What To Do If You Run Out Of Food At Your New Year's Eve Party

Throwing any party is a big responsibility, and throwing a New Year's Eve party only magnifies the pressure; it's the night that sets the tone for the rest of the upcoming year. You need to make sure your place is clean with plenty of seating and places to gather, you need to carefully pick some music or background TV to put on, and above all, you need to ensure you have plenty of food.

While the other key points can all be adjusted quickly, such as shifting the music to better match the mood, running out of food when you're a few hours from midnight is a DEFCON 1 level of "oh no." You could order a last-second delivery of a party pack from places such as Taco Bell or Wingstop, but that's going to cost you dearly. You could go pick some food up yourself instead since many major chains, including Walmart and Target, are usually partially open during the holiday, but then you'd be leaving your party without its host, which is never a good thing.

Instead, consider making something from scratch. Not only will this impress your guests, but it will also send delicious smells wafting over the party. You don't need to make anything crazy or time-consuming either, just something quick, easy, and delicious.

Since this is about emergency food if you run out, we won't cover any of the common New Year's Eve "good luck" foods, such as black-eyed peas, since those are likely what you've just run out of. The fastest and easiest way to replenish your savory food section is to make cornstarch-coated fried foods like chicken-fried steak.

You can do this with any protein (see our list of other must-have deep-fried foods); just start some oil heating while you dice up your to-be-fried food, season the cornstarch with salt, pepper, and whatever else you like, then toss your bite-sized pieces in this mix and quickly fry them. While you're babysitting the frying, you can also chop up any veggies you have into little pieces to make some simple, classic roasted veggies to accompany the fried protein.

For emergency sweets, there's hardly a better, more reliable, and customizable recipe than brownies. Mix all your ingredients together in one bowl before baking, saving you some cleaning time later, and you can throw all kinds of extras in to make it your own. When it's done, just slice the pan into little pieces. Brownies do need a fair few ingredients, though, so if you don't have much on hand, you can make a custard or pudding instead. Some puddings only use two ingredients, for example, and your guests can customize their serving from any fruits, jellies, syrups, etc. you happen to have.