Buffet for nearly 40 people!!

lou2604

Hi.. I hope no one minds but I really need some advice on a buffet I'm having Sunday.. Theres nearly 40 people coming and I want to do a buffet so that it can be prepared in advance.
Im just stuck on how to do it all on a tight budget and make sure every ones got plenty.. plus I need drinks etc etc.. Im really panicking now as its looming up fast and I need to get it into gear.
Its a family party for my sons 8th and the numbers kept growing.. could be worse though.. Any help would be appriciated as I have tomorrow and half of Sat to prepare it ( at my nephews bday bbq on sat ) Thankyou in advance

Triker

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2624985



https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/288406


Some ideas for you.

EstherH

Make lots of sandwiches, cut up in quarters and open muffins cut into quarters, with grated cheese, ham, turkey and tuna. Garnish with some salad. A couple of loaves and two dozen muffins will go a long way when cut in quarters.

Make a bowl of green salad,

bowl of coleslaw using a finely chopped white cabbage, some grated carrot, finely chopped onion and mayonaise


Bowl of rice with chopped carrot, peas, sweetcorn, chopped mixed peppers - Rice Salad

Bowl of pasta mixed with tin of tuna, sweetcorn,onion and peppers and mayonaise with a little mustard mixed in - Pasta salad

Crisps

Cocktail sausage rolls - usually get a large bag in supermarket freezer for not a lot of money.

Could you make some quiche? Line flan dish with pastry, add beaton egg, cheese, fried onion, bacon/ham, a little milk. Cook until set and golden on top.

Make a meat pie?


Trifle doesn't cost a lot and usually goes down well.

A couple of apple pies

Hope this helps and I'm sure others will pitch in with loads of ideas.

ginnyknit

I do a lot of cricket buffets on a low budget and have to prep in advance. When Im making the quiches (day before- I dont like them frozen) and various rice and potato salads and salsa I always prep tubs of each veg chopped ready to go. Then I do a production line, prepare pastry cases in advance, get large plastic pots with lids and deal out the veg into each mix, just adding spuds/rice/chilli's/or egg mix and bobs your auntie - each dish ,no mess and just some tubs to rinse. Hope this helps. As a lot of the cricketers are Asian, of course that presents different problems so I just do a totally veggie spread and add plates of salami and other cooked meats on a seperate table. Apple pies, twinks hobknobs and banana loaf went down very well at the last one - all of which can be frozen.

EstherH

Jacket potatoes or boiled new potatoes are nice too. And help to fill people up.

Dips can be made by adding chopped herbs to yoghurt - mint, chives, a little tomato puree serve with lots of veg sticks.

Fairy cakes and rice crispie cakes plus jelly and ice cream for the children.

nuttybabe

EstherH wrote: »

Make lots of sandwiches, cut up in quarters and open muffins cut into quarters, with grated cheese, ham, turkey and tuna. Garnish with some salad. A couple of loaves and two dozen muffins will go a long way when cut in quarters.

Make a bowl of green salad,

bowl of coleslaw using a finely chopped white cabbage, some grated carrot, finely chopped onion and mayonaise


Bowl of rice with chopped carrot, peas, sweetcorn, chopped mixed peppers - Rice Salad

Bowl of pasta mixed with tin of tuna, sweetcorn,onion and peppers and mayonaise with a little mustard mixed in - Pasta salad

Crisps

Cocktail sausage rolls - usually get a large bag in supermarket freezer for not a lot of money.

Could you make some quiche? Line flan dish with pastry, add beaton egg, cheese, fried onion, bacon/ham, a little milk. Cook until set and golden on top.

Make a meat pie?


Trifle doesn't cost a lot and usually goes down well.

A couple of apple pies

Hope this helps and I'm sure others will pitch in with loads of ideas.

all this with pizza swirls and garlic bread added!!! gonna have to make a quiche this weekend now!! :rotfl:

concerned43

I used to cater for kids parties and I used Iceland, all frozen, all cheap and convenient. I had their mini pizza, chicken drumsticks, sausage rolls and loads of sandwiches. I also bought their processed meat and made a platter. I also made strawberries and mallows dipped in cooking chocolate - once people saw those they forgot about the rest of the buffet.
I personally would not look to cater for 40 people using material from scratch (you will be too stressed for that) CHEAT - get down to Iceland or farmfoods and improvise! Best of luck.

Triker

Just had a thinky when I cater for friends parties, I usually find

crackers

cheese

cheese spread

french sticks cut and split

pate

cold meats

potato salad home made, cheap and easy as is

pasta salad

crisps

bowl of tomatoes

beetroot

pickle

maybe some chicken drumsticks pre cooked

all go down very well.


Agree Iceland are very good for 'party packs' which takes the work out a lot of it.

Boodle

At our parties, I have found these go down the most:

• Sausage rolls
• Plate pies - cheese, onion and potato go down well, covering vegetarians without having to make two lots of somthing as even meat-eaters who are usually fussy about anything that hasn't once breathed don't usually complain possibly cos there's enough carbs to satisfy butch cravings! It doesn't take too much to make say 4/5/6 large ones as people only tend to have one slice each.
• Crisps/tortilla chips (hardly anyone seems to bother with the dips)
• Cucumber sticks (I find the carrot doesn't go down as well for some reason)
• Smartprice apple pies are really cheap and not bad at all. I think if I was you I would grab these to put out for this many people.
• My girls are little so I usually put out lots of biscuits like pink wafers, party biscuits and bourbons in dishes - maybe your son would to choose a different kind of biscuit as long as you offer a choice of say bourbons, party biscuits or shortbread so you can get from the value range and not end up having to buy hundred of Rockys or similar! :O

I tend to keep it to finger food, especially when there are young ones around. But I agree it could be cheaper to put out lots of pasta, potato and rice salads with alongside sausage rolls, pies, and the apple pies + biscuits for sweet - if there is birthday cake I don't feel obliged to put out a dessert beyond this.
ETA: Hope you have a great time whatever you decide on for the food!

paulwf

Can you ask people if they can bring something with them? Just as a request if they feel like it not a demand.

Both of us here love cooking and are more than happy to bring something along to parties, in fact we always ask if they want us to provide any food.

zippychick

Hi Lou

Luckily there are loads of threads to offer you advice

Boring BBQs

Ideas for a very large bbq (I'll merge your thread with this one later)

Vegetarian BBQ ideas (money saving !) :money:

Fillers -

Pasta salad

Pasta bake & chicken pasta bake

Anyone got any rice recipes?

potato salad

Home made coleslaw

HM garlic bread


What about Spicy potato wedges and chilli con carne . home made oven chips?

Or easy chicken curry with home made bread ? In a slow cooker?

You may find other ideas in these threads

OS party food

Cheap easy bufffet food

Cheese and wine party MSE style

Pudding and desert recipes

Delicious cold desert

Cold dessert for 11 people?


I NEED TO LIE DOWN!:rotfl:Good luck.

Zip