Thrifty pot luck dinner contribution

[AnnaDelvorkina]

DD13 has youth group approx. every 2 weeks, there are 18 kids in the group. It’s on a Friday night over dinner time so they each bring a contribution to dinner, with half bringing something savoury and half bringing something sweet. What can we send DD with that won’t break the bank? It needs to be more or less shop bought as we have our food shop just before the occasion.

N.B. It’s her turn to bring something savoury.

Jacket potatoes- big batch, cook them then spoon out potato and mix with cheese and butter and maybe some bbq sauce then sprinkle cheese on top retake 5 mins, served in halves in tinfoil, mac and cheese etc

Does it have to be a hot/cooked thing? What do other people tend to bring?

Something like bread rolls if other people are bringing chilli in a slow cooker or soup or deli meats/cheeses. Hummus and cheese straws if it’s more picnic stuff. Or samosas and onion bhajis or falafels. Punnet of cherry tomatoes and sliced cucumber. I think it very much depends what sort of meal it is, but this is all the sort of thing people bring when we do this for work.

cheese straws easy to make and transport, only need flower butter and cheese.

Pasta bake
Veg chilli

Pizza.

Is she in the sweet or savoury half?

Savoury:

Would a few large baguettes work? They could be used to mop up the sauce from almost anything.

Boxes of mini scotch eggs/pork pies/cocktail sausages.

Quiches

Large sharing bags of crisps/pretzels

For something cooked:

A couple of large packs of sausages cooked up with some sliced onions.

Large Spanish omelette/frittata type thing full of sliced potatoes and maybe other things like peppers.

Couple of packets of meatballs cooked in a (spicy) tomato sauce.

Sweet:

Meringue nests and punnet(s) of soft fruits.

Traybake of flapjacks or brownies

Mac n cheese balls?
make macaroni cheese in the usual
way, cool and then form into balls. Place a square of cheese in the middle, roll in beaten egg and breadcrumbs then fry off. Serve with any sauce she likes (ranch, tommy k, buffalo sauce)

Big pan of penne pasta cooked al dente

Fry separately some smoked bacon lardons.

Drain pasta and add good quality pesto and s& p to taste

Add cooked lardons and some of the cooking fat for flavour.

Carefully cook sugar snap peas and frozen peas or princess haricot or broccoli or any combo of them - at least two veg nicely cooked not over done

Drain and stir in to pesto pasta and bacon lardons

Add in large handfuls of grated parmesan

Garnish with flat leafed parsley

Transport in large plastic bowls and serve

Edited to say: the beauty of this dish is that most DC like pesto pasta and it's good served hot, warm or getting cold and it doesn't pose a health risk'if it sits out for a bit. Having said that, we take it to virtually every sports event we attend and it's devoured very quickly by the DC and there's never any left.

Nachos

Pasta salad with tuna or pasta salad with cheese.

Quiche. You can buy the pastry and it's not too expensive to make - do a cheese and tomato and a cheese and onion. Nice cold and it's simple but tasty.

Homemade hummus? You could do that with crackers but there'd probably have to be a lot of it so possibly a pain.

Sandwich platter? A bit faffy when you're making it, but cut into triangles and everyone will grab some. I always end up falling back on this for kids stuff because there's the inevitable grumble about not liking pasta, rice, whatever it is, so it feels safe. 😂 My favoured recipe is hard boiled eggs mashed up (whilst warm) with plenty of butter, salt and pepper. Add to buttered bread. Bloody lovely even when cold. Never had a child turn their noses up to it - my tuna sandwiches, however, get ignored.

Home made sausage rolls? Shop bought pastry, sausage meat and take some tomato sauce! Simple and pretty cheap

I would do a big potato gratin - that's just potatoes, garlic, milk and a bit of cheese or a big mac n cheese made with cheddar and breadcrumbs. Kids like both and they are one of those dishes that are better than the sum of their parts.

Even easier - get pre rolled puff pastry, 'butter' it with a little French mayo. Score in to 'straws', sprinkle over parmesan and bake for 15 mins.

Vegetable soup made with whatever is in the back of the fridge.

Hot dogs.

Cheap supermarket pizza and send stuff for them to personalise it, slices of peppers, tin of sweetcorn, sliced pepperoni.

For 18? or fewer?

I think most people have missed the "needs to be more or less shop bought" bit of OPs post......

If you have any time to cook, how about cooking some sausages and providing finger rolls and tomato sauce? There will be lots of other contributions so one each should be sufficient. If not, then ready made sausage rolls? Or cook a couple of large pizzas and cut them into slices. Good for veggies and non-veggies. Even better if you want to provide a big tin of coleslaw as well.

Hoummus, mini carrots and breadsticks.
Crackers and cheese.
Breads and olives.

More meaty options - pork pies, sausage rolls, mini sausages or cold meats

A loaf of bread and sandwich options?

Pasta salad using pesto, frozen peas or tinned chickpeas and tuna. Easy to make in bulk and very cheap.

OP specified it needs to be more or less shop bought, whats with all the baking and spooning out the middle of a million jacket potato suggestions?

Tubs of houmous and bags of bread sticks
Tubs of coleslaw and cold pizza slices
Tubs of pasta salad, a couple of different types, or mix them up with couscous salad tubs

Dahl made with red lentils.
Just needs an onion, red lentils, stock and curry powder.
V cheap and tasty. Add couple of packs of naan or chappatis.

Love a bit of chatGPT:

Please suggest savoury food ideas for 18 teens. No prep. All shop bought.

Here are some easy, no-prep savoury food ideas perfect for feeding 18 teens:

1.	<strong>Mini Sandwiches or Wraps</strong> &ndash; Pre-made sandwiches or wraps with a variety of fillings like ham &amp; cheese, chicken &amp; mayo, and veggie options.
2.	<strong>Chicken Bites</strong> &ndash; Ready-to-eat chicken tenders, nuggets, or popcorn chicken. Serve with different dipping sauces like BBQ, ranch, and sweet chili.
3.	<strong>Pizza Slices</strong> &ndash; Buy a few large pizzas and have them pre-sliced. Offer classic flavors like cheese, pepperoni, and veggie.
4.	<strong>Sausage Rolls and Mini Pies</strong> &ndash; Choose from classic sausage rolls, mini pork pies, and veggie alternatives like cheese and onion rolls.
5.	<strong>Veggie Platter with Dip</strong> &ndash; A selection of pre-cut vegetables like carrots, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes with hummus or ranch dip.
6.	<strong>Cheese and Cracker Platter</strong> &ndash; Include a variety of cheeses, crackers, and maybe some grapes for easy snacking.
7.	<strong>Snack Platters</strong> &ndash; Mix of crisps, popcorn, pretzels, and nuts. These can be set up as self-serve stations.
8.	<strong>Sushi Platters</strong> &ndash; Pre-made sushi trays from the supermarket, with a mix of flavors to cater to various tastes.
9.	<strong>Cold Pasta Salads</strong> &ndash; Pre-packaged pasta salads in different flavors like pesto, tuna, or Greek-style.
10.	<strong>Stuffed Pita Breads</strong> &ndash; Pre-filled with things like falafel, chicken, or veggies.
11.	<strong>Mini Quiches or Frittatas</strong> &ndash; An assortment of mini quiches, such as cheese &amp; onion, spinach, and ham.
12.	<strong>Cold Meats Platter</strong> &ndash; Slices of salami, ham, turkey, and chorizo. Teens can create their own mini wraps or sandwiches.
13.	<strong>Loaded Nachos</strong> &ndash; Pre-packaged nachos with separate containers of cheese sauce, salsa, and guacamole for easy self-serve.
14.	<strong>Pasta Cups</strong> &ndash; Pre-packaged cups of cold pasta for individual servings, in flavors like tomato basil or Alfredo.
15.	<strong>Mozzarella Sticks</strong> &ndash; Packaged mozzarella sticks or other cheesy bites, ready to eat.
16.	<strong>Deli Platters</strong> &ndash; Many supermarkets have deli trays with an assortment of meats, cheeses, and olives.
17.	<strong>Bagels and Spreads</strong> &ndash; Pre-sliced bagels with tubs of cream cheese, smoked salmon, or hummus.
18.	<strong>Finger Sandwich Rolls</strong> &ndash; Mini rolls filled with egg, ham, and tuna mayo.

Just arrange everything on platters for an easy buffet-style setup!

Can choose according to budget?

I'd send shop bought mini sausage rolls/cocktail sausages/chicken drumsticks. Or the mini cheese and onion pasty things if you want to go veggie. But I'm lazy like that.

If you’re stopping off at the supermarket on the way to the activity, Sainsbury’s do a selection of platters that are surprisingly cheap, like sausage rolls, quiche, sandwiches etc. And you don’t need to buy 18 people’s worth since everyone is bringing something. Maybe 10.

If it’s supermarket bought and cooked at home, I’d do a couple of bags of potato croquettes cooked in a foil baking tray. Squeezy mayo/ BBQ/ ketchup.

More expensive than I remembered but good value IMO. I like the look of the mini sausage rolls…
https://food-to-order.sainsburys.co.uk/category/platters-wraps