potluck dinner
Bring-a-dish gathering
A potluck dinner is a meal where each guest brings a dish to share, so the menu emerges from whatever people happen to contribute.
The format suits casual gatherings—church suppers, office parties, family reunions—where coordinated catering would be impractical or unwanted.
We're having a potluck dinner, so bring whatever you like.
Also called simply a potluck.
- block partyNeighborhood outdoor celebration
- casseroleSlow-cooked oven dish
- slow cookerAppliance for gradual simmering
- main coursePrimary dish served
- buffetSelf-service meal display
party · family reunion · hospitality · fellowship · picnic · covered dish · sign-up sheet · feast · neighborliness · sharing · leftovers · tradition · serving dish · celebration · salad bowl · family recipe · barbecue · generosity
- Black ChurchBaptist church, gospel choir, pastor, preacher, deacons
- gatheringsgathering, gatherings, parties, party, reunion
- churchnave, pew, pews, altar, altars
- country festivitiescounty fair, state fair, country fair, harvest festival, fall festival
- Small-Town Lifegeneral store, town square, front porch, church steeple, water tower
- American ProtestantismBaptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Episcopalian
potluck dinnerformal dinner
Ceremonial evening meal
state dinner · gala dinner · sit-down dinner · tasting menu · plated dinner
luck, lucky, dinner, unlucky, dine, diner, dining, dinners, dines