Large family dinners

[IsThisOneFree]

Family of six, half of which are teen boys. What are your go-to buckets of slop that can be ladled out, let them come back for seconds and are protein-dense?
I’m growing weary of chilli, spag Bol, burritos, fish pie and chicken curry rotation.

Inspiration welcome, please!

I do this in my small slow cooker but you could easily round it ups.

Skinless boneless chicken (I like thighs)
Sliced mushrooms
Optional leek and or sweetcorn
Add a can of condensed mushroom soup
Add a load of black pepper

Cook for 4-6 hours, you may need longer for a bigger pot. Serve with rice or new potatoes and maybe a green veg on the side.

If there is any left over, put in a foil container add a puff pastry top and and freeze for another night.

You can make a range of meatballs / kofte kebab. Google for spice mix options.

Pork bake

Thin pork slices
Apple sauce
1 packet of stuffing
Potatoes sliced as finely as you can.
salt and pepper.

Make the stuffing in a dish
Get a large Pyrex dish / tray
lightly oil the dish / tray
Place the slices of potato all over the bottom of the dish / tray
Add the pork slices
Open the apple sauce and spread liberally over the pork
Top the pork and apple with the stuffing

Bake for 20-30 mins

Tagine and Thai curries. Both can have tofu to bulk out the meat. Custard or grain based desserts like semolina can be low sugar and high protein

Bone in chicken legs are good and very cheap.

Easy to make into fake Nandos with seasoning (no need to buy branded mixes or marinades just Google for a recipe). Then just add their favourite sides (chips, rice, peas, corn etc).

I think , hearty one pot meals / tray bakes are a good idea for large families.

I do a chicken tikka one, everything in one pot (rice as well). Served with naan bread.

Honey & mustard chicken tray bake. Add veg / potatoes as well all in one.

Meatball pasta bake with garlic bread. I do my own garlic bread with fresh baguette from lidl and garlic butter.

Stuffed peppers - using anything! I like chilli with loads of cheese on tip. Bake in oven and serve with wedges.

Homemade burgers - I just shape mince into burger shapes and season but you can add egg, breadcrumbs, spices, etc. Serve in buns with cheese, salad, homemade potato wedges (air fryer is great for these), and coleslaw. I’ll often ‘cut’ the mince with a cup of cooked red lentils. I think it improves the texture, makes it go further, and makes it healthier. Traybakes - chicken legs, onions, carrots, peppers, and lots of potatoes - chuck in the oven for 45 minutes with whatever seasoning you have in. If you put a sliced baguette or rolls on the table with butter I guarantee they will be wolfed down. Stir fry noodles with beef strips, veggies, and a sauce is quick and easy.

Irish Stew with tiger loaf
Chicken and broccoli pasta bake

I make spag bog one day and then next day turn same sauce into something that can be used with tacos. Serve with toppings that can choose themselves and rice.

Pork shoulder is very cheap as is pork mince

Pork shoulder - pulled pork or char sui pork (with egg fried rice) - lots of protein for your money

Minced pork - vietnamese caramelised pork, Korean pork dishes - either with gochujang or black bean paste (jjangmyeon) - all quick and easy

Absolute favs here are anything that feels young (think tiktok !) and good they can semi assemble themselves :

greek flat breads stuffed with chicken and tsatsiki and peppers . They also like to put chips in them ! (There’s a name it’s escaped me but it’s staple Zante youth food )

homemade burgers with a self selected of toppings and sweet potato fries

Thai green curry and rice

meatballs in tomato sauce with rice

baked potatoes with sausage casserole

giant Yorkshires with chicken and veg and gravy

I also do puddings - custard and sponge
fruit and icecream , tiramisu etc

I like big batch cooked meals so they can eat next day too for lunch.
It’s expensive feeding teen boys

Chicken fajitas
Sweet chilli chicken (soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, honey, sweet chilli sauce, veg & chiken) with rice
Mince & totties
Stovies
Sausage casserole
Chicken chasseur
Spaghetti meatballs

Family of 7 here, we love a good cauliflower cheese, cheap to make (especially if you make the cheese sauce yourself) we like adding bacon but chop it up into tiny sprinkles so 2yo can have a sprinkle, other favourites are hunters chicken but i cook up a whole chicken, chop it up and put the sauce, cheese and bacon on top rather than individual wrapped chicken, chicken casserole, cottage pie, sausage in onion gravy with mash, spag bol, lasagna all easy quick meals.

Yorkshire puddings with stews, sausages etc.
Macaroni cheese with bacon on top.
Roast chickens and cauliflower cheese.
Spaghetti with canned crab and cream stirred through. Lots of black pepper and lemon rind too.
Baked gnocchi with tomato sauce and chorizo.
Make your own burgers, rolls, toppings on the table to help yourself and jacket potatoes.

Cook a large shoulder of pork, cheap. Turn it into stir fries, fajita fillings, serve with mash and veg, cream and cider sauce with mushrooms.

Family of 5 with three teen boys:
. Chicken pie (ocado recipe)
. Cod tray bake with red pepper (ocado recipe)
. roast pork (cheap, bang in the oven in the morning , enjoy in the evening)
. quiche lorraine with green beans
. carbonara (jamie oliver recipe)
. lasagna
. Blanquette de poulet ( chicken casserole - really nice, google it)
. chicekn fajitas
. stir fry with whatever vegs and leftover meat i have
. beef stroganoff (gusto recipe card that i have kept) serbe with rice and veg
. sunday evening is soup and cold meat
. fri eve is take away

i also suscribe to the paper copy of BBC good food magazine and every month i try 2-3 new recipes which is very welcome
Now they are a bit mkre self conscious they do think that my cooking is too fatty… but not sure how to make it healthier and comforting/filling at the same time

at the weekend when i have more time then i’ll try to do:
. Chicken tagine
. paella
. Home made fish and chips
. osso bucco (£££)
. Home made burger
. shoulder of lamb

Hungarian goulash. Waitrose has a great simple recipe. Wild Boar Salami Pasta Bake by Jamie Oliver (you don’t need to use wild boar anything, just Milano salami) always went down well with my teenage stepsons. Also Jamie’s hit ‘n run chicken. Quadruple the paprika and double the balsamic vinegar and serve with rice. You can even get the Mediterranean vegetables pre cut (I always double the veg part of any recipe to fill out the dish). Good old lasagna made with Lloyd Grossman tomato and chili and tomato and basil pasta sauce. Use salami rather than mince, and layer the sheets/sauce/meat (meat in one layer only) with strong cheddar, Parmesan, and finally mozzarella on top. Serve with salad.

Sweet potato and chickpea curry. A winner despite not being vegetarian.
sausage casserole
stew and dumplings
casseroles
home made pizzas with lots of different toppings.
home made quiche
Stuffed jacket potatoes
paella
stir fry
Moussaka- swap aubergine for all sliced potato.

Lloyd Grossman- ultra processed. Rather make my own sauce

Good for you - i really hate it when someone comes along and say “id rather make my own”. Totally unecessary comment!
this is a thread for large busy family. If someone takes a short cut from time to time, thats absolutely fine! It doesnt hurt anyone!

Different kinds of chicken curry? Butter chicken, vadagam, tikka masala, korma, (Uncle Ben’s or similar) yellow curry…just off the top of my head (there are soo many curries out there).

Thai red or green curries

veggie chilli or turkey chilli, not just beef

Meatballs in tomato sauce

Also think about things to throw in the oven - search for “sheet pan recipes” but can involve lots of veg and meat, and often any leftovers can be used lots of ways too.

(My curries are a real mix of “start by frying onion, garlic and ginger, add XYZ spices”…to “open Uncle Ben’s/Patak’s/ABC brand jar and throw into meat”). - but there is a good lot of choice for either/both.

A mega minestrone soup, with loads of pasta, butter or kidney beans, and garlic bread on the side. Onions, carrots, celery, garlic, any other veg, tinned tomatoes and beans, dried Italian style herbs. Very tasty!

Otherwise I’ll second cottage pie - in this house it’s semi veggie, with red lentils and plenty of veg including mushrooms, all chopped small, a beef and a chicken stock cube. Nobody will notice the difference. Loads of mash on top.
A Gdd (6) recently had 6 helpings of mine!

Loyd Grossman Chilli pasta sauce ingredients:

Tomatoes (59%), Tomato Purée, Garlic Purée, Parsley, Sugar, Sunflower Oil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Red Chilli, Sea Salt, Concentrated Lemon Juice, Dried Red Chilli

Processed but not UPF.

LG sauces aren’t UPF. At least the one I buy (tom & garlic) isn’t.

Chicken and mushroom stroganoff with rice or mash

Another idea - mix up fajitas and tacos (mix up protein between chicken, fish, turkey, beef), and add sides (sour cream, salsa, grated cheese, lettuce, slices tomato, refried beans, sweetcorn chipotle, guacamole, etc) and flour/corn tortillas - pick 1-2 sauce type and 2-3 salad type per meal. Could also change up similar with Moroccan lamb meatballs, Greek chicken or lamb gyros, etc using flatbreads and slightly more Mediterranean/Middle Eastern flavours.

Lay out your bits on the table, pile of tacos/wraps/flatbreads as appropriate and let everyone build their own.

Some days, they could even be bowls instead of wraps..and you could do Japanese poke bowl style as an addition to that concept.

Edited to add - I mean mix up the flavours on different nights, I only mean to do 1 meat per meal. But certain elements last a good while or can be used across multiple cuisines. And often smaller amounts of the main part can be frozen to top jacket potatoes or just feed 1/2 people etc later.