Food ideas for a large crowd??

[cats7494]

I am looking for more food ideas for a large crowd...on budget.
My daughter graduated from high school early (December) and her grad party is on New Year's Eve.

I am excited; however, it has been crazy planning this during the Holiday Season!
ANY suggestions??? Pretty Please!

 

[stsomewhere]

taco bar
pasta bar
baked potato bar

 

[pigletto]

Maybe a bunch of things that you could make ahead of time as main dishes in crockpots or reheat in the oven? For the crockpots, chili, pulled pork for buns, meatballs, etc. For the oven, lasagnas, or casseroles?
This way all the food could be made in the days leading up to the event and you could spend the day of fussing over side dishes and getting utensils, decorations, appetizers ready? I always like to do as much as I can ahead of time so the day of the event isn't any more frantic than it needs to be. Congrats to your daughter and I hope you have a lovely celebration!

 

[Suz D]

taco bar
pasta bar
baked potato bar

We always did this for NYE and called it "NYW at the bars". We did salad bar, potato bar, and sundae bar.

 

[mkymouse1928]

I'm hostessing a baby shower w/50 guests (approximately). I'm serving pulled pork bbq which I can make ahead in crock pots, chicken salad on crossaints (sp), mac n cheese (again make ahead) and fruit salad. I'm doing shrimp rings, cheese dip and bread, hummus and ranch dips w/veggies for appetizers. I will serve soda, coffee and punch to drink. Dessert will be cake and various other bite size desserts. Most everything can be prepared in advance and will be relatively easy to set up and clean up.

Hope this helps give you some ideas!

 

[ccgirl]

I am looking for more food ideas for a large crowd...on budget.
My daughter graduated from high school early (December) and her grad party is on New Year's Eve.

I am excited; however, it has been crazy planning this during the Holiday Season!
ANY suggestions??? Pretty Please!

I'm a big fan of "Italian" for events like this. Baked ziti, tossed salad, lasagna, stuffed shells etc. Easy to make and inexpensive. I have done a pasta bar a few times and it was a huge hit. I had alfredo sauce, marinara sauce the pasta was plain with butter, and people could add their desired sauce along with toppings (meatballs, sausages, veggies etc). You could always do a cold cut tray as well with pasta salad and chips.

Good luck and contrats to your DD!

 

[kamom]

I just did the reception food for my niece and pulled it off very cheap! I did pulled pork - which I cook a few days ahead of time, pulled it and reheated in its own juice. I also did baked beans and green beans and dressed both up with cooked bacon, onion, and garlic. I purchased the big cans of beans which was fairly inexpensive. I had a roasting pan of each item and fed about 125 people. We also did rolls and had BBQ on the side.

 

[bettymae1121]

I just made a 9 pound ham for Christmas. It could easily feed 15-20 people and cost me $22 at Costco. Add in a tray of pasta and a big salad I'm sure you could stretch it even farther.

 

[shoney]

I'm a big fan of "Italian" for events like this. Baked ziti, tossed salad, lasagna, stuffed shells etc. Easy to make and inexpensive. I have done a pasta bar a few times and it was a huge hit. I had alfredo sauce, marinara sauce the pasta was plain with butter, and people could add their desired sauce along with toppings (meatballs, sausages, veggies etc). You could always do a cold cut tray as well with pasta salad and chips.

Good luck and contrats to your DD!

yes, I agree!!! sausage, peppers and onions also goes with it too....just serve with italian bread for people who like it on a sammie!

Turkey is also very cheap too.

another thing I think makes life much easier, is using chafing dishes. (I bought the regular metal racks at the party store...nothing fancy!) This way when you heat up a tray or 2 you can keep it hot in the trays while you heat other things.

 

[HeatherC]

Jambalaya is great for a crowd. An easy version is to use the Zatarains mixes. To that I add chicken and sliced up kielbasa. Very tasty and different than the regulas ziti we always have.

 

[hsmamato2]

we did a taco/nachos bar- with a candy buffet- easy,big hit,everyone liked something!

 

[ccgirl]

If you have a BJ's near you; you can buy all prepared things and just heat up. I did that last time for my DD's birthday. Chicken tenders, macaroni and cheese and fries for the kids (some adults preferred too) and manicotti, and chicken piccata for the adults. They have some great appetizers you can put out while things are heating up. I'm a bit fan of the Nancy's spirals. They also sell a huge Italian sub for $26. I am a big fan of the aluminum pan with the inexpensived chafing dishes as well. I got mine at Ocean State Job Lot.

 

[mrspaha]

I vote for the pulled pork also. That with some potato salad and a few other sides.

 

[Happiest mommy]

subbing --for the poster who sugested the pasta bar how do you keep the plain pasta from getting dry? thanks great post.

 

[FlyingBelle]

When I find chicken breasts on sale (or bulk from Costco) - I do them like pulled pork - pulled chicken!

Easy - throw them in a slow cooker w/ bbq sauce - wait a couple hours and you're done!

 

[DCbride]

Another vote for pulled pork. For $18 you can feed a lot of people, plus you can cook it ahead of time and keep it in the crock pot that night so people can continue to make sandwiches. Meatballs in another crock pot and a tray of ziti, makes several different meals for all types of eaters.

 

[Kellydelly]

I personally would rather go to a party and eat pasta than pulled pork. I would make a few trays of baked ziti/mostaciolli and serve it with fresh bread or rolls and a nice salad. Desserts and munchies on the side. I did this for Christmas Eve and my brothers kept refilling their plates .