To spend £120 on a buffet for 16 people

[rainbowmagicunicorn]

We are hosting a New Years Buffet for 16 people (13 adults, 3 children)

This is my food plan:

Part bake rolls £4
Crackers £5
Cheese - cheddar, Brie, blue, Boursin, Wensleydale and cranberry £10
Chutney& cranberry sauce & apple sauce £4
Grapes, pomegranate, oranges £5
Slow cooker Gammon joint £10
Sausage rolls £3
pigs in blankets £5
pork pies £4

Sharing crisps £3
Cheese twists £1
Dips £2.50

Coleslaw £2.50
Potato salad £2.50
Nigellas festive cous cous £2.50

Puff pastry tarts - pesto and thinly sliced tomato, pizza (tomato purée, mozzarella and Italian herbs), caramelised onion and goats cheese:
3 x rolls puff pastry £4
Pesto £1
Tomatoes £1
Tomato purée £1
Mozzarella £2
Italian herbs £2
Canalised onion chutney £2
Goats cheese £2

Pudding
Slow cooker hot chocolate £6
With toppings - mini marshmallows, squirts cream, sprinkles, candy canes £5

Mince pies £2.50
Yule log (homemade) £5
Profiteroles £3
Fruit salad £10

Drinks
Selection soft drinks £10
Tea and coffee (will have in)

Total £120

£120 seems a lot, but yet the food doesn't seem excessive to me!

AIBU to spend this much? Or is this just the cost of things nowadays?

I did a buffet for me and 7 family members (so 8 of us) on sunday and spent almost that. It soon adds up and I also bought some wine. Granted, it could have been cheaper if i'd gone to Aldi/Lidl rather then sainsbury's but I wanted fresh bread, etc.

I don't think less than £10 per head is a lot.

If you can afford it who cares?! You have four different types of pork though, and no other meat. I'd prob not bother with pork pies or pigs and have some sliced Turkey/chicken instead. Wouldn't bother with hot chocolate either. That could bring down to £100.

seems incredibly good value to me

This sounds really good value! Where are you planning on getting it all from as it seems a really good price? Agree with pp about maybe a different type of meat tho as there is quite a few pork options

I’d say that’s good value, I’d always work
off £10 a head so under that isn’t expensive given the cost of food.

We’re budgeting £100 for Boxing Day for 8 (to include some wine) although hoping we can do it cheaper!

Thanks everyone, sounds like I'm just tight!

This is priced up with Asda for those asking

Good point about different meats!

Have you got any vegetarians coming? 4 types of meat, but not a great deal of choice for veggies. I'd swap at least one of the meats for veggie samosas or something.

Hopefully you'll have leftovers that you can use to feed the family with afterwards therefore cutting down on your normal food shop costs

Sounds lovely to me! I'd add cucumber sticks/carrot/pepper battons for the dips too

Definitely. There doesn't appear to be any veg at all in that list. I definitely like some veg in a buffet.

I don’t really think you could do it for much less. Other than the couscous, I don’t think there’s anything there that screams ‘nobody will eat that’ to me.

TBH the price is ok, it's less than £10 per head, but I'd drastically cut down the choices - buffets with lots of different things can look really horrible in a short space of time. Do a lot of a few things rather than little of lots of different things.

If you're doing HM puff pastry tarts I wouldn't bother with the s/rolls and pork pie (too much pastry) and I'd cut one of the desserts, and instead of a fruit salad I'd do a fruit pavlova, so maybe pavlova, Yule log and mince pies.

I dont think you’ve got enough! For a decent buffet I would spend about £15 a head, so for your 16 would pay around £240/ 250

Given that OP hasn't indicated quantities you have no idea whether it's enough or not.

i think that looks very cheap. How are you getting that much cheese for £10? also a £10 gammon won't be very big, will you even get 16 slices out of it?

I think it all sounds lovely but i don't think you've budgeted enough.

Maybe you could lose the hot chocs? will adults want hot choc on new years eve? or are there lots of non-drinkers.

love the sound of the cous cous.

I have not looked at it line by line but I don't think your cheese and cracker budgets are big enough. How about reducing choices but increasing quantities?

Check the world food section of Asda they do large bags of lamb kebabs, veg & meat samosas and spring rolls. I'd drop the multiple pork items and include veg, chicken & lamb options.

I'd drop the crisps because kids will stuff themselves silly & won't eat anything else. I'd include a salad instead at least some tomatoes and carrot batons.

Up your cheese and cracker budget, drop the hot chocolate and ask people to bring dessert.

It sounds good but maybe too many similar small things. I'd be inclined to get a much bigger gammon as a centrepiece, make a second centrepiece vegan dish like a nut roast, then the rest being salads/side dishes - big dishes of the couscous and potato salad you mentioned, and some leafy dishes, maybe a pasta dish. Chutney and crusty bread, also a cheeseboard and fruit for pudding (and some of the inevitable left over Christmas chocolate).

OP, can I have your recipe for slow cooker choc (hot choc ? Choc pudding?) Please?
Apart from that, it seems you've got a lot for £120 !

How many mince pies will you get for £2.50? Get rid of the hot chocolate and use that saving to increase your gammon joint budget. Get rid of the pork items & crisps and use the money on a whole roast chicken or a salmon side.

I think there’s too many small options and not enough budget for others

i mean the couscous and coleslaws potato salad don’t really go with cheese board.

£10 for all that cheese for 16 is impossible. Even one big piece of cheddar for 16 will be £10.

i would suggest just larger cheese board, chutneys, sausage rolls or the puff pastry things. Grapes.

mince pies

another large desert

I'd drop the hot chocolate, make a soup in the slow cooker instead, something like potato and leek, double the amount of grapes and rolls, drop the pomegranate and oranges. I would make a lot of hummus myself which is cheap enough, and get cheaper cucumbers and a large bag of carrots to make batons. Would also drop all the chutney and stuff, quite a bit of the budget is spent on that. I would also be unsure if the 10 pound gammon is really enough, perhaps up that to 15 pounds.

Just buy a chicken from aldi for £5. It'll feed all your guests, and you'll have enough left over to make soup for the week.

If you can get to the shops late afternoon Christmas eve then buy a reduced large joint to freeze. You could also get a large cheese board reduced as well, cheese usually freezes well.