It's my daughter's 21st at the end of the month, and I'm starting to plan (or panic about!) what to serve. It will be a dinner, held at our church. Daughter was suggesting making it a pot luck, but if I can come up with enough ideas myself, maybe we won't need to. Probably about 50 people, including a vegetarian, a vegan, and a low protein diet. So far I've thought of roast vege, lasagne, vegetarian nacho mix (maybe with corn chips or rice?), salads, bread rolls. I'm not used to cooking in bulk, so I'm finding it hard to get my head round the quantities. I think my mum has freezer space where I could store things if I make them ahead of time, so what are some dishes that freeze and reheat well? So far I've thought of the lasagne. Any help appreciated :)

carlos57 - 2019-09-02 13:33:00

I've bumped some threads which may help, but my feeling is "just go pot luck" with some base ideas :)
Oh, there is a vegetarian thread too, which may give some ideas. (But I haven't bumped it)

unknowndisorder - 2019-09-02 15:44:00

Perhaps do some salads - green, potato, coleslaw etc as you suggested, with sliced ham and say cold chicken drums which could be cooked at home and kept cold of course. Garlic bread always goes down well, and how about some stew/casserole type foods kept warm in crockpots (if theres enough hotpoints) with rice and /or warm potatoes to go with it and let people help themselves.Some hot corn cobs could be good too - the frozen ones you get in the supermarkets. A cheese platter with several cheeses, cracker biscuits, nuts, olives, salami, grapes etc could be an idea for those just wanting to nibble and you could include a platter of say asparagus rolls which most people like. Your lasagne is a good idea as its popular.
Are you doing a dessert? - as if so just make it simple, say fruit salad and you could used tinned and add more fresh fruit - grapes etc yourself, and again have ice cream where people help themselves, and perhaps some cut slices.
Hope it all goes well!

nzhel - 2019-09-02 15:48:00

Thanks to both of you. Some good ideas :) For dessert, we're going to have the birthday cake (which I'm having professionally made), with fresh fruit and ice cream.

carlos57 - 2019-09-02 16:03:00

Ham and buns, coleslaw, salads and pizza - don’t make it harder for yourself by doing too many dishes but it does depend a little on the age range of your guests - unless you’re expecting everyone to sit down to eat then it’s easiest to have food that doesn’t require cutlery and can be eaten from disposable plates

sarahb5 - 2019-09-02 18:14:00

I would do a grazing table, lots of finger foods

korban - 2019-09-02 21:28:00

For my daughters 21st(August) i just did about 1 drumstick per person. Cooked earlier and placed in a poly chilly bin to stay warm. Buns/ham, lettuce, avo, cucumber & tomato pre sliced, with mayo/mustard available.Chips & dips. I wouldn't go overboard with the food.My daughters crowd hardly ate anything, mostly the older adults ate.

blueviking - 2019-09-04 06:56:00

Cook a ham or a couple legs of lamb whichever it cheaper and do chicken drums. Then a couple of big pots of potatoes. Do vegetarian lasagna maybe a couple of trays of it and then do salads. Like a mixed green salad, beetroot and feta cheese with spinach salad, a coleslaw and a pasta salad. That should keep everyone happy. Desert can be cake fruit salad and ice cream maybe pavs. Keep it simple.

strathview - 2019-09-04 14:27:00

blueviking wrote:

For my daughters 21st(August) i just did about 1 drumstick per person. Cooked earlier and placed in a poly chilly bin to stay warm. Buns/ham, lettuce, avo, cucumber & tomato pre sliced, with mayo/mustard available.Chips & dips. I wouldn't go overboard with the food.My daughters crowd hardly ate anything, mostly the older adults ate.

Eating’s cheating ????

sarahb5 - 2019-09-04 17:47:00

korban wrote:

I would do a grazing table, lots of finger foods

That would be great as long as there's plenty of safe storage, because they are not prepare ahead too much. are they?

samanya - 2019-09-04 17:51:00

I'm wracking my brains to think of what I cooked for a 50 people dinner last time.
I tend to do anything that I can to prepare ahead & that can be frozen.
Bread rolls/freeze, casseroles/freeze, dessert pies (to use up the berry fruit in the freezer) berry sauces/freeze, icecream/freeze ... finger food, a variety of small savouries, small muffin tin size/freeze
& a huge 'TO DO' list of what's where & to help remember to get stuff out of the freezer!!
& that just leaves the salads etc on the day.
My friends usually buck in & offer to bring stuff & I'm sure if you put the word out, your friends/family would be only too happy to help out ...let them bring stuff.
I always do too much & live on the leftovers for a week!
You don't want to be too worn out & not enjoy the occasion.
If the guests are having a great time, the food will not be what they remember about your daughter's 21st!
Good luck.

samanya - 2019-09-04 18:06:00

My daughters 21st, 100 people. Ham on bone, seared beef on bbq, sliced green salad leaves, cut tomatoes, sliced onions, sliced cucumber, coleslaw, cheese slices, beetroot. A selection of chutneys, mustard, hummus and mayo butter and marg. Bowls of potato chips. A selection of rolls and sliced breads. For the vegan/vegetarians, heated through Dannys falafels. Always a good way to serve, as peoplle can fill rolls with what they like, and they can come back to it as they feel the need too.

ruby19 - 2019-09-05 02:19:00

I hadn't checked this for a few days. Thanks for all the new suggestions :) Normally I'd be happy to make it pot luck, but quite a few people are travelling from out of town. My plan at this stage is two large lasagnes, a sausage casserole (which I've prepared this morning, ready for the freezer), butter chicken (also prepared ahead of time), ratatouille, rice, cous cous, roast vege, salads, bread rolls and garlic bread. We've found out that our vegan relly isn't coming. I'll be borrowing some slow cookers, and hoping that all the church ovens are working well!

carlos57 - 2019-09-07 13:07:00

Don't worry about dessert except for the cake

alimmw - 2019-09-08 15:59:00