and imagination. We all only have so much room in our stomachs, and it's not worth filling it with something that you could have bought at the store yourself for a couple of dollars when the table is laden with delicious homemade food. So, if you don't want your dish to be passed over at the next potluck you attend, don't bring store-bought potato salad.

By all means, though, bring the homemade stuff. It's a classic for a reason. Whether you like the most traditional type available or make potato salad with a twist, there's room for it on the table. It's simple to make. Yes, even from scratch. And it uses relatively affordable ingredients. It absolutely makes sense as a potluck classic, just put the effort in to make it yourself and everyone will be happy. You'll head home with the bowl scraped clean.

Does it really need saying that Jell-O salad is one of the most skipped dishes at any potluck? There's a time and a place for it, and that's back in the 1950s in a church function room. It might seem like the days of sticking any old fruits and veggies in gelatin and calling it a salad have passed, but you'd be surprised. And when they show up at a potluck, people are suspicious.

If you're lucky enough not to be acquainted with them, Jell-O salads are a broad group of dishes that gained popularity around the '50s. They're reminiscent of old aspic dishes, which date back to the medieval times, but with a mid-century twist.

You get sweet Jell-O salads, which usually feature fruits and may be topped with whipped cream or Cool Whip, which don't sound too bad until you realize that they sometimes incorporate cottage cheese. Then there are savory Jell-O salads that have meats and vegetables suspended inside. But, unless you're lucky, the gelatin may be sweet.

It's no surprise that these dishes fell out of favor. Yet, some folks still insist on bringing them to potlucks everywhere. They're not especially easy to prepare, either, so anyone considering it should save their time and make something else. Sure, they're retro, but not in a fun way.

Deviled eggs can be delicious. With the yolks mashed, seasoned, and piped back into the whites, they're simple but greater than the sum of their parts. And butter is the secret ingredient you should add to your deviled egg yolk mixture to make it even tastier. Yet, they're always passed over at potlucks. No matter how good you make them, nobody wants to eat them. Why?

The fact is, it's less about the dish itself and more about the nature of potlucks. When you bring food to this kind of function, you've made it at home, transported it to the potluck, and then it sits around on the table. Some foods travel well, some less so; and anything eggy isn't known for holding up over time.

It doesn't matter if they're perfectly fresh and were chilled until the minute they hit the table. People imagine them sitting in a sweaty Tupperware container in a boiling car, getting progressively more sulphuric until they're finally unleashed on unsuspecting potluck attendees. And you just can't shake that kind of image.

Under the right conditions, deviled eggs are great for serving as an appetizer. But, you probably want to do that when you're near your own kitchen and you're cooking for people who know you and your food hygiene standards well. You don't want to be known around the office as the one who always brings a ripe box of deviled eggs.

For everyone's sake, including your own, don't be the person who brings a healthy dessert to the potluck. It's up to you how you eat at home, and if you want to avoid sugar or wheat, that's your call. But, I'm here to tell you that a healthy dessert isn't really a dessert at all. Desserts don't need to be healthy, they need to bring joy into people's lives.

There's a reason that healthy desserts are always the last thing left at a potluck. Nobody wants them. We're not talking about fruit here. That's not a dessert, it's just produce, and there's a place for it at potlucks alongside everything else (but don't just bring fruit). What we mean by healthy desserts are things like black bean brownies, avocado chocolate mousse, sugar-free cupcakes, and peanut butter stuffed dates. Don't do it to yourself, and don't do it to the people who you supposedly care about.

It's better to have no dessert than bad dessert. If it's not covered in frosting, oozing melted chocolate, or covered in a shiny glaze, it's probably not worth eating. Dessert is meant to be a treat, not something you have to force your way through. Anyone considering taking a healthy sweet dish to the potluck should either bake a proper dessert or bring something savory instead.

If you bring a tuna salad, tuna casserole, or anything with tuna in it to a potluck, don't expect it to go over well. It's always one of the last things on the table, with either a few people having picked at it, or nobody having touched it at all. So, if you're looking to bring something popular that people will love, it's a no go. It doesn't matter how much you, personally, love tuna, it's just not a winner at a potluck.

Tuna can be divisive in general. It's fairly common for people to dislike tuna, particularly the canned stuff, because of its strong smell and flavor. And, even if people do like it, it's one of those foods that a lot of people avoid from potlucks. It doesn't take much for fish to turn and people may worry that it's been out of the fridge for too long. Because of its strong smell, some potluck goers may worry that they wouldn't be able to tell the difference between it smelling off and its regular smell.

Aside from that, some folks may feel like eating a particularly "aromatic" dish at a potluck is antisocial, worrying they may sit down next to someone who doesn't like fish. So, it's not even just about the dish itself, it's also about interpersonal relationships. Don't overcomplicate things and bring down the vibe, just leave the tuna at home.

There's always one person who wants to make their famous soup recipe for the potluck and keeps trying to offer it to everyone all night, looking increasingly disappointed that nobody's biting. Now, your soup might be the best, but it's just not potluck appropriate. It's awkward enough that people often just avoid it, rather than figuring out the logistics.

First off, a handful of exceptions aside, soup should be warm. Maybe you can bring a slow cooker and have somewhere to plug it in. But, if not, nobody wants your cold broccoli and stilton soup. It's just not the same as enjoying it hot.

If you can get over that hurdle, there's still the question of how people are going to eat it. They can't just ladle it onto their plate. Unless you want to be an annoying guest, you'll have to bring your own bowls or disposable cups. But, even so, people already have a plate of food. They don't want to be holding a plate in one hand and a cup of soup in the other, trying to figure out where they can sit and consume it all without making a mess.

It's one extra thing to worry about, so a lot of people end up just passing by the soup and focusing on the other dishes. It doesn't mean that it's bad soup, it's just bad for a potluck meal.

Not living up to either part of its name, ambrosia salad is an unholy alliance between canned fruit cocktail, sour cream, whipped topping, and marshmallows. It sounds like the kind of thing that a toddler would dream up — and it tastes like it, too. Sure, it has a place in American culinary history. But, these days, it has no place on a potluck table.

It's not the kind of dish that everyone avoids, but it is extremely divisive. Some people might grab a scoop for a taste of nostalgia, but they're definitely not coming back for seconds. Everyone else avoids it like the plague — if the plague came with Cool Whip and mini marshmallows.

One of the problems with ambrosia salad is that nobody is entirely sure if it's a side dish or dessert. Should they eat it alongside their focaccia and bean dip, or should they save it to eat with the cookies and brownies on the table. It's a question that some people will debate for hours, while the rest of us will just quietly avoid the ambrosia salad and call it a day. It might be a taste of childhood barbecues and family parties, but this dish has had its day.