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?

God, not this again! If the OP had vegetarians attending then she would have catered for them! Jeeeeees, I don't understand why every party has to cater for vegetarians when there aren't even any attending!

Sack off the fruit salad, profiteroles and the hot chocolate.

Same for the pigs in blankets and sausage rolls, cous cous and potato salad. No need for the tarts or the pork pies.

Double your ham, add 20 jacket potatoes

Change the cheese to 2 x brie, 2 x Wensleydale and 1 big cheddar.

But the OP has not said there are no vegetarians coming! And in my experience, people tend to fail to cater to veggies on the basis that "they can just eat the crisps and dips" or whatever.

Also... do meat eaters not like veggie samosas?

As other posters have said, the buffet sounds a bit pork heavy. I would do gammon, but perhaps cooked in marmalade or full fat coke, a la Nigella. carrots, celery etc for houmous, suitabel for vegans. Leave the sausage rolls in, but dispense with the pigs/pork pies.

You need to have more choice for vegetarians and vegans. In my experience, they are usually popular with meat eaters, too.

Make your own potato salad with vegan mayo, and perhaps a pasta salad with red onions, peppers, sundried tomatoes and balsamic dressing, and some mozzerella/other Italian cheese on the side for non vegans.

Don’t the three types of puff pastry tarts cater to the vegetarians? Though I do agree, and I also as a meat-eater love veggie samosas and consider them an excellent addition to a buffet.

Make your own potato salad with vegan mayo, and perhaps a pasta salad

Does anyone actually want these things to eat in the middle of Winter?

Do the words Hot Food mean nothing to you???

They're just not very substantial compared to the four meat options. And no actual veg (I don't really count a slice or two of tomato)

Should probably add a few

Must admit, I would always prefer a big bowl of homemade chilli with pittas, tortillas, cheese etc compared to lots of tiny bites which (going by the budgets allocated) will have to be bought at the cheapest/poorest quality in order to be sufficient for 16.

Great you're taking all the comments on board and hopefully you'll have a wonderful time with your guests.

Wow some people come onto a discussion about buffets and say "well I'd prefer a chilli/sit down meal/whatever" are missing the point. It's a party buffet - says so in the OP. I love a good good chilli but also for a party love a mini sausage/crisps/party food!

I made this chilli recently. It was a bit different, delicious and everyone commented on how tasty it was.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chilli-marrakech

Tbf it’s AIBU, I’m amazed no one’s shouted “Is this all you have to worry about when there’s a war in Ukraine? What about Qatar!” and lamped another poster with a cooked-from-frozen sausage roll for daring to up the cheese budget during a recession. A bit of polite chilli chat is fairly tame.

🤗🤭😃😀😁

Sure, but it’s a party for 13 adults (and 3 children). Maybe I’m just old and jaded - I can’t get excited about specific ‘party’ food. And by NY I’d want something calmer, anyway!

Certainly doesn’t have to be a sit down meal!

Sounds great to me, have a lovely time.

@stuntbubbles brilliant 😆

I think your pricing is optimistic. It sounds very cheap for 16 people. I think you should be budgeting closer to £10 a head.

Price wise it sounds about right but I'd cut down the choices and stick with cheeses, ham, sliced turkey, pickles, bread, chopped veg/salad, coleslaw and maybe some sausage rolls or pork pies.

I think people are trying to help. What the op,posted let’s face it isn’t going to cut it, if she’d said nibbly bits for a nye party, sure it would be fine, but she said she’s hosting a buffet, which indicates folks think it’s basically a meal. You can’t be saying hey it’s either one sausage roll or one mini pork pie, you can’t have both as I’ve not enough food, .and I’m sorry but not everyone can have a mince pie or profiterole as I’ve not enough of them either, and sorry there are hardly any crisps, and could only 4 of you have cheese as I’ve not got enough of that either.

so folks are suggesting things she can do to provide what is basically a meal but on budget, as budget is clearly an issue here. If she provided something like burgers or a chilli she could also maybe afford some beer or a couple of bottles of wine so she can at least offer people a drink on arrival, unless they are all tee totallers and wouldn’t even have a glass of something on nye.

personally I’d be mortified to invite people to my home for nye not have enough food and not even be able to offer them sometjing other than a soft drink or a cup of tea. So I’d welcome suggestions on how I could do it on budget. And it’s wholly possible on budget.

I’m hosting a nye party and I’m making a Nando’s style buffet - hot spicy chicken breast, milder garlic chicken breast , with salsa, spicy rice, cheese, sour cream dip and loads of wraps and tortilla chips. Previously occasions where I have made a buffet I spend all day in the kitchen, then all evening trying to warm things up.

If you can afford it do it.

Exactly!

OP, what is the time, occasion, etc? Is this a mingling cocktail buffet with nibbles, or are you hoping that people get a full meal's worth of food?

Are you planning for everything to be ready at the same time, or put out the basics and then periodically heat and serve things like pigs in blankets, etc.

I think your general idea is on track with a few refinements.

lol, you could at least read the op 😂