Jul
24
Meals to Feed to a Large Crowd
By
At the beginning of soccer season each Fall, I have the honor of feeding our York College ladies soccer team 5-6 meals. Why? Because they come to campus a week before classes start for intense training and practices. The cafeteria will feed the team, but they tend to charge a hefty amount, which eats (literally) into the limited soccer budget. I’m able to feed the team for a fraction of the cost, so the head coach is always happy for me to take this challenge on. (My husband is one of the assistant coaches. And yes, we are reimbursed for the food we purchase.)
I was so excited to find these plastic plate packs on clearance for $0.75/4!
I bought 13 packs, giving us 52 plates for $9.75.
Think of what we’ll save on paper plates! Plus, they are BPA free and dishwasher safe. ;)
I bought 13 packs, giving us 52 plates for $9.75.
Think of what we’ll save on paper plates! Plus, they are BPA free and dishwasher safe. ;)
This year, there are around 43 ladies on the team. Therefore, including coaches and our four boys, I’ll be feeding around 50 people one meal each day for an entire week in mid-August.
I always thoroughly look forward to and enjoy this, and without a doubt, I’m always relieved and exhausted by the end of the week. ;) The ladies on the team really enjoy my home cooked meals. I have found that they feel blessed and loved on by my efforts – making all the hard work well worth it!
I still don’t have a finalized menu plan for this year, but decided instead to share my brainstorming session with you and ask you to please participate! This large crowd meal planning brainstorming session is even more important than before because…
Beyond the week of soccer team meals, Matt and I have also recently committed to hosting our church’s High School Youth Group each Sunday evening (for at least one year). Our oldest, Asa, will begin high school this year (yowza), so having this group of his peers in our home each week will be a fantastic way to help nurture, guide and be involved in the spiritual growth of these teens.
There is typically a meal involved in these group meeting times, and usually between 30-40 teens show up. ;) They each pitch in $2 to help cover food costs. I’m also pretty sure I’ll ask several of them to “bond” with me as we tackle the dirty dishes after each meal. Youth mentoring at its finest, eh?
Now, don’t any of you leave a comment saying how great we are and what a super woman I am and all that silliness, because it simply isn’t true. Hospitality is a gift Matt and I share and it comes from God, not us. Plus, I guarantee that you are gifted by God and are blessing others in ways we never could. I love how God created His body of believers to all meet different needs for His people.
I would now like to share some ideas we’ve come up with so far for feeding large crowds of people. Our goal is to keep costs down and to keep the meals simple, while at the same time treating the soccer team and the youth group to some great food served with love.
- BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches
- Sloppy Joes
- Nacho Bar or Taco Bar
- Baked Potato Bar
- Chili with Fritos and Cheese
- Turkey Dinner
- Beef and/or Chicken Enchiladas
- Sub Sandwich Bar
- Burgers and Dogs on the Grill
- Soup and Homemade Bread
- Pancakes and Easy Breakfast Casserole
- Italian Roast Wraps
- Cheesy Beef and Rice
- Pizza Casserole
- Tammy’s Chicken Pasta Salad
- Lasagna
- Chef Salad Bar
- Chicken Pasta Alfredo
- Oven Baked Chicken
- Italian Pasta Bake
- Beef Roast with Carrots and Potatoes
Now your turn! Please share in the comments any and all of your ideas for cooking for a crowd. What are your favorite dishes to make for company? What dishes work well to make for large groups of people? If you have recipe links, share those too. Thanks all!
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I love making Taco Chili! Everyone has loved it.
You make your ground meat like you would taco seasoned meat, onions and garlic, with chili seasoning also. Add Rotel (tomatoes w/ green chilies) some red pepper flakes, already cooked black beans, and corn (I use frozen). Top with the same things you would a taco and or chili. We like ours with sour cream, black olives, fritos or tortilla chips, shredded cheese, and for me… LOTS of fresh cilantro! It works on a plate or if you add more tomatoes/sauce- in a bowl. :)
This is so tweakable, it’s amazing.
Other things I like to make is Lasagna. I put chopped up brocolli in with the cottage cheese, works really well together.
I have also done a few parties with “Make Your Own Pizzas” set up. I make the pizza crusts ahead of time, personal size. Line up the ingredients, (meat having been kept warm) have the oven pretty hot and throw in just enough to heat it all together and melt cheese.
If it’s winter I have made mega pots of cream of tomato basil soup and/or butternut squash soup with ham cheese sandwhichettes made with hearty bread. People still rave about my tomatoe soup which is ironic cause I really have never had any other tomato soup I liked.
Fellowship= Fun!
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And I know you are a Diva of Desserts, but one that can go far is homemade strawberry shortcake. I make a lemond pound cake, cut it thin, thawed frozen strawberries, cool whip! It’s easy to portion control…. well, unless you’re the cook. HA!
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My favorite “big-group” meal is Hawaiian Haystacks – easy – everyone can add what they like and leave off what they don’t like! Set out all the fixins and let ‘em go! (don’t be afraid of the pineapple and coconut – sweet/salty – YUM!!!)
Rice, chicken gravy, crushed pineapple, shredded coconut, sliced almonds, shredded cheese, diced tomatoes, shredded lettuce, black olives, green onions, soy sauce… whatever else you think might be good!
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I’ve never fed a crowd as large as you will be feeding, but one thing I like to make when feeding a group during warm weather is Chinese chicken salad. If you want to make it ahead, you can use shredded cabbage; otherwise, romaine works great. I make a salad dressing that’s a knockoff of a restaurant dressing for a similar salad, and then to the greens I add chopped chicken, toasted sesame seeds, oranges (fresh or canned mandarin oranges), toasted almonds (can put these in a bowl on the side in case of allergies), and green onions. It’s fresh, full of flavor, a little chicken can be stretched further this way, and cabbage is inexpensive. It’s great served with a quick bread or rolls. If the weather is cool, I like to make white chicken chili and serve it with sourdough rolls and a green salad. Yum!
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i have been online for hours looking for ideas of how to feed a large group, and you were the only helpful person that I have come across.THANKS!!! keep up the good work! Peace
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beans beans……and more beans!!! They are cheap and OH SO good!!! That’s how I feed a crowd!
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I am sure I may repeat some ideas, but I am going to just list my go-to crowd meals. I’ve done quite a bit of crowd cooking for church and family functions serving 30-200.
*Baked potato bar (chives, bacon, sour cream, cheese, chili, salsa, etc.)
*taco soup with tortilla chips, corn muffins/bread, fritos
*mini meatloaves, mashed potatoes, veggie
*kielbasa, cheesy potatoes, salad
*any kind of soup with salad and bread
*baked chicken drums, dressing, veggie
*macaroni and cheese
*oven baked beef stew, bread
*breakfast casseroles, fruit
*burger and dog bar (summer months)
*stuffed shells (Italian style or taco)
*baked chicken fingers
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No wonder those girls love your homemade cooking. Sounds yummy! I just have 2 ideas-
Meatball Sandwiches – Make mini meatballs in advanced and when the time comes for dinner, heat them in tomato sauce in a crockpot – Serve sauce an 3-4 mini meatballs in a bun-type bread (maybe costco hot dog buns would work) sprinkle a little parm or mozzarella.
Waffle Night with several fresh fruit toppings and garnishes (chopped nuts, whipped cream, peanut butter, honey, etc)-yum! Maybe too much sugar though, haha
I can’t wait to see what you serve. Also, if you could do an estimate of the cost – I know you are getting reimbursed, but just to see how affordable it can be to serve 50 people. :)
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We have a group of missionaries who have come the past 2 summers that I have been blessed to feed 3 meals a day as they work on our church building. I make a oven baked blueberry french toast with homemade blueberry syrup that is always a hit. Lasagna and taco bar is always a hit, so is the icecream bar for desert. Enjoy your time with them, I always do. I will pray that you get a day to sleep in when it is over, I am still behind on my sleep.
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How about breakfast for dinner? Baked oatmeal, quiche, muffins, sausage/bacon, breakfast burritos, fresh fruit, yogurt & granola. Humm, make your own breakfast burritos?
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You can’t beat meatballs for a crowd! I LOVE this recipe, and so does everyone I’ve ever fed them to. They go great with rice, noodles, potatoes, veggies, or pretty much anything!
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/03/bbq-meatballs-comfort-food-to-the-max/
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Pork tenderloin and sauerkraut. Lay sauerkraut in bottom of pan, top with the pork roast, season and cover, bake til cooked. Other options are topping with bratwurst or even dinner franks. I’m not a fan of sauerkraut but baked like this (and almost crispified) makes it taste much better :)
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Hi! I have been searching for some good BPA-free plates to use that are also dishwasher safe! Are yours and do you like them so far? If so, where did you get them? I love your blog, and appreciate all you write about! Thank you! Have a wonderful Monday!
~Ashley :-)
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Laura Reply:
August 8th, 2011 at 6:45 am
Yes, they are BPA free. I got them on the clearance aisle of Walmart! :)
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We have started opening our home on Sundays after church (and thus feeding about 20 people) our pastor always encourages us to go and break bread together after the service and we have 3 small kids who nap and don’t do well at restaurants, not to mention that we don’t like eating overpriced “junk”. We have been able to feed everyone who comes for about 35.00 per week (feeding a family of 5 at a sit down restaurant normally comes to about that) some of our menus have been:
Pizza (dough was resting on counter when everyone arrived and we stretched them together and cooked them as the crowd finished “making” them, toppings we pre chopped and in jars we ate as they came out and all were fed in 1 hour) desert was brownies
-vegetable beef soup. (Huge stockpot made beforehand and put on stove while everyone arrived) desert was salty chocolate Carmel bar (not healthy at all but a crowd pleaser!)
Stuffed peppers (made night before and put in oven on warm during church) I doubled the rice and 1 lb of beef fed 13 people! Desert was cake.
Hope that helps!
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I help to organize the meals for our high school show choir. I suggest meal ideas for the host families and then help to get parents to donate food either cooked or not. I found your ideas very helpful. We try to include a vegetarian alternative along with a meat choice. One of the meals that I have served or suggested and is a big hit… is a combination of mac and cheese and meatball sandwiches. Then we have a meat choice and a vegetarian choice. Both ideas were mentioned above, but not together in one meal. They go well together and feed a lot of people. We also fed the Iowa Luther College Band students while they were on tour in our town, and they loved it because it was different and wasn’t their usual pasta dish.
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I fed 25 kids for $50.
Chicken tenderloins:
50 of them. Spread out in casserole pans, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle heavily with granulated garlic and LOTS of paprika. Toss them around in it. Add some more. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.
Green Beans:
5 pounds (5-16 oz bags)
Cook down, season with salt, pepper garlic etc. I use Tones Garlic Pepper Seasoning (from Sam’s)
After they’ve cooked down, drizzle with melted butter and sprinkle with raw sugar, stir it in.
Macaroni & Cheese:
Prepare as the Velvetta box says.
A lot of our foods are “snacks”. This is a “meal”.
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shamrockettes Reply:
March 29th, 2013 at 9:47 am
Loved this! Going to try for softball team this afternoon!
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I have feed my sons football team three meals and two snacks for a week during camp. One meal that the boys really liked was Teryaki chicken. I bought the chicken at a restaraunt supply store fairly cheap. Then poured Teryaki sauce, purchased at Sam’s, over the chicken and baked. With that I made a large box of minute rice. When it was cooked I added a bag of frozen peas and carrots along with some of the Teryaki sauce and stirred together. I served the rice with chicken on top along with canned corn(water mostly drained with butter) and canned green beans(drain water and replace with beef broth) and rolls.
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I serve 35 senior people a chicken breast dinner. I used 6 oz breasts (about 22) cut in half. Make a bread stuffing (similar as in stuffing for a turkey), moisten with chicken broth, layer in large foil pan, in which I serve the chicken. No dishes to do after. The breasts are seasoned in a creamy ranch dressing and then in fine bread crumbs. Layered on the stuffing, and put in the oven for about an hour. I had many compliments on this dish
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Deanna Perez Reply:
March 28th, 2013 at 10:10 am
Hi there Joyce. This sounds easy and tasty. Do you alternate layering stuffing and chicken or do you put all the stuffing on the bottom and all the chicken on top?
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Barb Reply:
April 16th, 2013 at 7:27 pm
Thanks you for sharing this simple idea, Deanna. I am feeding 20 men at a shelter and this sounds easy enough for me and delicious for them.
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There’s some great suggestions on here! I have somehow found myself in need of making two meals that will feed approx. one thousand people each for a giant church function! My budget is $3500. Any suggestions?
In the past we’ve done jumbalya, meatball sandwiches, pulled pork sandwiches, things like that, but I’ve never cooked for anything nearly this large before. Also, food that won’t make a huge mess and can be eaten without utensils would be ideal.
Any help would be appreciated.
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Kris Mays Reply:
April 4th, 2013 at 12:48 pm
I would some kind of a taco bar, where people can assemble their own meal. This is always a hit for us, especially with the guys.
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