18 Oscar Party Recipes for Your Red Carpet

Thanks to store bought puff pastry, this fancy-looking appetizer is easy to make — and it comes with a “most popular person at the party” guarantee.

Sweet, salty, spicy, and rosemary-infused, these nuts from Union Square Café in NYC make the perfect party snack. Bonus: they’re a cinch to make!

These deviled eggs are truly devilish are totally pop-in-your-mouth-able.

These cocktail meatballs are so much better than the grape jelly versions you’ve tried before. You’ll love that the meatballs are baked, not fried, and the sweet and tangy sauce is ready in under 15 minutes.

Adapted from the celebrated L’Auberge Chez Francois in Great Falls, VA, this blend of cottage cheese, sour cream, garlic, scallions, and fresh herbs is wonderful with garlic bread.

These crisp and flaky cheese straws flecked with fresh herbs and crushed red chili flakes make a wonderful hors d’oeuvre to go along with wine and cocktails.

I’ve had Coconut Shrimp at many restaurants, but this homemade version beats them all. It’s remarkably easy to make: you can do all of the preparation in advance, and the sauce comes straight out of a bottle.

With their subtle chocolate flavor, deep mahogany color, and lavish swirl of cream cheese frosting, who can resist red velvet?

Dense and creamy with a hint of lemon and a crisp brown sugar-graham cracker crust, these bars are not only a cinch to make, they rival the very best NY cheesecake out there.

Rich, creamy, bittersweet and boozy, these truffles are mouthfuls of pure, all-encompassing chocolate bliss.

Known as Millionaire’s Shortbread, presumably because they’re so rich, these bars consist of a layer of crumbly shortbread, a layer of soft caramel, and a layer of chocolate. They taste like gourmet Twix bars.

If you’re a chocolate and mint person, you’ll love these double chocolate mint cookies. They have the flavor of Thin Mints® but the texture of chunky chocolate chip cookies.

My grandmother was known near and far for her butter- and rum-soaked pound cake — it was the hit of every family gathering, and no one ever passed through her kitchen without sneaking a thin slice.

Every party needs a signature cocktail and this festive twist on a traditional margarita is ideal for Oscar night. Use a good quality 100% agave tequila like Patron Silver — it’ll taste better, and you’ll be glad for it the next day.

A make-ahead pitcher of sangria is the perfect party cocktail. Toss a few bunches of frozen grapes in the pitcher — they look pretty and won’t water the drink down.

This beautiful, bold sangria is made from red wine, pomegranate juice, brandy, orange liqueur and lots of fruit. Go ahead and make it ahead of time — it’s best when the fruit has a chance to steep in the punch overnight.

Half dessert/half cocktail, a mudslide is the perfect adult treat to cap off the night.

This warm cocktail is ideal for a crowd because it simmers on the stove in a big pot for everyone to help themselves — and it makes the house smell amazing.