buffet ideas for 100+ on a budget?

Penny-Pincher!!

sausage rolls
quiches
frittata (sp)
sausage on sticks (cut into 3)
cheese & pineapple sticks
pork pies
cheese straws
sarnies (cheese/egg/jam/tuna)
cold pizza
boiled eggs
chips
chicken pieces
dips (houmous, sour cream)
cheese board
french stick
salad bowl
savoury rice
baked spuds
chilli
curry
coleslaw/potatoe salad

HTH

PP
xx

nannaC

Little vol au vonts always go down well. They will probably be selling the frozen cases off cheap just after christmas. For fillings you can use cheapest little prawns for sauce use mayo with a dash of tom puree, cooked chicken scraps, ooked mushrooms, use basic white sauce for both of these.
Insted of bread for sanndwiches use value finger rolls nicest are Sainsbugs. Serve them open so one makes two. Tiny frozen party sausage rolls value one are also cheap. If you can make your own big cakes, I also make up a batch of little eclairs, choux pastry is incredibly easy to make
basic recipe
1/2pt water
4oz marg not low fat
5oz plain flour
4 eggs

Put water/marg into pan bring to fast boil.
turn off heat and tip flour in beat with wooden spoon for approx 1min until the mix forms a ball.
Leave to cool for a few mins then add eggs two at a time beating thoroughly until glossy [mix will look sloppy at first but will thicken as you beat].
Either put into icing bag and pipe or spoon little blobs onto baking sheets, spaced well apart.
Cook in hot oven 200c high gas mark for approx 20 mins until well risen and golden. Remove from oven and pierce each eclair to let steam out return to oven for 5 mins to dry out.

angelavdavis

I made a huge buffet for MiL's birthday, from memory, we did:

• vol au vents - filled with chopped crawfish tails (Lidl) with HM rose marie sauce/chicken and mushroom in bechamel sauce/ chicken and sweetcorn in bechamel sauce/ smoked salmon (scraps lasted a long way) and cream cheese.
• HM bridge rolls filled with egg/cress, ham, smoked salmon and cream cheese, Home roasted beef sliced with horseradish mayonnaise, HM Smoked haddock pate.
• Cooked chicken drumsticks - served with a barbecue sauce on the side
• sausages - normal sausages chopped into 6-8 pieces.
• HM mini pizzas topped with cheese/tomato, cheese/ham/pineapple, cheese/salami, cheese/olives/anchovies.
• HM humous with warmed pitta bread sliced into strips
• HM vegetable pakoras served with mango chutney dip
• HM quiche - cheese and bacon, red onion
• cous cous - topped with chopped cucumber/tomato/red onion/coriander/dried cumin and coriander/lemon juice
• Cheese board with grapes and HM rolls/cheese biscuits
• Cheese tomato, cheese and pineapple, cheese salami sticks
• HM coleslaw and salad

Desserts

HM butterfly cakes
HM chocolate crispy cakes
Victoria sponge with cream/jam
Lemon cheesecake
Pavlova topped with cream and strawberries

Similar to PP's list - but a bit different!

I tried to think of things that I could fill with varieties of fillings to add choices - such as different quiches/sandwich fillings/vol au vent fillings, etc.

I also found the best thing was to prepare the flan cases, vol au vents, HM rolls, pizza base mix, etc a day in advance (baked flan cases and vol au vents and stored in airtight tupperware containers once cooled - the pizza base I kept in the fridge uncooked).

Prepare as many fillings as possible in advance and cook off quiches, pakoras, chicken drumsticks, etc early in the day so you have as little as possible to do during the party.

Timmne

Morning all!

We're planning a 60th birthday party and want to try and be a little different with the buffet. We also want to try and reduce the time we spend making it as one for 20 people last year for our wedding rehearsal took hours to make!

Does anyone have any suggestions please - something nice to make en masse and not too expensive?

:beer:

phunkles

At my 18th - my mum made a big cauldron of chinese chicken pineapple, a cauldron of curry and a cauldron of rice.
At my sisters 18th - my mum made a cauldron of chinese chicken pineapple, a cauldron of chilli con carne and a cauldron of rice.
At my great uncles funeral his daughter made a cauldron of scouse for everyone at the wake.
You could go with a theme ie childrens party, chinese, italian or indian and then buy or make the basics yourself ???

Amanda65

I'd definitely go hot and have a vat of meat chilli,a vat of veggie chilli, a vat of baked beans and loads of grated cheese, jacket potatoes (try and get 5 people to cook 20 each on the day, wrap in foil and transfer to the venue as close to the start as possible - could also be piled into a low oven on arrival if available) and then serve french bread an butter.

Pink.

Hi Timnne,

I agree with the previous posters, I would go for two or three hot dishes (possibly one vegetarian) and pad it out with salads, garlic bread etc.

These earlier threads might give you some inspiration:

Wedding buffet for 150 people...!!!

Party and Catering - any ideas?

budget buffet help!!

help ideas for party food

party food for 80+ help!

Ideas for really cheap easy Buffet food please!!

Buffet Ideas

Christening Buffet ideas?

Help ! Planning small buffet birthday party for 17, NEVER done anything like this ? !

Pink

thriftmonster

One tip for this is to round up as many preserving pans as you can - I feed about 50 at a Christmas party each year with chilli and veggie chilli and preserving pans are a godsend for the amount you can get in them.

Also chunks of French Bread are an easy replacement for rice with things like chilli.

In "Living More with Less" (not the cookbook) are suggestions for feeding fifty - for example oven baked rice - involving 3.25l rice, 6.5l water, 7tsp salt and 6oz marg - mix in two big roasting pans and bake covered for 1 hour. I guess it depends on how much hob and oven space you have

SunnyGirl

I love the cauldron idea it sounds fab! I was thinking along a similar theme with a big pot of soup/soups, lovely crusty bread & cheese and crackers. Desserts could be a mixture of cheesecakes, trifles, fruit salad, something chocolatey & pavlova's are always good as they look good but are fairly easy to prepare. I would imagine that choosing things that can be made well in advance would be a big help. A quick re-heat wouldn't be too bad.
HTH

desdemona01

how about eton mess for dessert? I make it using a large carton of whipping cream, 1 box of meringue nests and a punnet of frozen raspberries. All you do is whip up the cream and fold in the raspberries and crushed meringues. I tastes delicious and is so easy to make. the quantities I've given will serve about 10 people so you could easily work out how much you would need, I wouldn't do 100 portions though even if there are 100 people there especially if you, offering other puds as well. Also if there's any left if freezes well. HTH