Easy Graduation Party Foods
These easy-to-prepare recipes keep your graduation party menu simple, delicious and affordable. Enjoy a selection of graduation party foods including salads, side dishes, casseroles and grilled food recipes!
Don’t plan your grad party without this Graduation Party Ideas: The Ultimate Guide!
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What Kind Of Food Do You Serve At A Graduation Party?
Given that most graduation parties are in early summer and are attended by friends and family, the party setting is usually casual. That means you can serve a variety of salads, side dishes, casseroles, slow cooker and grilled recipes. Most of these foods can be prepared a few days ahead and cooked the day of the party.
What Do You Serve At A Graduation Open House?
Most graduation parties are done in an open house style. It’s a casual format that allows friends and family to stop in and visit and celebrate with the grad. Guests usually come and go throughout the party time frame.
Serve a variety of finger foods and a self-serve menu including some of these suggestions.
- Coolers with canned sodas, flavored seltzers and small bottled waters. Additional beverages in drink dispensers including iced teas, lemonades and juice.
- Supervised adult beverages if applicable.
- Finger food appetizers and dips.
- A variety of salads.
- Slow cooker side dishes.
- Grilled foods like burgers, hot dogs and chicken.
- A spiral-cut ham also is a good option.
All foods should be served buffet style so guests can help themselves.
Grad Party Food Ideas:
Along with these grad party appetizers below you will find the perfect foods to serve on the grad party buffet!
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Easy Graduation Party Foods
Create the perfect grad party using these easy graduation party foods!
GRADUATION PARTY DRINK RECIPES
These non-alcoholic drink recipes are great to make by the pitcher or place in a drink dispenser for guests to serve themselves!
Enjoy this cherry limeade drink all summer long - perfect for parties...the kids will love it!
This homemade strawberry lemonade is a simple yet refreshing combination of fresh strawberries, lemon juice, and sugar.
This tasty Strawberry Iced Tea can be prepared with minimal effort. It is a great drink for your summer party!
Cool off and refresh yourself with this simple but delicious Raspberry Lemonade. The perfect fresh and fruity drink for a hot summer day!
A simple homemade blueberry syrup will dress up basic ice tea for a wow factor and not much work. Save any extra syrup for pancakes!
This summer corn salad recipe can’t be beat! So simple, but completely delicious with fresh corn, feta, tomatoes and apple cider vinegar dressing.
GRADUATION PARTY SIDE DISHES
These easy side dish recipes are perfect to make ahead and serve for your graduation party celebration! Make one or two days ahead of time and they are ready to go on grad party day!
This potato salad recipe is absolutely delicious with a secret trick that makes it extra flavorful. It’s easy, creamy and loaded with celery, sweet pickles, eggs, green onions and sour cream/mayo. Everyone always asks for this recipe!
A simple throw-together layered salad that is light and refreshing. It screams summer in each crispy bite.
An Easy 7 Bean Salad recipe perfect for large potlucks, church events, bbq's or summertime gatherings. Looks and tastes amazing!
A bright and cheesy pasta salad that screams summer! Dinner is ready in less than 30 minutes!
Enjoy this healthy version of Mexican Street Corn Salad (aka Elote corn salad), where flavorful corn is tossed with a light yogurt-mayo lime and cilantro dressing and sprinkled with feta cheese. It is an easy summer salad and perfect for a graduation party!
This Italian pasta salad is loaded with meat, cheese and vegetables, all tossed together with noodles in a homemade Italian dressing.
Summer is all about fun and food! You can't go wrong with a delicious pasta salad for all the get-togethers during the warm weather!
Broccoli Cheddar Pasta Salad is the perfect opportunity to share your favorite deli salad with all your family and friends!
Chicken Macaroni Salad! A delicious cross between a creamy pasta salad and a chicken salad. Super easy to throw together and a great way to use up leftover chicken. Perfect for summer BBQs and graduation parties as well!
This Mexican Bean Salad recipe is for a quick, simple corn and black bean salad that is hearty yet light, fresh, packed with flavor, and ready in no time at all. It’s a perfect addition to taco Tuesdays, Mexican potlucks, picnics, and grad parties!
The flavors of potato salad get a serious upgrade when combined with a loaded baked potato salad! Stuffed full of bacon, cheese, herbs, and green onion the flavor of this red skin potato salad is just unbeatable.
This creamy cucumber salad, also known as German cucumber salad, is a refreshing combination of cucumbers, red onion and dill tossed in a simple dressing.
Using some favorite Mexican ingredients, you can whip this Mexican Pasta Salad up in no time.
This Loaded Vegetable Greek Pasta Salad with Feta Cheese, is a quick fix recipe that’s perfect for easy dinners, lunches, potlucks, and backyard barbecues. Tender whole-wheat pasta tossed with a homemade authentic greek dressing, kalamata olives, sweet cherry tomatoes, crisp English cucumbers, red bell peppers, Pepperoncini peppers, and chunks of yummy feta cheese.
This Chopped Veggie Salad recipe is the perfect summer side dish! It features a combination of fresh summer vegetables and feta cheese tossed in a simple tangy vinaigrette to bring it all together. Super easy to make, colorful and so delicious!
These avocado deviled eggs taste gourmet! They are Keto-friendly, low-carb, and incredibly full of slightly-spicy flavor. Amazing deviled eggs that taste like guac!
This Tater Tot Casserole recipe is the perfect comfort food. What could be better for a party than tater tots and cheesy goodness!
Whip up an unforgettable side dish. This corn casserole is a classic recipe that’s as delicious as it is timeless.
Instant Pot Baked Beans from scratch are the only way you’re going to want to make this classic side dish from now on! In a fraction of the time, you’ll get sweet and smoky, saucy beans without presoaking or cooking for hours. These delicious pressure cooker baked beans are freezer-friendly, make meal prep simple and are always a welcome addition to any BBQ, picnic, cookout, or family dinner!
You can't have summer without all the picnics, BBQs, and graduation parties. These incredible baked BBQ Chicken Legs will surely be a favorite for anyone who takes a bite!
A Hawaiian favorite in kabob form. Hulu Hulu chicken kabobs are perfect for a party, grill them in advance, serve warm or cold.
With just a few ingredients this crockpot ravioli is super easy to make and compliments everything on your graduation party menu!
The best thing about this cheeseburger casserole is that you can make the entire thing in one dish! Feed a crowd in minutes.
The combination of tacos and macaroni and cheese in this Taco Bake Recipe is perfect makes it an easy dish for your graduation party!
These Buffalo Chicken Sliders are perfect for a quick weeknight dinner or when you’re hosting a crowd at home.
Pasta al Forno is an easy, delicious and classic Italian baked pasta dish. It is made with cooked pasta tossed in a meat and tomato sauce and topped with lots of cheese, then baked to perfection.
Slow Cooker Peachy Barbecue Ribs are sweet but still tangy...easy for all types of parties!
This grilled shrimp skewers recipe is so EASY and flavorful! Learn how to grill shrimp skewers perfectly every time, and get the best marinade for BBQ garlic shrimp skewers.
Sure, anyone can throw a hot dog on the grill, toss it in a bun, top it with mustard and ketchup-- but why not bring your next grill or outdoor party up a notch by offering a lot of different toppings for their hot dog?
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