56 Gourmet Dinner Party Recipes To Impress Your Guests

In a fast-moving world of convenience food, and TV dishes, it's wonderful to slow down sometimes and host a refined dinner party. How long ago was it that you invited friends over or celebrated a special occasion with family by cooking them a three-course dinner of gourmet dishes? 

Sitting down to a fine-dining experience, with time to share good conversations over incredible food, is a splendid way to spend an evening as the chaotic world spins outside. If you want to be the host with the most — or hostess with the most-ess — it's necessary to work out a menu of sophisticated dishes that fit together before you start. Choose mouthwatering appetizers, high-end entrées, and decadent desserts, along with a sumptuous side or two. 

Feel inspired with these gourmet dinner party recipes that are sure to impress your guests and accentuate how amazing the simplicity of sharing great food is.

Gourmet food isn't just about the way a dish tastes; it's also all about the presentation. Swirls of Japanese-inspired smoked salmon and avocado wrapped in sushi rice and nori seaweed look like stunning works of culinary art. Chill the rolls in the fridge before cutting just before you serve. Keep it traditional with salty, spicy, and sour condiments: soy sauce, fiery wasabi, and pickled ginger. Keep the avocado looking freshly green by adding a squirt of lemon juice before you roll it. 

Recipe: Smoked Salmon Sushi

While serving this tomatoey, seafood broth, entertain your guests by telling them that while this soup tastes Italian, it's actually born in the U.S., created by Italian fishermen working in San Francisco. (Food tastes so much better with a narrative culinary arc, doesn't it?) The clams, shell-on mussels, shrimp, and cod bobbing about in the bowl will impress any guests. Feel free to switch up the ingredients, with crab, scallops, haddock, or skin-off salmon in place of the cod. Fresh seafood is far more flavorful, so make sure you debeard the mussels and use raw shrimp that've been peeled and deveined.

Recipe: Cioppino

What'll excite your guests will no doubt be the fact that you've cooked this dish at all, rather than it being served in a high-end restaurant. The skill is in creating the clarified butter, which adds that luxe flavor to the succulent sweetness of the snow crab or king crab legs. And lemon to squeeze over the plate is a must. This is already a great start to any dinner, but if you want to make it more sophisticated, serve your crab with special seafood crackers.

Recipe: Instant Pot Crab Legs

There are no words that do this melt-in-the-mouth, gooey French cheese justice. If you serve a wheel of thyme-infused brie that's been baked in the oven with a drizzle of honey on the top, you're announcing your culinary feast is a gourmet one. Brush olive oil on before baking to ensure the cheese is nice and soft on top. And to add to the presentation, cut the parchment paper this shared appetizer sits on into a wider circle than the cheese rather than covering the whole baking tray. 

Recipe: Baked Brie

Bite-size appetizers immediately impress with these pot sticker-style gyozas. These Asian-style wonders are dumplings that are fried on the bottom and then steamed to create a crunchy and soft texture. Your guests will love the juicy filling with soy sauce, sesame oil, and ginger. You can easily use shiitake mushrooms in place of pork for any guests who don't eat meat. To make them, fold the wrappers in half and pinch together from one end to the other. Serve with Chinese black vinegar or ponzu sauce.

Recipe: Savory Fried Pork And Cabbage Gyoza

Everyone likes a skewer. A wooden stick turns an appetizer into the ultimate finger food, and they look great, too. Deconstruct the classic Caprese salad and reimagine it. The traditional flavors of mozzarella, tomato, and basil are still there, with a tangy balsamic glaze drizzled over the top. Use grape or cherry tomatoes and small balls of cheese. That way, you won't even need a chopping board for this simple recipe. If you can't find marinated mozzarella balls, try making a homemade version with olive oil, garlic, basil, and oregano. 

Recipe: Easy Caprese Skewers

Recreate this well-known, retro appetizer using a more modern cooking technique: an Instant Pot. If the thought of slicing so many onions so thinly makes your eyes water, know that you don't need them to be that thin, as they reduce in size. It's not essential, but it adds an extra flavor profile if you put a splash or two of cognac, sherry, or red wine into the soup while it's cooking. Divide the soup between individual oven-proof dishes before topping with bread and gruyere.

Recipe: French Onion Soup Gets A Modern Update

Turn a grand entrée extraordinaire into individual parcels of sophisticated fare with puff pastry encased filet mignon steaks for each of your guests. Creamy duxelle mushrooms and prosciutto surround the beef, while a red wine sauce creates a rich twist to original recipes. For such a five-star main course, cook with wine that's good enough to drink, although it doesn't have to be a rare vintage. You're going to cook the sauce using stewing steak, but you'll strain it afterward.

Recipe: Gordon Ramsay's Beef Wellington With A Twist

There's shrimp, and then there's the luxuriously meaty and flavorsome colossal shrimp. Served in a tomatoey sauce, called sofrito, amaze your dinner party with a description of how you made Puerto Rican mofongo. The seafood is served next to this mixture of fried, mashed-up plantains cooked with garlic, salt, and pork rinds. If exquisite dining is about culinary adventure and experience, this entrée goes places. Adding fun and creativity into recipes is what sharing great food is about.

Recipe: Colossal Shrimp Mofongo

Have you ever dined out at a fancy steak restaurant and tucked into prime rib? Imagine the delight on your meat-loving guests' faces if you bring this special treat home and make it for them. A dinner party doesn't get much more gourmet than a succulent roast served with a horseradish and blue cheese sauce. There are a few knife skills required for this recipe, so ask a butcher to help if need be. And don't forget to take the beef out of the refrigerator a couple of hours before cooking it.

Recipe: Homemade Prime Rib

Fine dining is an experience. And that experience begins with the ingredients and how they're put together. Then, you've got presentation and taste to follow. Duck with pomegranate sauce scores a hat trick with a wonderful pairing of the fruit and the tender meat, while thyme and star anise boost those flavors. Sprinkle over pomegranate seeds, and serve with green beans and a starchy side. 

Recipe: Duck Breast With Pomegranate Sauce

Here's a French classic, and a variation based on a recipe from one of America's much cherished culinary icons. Make this lip-smackingly delicious dish lighter by using white wine, rather than red, and cook the potatoes in with the chicken. Drama is added, and you get to feel like a high-end chef when you flambé the chicken by pouring cognac into the pan. (If you don't feel overly confident about setting the chicken alight, you can leave this part out.)

Recipe: Julia Child's Coq Au Vin Recipe With A Twist

Hearty, rustic, and cooked in one pan doesn't stop this succulent Italian-American classic from wooing dinner party darlings. Chicken thighs and breast cooked with pickled pepper and Italian sausage create a flavor sensation. While the original recipe calls for Peppadew peppers, you can use whatever you find in a jar. The fragrant aroma of garlic combines with the pickles and their juices, as well as wine, sugar and herbs. Don't worry about making this dish look neat before you pop it in the oven — just make sure the chicken is skin-side-up. 

Recipe: Authentic Chicken Scarpariello

If you're hosting a gourmet summer cookout, why not celebrate the weather with a grilled whole fish? You can fancy it up with some great sides, too. Potato salad and roasted zucchini go beautifully. Check your tilapia has been descaled and is ready to cook before you start stuffing lemon and dill inside. The seasoning is an essential step, so make sure you shake some salt and pepper not only on the outside but in the inside part of the fish, too. 

Recipe: Easy Grilled Whole Tilapia

While traditional dauphinois potatoes aren't made with cream, this recipe adds cream and cheddar cheese, too. This undoubtedly adds to the taste of indulgence with this magnificent side. It's perfect served with roasted meats. The garlic and thyme adds a strong flavor to the cream and soft slices of potato, while the cheesy, melted top is deliciously divine. To add to the fine-dining feel of your dinner party, make this side in individual ramekins so each guest has a personal serving. It looks more sophisticated than a family-size dish in the middle. 

Recipe: Creamy Dauphinoise Potatoes

This dish is what it appears to be: tender and crisp carrots roasted in the oven with a crust of melted Parmesan on top. There's something about the sweetness of the vegetables and the saltiness of the cheese that is so exquisitely balanced. What this means is that this simple side can hold its own at any fancy dinner party. They go with most main dishes too, and there's nothing stopping you customizing them to fit with your dinner theme. Try adding pistachios, seasoned breadcrumbs, or gremolata. 

Recipe: Parmesan Roasted Carrots

The words "twice baked" conjure up gourmet cuisine, and these baked potatoes are luxuriously light and fluffy. What you're doing is cooking your potatoes and then scooping out the soft centers and mixing the potato with other fillings before loading this back into the skins and baking again. Save time by cooking the potatoes in the microwave the first time. Wait until they're cooled a bit to scoop out and be careful to not tear the skins. Blend the filling to make it creamier and serve with a juicy steak. 

Recipe: 30-Minute Twice Baked Potatoes

When was the last time you ate creamed spinach? There's a nostalgic feel to this classic side, and when you make it you'll remember why it's been so loved for so long. Fresh spinach works best for this recipe, and its success is in the slow reduction of the creamy sauce to thicken it. You can substitute heavy cream for 15% cooking cream if you like. Either way, let the sauce simmer for 10 minutes with grated nutmeg. Season and add chili flakes or cayenne pepper for some heat.

Recipe: Creamed Spinach

Crunchy, soft, and traditionally served with roast beef, Yorkshire puddings originate in England hundreds of years ago. The batter rises and crisps up, while the doughy center mops up a rich gravy brilliantly. There's an art to making these simple flour, milk, and egg puddings. To avoid the dreaded soggy bottom, and makes these outrageously good sides rise, heat some oil in a muffin tin and make sure it's sizzling when you add the batter. Don't fill right to the top, either; give the mix room to grow as it cooks. 

Recipe: Traditional Yorkshire Pudding

Hard on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside, these German bread basket rolls are perfect as a side. The texture of the bread means they're robust enough to accompany an entrée or to mop up sauces from a delicious main dish. You need to let the dough rise twice for this recipe. If time is of the essence, freeze these after you've shaped the rolls and let them defrost for an hour and a half before baking on the night of your dinner party.

Recipe: Traditional German Brötchen

It delights dinner party guests when well-known dishes have a surprise element added to them. This recipe does just that. The crunch of romaine lettuce, with a creamy dressing, croutons, and Parmesan cheese are the elements of a Caesar salad. With this recipe, you grill the lettuce, which adds a wonderful depth to the flavor. Brush on olive oil before you cook it to add to the flavor and get that lovely charred effect. Don't cut the heart of the vegetable, or the leaves will fall away from each other. 

Recipe: Grilled Romaine Caesar Salad

While chocolate is a favorite indulgence for many, this pavlova looks the bomb and is perfect following a fine-dining dinner in the summer. The crispy meringue shell adds crunch to the velvety whipped cream, with the fruit creating bursts of juicy flavor. Of course, just as importantly, you'll impress any guest, no matter how used to gourmet desserts they are. A great way to get the egg whites into stiff peaks is to wipe your hand blender or whisk with lemon juice. That way, any oily residue that will ultimately stop the mix from stiffening is removed. 

Recipe: Pavlova

You know how kids love profiteroles? Well, so do big kids who attend sophisticated dinner parties. The recipe for this light, airy choux pastry dessert is delectable and a little different than the traditional dish. Instead of piping cream inside, cut the pastry balls in half and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Choose high-quality chocolate to add a richer flavor profile to the sauce, which is made with heavy whipping cream, too. For a fun twist, put out different toppings so guests can make individual dessert designs. 

Recipe: Classic Profiteroles

If you think creating these classic French cakes requires the culinary skills of a master baker, prepare to be pleasantly surprised. This petits fours recipe is actually easy, although you can keep this sweet secret to yourself as your guests bite into this fine-dining dessert. While you can make a homemade cake, there's nothing wrong in making these little cakes using a store-bought pound cake in the shape of a loaf. A good tip to neatly cut the cake is to pop it into the freezer for a few minutes beforehand. 

Recipe: Easy Petit Fours

The classic good looks, and sumptuously elegant taste of this French apple tarte inspires a joie de vivre that perfectly polishes off a fine-dining experience. If you like spice, sprinkle on some cinnamon on the apples before cooking. You can use whatever apples you like, as long as they're a sweet variety. When the tart mix of egg, sugar, and flour, with cold melted butter, has set, surrounding a fan of apple slices, sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve this tart warm with whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream.

Recipe: French Apple Tart

Four layers of vibrantly graduating green hues look artistic and stunning when you serve a slice of this amazing ombre cake. The soft, moist sponge is separated by a rich, homemade butter cream too. For distinctive shades, divide the cake batter into four bowls and take time to build up the colors using food coloring, so that you can maximize the differences. A useful tip to check whether a cake's baked or not is to touch the top of the sponge. If it bounces back after you've poked it, it's done. 

Recipe: Green Ombre Cake

The interesting story behind this dessert is that it was a result of a kitchen mishap when a 19th-century Parisian chef accidentally cooked an apple tart upside-down. As you entertain your dinner party guests, let them savor the sweetness. Focus when you create the caramel for this dessert, so that it doesn't burn. Turn off the heat as soon as the melted sugar starts to brown before adding in the butter. While you cook individual tarts with puff pastry on top, flip these first, and serve with cream or ice cream.

Recipe: Apple Tarte Tatin

Meringue islands floating in a custard sea with a sea spray of caramel describe this artistic dessert. This recipe adds a splash of Grand Marnier in the milk used to poach the meringues. Meanwhile, the trick to making custard is to stir the yolks continuously so they don't scramble. The sauce is ready when the custard coats the back of a spoon. Meanwhile, your sugar-spun caramel adds drama and ensures these creations are crunchy use within four hours so they don't become sticky.

Recipe: Modern Floating Island Dessert