If you was entertaining family - approx 10 adults what food would you serve for the most convenient and cheap optobo

[KenAdamsRealWife]

Normally would do a Buffet type lunch/dinner but I find it adds up too much. I’m on mat leave and really looking for cheap as chips ideas for around 10 adults over Easter.
Thanks

I'd go for baked potatoes with a variety of fillings and easy salad. Followed by cake.

Op, I would do 100g of mince per person and then do nachos, rice, coleslaw and some salad bits.

Pulled pork is so easy to do and relatively cheap.

Rice I'd do at 100g dry weight per person...based on what my family would eat.

half to a third of a cup of rice per person. Remember to reduce the water the more people you are cooking for.

You’ll get more of a wow from baked potatoes with the same chilli etc if you cross cut them drizzle with olive oil and brown them in the oven. I think it’s the bits eg guacamole/cheese/sour cream/jalapeño/nachos etc that make a mex chilli meal and they ramp up the price.

I'd do baked potatoes, chilli, salad, and some other toppings, like baked beans and cheese for the kids. A nice tray bake or something for pudding.

I love lasagne/shepherds pie/mousaka and a couple of salads....what’s depressing about that?

Cottage pie and peas
Crumble for pudding

Or you could cook a load of sausages and serve with baguettes/mustard/ketchup/onions...

Plus a big potato salad

Eton Mess or pavlova are super cheap

A large cake is always yummy

Banoffee pie is easy pleasey

Crumble....if it’s cols not easily beaten.

I made this for a charity event last weekend
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/748650/onepot-chicken-and-bacon-stew
Not everyone likes meat on the bone so I used a kilo of Asda chicken breasts. White wine not vinegar, added garlic. A bit more potatoes and carrots than recipe.
Small pot of double cream.
Once the chopping is done it is easy and reheated ok.
All in one so only needed nice bread with it.

Anything in a sauce - curry is the easiest as you can bulk out a bit of meat eg lamb with chickpeas, veggies etc and serve with rice, chapattis, raita, and samosas (use filo pastry to make your own or find an Indian sweet shop)

Lamb is cheap in the shops now and a little would go a long way- ravine can be bulked put with legumes and sweet potatoes.

Roast it then shred it so a little would go along way.

Couscous. Very cheap and bulks up brilliantly. Finely chop some tomatoes, cucumber, mint, red onion and throw in some raisins.

I don’t think that’s bank breaking!

Lamb may have gone down in price but it's still not cheaper than chicken, mince, sausages or pasta. Just the preserved lemons for the tagine would cost s couple of quid. Pomegranate salsa sounds delicious but they are £1 each. If you don't have herbs already, they are about £1 a packet in the shops. Apple tart for ten people? You would need two.

Sorry, like I said, sounds delicious but there's actually a lot of ingredients which adds up. I think a lot of people on here don't realise what a tight budget actually is.

We had 10 adults and 5 children for bbq on Saturday - there was the following
Lamb pieces on the bone
Chicken legs
Sausages
Boiled eggs
Big green salad
Pickled vegetables
Cheese - goat
Bread
Coleslaw
beetroot salad
Salce - it’s albanian - natural yogurt, garlic and olive oil
Afters
Honey and almond cake - hfw recipe
Double chocolate loaf

Easy. Most things you can make in advance.

I have done it before as non bbq with a couple whole shoulder of lamb before. I think lamb is cheaper in the Turkish shop. Just cook low and slow as it’s a cheaper cut - some garlic stud in with splash of olive oil and plenty of seasoning.

I would second pulled pork - easy as well, put in the oven in the morning and forget about it.
www.asdagoodliving.co.uk/food/recipes/pulled-pork-with-barbecue-sauce
Serve in bread rolls with coleslaw, bbq sauce and apple sauce. Pavlova to follow. Gorgeous!

Vegetable tagine in slow cooker
Almond and apricot couscous
Flat breads
Natural yogurt with mint and cucumber

Huge fresh fruit salad
Shortbread biscuits
Cream, yogurt or ice cream

Make your own preserved lemons, very easy and quick!

God my post was full of typos! My phone hates me.

Yes you’re right. It’s not especially cheap and cheerful.

Does it need to be refined? We're often known to get two big bags of chips from the chip shop and butter a loaf of bread. Cook a couple of frozen pizzas.

Big quiche, several salads, lots of French bread, butter, cheese.

Hmm. Some definite snobbery on this thread.

Surely feeding people we like something that tastes nice doesn't need to mean sprinkling pomegranate seeds on things or spending a lot.

I think a couple of lasagnes, or a vat of chilli or even a couple of big quiches and stuff to go alongside them would be lovely, and not expensive. Who cares if it's 'student food' - most people like things like this. It's just normal food.

If cold, I'd do chilli with a load of baked potatoes and some salad / guac / tortilla chips

If warmer, I'd do a couple of big quiches plus a big roasting dish of garlic roasted potatoes, salad and coleslaw

I'd be tempted to ask one of the family to bring pudding, but if not I'd make something retro like pineapple upside down cake with ice cream, or a big old fashioned Bero book-esque sponge cake.

Pulled pork or a big joint of gammon slow cooked in brown sugar served with mash and veg.

I'd do pulled pork with bread rolls and coleslaw. And a couple of bags of frozen chips.

Roast pork is probably the least expensive meat in a joint.
Lots of roast potatoes and carrots.
Apple crumble for pudding, add blueberries is you can stretch to a punnet. (Or even better, see if there's any fruit reduced when you're shopping, sometimes can get other berries, or stone fruit reduced if you go at the right time of day... likely rhubarb at this time of year!)
Serve with lots of custard and will go further, be filling.