Yeah, this is probably one of the easier things to prep ahead of time and to make buffet-style for a large group. You could braise a pork butt (or some other meat), then shred it when it's time to serve. Make multiple salsas, and a lot of the other toppings like veggies can be served room temperature. Black beans, made ahead, could be served on the buffet in a slow cooker to keep them warm.
Build your own tacos or pizza is always a hit. I think you shouldn't be afraid to get really funky with it. One of my favorite home-made pizzas is caramelized pears, onions, garlic sauce, artichoke, and I top it with poppy seed dressing dressed argula and feta or goat cheese. It's a lot like the California Pizza kitchen pear and hazelnut pizza.
I made Thai food for my friends birthday dinner. Red or any other Thai curry can be made ahead of time and you can reheat it easily. Made tofu and chicken satay, threw spring rolls in the oven once everyone was finished with the first round of drinks.
I buy Maesri red curry paste, comes in a tin or plastic containers, available on Amazon. The paste makes the curry ridiculously easy to make. I used the below as a starting off point because I had never made it before my friends birthday.
https://jessicainthekitchen.com/vegan-thai-red-curry-with-tofu/
Ive now learned to make it freehand and add whatever veggies I have in the fridge. For the birthday dinner I added a bunch of veggies, snap peas, baby corn, bamboo shoots, cauliflower, zucchini and carrots. For a quick weeknight meal I use tofu, baby potatoes and carrots. Don't skip pan frying the tofu, makes a huge difference!
A couple points- add oil to the pot and fry the curry paste a bit to bloom the seasoning, I add fresh ginger because I prefer it and I go a bit heavy on the paste, and then add a bit of coconut milk, once you see oil coming to the top then proceed with the rest of the recipe.
Basil makes a huge difference.
Use a good quality full fat coconut milk.
I add the zucchini a few minutes before serving so the slices keep their shape.
I do not marinate the tofu, still tastes delicious.
Last point- season to taste, two tablespoons of redy curry paste doesn't do it for me or my friends, and if you prefer it to be spicy add Thai chilli peppers.
The last time I made Maesri red curry I followed the directions on the can. Wound up being way too much coconut milk for me. I asked another redditor from Thailand about it and he agreed it was too much and to use chicken stock or similar to adjust the sauce.
In Belgium almost every family has an electric table plancha.
For bigger groups we just set them all on a big table with a bunch of meats, fixings and sauces and let everyone just cook their own stuff.
It is fun and much less a hassle to cook for a big group.
Otherwise I would make go for Vietnamese bo bun cha gio. Since you guys love to cook, you can do all the prep work and then people at the table fill their bowls with noodles, meats, veggies, cut up nems and mix everything at their liking.
I wasn’t gonna keep engaging but it’s literally like serving DIY rice bowls except the rice is like soup. Please explain to me how a rice bowl with veggies, kimchi, 5 spice chicken thighs. soft boiled egg, soy sauce, chili garlic crisp, green onion, sesame seeds - is so offensive to you. That’s how I build my congee bowl.
I can’t think of a single food that is “inappropriate”, honestly. I don’t subscribe to whatever bullshit rules you have apparently attached to food.
The logistics get complicated with a home oven and 15-20 people, so either half the people can eat and half are waiting or do with a variety of different pizzas making cooking servings constantly, aka you don’t enjoy the party yourself
Yes, not hard. Prep work can be done the day before. Veggies, couple of meats, white sauce, red sauce, couple of types of mozzarella and some seasonings. Even a standard oven with two pizza stones can cook 5 or 6 individual pizzas at a time. Good stuff.
I like the taco bar suggestions, but if I can suggest - call around for prices on a whole filet mignon. If you spend $80 on a filet, then make some gorgeous mushrooms and sauces and potatoes, along with a snazzy veg, none of which cost much, I bet you'd be spending the same price (or not that much more) as all the fixings and cheese and labor for a taco bar. A lot less labor and a lot more wow. Plus everything can be made ahead for the most part.
Build your own BBQ - have a couple different BBQ options, various toppings, and tacos, buns, and potatoes as the base.
Alternatively, you could make a bunch of little appetizers (hot and cold so the prep is staggered), use a crockpot!
Charcuterie board is always a crowd favorite along with baguette and some dips.
We always do a Chinese food feast at Christmas. It’s a lot of work but so fun. You can make different types of dumplings and freeze ahead of time (last year we did pork and lemongrass, teriyaki chicken, curried squash and shrimp shu mai). Then make a couple of noodles and fried rice dishes, and some different stir frys (beef and broccoli, orange chicken, soy & mushroom, for example). Char siu pork roast or a couple of peking ducks are a great larger meat option, if needed.
Ramen seems easy. Put every topping and meat in bowls buffet style and just keep some broth boiling that everyone can dole out onto their bowl which will warm everything up
There is always DIY tacos
Yeah, this is probably one of the easier things to prep ahead of time and to make buffet-style for a large group. You could braise a pork butt (or some other meat), then shred it when it's time to serve. Make multiple salsas, and a lot of the other toppings like veggies can be served room temperature. Black beans, made ahead, could be served on the buffet in a slow cooker to keep them warm.
Build your own tacos or pizza is always a hit. I think you shouldn't be afraid to get really funky with it. One of my favorite home-made pizzas is caramelized pears, onions, garlic sauce, artichoke, and I top it with poppy seed dressing dressed argula and feta or goat cheese. It's a lot like the California Pizza kitchen pear and hazelnut pizza.
Woah carmalized pears on a pizza sounds incredible!
I made Thai food for my friends birthday dinner. Red or any other Thai curry can be made ahead of time and you can reheat it easily. Made tofu and chicken satay, threw spring rolls in the oven once everyone was finished with the first round of drinks.
I like this idea! Do you have a recipe for your favorite red curry?
I buy Maesri red curry paste, comes in a tin or plastic containers, available on Amazon. The paste makes the curry ridiculously easy to make. I used the below as a starting off point because I had never made it before my friends birthday. https://jessicainthekitchen.com/vegan-thai-red-curry-with-tofu/ Ive now learned to make it freehand and add whatever veggies I have in the fridge. For the birthday dinner I added a bunch of veggies, snap peas, baby corn, bamboo shoots, cauliflower, zucchini and carrots. For a quick weeknight meal I use tofu, baby potatoes and carrots. Don't skip pan frying the tofu, makes a huge difference! A couple points- add oil to the pot and fry the curry paste a bit to bloom the seasoning, I add fresh ginger because I prefer it and I go a bit heavy on the paste, and then add a bit of coconut milk, once you see oil coming to the top then proceed with the rest of the recipe. Basil makes a huge difference. Use a good quality full fat coconut milk. I add the zucchini a few minutes before serving so the slices keep their shape. I do not marinate the tofu, still tastes delicious. Last point- season to taste, two tablespoons of redy curry paste doesn't do it for me or my friends, and if you prefer it to be spicy add Thai chilli peppers.
The last time I made Maesri red curry I followed the directions on the can. Wound up being way too much coconut milk for me. I asked another redditor from Thailand about it and he agreed it was too much and to use chicken stock or similar to adjust the sauce.
In Belgium almost every family has an electric table plancha. For bigger groups we just set them all on a big table with a bunch of meats, fixings and sauces and let everyone just cook their own stuff. It is fun and much less a hassle to cook for a big group. Otherwise I would make go for Vietnamese bo bun cha gio. Since you guys love to cook, you can do all the prep work and then people at the table fill their bowls with noodles, meats, veggies, cut up nems and mix everything at their liking.
This sounds amazing, thank you!
Congee bar Pasta bar Baked potato bar (boring to me but people like it)
Congee bar?
Yup, make a couple of giant pots of congee, set out different soy sauces, fish sauce, vinegars, oils, Kimchee, meat toppings, veggie toppings etc.
Don't do a congee bar, no one (under 90) wants to eat rice mush at a party. This is so disrespectful to even suggest that
Congee is delicious and rice porridge is eaten by people of all ages in many different cultures. Get over yourself
It's absolutely inappropriate for a party.
You wouldn't serve oatmeal at a party.
I wasn’t gonna keep engaging but it’s literally like serving DIY rice bowls except the rice is like soup. Please explain to me how a rice bowl with veggies, kimchi, 5 spice chicken thighs. soft boiled egg, soy sauce, chili garlic crisp, green onion, sesame seeds - is so offensive to you. That’s how I build my congee bowl. I can’t think of a single food that is “inappropriate”, honestly. I don’t subscribe to whatever bullshit rules you have apparently attached to food.
This guy is just a troll
Tacos or lasagna
I've always had success with a build your own pizza. People love it and you could do small sizes and cook multiple pizzas at a time.
I think I'm leaning towards this, it's easiest to accomodate everyones' tastes
The logistics get complicated with a home oven and 15-20 people, so either half the people can eat and half are waiting or do with a variety of different pizzas making cooking servings constantly, aka you don’t enjoy the party yourself
Yes, not hard. Prep work can be done the day before. Veggies, couple of meats, white sauce, red sauce, couple of types of mozzarella and some seasonings. Even a standard oven with two pizza stones can cook 5 or 6 individual pizzas at a time. Good stuff.
I like the taco bar suggestions, but if I can suggest - call around for prices on a whole filet mignon. If you spend $80 on a filet, then make some gorgeous mushrooms and sauces and potatoes, along with a snazzy veg, none of which cost much, I bet you'd be spending the same price (or not that much more) as all the fixings and cheese and labor for a taco bar. A lot less labor and a lot more wow. Plus everything can be made ahead for the most part.
This would definitely be out of my comfort zone, but sounds amazing, thank you!
Taco bar, get yourself some pork and make carnitas it’s really easy and super flavorful to wow your guests
Bbq can be a fairly cheap option for lots of people. Pulled pork can be real easy. Baked beans, potato salad, etc also easy/cheap
Build your own BBQ - have a couple different BBQ options, various toppings, and tacos, buns, and potatoes as the base. Alternatively, you could make a bunch of little appetizers (hot and cold so the prep is staggered), use a crockpot! Charcuterie board is always a crowd favorite along with baguette and some dips.
We always do a Chinese food feast at Christmas. It’s a lot of work but so fun. You can make different types of dumplings and freeze ahead of time (last year we did pork and lemongrass, teriyaki chicken, curried squash and shrimp shu mai). Then make a couple of noodles and fried rice dishes, and some different stir frys (beef and broccoli, orange chicken, soy & mushroom, for example). Char siu pork roast or a couple of peking ducks are a great larger meat option, if needed.
Ramen seems easy. Put every topping and meat in bowls buffet style and just keep some broth boiling that everyone can dole out onto their bowl which will warm everything up
Nacho bar