Help with Party food please!

[BaconAndAvocado]

We’re having a Christmas gathering of around 40/50 people in mid-December.
It’s starting at 3 so I’d like to just offer some nibble bits but I’m on a bit of a budget.
A lot of the nicer party food at the supermarkets is in batches of 8 etc.so, for me, that would be unaffordable.

Any ideas for stuff I could make from scratch that will look and taste nice and won’t cost the earth?

I’ll probably buy a big bag of Asda frozen sausage rolls as the reviews were good.

Thought I’d make 2 Christmas cakes next weekend one of which could be cut into small slices/portions to hand out.

Bread, butter, cheese, pickle, a big pork pie cut into slices. Is it practical to offer soup? Crisps. Is it 3 till late? If you expect most people to leave in the early evening I wouldn't worry too much about providing a big spread. Different if you expect them to be there well till the end of the evening.

Get some cocktail sausages - often sold in packs of 30 - or chipolatas cut into bite size portions. Mix up honey, oil and whole grain mustard. Put the sausages on foil lined baking trays, pour over the mixture making sure sausages are coated, cook at 160 for 15 minutes. I allow 8 canapes per person of which this is 3!

Bake a handful of unsalted mixed nuts until toasted - takes very little time - chop them and mix with a tub of philadelphia + 1 garlic boursin. Wash and chop celery into boats and fill with mixture. For variety, chop cherry tomatoes into 2/3 base 1/3 top, scoop out seeds, mix with remains of philly/boursin mix and restuff tomatoes.

Find some recipes for hot dips (as in cooked not spicy) and serve them with bread. Buffalo chicken dip, spinach and artichoke, there's loads and you can make them in advance and pop them in the oven just before people arrive. Make them in big foil dishes then you can just throw them away! Serve with baguettes

Sandwiches. Spend some time cutting and displaying them nicely and they will look more expensive - use thick cut bread.
Sausage rolls as you've said.
I buy a big batch of chipolatas from my butcher and cut or twist them in to smaller chipolatas, add cocktail sticks and empty some chilli jam in to a little bowl on a platter with them - looks rather posh!
Add a cheeseboard, crackers are cheap - add a bunch of grapes.
Buy a gammon joint, easy to cook see coca cola slow cooker recipe. Finish off in the oven with a honey and mustard glaze.
Make a big batch of coleslaw (use cheep mayo) super easy and some pasta in a nice tomato sauce.
Cucumber and pepper batons and cherry toms.
Quiches are easy/cheap to make if you have the time.
All can be made the day before (though I'd make the sandwiches on the day if you can)

I despise shop-bought mince pies as they're way too sweet, so I bake my own. If you've got two trays you can make 24 at a time. Also you could do cheese straws with a couple of packs of ready-made puff pastry. And a cheeseboard with some nice crackers, and some bowls of nuts and crisps.

The supermarket ones are often on 3 for 2 or 4 for 3 in the run up to Christmas, also have found M&S heavily discounted on yellow sticker (most can be frozen)

Also M&S have bags of frozen canapés in packs of 10 or 12 eg mini samosa or spring rolls (both vegetarian)

Vegetable Crudités and dips always look appealing and colourful, add bread sticks and nuts/crisps

Cocktail sausages
sandwiches cut into quarters or bread/crackers with cheese board/ham. Cheese board can be basic rather than fancy, add fruit like dried apricots, apple or pear/any type of fruit you prefer/bowls of nuts.
Roast veg
Christmas cake and another type of cake.

Look for things on offer that you freeze or store.

For those numbers and doing party food, you’ll find yourself stuck in the kitchen.

If it was me, I think I’d do a big pasta bake or a big Mac and cheese and a load of garlic bread. Yes, it still needs cooked but you’re not timing stuff for 10/12/15 minutes in and out of the oven. May be even a chilli and rice but rice for those numbers is difficult.

I do 25/30 at Easter and again between Christmas and New Year. My go to is the family sized bolognaise bake from Marks and Spencer. It’s about £6.50 a tray. I buy several, decant into my own baking trays and it’s ready in about 30 minutes. I get a tonne of garlic bread as well. I do the bolognaise one and the chicken one.

Crisps, dips, nuts on tables and a magnum for after.

I have a similar party each year - at some point a few weeks before it I spend a day making about 100-150 sausage rolls (sausages meat, lemon zest, chilli and sage with shop bought puffed pastry) and about 100 mince pies (again, shop bought pastry and jazz up shop bought mincemeat with booze, orange zest and chopped fresh apple). You can freeze them and defrost the day before the party. Also, lots of cocktail sausages in honey and mustard and baked camambert with baguette. Make sure everything is ready and baking trays are lined so you're just putting stuff in and out the oven rather than stuck in the kitchen. You can fill a bath with ice for champagne, wine and beer rather than taking up your whole fridge.

Chicken wings, dead cheap you could do one buffalo wings and the other herby.

Mozarella sticks, honey and mustard sausages, mozarella ball, cherry tomato and basil on a stick, chicken satay sticks. All easy enough to make yourself for a fraction of the cost of supermarket party food. Guessing you want nibbles that can be eaten without cutlery… otherwise as pp said, a big batch of coleslaw and a cooked gammon with cheesy stuffed jacket potatoes and salad would be fairly doable

Thanks all 💐
Some great ideas here, I’m feeling a lot less daunted!

Yorkshire puddings are cheap, can be served room temp and go with anything sweet or savory (its basically just a bowl made out of pancake mix).

They go down GREAT at parties and yet rarely get used.

Mmm, mini toad in the hole canapés! Keep meaning to try this idea out.

For that number of people likely spread over a few hours, keep it as simple as possible else you'll spend the evening egg washing sausage rolls etc. Bill it as a drinks party, then any nibbles at all are a bonus.

Lots and lots of sticky sausages, put another tray in the oven when the previous tray has been eaten. Set a timer so you don't forget - sounds obvious but easily overlooked when you are hosting. Cocktail sausages get cheaper the more you buy and honestly I would eat them all night!! Honey and mustard or cranberry and soy, or various other marinades if you google.

If you have any vegetarian guests, you can chop some veggie sausages into bite sized pieces (keep separate obviously)

Cheese is expensive but you could make a retro cheese and pineapple hedgehog so you have pre-cubed the cheese rather than letting people help themselves to larger amounts.

Slice up some baguettes, will go with the cheese and the sausages, put out some pate too.

Bombay spice mix is cheap and goes along way - put in bowls with spoons for people to dish out into their hands. Crisps are always very welcome, lots of those.

Christmas cake can work out quite expensive to make and it always amazes me how many people don't like it, ditto mince pies. If you want to go down that route maybe a mince pie slice would be less faff than mince pies
Maybe have a wander around Lidl and Aldi, they have lots of seasonal goodies that are at least as good quality as M&S & Waitrose (especially the German offerings such as Lebkuchen and Stollen) and obviously a lot cheaper.

As a veggie a 'standard' party food is spring rolls. Every party has spring rolls. Asda sell boxes of 16 for like £1, 5-7 boxes will probably be plenty.

We do an open house the last Sunday afternoon before Christmas unless that’s Christmas Eve then the weekend before.

Roughly 30 adults, 10 children and 3 babies this year 😳.
My catering rarely varies but it’s tried and tested and seems to be mostly eaten.

1 large ham joint - honey glazed.
100 chipolatas with honey mustard glaze.
100 pigs in blankets.
100 Traditional sausage rolls.
50 Pork and black pudding sausage rolls.
Crispy chorizo slices.
Cumin roasted baby potatoes.
Loaded hummus- pickled red onion, pomegranate seeds and chipotle sauce/Christmas tree tortilla chips.
Mushroom filo parcels.
Cheeseboard but pre sliced, goats cheese and walnut stuffed dates, cracker selection, chilli jam, quince jelly and chutney.
Bread selection.

Christmas cake.
Chocolate Orange cupcakes.
Iced gingerbread.
Chocolate dipped dates.
Box of chocolates.

Bowls of crisps and dips.

Place marking so I can get some inspiration.🎄