Plan the Perfect Dinner Party with Tiffani Thiessen's Best Recipes

Host your next party Dinner at Tiffani's style by mixing and matching host Tiffani Thiessen's best recipes for starters, entrees, desserts and drinks.

Photo By: Adam Rose ©2014, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Emile Wamsteker ©2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Jessica Brooks ©2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Jamie Rector ©2013, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Adam Rose ©2014, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Emile Wamsteker ©2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Jessica Brooks ©2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Jessica Brooks ©2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Jessica Brooks ©© 2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Jessica Brooks ©2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Jessica Brooks ©2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Jessica Brooks ©2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Jessica Brooks ©2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Jessica Brooks ©© 2016 Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Adam Rose ©2014, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Adam Rose ©2014, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Emile Wamsteker ©2014, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Emile Wamsteker ©© 2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved

Photo By: Jessica Brooks ©© 2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Jessica Brooks ©2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Jessica Brooks ©2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Jessica Brooks ©© 2016 Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Emile Wamsteker ©© 2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved

Photo By: Jessica Brooks ©2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Jamie Rector ©2013, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Adam Rose ©2014, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Adam Rose ©2014, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Jessica Brooks ©© 2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Jessica Brooks ©© 2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Jessica Brooks ©© 2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Jessica Brooks ©2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Jessica Brooks ©© 2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Jessica Brooks ©© 2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Jessica Brooks ©2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Jessica Brooks ©2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Jessica Brooks ©2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Jamie Rector ©2013, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Emile Wamsteker ©© 2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved

Photo By: Jessica Brooks ©2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Jessica Brooks ©© 2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Jessica Brooks ©© 2016 Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Emile Wamsteker ©© 2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved

Photo By: Jessica Brooks ©2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Jessica Brooks ©2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Emile Wamsteker ©2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Adam Rose ©2014, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Photo By: Jessica Brooks ©2016, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Starter: Grilled Ciabatta with Ricotta and Snap Peas

Kick off the meal with a trio of textures: creamy ricotta cheese, crisp snap peas and crunchy grilled bread.

Get the Recipe: Grilled Ciabatta with Ricotta and Snap Peas

Starter: Loaded Baby Potatoes

This bite-sized version of loaded twice-baked potatoes is full of the best things in life: bacon and cheese.

Get the Recipe: Loaded Baby Potatoes

Starter: Orange-Chipotle Shrimp

Forget shrimp cocktail and serve Tiffani's sweet-and-smoky grilled shrimp, packed with garlic, orange juice, chipotle peppers and cilantro.

Get the Recipe: Orange-Chipotle Shrimp

Starter: Wedge Salad

Tiffani's creamy ranch dressing gets a quadruple dose of garlicky flavor from garlic, scallions, garlic powder and chives. Spoon it over wedges of iceberg adorned with crunchy bacon for an indulgent salad.

Get the Recipe: Wedge Salad

Starter: Pear with Prosciutto and Gorgonzola

Pungent blue cheese is nestled inside a blanket of prosciutto, contrasting with the sweet pear in this poppable appetizer.

Get the Recipe: Pear with Prosciutto and Gorgonzola

Starter: Plum Caprese Salad

A traditional caprese salad is delightful, but adding juicy plums to the party takes it to the next level.

Get the Recipe: Plum Caprese Salad

Starter: Pulled Pork Sliders with Brussels Sprouts Slaw

Upgrade slow-cooker pulled pork with crunchy-creamy Brussels sprouts slaw. The dressing packs a tangy punch with buttermilk, Dijon mustard and lemon.

Get the Recipe: Pulled Pork Sliders with Brussels Sprouts Slaw

Starter: Cucumber Gazpacho with Watermelon and Mint

Gazpacho is typically a summer dish, but the fresh flavors of cucumber, watermelon and mint can be enjoyed year-round.

Get the Recipe: Cucumber Gazpacho with Watermelon and Mint

Starter: Truffled Egg Salad Tea Sandwiches

Eat these sandwiches pinkies out, because this egg salad is fancied up with white truffle oil and scallions.

Get the Recipe: Truffled Egg Salad Tea Sandwiches

Starter: Chopped Salad with Roasted Vegetables

A trio of roasted vegetables transforms basic chopped antipasto into a hearty salad. With big enough portions, this could even be served as your entree.

Get the Recipe: Chopped Salad with Roasted Vegetables

Entree: Roast Chicken Stuffed with Lemon and Rosemary

Who needs rotisserie chicken when you can roast up a beautiful bird at home? Carve the succulent lemon-and-rosemary-spiced meat tableside for even more oohs and aahs.

Get the Recipe: Roast Chicken Stuffed with Lemon and Rosemary

Entree: Roasted Vegetable and Sausage Lasagna

This easy lasagna can be prepped in 35 minutes, thanks to no-boil noodles, and it is bulked up with hearty — almost meaty — eggplant and delicate zucchini.

Get the Recipe: Roasted Vegetable and Sausage Lasagna

Entree: Crab Cakes with Tartar Sauce

Tender, succulent jumbo lump crabmeat is worth the splurge. Tiffani lets the crab's texture and flavor shine, adding only a little flour and breadcrumbs to bind the cakes. These can be served as the main course at your dinner party, or made smaller for little one-bite appetizers.

Get the Recipe: Crab Cakes with Tartar Sauce

Entree: Roasted Chicken Pot Pie

You could use leftovers from Tiffani's roast chicken recipe as the base for this comforting, stick-to-your-ribs pot pie, or cook chicken thighs as you prepare the pie crust.

Get the Recipe: Roasted Chicken Pot Pie

Entree: Citrus-Marinated Beef Fajitas

Marinating inexpensive skirt steak in citrus helps break down the proteins for a super-tender fajita base. Whip up Tiffani's tropical salsa and guacamole to serve on top of sauteed mushrooms, peppers and onions.

Get the Recipe: Citrus-Marinated Beef Fajitas

Entree: Ultimate Luxe Burgers

Cheese on top of burgers is boring — instead, stuff 'em with plenty of blue cheese, which melts as the meat grills.

Get the Recipe: Tiffani's Ultimate Lux Burgers

Entree: Corn Dogs

Bring the carnival to your dinner party with crunchy buttermilk-battered corn dogs — ring toss games optional.

Get the Recipe: Corn Dogs

Entree: Fig, Prosciutto and Blue Cheese Pizza

Have a pizza party at home with Tiffani's fancy grilled flatbread-style pizzas. Sweet and savory collide in this figgy pie.

Get the Recipe: Fig, Prosciutto and Blue Cheese Pizza

Entree: Barbecue Ribs

Fire up the grill in the summer or the oven in the winter for ribs with smoky, sticky barbecue sauce.

Get the Recipe: Barbecue Ribs

Entree: Grilled Cheese with Caramelized Onions

Yes, you can eat grilled cheese for dinner. Fancy-pants it up with caramelized onions and super-melty Gruyère.

Get the Recipe: Grilled Cheese with Caramelized Onions

Entree: Fried Chicken

For a down-home Southern dinner party, fry up chicken, Tiffani style. A little bit of hot sauce gives the panko-crusted chicken just the right amount of kick.

Get the Recipe: Fried Chicken

Entree: Beef and Mushroom Stroganoff

Warm yourself from the inside out by stewing together earthy mushrooms and tender beef in a brandy-spiked sauce. Spooned over creamy polenta, it's the ultimate comfort food.

Get the Recipe: Beef and Mushroom Stroganoff over Creamy Polenta

Entree: Lobster Boil

When Tiffani made dinner for her former Saved by the Bell love Mark-Paul Gosselaar, it was go big or go home with a lobster-and-clam boil. Make a pot that's chock-full of seafood, corn, potatoes, sausage, fennel and a beer-infused broth.

Get the Recipe: Lobster Boil

Entree: Smoked Brisket

Time is the most-important ingredient when smoking brisket. The garlicky, spicy-sweet rub and finger-lickin'-good barbecue sauce are both easy to make — the hardest part is waiting four to five agonizing hours for the meat to cook.

Get the Recipe: Smoked Brisket

Side: Colorful Corn Salad

While you're waiting for that brisket to cook, taste the rainbow with Tiffani's colorful vegetable salad. Jicama, red onion, red bell pepper, corn, black beans and avocado are tossed in a simple cilantro-cumin dressing.

Get the Recipe: Colorful Corn Salad

Side: Sweet Po-Tater Tots

Ditch the frozen bag and fry up crisp nuggets of sweet potato and onion at home.

Get the Recipe: Sweet Po-Tater Tots

Side: My Aunt's Green Beans

Tiffani's aunt tops green beans with a vinaigrette made with honey, hazelnut oil and white wine, and it's perfect for weeknight dinner or Thanksgiving. 

Get the Recipe: My Aunt's Green Beans

Side: Beer-Battered Fries

Combine two of your favorite things: french fries and beer. The rice flour-and-cornstarch batter helps get the taters super crispy.

Get the Recipe: Beer-Battered Fries

Side: Honey-Roasted Carrots with Sesame Seeds

Bring out the natural sweetness of carrots by roasting them with a little honey. Keeping a bit of the stems on makes for a gorgeous presentation.

Get the Recipe: Honey-Roasted Carrots with Sesame Seeds

Side: Balsamic Glazed Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta

When you elevate Brussels sprouts with crisp pancetta and tangy balsamic glaze, they may disappear faster than the entrees at your next soiree.

Get the Recipe: Balsamic Glazed Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta

Side: Rosemary Potatoes

Toss halved fingerling potatoes in a flavorful blend of herbs — including rosemary, sage and thyme — plus garlic and olive oil for a foolproof side dish.

Get the Recipe: Rosemary Potatoes

Side: Orzo Salad with Corn, Arugula and Cherry Tomatoes

The best part about this colorful orzo salad is that it can be served hot, cold or at room temperature, and leftovers only get better after some time in the fridge.

Get the Recipe: Orzo Salad with Corn, Arugula and Cherry Tomatoes

Side: Disco Fries

Get the party started — or keep it going — with crispy fries drenched in cheddar-Gruyère cheese sauce and gravy.

Get the Recipe: Disco Fries

Side: Campfire Skillet Cornbread

Tiffani adds nutty flavor, from brown butter, and a touch of sweetness with maple syrup to her crumbly cornbread.

Get the Recipe: Campfire Skillet Cornbread

Side: Grilled Artichokes with Honey-Chile Dipping Sauce

The secret to tender-crisp artichokes is giving them a quick steam before charring them on the grill.

Get the Recipe: Grilled Artichokes with Honey-Chile Dipping Sauce

Dessert: Mom's Cream Cheese Pie

Love cheesecake but hate the muss and fuss it takes to make one? Try Tiffani's mom's cream cheese pie, which has all the same flavors but doesn't need to be cooked carefully in a water bath.

Get the Recipe: Mom's Cream Cheese Pie

Dessert: Salted Caramel Snickerdoodle Ice Cream Sandwiches

These semi-homemade ice cream sandwiches utilize store-bought ice cream, homemade snickerdoodle cookies and an equally tasty and gorgeous chopped-pecan decoration.

Get the Recipe: Salted Caramel Snickerdoodle Ice Cream Sandwiches

Dessert: Salted Caramel Brownies

Once you make homemade salted caramel, there's no turning back. You'll drizzle it on everything — especially these warm brownies.

Get the Recipe: Salted Caramel Brownies

Dessert: Tri-Berry Trifle

Tiffani Thiessen blends whipped cream, creme fraiche and pudding mix, then layers the decadent mixture with fresh fruit and cubed cake.

Get the Recipe: Tri-Berry Trifle

Dessert: Banana Pudding

Elevate the Southern staple with caramelized bananas, creamy vanilla-bean-studded pudding and rum-spiked whipped cream.

Get the Recipe: Banana Pudding

Dessert: Baked Pears with Currants and Cinnamon

Halve and core six pears, sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon and coconut oil, and then let 'em swim in white wine. It's so easy that you can drink the rest of the wine while you prepare dessert.

Get the Recipe: Baked Pears with Currants and Cinnamon

Dessert: S'mores in a Jar

If it's too cold outside to toast marshmallows, pack all the flavors of s'mores in a jar with a chocolate pudding base.

Get the Recipe: S'mores in a Jar

Dessert: Basil Limoncello Sorbet

Tiffani's simple, six-ingredient sorbet is refreshing and packed with tart lemons, crisp basil and a hint of booze from limoncello.

Get the Recipe: Basil Limoncello Sorbet

Dessert: Fresh Figs with Ricotta and Lavender Honey

Take a walk on the lighter side to end your meal with creamy ricotta whipped with Greek yogurt, lavender-flavored honey and quartered fresh figs.

Get the Recipe: Fresh Figs with Ricotta and Lavender Honey

Dessert: Candied Ginger Apple Pie

Candied ginger adds spicy flavor and a pop of delightfully chewy texture in the middle of tender apples and flaky pie crust.

Get the Recipe: Candied Ginger Apple Pie

Dessert: Blueberry-Lemon Scones

These could be served for dessert or given as a take-home treat for guests to devour the next morning. Plump blueberries and tangy lemon zest are the perfect pairing for crumbly scones, and they're even better when topped with Tiffani's honey butter and blackberry jam.

Get the Recipe: Blueberry-Lemon Scones

Dessert: Boozy Chocolate-Hazelnut Milkshake

Have five minutes? You can blitz up the milkshake of your dreams, filled with the chocolate-hazelnut spread, ice cream and hazelnut liqueur.

Get the Recipe: Boozy Chocolate-Hazelnut Milkshake

Drink: Plum-Cherry Ice Pops

For a light, refreshing take on a drink-dessert hybrid, make plum-cherry ice pops and let 'em melt in glasses of champagne.

Get the Recipe: Plum-Cherry Ice Pops

Drink: Dark and Stormy

Making your own ginger beer is easier than you'd think. Just boil together grated ginger, allspice, cloves, sugar and water, and then add some lime zest and rum for the best Dark and Stormy of your life.

Get the Recipe: Dark and Stormy

Drink: Blood Orange-Vanilla Martini

Even though this isn't creamy like a Creamsicle, the cocktail's mix of orange and vanilla will transport you back to childhood. It gets a sophisticated twist from blood orange — and the vodka, of course.

Get the Recipe: Blood Orange-Vanilla Martini

Drink: Spiked Hot Chocolate

This is a two-for-one dessert and drink. Tiffani spikes homemade hot chocolate with dark rum, then sweetens things up even more with honey, warming cinnamon, vanilla and brown sugar.

Get the Recipe: Spiked Hot Chocolate

Drink: Shandy Summer Cocktail

Mix pale ale with lemon-lime soda for a refreshing, fizzy cocktail that even beer haters can enjoy.

Get the Recipe: Shandy Summer Cocktail

Drink: Watermelon-Champagne Cocktail

For a new spin on mimosas, use watermelon juice instead of orange juice in your next champagne cocktail.

Get the Recipe: Watermelon-Champagne Cocktail

Drink: Blackberry Cocktail

The base of this sweet and fizzy bourbon cocktail is an easy blackberry simple syrup that could be used to flavor iced tea, lemonade or any other nonalcoholic drink, too.

Get the Recipe: Blackberry Cocktail

Drink: Peach Texas Tea

Peach and ginger give Tiffani's Texas tea sweet and spicy notes, and it's just as great served virgin or spiked with tequila.

Get the Recipe: Peach Texas Tea

Drink: Prickly Pear Margarita

Prickly pears are much sweeter than their spiky appearance would suggest. The cactus fruit is like a mix of watermelon and strawberry, and pairs perfectly with classic margarita flavors.

Get the Recipe: Prickly Pear Margaritas