Ideas for cheap family gathering meal.

[frick]

Hi there.
Am feeding 8 adults and 2 children next weekend (just one main meal on sat evening). Very informal, but would like to cook something nice as it’s a kind of thank you for how supportive they have been to DD recently.
So far am stumped for ideas... am v broke at the mo so needs to be cheap as possible. Have come up with different curries, rice and accompaniments.. but I always seem to do something along those lines when I cook for them! Other than a massive lasagne with bread, olives, salad etc... which seems a bit meh, am drawing blanks.... any ideas would be v welcome!
Oh.... and we’re veggie!
Thanks!

How about a massive veggie chilli with nachos and dips?

Homemade pizzas with lots of different options for toppings. Not too expensive - homemade dough is cheap to make and the grated mozzarella in bags is fine for pizza. Tomato sauce is just passata, simmered with some garlic and herbs till it thickens.

You need to get a bit of a production line going but it's a lot of fun and everyone gets to help make their favourite pizzas. Have the dough, sauce and toppings all ready before they arrive.

Fajitas - you could bulk up with onions and peppers (try aldi)

Doritoes and dips / spicy rice and wedges

It wouldn't be expensive at all

I was going to say chilli - mixed bean chilli?
Side of rice
Side of homemade coleslaw (mayo, carrots, white cabbage, onion)
Tortilla crisps
And/or homemade garlic bread.

Cous cous with a veggie tagine and home made flatbreads.

Greek spinach and feta phyllo pie with salad?

Macaroni and cheese is very cheap to make bulked out with salad or peas and garlic bread.

Your ideas and all these sound tasty!

I made a slow cooked veggie chili for 6. So easy and lovely with salad and garlic bread. Lot of tomatoes, kidney beans, red pepper, carrots, sweetcorn... no veggie mince for us, just veggies and plenty of cumin, garlic, chili powder, paprika, fresh coriander. Grated cheddar on top. We're not veggie but have veggie friends.

Oh.... thanks so much! For some reason I totally forgot about chilli, and it’s something I really love. Liking the idea of homemade coleslaw too. And might just make a big cake for pud?

chicken thigh stew with dumpling and pearl barley.really hearty and thighs are much nicer and cheaper
stew and dumplings,stweeing steak is quite lot cheaper for larger packages.
aldi and most supermarkets now do chicken cook in bag quite cheaply now.you could get one plain and one garlic and do a roast type meal.or with some nice jackets,french stick and salad or veggies.
a nice mac and cheese with pieces of salmon on the bottom of dish is something we have enjoyed recently
a nice take on lasagne is using fusilli pasta or penne instead of lasagne sheet and just mixing mince and cheese sauce through into a lovely bake.

OP did say they are veggies

Jamie Oliver's veggie chilli is delicious and has roasted sweet potato added which makes it a bit more robust.

Highly recommend with rice, tortilla chips, guacamole, salsa and sour cream.

Mmm!

I made this the other day! Was soooo nice just added some chorizo in at the end too! Going to do it all again when family are up at the weekend! Xxx