Easy Potluck Recipes for People Who Don't Cook

Carry-in snack days are popular in many workplaces. It's so much fun to try all the different recipes that coworkers bring in. Some people who don't know how to cook, or don't care to, or just don't have the time, often end up bringing in the same boring deli salads or packaged snack foods that we can buy for ourselves anyway! So as a service to those who enjoy potlucks and want to make an interesting contribution, I am giving you a few of my most popular recipes that require little more than mixing a few simple ingredients together. Your coworkers will appreciate your efforts, and may even be impressed! Here are some yummy dishes that will have your coworkers asking for the recipes. Go ahead and share them, I don't mind!

Creamy Salsa Dip

It can't get much easier than this one. Mix together equal amounts of chunky salsa and sour cream. Bring along a bag of tortilla chips for dipping.

Dump Cake:

This one is so named because you only have to dump all the ingredients into a cake pan and stick it in the oven.

One can crushed pineapple in heavy syrup

One can cherry pie filling

One box yellow cake mix

One stick of cold butter or margarine

½ cup chopped nuts

Dump the pineapple and its syrup into a 13 x 9 cake pan and spread it on the bottom. Cover the pineapple with the cherry pie filling. Sprinkle the cake mix evenly over the fruit. Cut the cold margarine or butter into thin pats and place them evenly over the cake mix. Scatter nuts on top. Bake at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes, or until nicely browned.

Beef and Onion Dip

8-oz package of cream cheese

1/4 cup of sour cream

1 teaspoon soy sauce or Worchestershire sauce

one package of chipped beef, diced

one or two diced green onions

Mix everything together. Serve with Ritz crackers or a vegetable platter. If you want to make a little more effort, you can make this into a cheese ball by leaving out the sour cream, forming a ball, and covering it with nuts.

Purple Fruit Salad

This is a family favorite that I am expected to make for every holiday dinner!

8 ounce package cream cheese

One container whipped topping

One can crushed pineapple

One can dark sweet pitted cherries

2 cups seedless grapes

½ pkg mini marshmallows

Drain the juice from the cherries, reserving 1/4 cup. Cut the cream cheese into several small cubes and add a little of the whipped topping. Mix together until it is smooth, then add the rest of the whipped topping (a food processor makes this step easier). In a large bowl, mix together the cream cheese/topping mixture, the can of pineapple, the cherries and reserved juice, and grapes. Mix well and then fold in the marshmallows. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

If you want to bring in something more substantial, or are expected to bring in a main dish, here is the easiest BBQ chicken you will ever make!

Crock Pot BBQ Chicken
Broil some boneless, skinless chicken breasts just long enough to cook any fat off of the surface. Put the breasts in a crockpot and pour a bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce over the chicken. Turn the crockpot on high for a couple hours until the chicken is tender, then lower the heat to keep it warm. If you cook the chicken until it is tender enough to shred, this makes excellent sandwiches!