hot food ideas for my 50th birthday party

[Heidi4]

I'm catering for approx 100 with just a normal sized village hall cooker. I want to do most of the preparation beforehand and just heat up food. As the oven is not large I'm thinking of something I can warm in huge saucepans. Any ideas? I'm on a very tight budget too! A friend suggested pita bread with a filling.

Would a HUGE chili be too much work? Cooked in batches and heated up in the pans, wedges & garlic bread in the oven, bowls of tortilla chips

Could you get some slow cookers from friends ?

That way you could have chilli, stews, Pulled pork and some rice / rolls to make their own up?

Meat chilli and veg chilli?
Variety of bread to serve with it to soak up the alcohol.
Perhaps garlic bread in the oven.

I was going to say chilli too, plus a veggie one if you have any people that dont eat meat coming. You can make the chilli in advance and cook the rice on the night. Set out some bowls with chopped tomatoes, avocado, sour cream etc to plop on the side.

Alternatively, a chicken curry, thai green curry or spaghetti bolognese.

Beg borrow or steal (or even buy) some big slow cookers.

Big pots of mild/medium veggie chilli
serve with loads of salad, cheese, wraps, guacamole, sour cream, salsa refried beans. You could use pitta but I'd go for tortilla wraps.

Cheaper alternative (depending on time of year) is baked potatoes: bake in foil in advance then reheat at the venue.
Slow cooker of chilli
Slow cooker of baked beans
loads of grated cheese.
Butter
side salad garnishes.

What time of day will the party be? How many adults vs children?

Does it need to be hot food? I don’t mind a beige buffet to be honest

Chicken curry and a gluten free mild veg curry, both with rice, means you have something for people who are meat eaters, vegetarian, coeliac or dont like things too spicy.

If curry or chilli doesn’t appeal you could do a tagine with jewelled cous cous

I agree with begging all the slow cookers/rice cookers/ electric frypans you can get.

Leave the oven free for warming stuff like sausage rolls or pitas or something.

You will need to have some good sized pots for rice or something. Carbohydrates for 100 people are cheap and filling but do take space in the cooking. However, chillies, curries and rice can all be cooked in batches previously as your budget allows.

I would say "no" to pitta with filling - they woudl be delicious but someone is going to have to cut each one and fill them. Even if the guesys DIY, that's a long and faffy queue. Something with bread or rice on the side sounds ideal. Or pastry-based things. (If everyone is standing, something you can eat with a spoon!)

Yum to pulled pork on rolls ...

Hang on, it's YOUR special birthday, get someone else to do the cooking! Be queen for a day you know you deserve it!

You could do a big Ham and have that sliced cold

Then use the stock with some frozen peas to make a yummy soup to serve w rolls

I went to a party in Scotland once, where they did huge vats of stories - a meat one and a veggie one - with lots of nice bread and some salad.

Tbh though, cooking for a hundred people sounds like a nightmare!

If I HAD to, I'd probably just do a million hotdogs in rolls, with coleslaw and homemade baked beans, or a couple of vats of chilli as below, but just with French bread and salad and a load of tortilla chips. Tortilla wraps are horrible cold and rice for that many would be a nightmare.

It would probably not work out much more ££ to do a deal with a local pizza place and get a load of pizzas delivered, or to get a local curry place to cater for you.

Thanks for all your suggestions and advice. At the mo I'm thinking of meat and veggie chilli with bread/tortilla chips/salads. I'm definitely not brave/silly enough to tackle rice for 100 people! And sadly my budget doesn't stretch to caterers (I've looked into a hog roast, but would be £5/person).

Hot food for a hundred people, with only a small stove to cook on is going to be quite an achievement. Why does the food need to be hot? Would a cold buffet (with some guests contributing perhaps) and just one hot dish not work?

Just a quick thought if you've not already committed to an evening booking of the Hall, what about an afternoon tea? Everything can be done beforehand, sandwiches with economical fillings such as cucumber, scones are very cheap to produce, and you could ask close friends and family to help out with home made cakes.
Also it would give you more time to be with guests and enjoy the party!