Entertaining Ideas That Will Get Your NYE Party Started

Master your New Years Eve party with our tried and tested entertaining ideas. Is it a sit down dinner, or a stand up cocktail party? How will you decorate? What’s the main meal? Start preparing now…

In all the rush to plan for Christmas, there’s often one thing that gets forgotten: the New Years Eve party. When that clock strikes twelve, you want to be fully in the moment, not stressing about something you left in the oven, or a lack of decorations overhead.

Get on top of your to-do list with these entertaining ideas that will make sure it’s smooth sailing into the New Year.

Sit-down dinner, or cocktail party?

At the end of a big year, guests are often in one of two moods: ready to get up and celebrate, or desperate for a peaceful night of reflection. Choose your approach wisely, and start planning your menu and decorations around that.

Throwing a cocktail party? Maybe some light canapes would work best. If it’s a sit-down dinner, big shared meals and centrepieces might be more effective.

Your midnight menu

If you’ve got a theme for your evening, this part might be easy. Perhaps it’s classic Australian cuisine, a light summer menu or an Asian extravaganza. If you’re not too fussed about a theme, be sure browse our recipe collection, or follow the NEFF New Years Eve menu. And don’t forget to head over to the supermarket to stock up on ingredients before the public holidays arrive.

Create an (easy) finger food feast

The festive season is definitely a time of indulgence, especially when it comes to food! So after recovering from Christmas, a great idea for NYE is to keep things small and simple with finger food. Here’s some of our favourite sweet and savoury finger food recipes:

Sweet

Choc-dipped fruit and nut cookies – Chocolate and cookies are always a crowd-pleaser! Put them together and you’ve got yourself one very popular party snack – just try and stop at one!

Baklava – A beautiful and fragrant Egyptian and Middle Eastern pastry dessert that ever and any sweet tooth will devour in seconds.

Jam Donuts – Who doesn’t love a donut? These deliciously jammy and fluffy favourites will have the party going well and truly into the New Year.

Savoury

Carrot chips – A healthy take on chips (which means you can have a few extra!).

Thai red curry sausage rolls – A delicious twist on a party staple, these Thai Red Curry Sausage Rolls are as filling as they are flavoursome and even great for the day after the night before!

Cheesy Garlic Cob Loaf Dip – You know it’s going to be a good party when there is cob load involved! Our Cheesy Garlic Cob Loaf Dip will be gone in 60 seconds… Trust us!

The best bit? You can make any of these recipes, at the same time, using your NEFF oven’s CircoTherm® function. CircoTherm® allows you to cook or bake simultaneously without the flavours intermingling.

Have you planned your décor?

A good home-cooked party spread doesn’t need glitter or fanfare to make an impact. But it certainly can’t harm you to include a bit of visual flair. As we’re approaching 2020, perhaps a Gatsby-themed roaring 20s party would go down a treat. Plate your meals elegantly, bring in some summer blooms from the garden and make sure you’ve got a playlist worth seeing out the year to.

Don’t forget the bubbles

There’s nothing better than a glass of champagne for when the countdown begins. Unless your guests are bringing their own drinks, it’s important to make sure you’ve got plenty of options on hand for the final toast  and it gives you a chance to pair your meals with whatever drinks you like. Oysters and Brut? Cheesecake with an Apple and Hibiscus cocktail? And don’t forget your bloody mary recipe for New Years Day.

Your NEFF appliances can help

Cooking for a crowd can be stressful. Don’t forget to make the most of your NEFF features to make the perfect  spread a whole lot easier. Cook multiple dishes at the same time with Circotherm, keep an eye on your meat temperature with the Multipoint MeatProbe and NEFF’s automatic programs can do some of the cooking for you.

Want to learn some new tricks before the festive rush? Come along to one of our free product demonstrations for a NEFF masterclass.