Jury · New Year's Eve with friends · Dinner
The New Year's Eve potluck contest
When everyone makes a course, New Year's Eve is easier for the host and more fun for the guests. Make it a friendly contest: each course is a round, and the evening's best cook is revealed before midnight.
- Courses
- Four to six
- Cooks
- One or two per course
- Reveal
- After dessert
Updated
Make a plan
Share out the courses.
Nibbles, starter, main, dessert and a late-night snack. If there are many of you, cook in pairs.
Agree the rules.
A shared theme and a spending limit, so it's fair for everyone.
Keep the recipes secret.
Only the host knows who is making what. It makes the reveal more fun.
Plan the kitchen.
Agree who needs the oven when. Prepare as much as possible at home.
Rate the courses
Create an activity with one round per course. Everyone rates every course, the cook included, and the ratings stay hidden until the host reveals them. Choose whether to reveal after each course or all together after dessert.
Save the reveal for after dessert. The suspense lasts all evening, and the winner can give a speech before midnight.
Themes for the menu
- The year's travels: each course comes from somewhere one of you went this year.
- Childhood favourites: dishes you remember from growing up, made new.
- Local: only ingredients from your own country.
- Colours: every course has its own colour, ending in gold.
- One ingredient: every course must use the same ingredient, from starter to dessert.
Questions and answers
Should the cook rate their own course?
Yes. It's fun to see whether the cook is the harshest critic or the biggest fan.
What if one course is much harder than another?
Add a criterion such as “Effort”, or let each course compete in its own category.
Can we make it a tradition?
Yes. Create a new activity each year in the same group, and see who wins the most years in a row.
More from new year's eve with friends
Ready for the first round?
Jury is free, with no ads. Get the app, make an activity and send the link to your friends.