BBQ for 40 people..food ideas

[lovemygoofy]

My question is who would be manning the grill? It's a party for your husband. Is he going to be grilling or you or someone else? I don't think I'd want my husband to have to stand at the grill all day if it was his party.

I would do pulled pork, reheated grilled chicken, and we love beer brats.

I take a big package of brats, thinly slice up several onions, 2-3 bottles of whatever beer you like, two pats of butter and some red pepper in a BIG pan and either bake in the oven or on the grill.

If you aren't going to be around for the morning of prep, then you need to do this as easy as possible. You can cook and shred and freeze the pork and then take out the day or two before and start reheating the day of with more sauce and maybe a touch of apple cider vinegar to infuse more moisture.

If you are looking for more than your basic sandwhiches, lay out some small tortillas and have a black bean, corn and cilantro mixture(we also add pineapple or mango) where chicken or pork tacos can be made. You could also lay out tortilla chips and have them make their own bbq nachos for something different as well.

 

[gracie1]

Does everyone eat pork that is attending?? I personally wouldn't eat pulled pork. I would do pulled pork and burgers.
I personally suffer from migraines and pork and hot dogs, etc., all have lots of nitrates in them which can cause migraines to occur. I know everyone isn't like me, but maybe you should have the hamburger option available.

 

[merekc]

My suggestions:
Potato Salad, beans, macaroni salad,...all this stuff can be bought in big batches for cheap at Sam's if you can get there (and if this is on your list).
Veggie trays or big bags of carrots, broccoli, etc also super cheap at Sam's compared to regular grocery store.

If you want Pulled pork. allrecipes.com has a super easy, very good recipe called Southern pulled pork, seasoned with cajun seasoning. It is very good and super easy. I don't brown it like the recipe says, just toss it all in the crockpot.

If you want to do chicken, bone-in options are probably cheapest. But if you want boneless, skinless, slice your breasts up into tenders. They will cook faster and people tend to eat less of them this way.

Buy whatever fresh veggies are in season. The previous watermelon idea was a good one. Also, cucumber, tomato, onion salad is typically cheap, easy, can sit out and can make a bunch. There are tons of recipes out there. Usually with some sort of vinegar dressing. I do mine with balsalmic, olive oil and greek seasoning (could be replaced with salt and pep).

If there are young kids, cook up a couple packs of hot dogs. That is really what a lot of them would prefer.

Buy your buns at a day old bread store, if there are any in your area.

Lemonade and Tea, instead of pop.

Watch for 4th of July sales this week to stock up for your party. chips may go cheap. Nothing wrong with having them as filler.

 

[Zhoen]

I love this thread. I just got tagged Friday to "help" put together a summer picnic for the office... I'll have plenty of help, and I've done this before, but I'm loving that you all are coming up with so much of what I already had in the back of my mind! We are doing burgers and dogs (the "good" kind... I've had to ask around about that that meant...) but also pulled chicken for any kosher/halal guests that come. We're going to have a small amount of veggieburger-type things available for any vegetarians... but unless I get an RSVP that specifies a vegan will be joining us, I'm not even going down that road...

So keep the good ideas rolling... the less we spend to feed people well, the more we have to rent a dunk tank for the bosses!

 

[crisi]

Does everyone eat pork that is attending?? I personally wouldn't eat pulled pork. I would do pulled pork and burgers.
I personally suffer from migraines and pork and hot dogs, etc., all have lots of nitrates in them which can cause migraines to occur. I know everyone isn't like me, but maybe you should have the hamburger option available.

I'm gluten intolerant. I just assume that when I go to someone's house, I'm going to have limited options - and keep something in my purse I can eat if I have to. Pulled pork is probably out since most BBQ sauce has gluten, (BBQs in general are hard, the food usually arrives on a bun) but that isn't my host's problem.

Don't get me wrong, I've done plenty of "beef, chicken, vegetarian, soy cheese, real cheese, corn tortillas, wheat tortillas (or real pasta, rice pasta)" meals for the "kosher, vegetarian, vegan, "wheres the beef," lactose intolerant, gluten intolerant" group of friends I have. But providing options increases the cost.

(Pulled pork from a pork shoulder shouldn't have nitrates because pulled pork shouldn't be made from cured meat. Not all cured meat has nitrates in it either. But you are right, a lot of people don't eat pork. But a lot of people don't eat meat at all, or don't eat wheat, don't eat dairy, or don't eat anything not harvested under a full moon . You can't feed a crowd and keep everyone happy without a LOT of extra work and expense.)

 

[My2BabiesLexis&Dill]

Thanks for the replies so far. I guess most likely he would be grilling not unless I take over (most of the time I grill anyway) but I do like the ideas of fixing the stuff ahead of time.

At the most I will have 5 hours of prep time before the party starts to do some of the cooking. But keep the ideas coming in.

 

[minnie1012]

We do this fairly often. I make this recipe http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/bbq-pork-sandwich-recipe/index.html and make bbq sliders. Found the sliders are big enough for people when you have all the sides. For sides, I do potato salad, baked beans, cole slaw and deviled eggs. It ends up being pretty cheap and there's plenty of food. We did the hamburgers and hot dogs one year, but that ended up costing a lot more, so we prefer the bbq (and it's something that cooks before everyone gets there so it's ready before the party). You can always put it in the cheap chafing dishes they sell at the party stores (with the gel stuff to keep it warm).

Thanks I think I might make this for my daughter's birthday. I was looking for something so we didn't have to spend so long in front of the grill. Did you ever try to premake the day before or anything?

 

[HS3kids]

I am having a bbq for my husband and son's birthday in 2 weeks. Right now there is at least 40 people coming. But what do I fix for that many people? I don't want it to cost me a fortune but would like to have something a little more than just hot dogs and hamburgers. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!!

I didnt read any responses so if I repeat anything I will apologize up front. We had our oldest childs graduation party on Saturday and we had burgers, dogs, chicken with bbq sauce (Sweet Baby Rays is the best!) potato salad, macaroni salad, meatballs in the crockpot, tuna rolls, various chips and munchies, taco dip, onion dip, soda, water, beer. Cake and cookies. I think thats it
Hope that helps...we had about 50 people and had plenty of food. We even had leftovers...

 

[Zoemakes5]

We moved to chopped chicken and pulled pork for most of our bbq parties as it can be made ahead of time. Too many times with a bbq, my DH or I are stuck a the bbq for hours, and we can't keep it warm if we make alot at a time. By doing the chopped chicken and pulled pork, we're able to put it in a crock pot and people can eat when it's convenient, I don't have to be over a bbq all night, and they can eat it on bread/buns or "straight up" or on salads. You also don't typically need as many condiments.
If I do want to grill, a couple of large london broils or flank steaks get cooked pretty quickly and can also be served straight up or on a bun.

I typically do a big caesar salad, tomato and cucumber salad and spaghetti salad. Usually covers a bit for everyone.