Help planning youth group meal

[gillenkl]

My DH and I have volunteered to cook a meal for the church youth group - ages 13-18, maybe 35-50 kids/adults. The kids will have a meeting and then come to our gym where tables are setup to eat dinner - so it won't be fancy. I don't want to do hotdogs, burgers, pizza or spaghetti because these are done all the time. I will be able to use the church industrial kitchen/supplies but the cost of the food is considered our "donation" - so I can't spend too much. I need easy, economical and fun food ideas for the teenage crowd - and dessert. Any ideas please?

 

[Janepod]

What a generous donation!
How about chili? That's relatively inexpensive and you can set up a toppings bar (cilantro, cheese, sour cream, etc.) to make it a little more exciting. Also corn bread and a green salad.

 

[Jen12573]

What a generous donation!
How about chili? That's relatively inexpensive and you can set up a toppings bar (cilantro, cheese, sour cream, etc.) to make it a little more exciting. Also corn bread and a green salad.

I was going to suggest the exact same meal, with the addition of a turkey white bean chili along with the regular chili for some variety. Both are easy to cook 'in bulk' and definitely appeal to teens. For dessert maybe chocolate pudding pies and whipped cream. Or a sundae bar with whatever is on sale? What a generous donation! Have fun!

 

[jcano]

Taco / nacho bar with all the fixin'.

 

[jcano]

Breakfast for dinner...pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, etc.

 

[Jill in Chicago]

Have you done tacos yet? These are a huge hit with our teenagers. We do a make your own set up. We have both the melted cheese (in a crock pot) and regular cheese along with nacho chips as well as hard and soft taco shells. That way those who don't want the taco meat can make nachos. Then you add in the lettuce, salsa....

A big assortment of candy for dessert, a candy "bar," is always a hit. Can you ask the kids to bring a bag of candy?

Otherwise I would go with plain ol' brownies. Those are always a hit.

 

[HeatherC]

Here are a couple ideas...

Large trays of Jambalaya? Zatarains mixes are really good and easy. i buy a couple kielbasas and slice and add in along with a couple packages of Perdue Shortcut Chicken. You can get the chicken in larger packages reasonably at any warehouse club like BJ's or Sam's.

Trays of Enchildada Casseroles? I simply cook ground beef or turkey and mix it with minute rice...white or brown. Layer in tray like lasagna with flour tortillas, meat, rice, enchilada sauce. Mexican Casserole you could say.

Baked Potato Bar...Just bake large potatoes and set out different toppings.

Chicken Cacciatore...McCormick's has a seasoning packet that is really good. Can do in oven in large trays or in crockpots. Buy the big package of chicken drumsticks or thighs at BJ's which is not really any more money than burgers by the time you add the fixin's. I usually add mushrooms as well.
Can be made ahead of time and reheated easily.

Pulled Pork in crockpots with rolls and coleslaw. McCormick's seasoning packets are great for this as well.

Meatballs....can use frozen ones. Two ways to serve...plain ones you mix with ketchup and grape jelly that you boil together to make a sauce. Pour over meatballs in crockpot and serve with white rice.

Or...just buy Italian Style Meatballs and pour spaghetti sauce over them. Serve with rolls and grated cheese for Meatball Subs.

Trays of Chicken Parm. BJ's has the breaded cutlets...just layer in pan with sauce and cheese and heat.

Sausage and Peppers in large trays with spaghetti sauce. Serve with rolls for subs.

Hope this helps!

 

[jcano]

Fried chicken!! Sorry...from a Baptist church in the South...there must be fried chicken.
If there are other people who would like to donate/help, have them bring some fried chicken from the grocery, KFC, wherever. Then concentrate on some nice homemade sides and desserts to go with it.

 

[Local_Girl]

How about pulled pork sandwiches? We cook a large pork shoulder roast in root beer in a crock pot. When done, you shred the meat, add bbq sauce and serve it with buns. You could cook it up in advance and just heat it up prior to the event. Provide extra bbq sauce for folks to add if desired. You could serve this with chips, cold veggies (carrot sticks, celery, etc), or a tossed salad with dressing.

You could also do a taco salad bar. Put out lettuce, seasoned ground beef, chopped tomatoes (or salsa as a substitute--provides the tomatoes and the flavor for less cost/labor), shredded cheese, sour cream, sliced olives/jalapenos. Add tortilla chips and those not wanting a salad can make a nacho-type thing instead. I learned from a experienced pal that if people are serving themselves they will often take more than enough food (and hence, much goes to waste), so use smaller serving utensils! Put the cheese at the end of the line so it gets sprinkled on top, rather than used by the handfuls at the beginning of the line.

Good Luck--what a great donation you're making!

 

[gillenkl]

Fried chicken!! Sorry...from a Baptist church in the South...there must be fried chicken.
If there are other people who would like to donate/help, have them bring some fried chicken from the grocery, KFC, wherever. Then concentrate on some nice homemade sides and desserts to go with it.

lol - we are a Baptist church from the north...

 

[dpratt68]

Taco / nacho bar with all the fixin'.

I was just going to suggest this. we did this for a family party and it worked out great

 

[Poohforyou]

Taco / nacho bar with all the fixin'.

Last year I cooked for our middle school youth group and adult advisors which amounted to about 25 people. I did a taco bar which everyone loved. Here's what I had:

5 lb taco seasoned ground turkey kept warm in a crockpot
taco shells
black beans
shredded cheese
shredded lettuce
chopped tomatoes
sliced olives
salsa
sour cream

 

[minnierocks]

For the meal...
Meatball subs-frozen meatballs mixed with sauce can be heated in a crockpot. We use hot dog buns (four meatballs per sandwich) and set out grated parmesan and mozzerella cheese. We served it with chips.
For dessert...
an ice cream bar with all the toppings

 

[MaggieBailey]

I was going to say a taco bar or a baked potato bar too, lol!! Do you have an Aldi near you? Great grocery store, super inexpensive.... Sometimes, worth a little bit of a drive to save! Have fun!!!

 

[SoonerSarah]

My hubby is a youth minister, so I do this a lot. If they haven't had a taco bar, or pile up, that is often a great way to fill them up fairly cheaply.

Chips
Tortillas
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Onions
Cilantro
Salsa
Guacamole (making your own is cheaper)
Black bean salsa (for our kids, 2 batches will be eaten by 10-15 kids)
Sour cream
Shredded cheese
Black olives
For desert I would do Mexican cheesecake.

You could do homemade meatballs if you have the time, I do this and cook some noodles and do BBQ meatballs, Italian meatballs and meatballs with grape jelly and heinz chili sauce. Serve it with some salad and breadsticks. Lots of options for desert.

 

[StephMK]

We just went to a church concert tonight & they served Sloppy Johns - seasoned ground burger but no sauce and walking tacos. I would think you could have several sauces for the sandwiches. For the tacos, they put taco meat & cheese sauce into a bag of Fritos. It was actually really good and you could add more topping choices to throw in there. I think the novelty of it would appeal to a youth group.

 

[westonkamom]

My 1st thought was also a Taco Bar...or maybe Sloppy Joes, Chili, or Italian Beefs (Chicago-born, lol).

 

[CDoobee]

I love the taco bar idea! Great for vegetarians like me!

 

[AmandaRG]

Tacos is my vote! You can get ground beef fairly cheap especially in the 5lb chubs. If you have coupons you can almost always get taco seasoning for nearly free. Shred a head of lettuce or two, tomatoes and some salsa and you are pretty good. Cheese is a must.

I have always found that many kids don't do more than meat and cheese on them, but you can add as many items as your budget allows.

If you are looking to do a dessert, you could do a box brownie mix and add some cinnamon or some chili powder for a "Mexican" flair.

 

[Rafiki31]

Baked Ziti it can be made with meat or meatless, and salad.

Taco bar- make sure there is black beans as an alternative to the meat, and you can use ground turkey if it is cheaper, once you taco season it you can't tell the difference. Toppings - Shredded cheese, lettuce, sour cream, black beans, refired beans (canned are inexpensive) soft & hard shell, salsa

potato bar- bakes potatoes toppings- shredded cheese, sour cream, broccoli & cheese (cheddar cheese soup mixed with a little milk and broccoli), butter, bacon bits

the breakfast for supper is always fun and affordable! Bacon, scrambled eggs, pancakes, sausage, breakfast casserole, frittatas etc

Pasta bar - make a large amount of ziti, have meat sauce, regular sauce, alfredo sauce, then toppings w bread and salad.

I think the best hit with the kids would be the taco bar!!