What would you cook tonight to feed 8 people?

[Tygertiger]

Hosting a gathering for 8 and I’m bored of cooking chilli which is my usual go-to. What would you do that’s (relatively) easy and tasty for a group? I’m good at cooking and I enjoy it, I’m just lacking inspiration!

Can really recommend this and very easy www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/slow_cooker_tuscan_27704

Found it, I think. Nice old-fashioned British curry!

Louise’s summer chicken
3 lb chicken breasts
1 large onion – chopped
2 eating apples – chopped
2 tbsp butter
½ tspn paprika
2 tspn curry powder
1 oz plain flour
½ lb mushrooms - sliced
½ pt chicken stock (a cube will do)
8 fl oz double cream
Salt and black pepper

Cook apples and onion gently in butter for 1 min
Stir in curry powder and paprika
Add flour
Then stock and mushrooms
Butter a large shallow dish
Lay chicken in dish, skin upwards
Add salt and pepper
Pour over sauce
Bake in moderate oven for 1 ½ hours
Do not cover
Finish with cream
Serve with tagliatelle and green salad

I recently did wraps in a similar scenario. Worked out really well and you have a lot of options to bulk it up.

Marry me chicken, delicious and easy

I’ve made it twice in the last two weeks and it works perfectly, OP. Let me know how it goes.

What I’ve cooked before for 8 people is:-

A veggie lasagne and a meat lasagne
Thai green curry
fajitas with wraps with chicken or other meat
Jamie Oliver’s special chicken (with prosciutto ham, fresh thyme, lemon and butter and celeriac and potatoes)

OP is making butter chicken, but I think I'd have gone for your suggestion. I love it.

With what I have on hand.... It has to be something made with beef mince or something made with fish... So it would be either spaghetti bolognese, lasagne, cottage pie, beef hotpot or fish pie.

If I had other ingredients I would probably do a boeuf bourguinon or a venison casserole. If I was doing veggie I would do an Indian lentil and rice dish that I can't remember the name of.

I agree, I use a lot of Nagis recipes, and have made this one several times.

This is a bit late for you tonight, but another day perhaps?

I was going to suggest a white pork ragu. I saw Damian Lewis talking about it on Saturday kitchen a few weeks ago and thought it sounded good. I used this recipe, just left out the fennel and the celery and used 4 tsp of fennel seeds instead as my eldest doesn't like celery at all and fennel bulb a bit less. She loved it! It's a very hands off dish, though takes time, serve stirred through pasta (I did tagliatelle) and maybe have a salad and some garlic bread and olives with it

https://www.theburntbuttertable.com/white-pork-ragu/

Just to update. The butter chicken was amazing! And I paired it with a daal I can do from memory which worked really well and some Punjabi style rice (can share recipes for both if anyone is interested). Went down very well. Thanks to all for your help, I’m going to try loads of these recipes!

Punjabi style rice sounds interesting

Glad it all went well @Tygertiger and
Yes please to the Punjabi style rice recipe-I've already ear marked the butter chicken for a meal this week and will look at some of the others too

Lasagne or moussaka with garlic bread and a big salad

Cottage pie
Shepherds pie
Fish pie
All of the above with simple veg

Chicken traybake
Chicken ham and leek pie

Curry - Hairy Bikers have a terrific beef rendang in their curry book.

Beef koftas finished with fresh mint and feta cheese and served with warm pittas and tzatziki

Large pork shoulder, served with apple sauce and bread buns

Baked ham and salads

Coq au vin and dauphinois potatoes with green beans are my go-to for a large crowd when I need a change from chilli.

your Punjabi rice sounds lovely

Hungarian goulash.

Glad it went well, it’s so easy! Here is another of hers I have on rotation, another all in one bake tray but a little lighter. Good for summer.

https://www.recipetineats.com/lemon-garlic-salmon-tray-bake-easy-healthy/

This is the Jamie Oliver fantastic roast chicken one:-

www.everydaycookingadventures.com/jamie-olivers-fantastic-roast-chicken/ www.everydaycookingadventures.com/jamie-olivers-fantastic-roast-chicken/]]]]

It’s a one baking tray meal unless you feel you need to add extra greens to it.

The veggie lasagne as far as I recall has most Mediterranean veggies in it but add mozzarella cheese to it torn or cut up a bit with the cheese sauce.