Easy food to make to host a big group

[stevo_323 0]

Hey guys,

Im having a bunch of people(15-20 people) over to my house in a couple weeks here and my fiancee is not going to be around, so I have to find something to cook. Im fine with what I have setup for appies, but I need to have some sort of dinner type meal for everyone. Can anyone recommend something that I can make that isnt to difficult? Im pretty green when it comes to cooking.

Thanks

[magmajesus 0]

Pasta. High volume, low risk.

[chippa13 1844]

Grill food is usually the easiest, plus, it makes the least mess of the kitchen. Marinade up some steak tips and chicken, preboil sausages in beer and you're good to go.

[Axxion89 32]

Pasta is easy, Burgers and Dogs are too. If you want to show off and look good, Chicken Parm if you know how to fry chicken cutlets. Rice is always a good side as well as fries or other potatoes

[Darshu 0]

Big pot of Chili, Big hunk of meat in a slow cooker if you've got one. Hard to mess either of those up.

[Chadd 916]

15-20 people is just about where you should consider having someone cater the event. That's a lot of people and work to prepare and cook for with a normal home range and oven. Between sides and an entree, it's a lot to coordinate. Especially if you're expected to play host as well.

[bigdmac 12]

Pasta or burgers and dogs would be the easiest to make for that amount of people. If you go with the pasta you could go with a nice meat tomato sauce which you can never really go wrong with. (Unless you have some vegetarians coming) My brother is a high school cooking teacher so he makes mass amounts of food everyday for the lunch rush. If you need/want any recipes or anything dont hesitate to send me a PM and ill see what i can do!

[stevo_323 0]

Thank you guys, I think I will make some sort of big pasta with a meaty sauce.... cant go wrong is a good thing for me lol

[hamstercaster 2]

Last time I had that many people at home I cooked lasagna. Prepare your sauce a day or two ahead, then on the day of the event, just put your lasagna together. All that will be left to do will be to put it in the oven a half hour or so, then cut and serve. You can even precook your lasagna the night before and heat it up in the oven for 10 minutes or so and you'll be good to go. Serve some buns with it so you don't have to spend a half hour cutting bread. It's a lot faster than cooking bugers and dogs and not much more expensive to make either.

It's a pretty safe dish except for those who are lactose or gluten intolerant but you can probably find gluten free pasta and lactose free cheeze... or buy a pack of lactaids just in case lol.

[stevo_323 0]

Last time I had that many people at home I cooked lasagna. Prepare your sauce a day or two ahead, then on the day of the event, just put your lasagna together. All that will be left to do will be to put it in the oven a half hour or so, then cut and serve. You can even precook your lasagna the night before and heat it up in the oven for 10 minutes or so and you'll be good to go. Serve some buns with it so you don't have to spend a half hour cutting bread. It's a lot faster than cooking bugers and dogs and not much more expensive to make either.

It's a pretty safe dish except for those who are lactose or gluten intolerant but you can probably find gluten free pasta and lactose free cheeze... or buy a pack of lactaids just in case lol.

ooh, I like this, thanks!

[Trippingblue 1]

or you could tell everyone to bring something to share...

[chippa13 1844]

A couple of things that you might want to consider that could impact your meal choice would be the weather, space available and whether "al fresco" dining is an option, and time you plan to eat.

[stevo_323 0]

or you could tell everyone to bring something to share...

Nope, everyone takes their turn hosting the fights, providing all the drinks and food. We alternate though everyone so you only do one every 15 events

[Jason Harris 31]

15-20 people is just about where you should consider having someone cater the event. That's a lot of people and work to prepare and cook for with a normal home range and oven. Between sides and an entree, it's a lot to coordinate. Especially if you're expected to play host as well.

Or make sure you're married......

Actually, every year we have a barbecue for our friends, which has grown to 50-60 people now that the girls' friends are old enough to come by themselves. And now that the ladies are old enough to help in the kitchen, we delineate the skills this way: You call me down to the kitchen, I'll come help; otherwise, my job is to make the perfect playlist (this actually takes about a week), pressure wash the house and deck, grill the hamburgers/chicken/hot dogs and, most importantly, be a master conversationalist.

Well, at least that's what I consider to be the best use of everyone's talents. The Big D might feel otherwise.....

[Chadd 916]

Or make sure you're married......

Actually, every year we have a barbecue for our friends, which has grown to 50-60 people now that the girls' friends are old enough to come by themselves. And now that the ladies are old enough to help in the kitchen, we delineate the skills this way: You call me down to the kitchen, I'll come help; otherwise, my job is to make the perfect playlist (this actually takes about a week), pressure wash the house and deck, grill the hamburgers/chicken/hot dogs and, most importantly, be a master conversationalist.

Well, at least that's what I consider to be the best use of everyone's talents. The Big D might feel otherwise.....

My wife can't cook. She can usually handle things that come in a box, but any type of free-form cooking is just asking for trouble.

[team50 20]

Last time I had that many people at home I cooked lasagna. Prepare your sauce a day or two ahead, then on the day of the event, just put your lasagna together. All that will be left to do will be to put it in the oven a half hour or so, then cut and serve. You can even precook your lasagna the night before and heat it up in the oven for 10 minutes or so and you'll be good to go. Serve some buns with it so you don't have to spend a half hour cutting bread. It's a lot faster than cooking bugers and dogs and not much more expensive to make either.

It's a pretty safe dish except for those who are lactose or gluten intolerant but you can probably find gluten free pasta and lactose free cheeze... or buy a pack of lactaids just in case lol.

10-4 on the lasagna. We made two large the night before a party of 20 a few weeks ago. Put out some cheese and crackers with bread and hummis. Topped the lasagna off with a large salad with a home made vingegarette dressing.