Transporting food to a potluck can get messy, especially when it contains liquid, or needs to be kept hot or cold. Rest assured, we’ve got everything figured out, so transporting your potluck dishes can be a stress-less experience.
What are the best tips for transporting food to a potluck? If you attend potluck gatherings often, invest in some convenient supplies and containers. Next, save a few household items to make DIY carriers. Also, some specific foods need specialized care to get them to the party safe and sound.
Let’s go over some of the things you need to know and some tips to get your next potluck dishes where they need to go.
DIY Helps for Taking Food to Potlucks
Rubber bands. Sturdy boxes. Binder clips. No it’s not a trip to the office supply store– these household items can help carry casseroles, cakes, pies, hot and cold side dishes, and salads to your destination.
If you have room to store them, save a shelf or drawer for clean plastic food containers to reuse the next time you need to transport food. Large rubber bands (the kind you see on produce) can hold a lid securely on a pan or bowl.
Binder clips can hold cardboard lids or foil on casserole pans so they won’t slip off while traveling. Large disposable foil pans make terrific potluck buffet containers for crowd-sized salads. Buy them in bulk at warehouse stores.
If you need to keep a salad cold, nestle the pan inside another foil pan with ice in the bottom. For transport, cover the pan with several layers of plastic wrap. Or invert another pan over the filled pan and use binder clips to attach the pans together.
Save the cardboard trays that soda and sparkling water come in from Costco or other stores that sell in bulk. They are perfect for transporting hot casserole dishes, and are disposable.
Best Container Finds for Potluck Dishes
There are some potluck foods that really are easier to transport with specialized containers. For example, hot liquids like soup or gravy, deviled eggs, rice, and punch are a few.
Hot liquids like soup can be carried in mason jars. Put some doubled plastic wrap between the jar and the lid to add an extra tight seal. My favorite thing for soup are 32 oz. deli containers with lids. The lids seal tight enough that not even liquid foods can leak out. They are also freezable.
Specialized deviled egg carriers are the best solution, but nesting them in foil in a pan or tray will also keep them from tipping and rolling.
Keep rice warm in a crockpot with a lid that is wrapped in a towel. You may need to add a little hot water and fluff the rice when you get to your destination.
Transport punch in it’s individual containers– bottles of juice, soda, or whatever else, and mix together on location.
Make your casserole (or salad or cake or whatever) in a disposable foil pan and then drop it into the plastic frame of this Fancy Panz carrier. It comes with a removable riser for use with two foil pans.
How to Keep Hot Foods Hot
We all know about using a cooler to keep things cold, but you can also use a cooler and some homemade rice heat packs to keep hot foods hot while transporting. If your hot foods are in covered foil pans, use cardboard spacers to stack them on top of each other inside the cooler.
The handles and locking lid make this Crockpot great for taking hot foods to potluck dinners.
Related Questions
What can I use for meal train disposables? (Meals taken to new moms, bereaved or ill persons) Try to use as many disposable items as possible so they don’t need to return piles of dishes. Use foil pans or plastic containers that you don’t want back. Buy cheap dishes or bowls at yard sales or thrift shops. Large take-out containers from restaurants can be washed and reused.
What are some other places to find food service items? Check out catering or restaurant supply stores. They have professional level carriers, packaging, and leftover containers in bulk at great prices.