How to Throw a Galentine’s Day Party

Wondering how to host an alternative Valentine’s Day party? Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be a traditional meal for two – you can honour the season of love by sharing delicious food with as many guests as your table can manage.

For inspiration, explore our party food, finger food, and canapé recipes – perfect for easy, crowdpleasing bites. Need something more substantial? Our feed-a-crowd recipes are ideal for big-batch meals that satisfy even the hungriest guests.

Entertaining doesn’t have to be a hassle – with our easy entertaining recipes, hosting a memorable Valentine’s party is as stress-free as it is enjoyable.

Galentine’s Day party food ideas

What is the meaning of Galentine’s Day?

Galentine’s Day is a celebration of female friendship on 13 February. Invite friends, family and loved ones to a sophisticated dinner party. These handpicked recipes are achievable yet impressive, with just the right amount of pizzazz for the occasion.

Discover our starter, main and dessert ideas. If you have a larger crowd to cater for and need more buffet-style recipes, try one of our sharing recipes.

Starters

To start, serve guests a few canapés and cocktails before they sit down to eat. Once they’re ready for their meal, a bowl of mussels with leeks & saffron makes for a luxurious appetiser. These shellfish are in season from October to March and are more affordable than oysters but still feel special. Alternatively, assemble a seafood cocktail platter. Everyone will enjoy creating their prawn cocktail precisely as they prefer. For veggies and vegans, this beetroot hummus one-platter-serves all will be a big hit and doesn’t require any cooking. Or pair sweet, peppery radishes with a zesty radish leaf and broad bean spread to make this light radish & broad bean bruschetta. For more ideas, visit our dinner party starter recipe collection.

Main courses

Keep the winter chills at bay with our traditional nihari – a slow-cooked spiced lamb stew from Pakistan. With just 20 minutes of prep, this fuss-free dish transforms into meltingly tender meat that falls off the bone.

For a gluten-free alternative, try our chicken karahi, delivering bold flavours everyone will love.

You might also want to consider our pastry-laden spinach & ricotta slice as a vegetarian option, or visit our vegetarian dinner party recipe collection for more meat-free inspiration.

Desserts

Finish your evening in style with the perfect dinner party dessert. We think, given it’s Galentine’s Day, a self-saucing chocolate pudding or this striking squidgy chocolate & pomegranate torte is in order! For a fruitier option, it’s easy to scale up our recipe for champagne & raspberry possets to make enough for your guests, or perhaps individual bakewell trifles will hit the spot.

Sharing recipes to feed a crowd

Why not serve a stunning sharing platter this Galentine’s Day? It’s easy to assemble with all of your favourite cheeses, charcuterie and crackers and requires minimal effort, so you can kick back and relax with friends. For your vegetarian and gluten-free friends, this one-pan nachos with black beans is a great solution and can be easily made vegan if needed with vegan cheese and sour cream. Air-fryer buffalo cauliflower wings always go down a storm at any party and to round off the meal you could treat your friends to a cookie dough pizza or a no-bake salted caramel cheesecake.

Galentine’s Day activities

Movie night

Close the curtains, cosy up on the sofa and press ‘play’ with the ultimate movie night – assemble a spread of crowd-pleasing snacks and sweet treats, from banana milkshakes and popcorn to nachos and halloumi fries.

Fondue

Set up a cheese or chocolate fondue station with all your favourite trimmings, such as strawberries, marshmallows and pretzels for sweet, and crusty bread, boiled new potatoes, vegetable crudités and cornichons for savoury.

Hot chocolate station

Create a DIY hot chocolate station and include plenty of sweet treats for toppings. We like using whipped cream or squirty cream, chocolate shavings or buttons, mini marshmallows, mini choc chip cookies, sprinkles and cinnamon for dusting.

Ice cream sundae bar

Assemble a pop-up bar that serves ice cream sundaes. Choose the flavours everyone likes and offer a range of toppings so guests can help themselves, alongside squeezy bottles and assorted sprinkles, sweets and berries in bowls.

Spritz-making station

Fix up an interactive spritz-making station for guests with varieties ranging from Aperol, Campari, elderflower limoncello, pink gin and grapefruit. Check out our guide on how to make the ultimate spritz for guidance.

Looking for Valentine’s Day recipes? Try our ideas

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What recipes would you choose for a Valentine’s Day dinner party? Leave a comment below…