Easy cheap recipes for larg numbers

doelani

Thanks everyone for your replies. Going to speak to others and suggest a few new things and see how gets.

monnagran

At our drop in centre we also rely on food donated so are never quite sure what we will be getting. The other day our clients dined on stuffed trout and duck! I think someone over ordered! It's usually cottage pie, pasta bakes, toad in the hole, curries. Mince is a great favourite - turns up as cottage pie, mince pasties, bolognese sauce (very popular on jacket potatoes), stuffed pancakes etc. Soup is homemade with what ever we have around. Puddings - chocolate sponge and chocolate sauce, syrup sponge, fruit pies and crumbles with custard, if we have bread and butter pudding one week the next week will be something 'meringuey' to use up the egg whites.
We feed about 30 and also provide food parcels to the needy + sleeping bags, blankets etc. It is all voluntary and run by the local churches. People are amazingly kind once they know what you want.

bupster

Try jambalaya - it's a bit of a 'bung it all in', with rice and peppers and tomatoes and cayenne pepper for a kick. I made an enormous amount the other night with one packet of chicken thighs and half a chorizo sausage. Nom nom nom.

kittendothroar

There is a recipe on the bbc good food site for a sloppy joe bake - basically a ragu and then topped with slices of garlic bread - I've normally used the value garlic bread, and bulk the ragu out with lots of carrots, celery etc whizzed in the food proccessor. You can hide oats too to bulk out further. Was always popular with a big crowd I used to cook for.