Food for a teenage party

How old are they? I'd probably just pick one food to serve, either just pizza or just hot dogs.

Worth checking if there are any vegetarians if you’re just doing hot dogs. Pizza too would cover the bases. Fruit/muffins and crisps too perhaps?

Ask ur daughter if she has been to something similar and what was served and popular.

Pizza and crisps or chips here.
Birthday cake and sweets.
Cans of coke, lemonade. Bottles of J20 - there are 2 of DS1 friends that drink this, DS2's just go for the cans.

PS thank you for posting this, i read the title, answered "pizza" and then went, uh oh I need to make pizza dough. So, thanks to your question, I will have some tea tonight!

I buy the rectangular party pizza from Tesco, think it’s frozen. But any cheapish one will do and then buy some grated mozzarella to add on top and it’s fine. Teenagers don’t really notice! Bottle of drink are cheaper but cans are more convenient. I too would perhaps not bother with hotdogs. Crisps definitely. And sweet treats. I buy the bags of mini biscuits such as mini Maryland’s or fingers. Both Aldi and Lidl do their own versions of some things.

One thing which is really boring to mention but having a child with an allergy, it's useful to know if anyone does just so you don't put anything out that might cause problems.

I second the big Tesco rectangular pizzas with extra cheese, tomatoes etc. And in the past Ive made a big bowl of guacamole with Doritos which went down really well. (And you can tell yourself they've had one of their 5 a day and feel virtuous. Sort of)

Can’t go wrong with pizza. DD is gluten & dairy free (NHS diagnosed) and I can cater for that with pizza. Her bff is fish/shellfish & sesame allergic (deadly) and another friend is deathly allergic to nuts. I cater for all that with pizza. Plus you can cover the vegetarians and vegans easily

So many good pizza offers
Asda sell the big pizza express ones for a good price
Sainsbury’s do a really good 2 big pizzas and a side for £10

I'd honestly go for the cheap supermarket pizza and maybe a little extra cheese on top. Hot dogs could go in the slow cooker to keep warm, if you've got one of those.
Nuggets always seem to go down well with teenagers, maybe a few share bags of crisps too.
Drink wise I'd go for bottles of pop and buy a few packs of disposable cups and provide a sharpie. Easy for everyone to find which drink is theirs and they're more likely to drink it, whereas cans you end up with half finished cans everywhere as nobody knows if it's theirs or not!!

Pizza - and for that amount, if you cook some at a time (as I’m assuming you won’t get 10 in your oven!) it will mean there will be warm pizza available for a good period of time.
just check for allergies and GF.
Sainsburys sell the Dr Otker gluten free pizza - and they are pretty good.

The more expensive (but still cheap) Aldi pizzas are great, you can get a variety of toppings and stuffed crusts etc - so something for most people.

Id be tempted to buy cans of fizz - teens tend to remember they’ve put a drink down if it’s in a can, but memory fails them if using glasses or a cup 🤣

Have plenty of kitchen roll to hand to save greasy hands on, well, everything.

I wouldn't leave a sharpie with a bunch of teenagers at a party!😂

Aldi's "fancy" pizzas are great. I'd do chips and nuggets and wouldn't worry about hot dogs.

Big kid is 18 now so I’ve been doing this for a while! Make sure you know of any allergies, then we do pizza, garlic bread, nuggets and sometimes loaded wedges/potato skins. Crisps, dips, popcorn and sweets. Fizzy pop I buy in bottles and all kids are welcome to have an alchopop so long as I’ve spoken to their parents. Birthday cake (if it is a birthday, many of big kids gatherings have been “just because”). Me and small kid tend to retreat to my room and let the teens have the front room for the afternoon/evening and they know where I am if anything is needed!

Are your guests 13, or 18? Big difference!

It takes a while to cook pizza for 20. Do you have an air fryer. If so, cook nuggets in there freeing up oven space for pizza, might be worth seeing if you can borrow an extra couple of oven shelves from a friend or family (they aren’t one size fits all but there are lots that fit many). Loads of bowls of crisps, a couple of buttered french sticks will keep them full if pizza needs to be cooked in stages. Do not underestimate the amount of pizza teenagers can put away!

Hot dogs in a slow cooker (I used the ones in jars) and pre cut rolls with a sauce station. Food stays warm, rolls are ready and they can add whatever sauce they want. Did this for 40 x 8 year olds and was an absolute hit. We also had a smaller slow cooker with veggie hot dogs in.

Crosta and Mollica pizza

If you have a Costco membership- their pizzas are the best value . From the food court they are about £9 - with the number of kids you’re feeding I would suggest buying 5. The slices are massive and then you don’t need nuggets and hot dogs. If you want to make take them home and bake them - you will need a big oven they about £1 to £2 cheaper.

You don’t have to be a member to go to the food court only to the deli.

Do you have a slow cooker? Hot dog sausages in water in there on the “warm” setting stay warm for ages!!

I’d go to Iceland and buy a load of pizzas and garlic breads. They do desserts too.

Hot dogs? Are you trying to recreate your own 13th birthday party for your daughter 30 years later?

Ask your daughter what is usual amongst her friends?
Normally just pizza, some meat some veggie, ask you DD to find out about allergies. Dr Oetka gluten free is fine and there are cheese free and tomato free pizzas around.
Don't buy the cheapest pizza, she may be embarrassed - most supermarkets do slightly better ones and you can add mozzarella. Definitely not alcho pops, just get some 3L bottles of various Cokes, Dr Pepper and others - she will tell you.
Not sure if you are having a cake, there are "push the boat out" options at Paul-UK (fraisier or framboisier) or Lolas, but most supermarkets do big cheaper ones. Prepared fruit such as watermelon slices are good, but most will eat ice cream, profiteroles/eclairs or similar.
Use real plates if you can, paper plates usually deposit food on the floor.

Pizza (add some extra toppings to supermarket ones), garlic bread, crisps and dips.

When my kids were teens, I used to make a couple of trays of brownie batter in advance then throw it in the oven about half way through, the smell of baking brownies was magnetic to teenagers and it was a cooler (and cheaper) option than birthday cake. No nuts, and I'd do some with mini marshmallows and some without to accommodate the veggies. My daughter is mid 20's, her friends still talk about the smell of the brownies in the oven at parties (also works well if they're a bit older and you want to soak up the alcohol...)