Any suggestions on feeding about 50 people? Cheap??!
Any suggestions on feeding about 50 people? Cheap??
I'm looking for suggestions on menu ideas to feed anywhere from 50 to75 people. Looking for cost effective yet not the same old hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, ziti, etc. You get the idea. We want to do this on a monthly basis so creativity is a plus. Thanks for your help.
Answers:
go to www.50plusfriends.com/cookbook... There are a lot of great recipes for crowds.
Eggs are always cheap...try deviled eggs as a side dish or appetizer. Pasta is very cheap as well, especially with tomato or spinach pesto sauce. Produce are really really cheap too, so make lots of fruits and vegetables. Try something with avocado, those are mega cheap and filling. It shouldn't be too hard to keep costs down if you're not using a lot of packaged foods. Try buying in bulk too.
Lasagne & salad? or Chili (there are tons of varieties like chicken & white beans) Cassarole (also lots of varieties like mexican enchilada). How about grilled Chicken over rice? There are also tons of sauces you can use like Teriyaki or curry. If you add in a simple green salad or pasta salad then it will add more substance to the meal.
Easy Enchiladas
2pds ground beef-browned and drained
2 cans red enchilada sauce
1 large can refried beans
12 corn tortillas-warmed
lots of chedder cheese
layer in baking dish and bake at 350 for 25 to 30 min.
Tell everyone to bring food for 25 people. One entree each and walla.
Food for 50 at no cost to you.
If not - lots of veggie and chicken,
tacos, sloppy joes, spaghetti, kabobs
Sloppy Joes and spaghetti both go a long way. Otherwise do a potluck and have everyone bring a dish to pass. Low cost and you get something different everytime
How about a Mexican theme......Taco burgers... with jalapeno for the spicy lovers...or go buffet style and let them make there own plates.....prepare the taco meat, dice cheese, onions, tomatoes, sour cream, taco sauce, lettuce, put into separate bowl and let your guests make there own, tacos, nachos and chease, taco salad, salsa and dip, any of these ingredients wrapped in a flour tortilla....or on a bun...less work for you and fun for your guests
Easy Does it Jambalaya
2 lbs cut up chicken
1 lb cut up sausage
1 can beef consomme
1 can french onion soup
1 small can tomatoe sauce
2 cups Uncle Bens converted rice
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1 stick of butter
Mix all ingredients together in roaster pan, then sprinkle with garlic powder and Tony Chachere (cajun seasoning). Cover and bake for 1 hour at 375 degrees stirring only once about midway. DO NOT ADD WATER.
Double recipe to feed more.
smorgasbord
spaghetti
I have tried these in the past for crowds and found they went well. 1) Cheeseburger Pie, recipe at aboutfood.com
2) Fried Rolled Taco's : 12 Floured Tortillas 1 cup Finely chopped chicken. Spoon 1Tbls chicken in bottom of each tortilla; secure with toothpicks. Fry on 350 degree oil about 2 minutes turning once. Serve with dip. If you cut them in half you can make 24 appetizers from this.
Bean Salads are always great and cheap.
Rice Balls are another cheap treat.
These recipes should be easy to find online
ham and pitta and mayo makes little pitta sandwich with sprite to drink
These are foods I've served to that many before...
fajitas,
pizza,
lasagne,
pork tenderloins and dollar rolls w/ mustard
philly cheesesteak
shrimp etouffee and red beans and rice-my favorite combo served with hot corn muffins.
most of the foods recommended won't sound that creative, but their are many creative twists you can add to make them special meals. Challenge yourself to think of new ways to serve old things. The more one dish meals you think of, the cheaper it will be.
~Have a variety of pasta and sauces for the main meal... you could use fettucini, linguini, spaghetti, penne, or whatever, and tomato, alfredo, and different kinds of sauces, to make kind of like a pasta bar.
~Then chop up some lettuce and veggies and put out different types of dressings, pretty cheap.
~You could also do like make your own mini pizzas, where you can put out baked english muffins and bowls of cheeses, tomato sauce, and veggies so everyone can make their own pizzas.
~One time when most of my family flew out to virginia, my aunt toasted mini hamburger buns ( theyre like really small, about the size of the circle you make when you put you index finger and thumb together) She made little beef patties, and cut lettuce up in small leaves, and got those little oval tomatoes and sliced then. We then put 1 dill chip on the burger... it was sooo yummy!
~Have a sandwich bar, with different breads, meats, cheeses, and stuff to put on your sandwiches.
~Make different appetizers, and have an appetizer night. and make all types of salads (veggie, potato, egg, chicken) and have veggies and dip, and fruit and dip. Make little finger sandwiches, make deviled eggs, have cheese and crackers, stuff like that.
~Or if you wanted, you could have a resturaunt cater it.
~If you want more tasty ideas, you could buy one of those "beginners" cookbooks they have really yummy things and are pretty easy to cook. Most dont even need actual cooking, just getting things and putting them together.
My suggestions are:
-Spaghetti w/ Garlic bread
-Pizza
-Teriyaki Chicken and rice
-Chili w/ rice
-Lasagna
-Steak w/ rice
-Barbeque Chicken
-Meatloaf
-Corn Chowder and turkey sandwiches
-Fried chicken w/ fries
Hope i helped :]
Good Luck!
Pastas! Italian dishes can be prepared easily & they do not cost too much. Otherwise, go for curries & bread.
a pasta bar would be really easy and cheap....get several kinds of pasta, and make up a couple sauces(like a cream one, tomato one etc) then maybe some dishes of things like meatballs, chopped chicken, veggies.......anything you could imagine that would go on pasta...then maybe some garlic bread or breadsticks and a big tossed salad.....probably all for less than $100.
also i am a member of a womens group that meets once a month and we always have dinner......the group pays for the main entree out of the treasury and then everyone brings a side dish or dessert. we end up with a ton of food left over, its also a good way to exchange recipes we all make sure to carry the recipe of what we brought with us that way if anyone wants it we can give itout.....in order to keep from having the same thing over and over we pick a theme......like last month was homestyle....our entrees were meatloaf and chickenfried steak....so everyone brought like casseroles and stuff for sides. This month is eating lite we are having grilled chicken and baked fish...so i imagine everyone will bring types of salads.
I would do a basic Hot dog/ sauce can be used for sloppy joes but If you have a SAM CLUB card then they will be dirt cheap..Believe me we just threw a big 16 bash for my daughter and about 100 people came & I fed them on only $40-$60 dollars..Talk about getting away scot free! anyway go to a bread store & they should give you deals.$$! Okay i hope i was a help!