BBQ for 30 people. Help!!!

[Sarahplane]

Having a barbecue for my dad's 70th. We have 30 people coming and I have no idea how much food we'll need. Also concerned about barbecuing enough meat all at once.

We're thinking:
sausages
burgers
chicken drumsticks/thighs done in the oven.
Veggie burgers and sausages
Salads - what kinds?
Rolls/pitta - how much?
Deserts

Is it worth doing pulled pork or something in advance as well to ease pressure on the barbeque?

Any ideas? We're feeling overwhelmed.

I would cook the chicken and sausages in the oven. Cook the burgers on the BBQ.

Salads: Green salad, couscous, potato salad and sliced tomatoes and mozzarella

Some dips & crudites

I'd either do some jackets or new potatoes as a lot of people will prefer these to bread. I'd probably allow two rolls per person. You can always freeze anything not used.

Pudding: birthday cake / strawberries & cream or a trifle?

Thanks, I hadn't thought about sausages in the oven. Potatoes is a great idea. How many sausages, burgers chicken etc should I allow?

I would allow 1 burger per person as imh experience, everyone wants a burger. Then allow 75% people a piece of chicken and 75% people a sausage. Veggie burgers - however many veggies you have plus 2

Big bowls of crisps and dips for snacking while you are bbqing the burgers. Set up a production line of tables with plates at one end and all the dishes along it so that people just start at one end and go along. Cultery and napkins at the end. If you put the bbq behind the table, its easier to keep adding burgers to the platter as they cook.

Serve kids first, to get them out of the way and help slow the flow of people thru the line.

Put half the quantity of each salad out first and top up as they get eaten. It stops all the good bits slipping to the bottom and keeps it colder and fresher for longer.

Do you have a couple of teens you can bung ten quid to help run food for half an hour at the start and pick up at the end of the party

We usually buy a BBQ from local butcher's- burgers, sausages, pork chops and chicken kebabs.

Baps and rolls for hotdogs and burgers.

Big green salad
Big bowl of homemade coleslaw (all done in food processor, if you have one this is dead handy)
I found a quick Greek pasta salad on Pinterest that I'm happy to give you (makes loads, takes 20mins)
Couscous - I use a couple of the flavoured packets and stick tomatoes or cucumber through it.

Eton mess is handy for pudding (although you could just put out a big bowl of meringue, then cream then mixed berries and people just help themselves.

Stick condiments at end of table. Agree with p.p that a table in front of BBQ makes it easy to sling burgers onto.

We tend to start things cooking in the oven and then finish them on the BBQ. Start with sausages and burgers and serve kids first.

I’d do the veggie sausages and burgers in the oven (just in case you weren’t planning this). They have a tendency to fall apart plus you’ll struggle to keep them away from where meat is being cooked

How big is your bbq? If a normal sized bbq then I’d do everything except the burgers in the oven. Once the burgers are ready you can bring out all the meat so everybody can eat at once. If you can’t get all the burgers on the bbq bring out half of the meat while you cook the second batch of burgers.

I’d do 30-40 sausages, 20-25 chicken, 30-35 burgers. Tonnes of bread

I’d be tempted to make pulled pork the day before - it’s easy to make, easy to reheat on the day and so tasty served with rolls. Low effort crowd pleaser

Big bowl of coleslaw, green salad, plus one other side (potato salad/Tom and mozzarella/cous cous or whatever). Cheese for burgers plus sauces/relish.

Dessert I’d only do something that will keep/sit happily such as fruit salad or strawberries and meringue. If you have kids I’d maybe prep some chocolate bananas in foil that can be chucked on the bbq once you’ve finished cooking.

What kind of bbq are you using ? If you are worried about running short of cooking space it would be worth getting a couple of disposable ones ( imo Wilkos are the best )
A burger for everyone ( meat and veggi) and enough barmcakes for each burger.
Then I would do about 20 of each of the following
Sausages
Thighs
Ribs
Small of individually foil wrapped fish ( fish always seems to stick to the grill so wrapping it in foil makes it easier and prevents the grill from smelling fishy just hand the whole parcel over )
Tinned Hot dogs and finger rolls
Lots and lots of fried onions for hot dogs and burgers Plus cheese slices

Jacket spuds on a good idea but take a long time to cook in the oven and people dont often eat a full one so do mini jackets instead using new potatoes cook much quicker and tend to go down very well.

Don't forget you'll need a separate barbecue and utensils for any veggie food
Stuff to put on the burgers and hot dogs like gherkins mustard tomato sauce etc
I wouldn't do huge amount of salad as little tends to gets eaten but potato salad coleslaw and such like are quite popular
Make sure any sauces and condiments and salads is also veggie friendly

Paper plates if possible wood rather than plastic knives and forks unless you don't mind doing a lot of washing up after .
unbreakable plastic reusable glasses Wilkinsons do a good line in these too

Music ! Alcohol and non-alcoholic drinks
I hope you have a great time

I do this regularly for 30-40 - large Mediterranean family. Lamb & chicken 1 per person.

I always do a side of salmon wrapped in foil with honey & soy sauce. Easy.

Prawns marinated in garlic & lemon. Cooked on the Bbq.

Roasted new potatoes with rosemary/thyme/mixed herbs.

Couscous

Rice dish mixed with sweetcorn/peas for colour.

Pasta with chopped ham, mushrooms, double cream & lots of grated cheese cooked in the oven.

Halloumi slices.

Sausages on Bbq take minutes.

Large salads

Key is in preparation

I order deserts or when family ask what to do to help I ask them for a desert.

Cheesecake, trifle, Eton mess. Baked bananas sprinkled with cinnamon, brown sugar & lemon juice & baked for 15 minutes with chocolate sauce is heavenly.

Good luck.

I'd cook the sausages most of the way through in the oven and then finish on the BBQ for that lovely dark colour and smokeyness. Sausages hold their heat well if they're insulated in foil so could be done earlier than everything else and wrapped.
Kebabs generally cook quickest. Prawn skewers just take 5 minutes.
Don't forget a coleslaw salad, and you could put a sweetcorn salad out too.

Thanks everyone. Lots of great ideas. Dad has a built in barbeque in his garden which is a fairly decent size but not massive want we're doing a separate smaller barbeque for vege. My sister and bil are vegetarian so we're aware of needing to keep things separate and making sure all salads etc are vege.

If anything I would make more chicken than anything else as everyone loves it - a couple of drumsticks or thighs per person.