Planning to host a birthday gathering at home but don’t have the time to prepare meals? Worried that your event will leave a wrong impression on your guests? Hosting a birthday gathering isn’t an easy feat, but choosing to prepare quick meals and desserts will make your life easier as a host.

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to spend hours in the kitchen to serve the best meals and desserts at a birthday gathering. Some products and recipes require minimal time and effort to prepare. You’ll be surprised how these will make your birthday gathering memorable!

Here are quick meal and dessert options for your next birthday gathering:

  1. Fish Fingers

Regardless of throwing an outdoor dinner party or brunch inside your home, you can never go wrong with fish fingers. Fish fingers have become a staple in many gatherings because they’re convenient to eat and work well paired with other dishes, like baked beans, parmesan cheese, and broccoli salad.

Fortunately, you don’t have to prepare fish fingers from scratch because you can buy them ready to cook. Large grocery stores such as Aldi, Makro online, and Costco sell these products most of the time at discounts, so make sure to check for those and save money on your next purchase.

With ready-to-cook fish fingers, you just have to fry them in oil for a couple of minutes, let them dry in a paper towel, and you’re good to go! Preparing fish fingers has never been this easy!

  1. Pesto Chicken Salad

Salads are a must in every gathering because they’re filling and delicious. They’re also very versatile as you can add any ingredients you want: from cheese and beef to tuna and olive oil.

One of the easiest salads you can make is the pesto chicken salad. This recipe only requires ten ingredients (most are already in your kitchen), and once you have them all, you just mix everything in a huge bowl. For variety, serve with tortillas and wraps, and encourage your guests to use the salad as a filling.

  1. Fruit Salad and Ice Cream

No gathering will be complete without desserts, especially if the event is for children. Most children will eat more desserts than meals during events.

Keep all of the kids in the event happy by serving some fruit salad and ice cream. This dessert requires a few minutes of your time as you just need to scoop some ice cream and fresh fruits in a glass, and you’re good to go. You can also serve toppings such as sprinkles and marshmallows and have the guests customize their desserts.

  1. Devilled Eggs

If you’re vying for the title being the best host in your area, you need to offer variety to your guests. Serving one or two dishes at a gathering is often not enough, especially if your guests have specific dietary requirements.

Make your guests happy during gatherings by serving deviled eggs. This recipe can be prepared in less than thirty minutes and requires ingredients essential in every kitchen. If you want to take your devilled eggs up a notch, use hummus, pimento cheese, avocado, garlic, and basil as your filling.

  1. Cream Cheese Cookie Cups

Don’t be fooled by its name — this dessert sounds complicated, but they’re easy to make. You’ll only need about 40 minutes to complete this recipe. It already includes the prep and cooking time.

This recipe only requires five ingredients: chocolate chip cookie dough, cream cheese, butter, vanilla extract, and sugar. Once you’ve baked the cookie dough in the oven for ten minutes, top it with the mixture of cream cheese, butter, sugar, and vanilla extract. Refrigerate. And you’re done!

  1. Pineapple Cheese Balls

Everyone loves cheese — it’s the perfect combination of that sweet, buttery, and salty taste. Cheese is also versatile as you can use them for your side dishes, main dishes, and desserts.

Satisfy your guests’ love for cheese by making pineapple cheese balls for your next event. This recipe might sound complex, but making it is easy. For this one, you’ll only need cream cheese, pineapples, pecans, and seasonings.

Mix cream cheese with pineapples, form them into balls, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least four hours. Roll the cold balls into chopped pecans and serve!

  1. Shortbread Cookies

Another easy-to-make dessert you should try is this 3-ingredient shortbread cookie. Unlike traditional cookies, this one only requires unsalted butter, sugar, and all-purpose flour. Mix all the ingredients, bake for 35 minutes, and cut into squares. To make the dessert look fancier, dust with some confectioners’ sugar.

  1. Fruit Dip

Serving fruits as appetizers is common during gatherings at home. If you want your upcoming event to be memorable, don’t just serve fresh fruits on the table — pair them with this dip.

Despite their delicious taste fruits such as strawberries, grapes, raspberries, and blueberries have many health benefits to the human body. 

To make this dreamy fruit dip, mix cream cheese, butter, and marshmallow crème, then fold in whipped topping. Once everything is fully combined, transfer into a bowl and serve with your favorite fresh fruits. This dip will surely make your fruits more appetizing!

  1. Lemon Icebox Cake

Looking for a cold dessert to impress your guests? Then make lemon icebox cake for your next birthday gathering. This recipe only requires some graham crackers and lemon pudding.

Start by placing some graham crackers at the bottom of the pan, top with lemon pudding, and repeat the process until you reach the top of the pan. Refrigerate overnight and serve.

Ideally, you should make this dessert the night before the event, so it’s chilled on the day of the event. This will give you a lot of time to entertain your guests once they arrive at the venue.

It’s Easy When You Know How

Who says hosting a birthday gathering requires time and effort in the kitchen? With the food options mentioned here, you can have the best gathering event at home without the need to master intricate and time-consuming recipes!