Easy food for a crowd

[TR888]

20 people: 9 kids aged 8-15, 11 adults. Most quite unadventurous food-wise, which means no spicy food and nothing too foreign-y. What can I cook that's easy and relatively quick?

Thanks!

Pasta bake, garlic bread, salad

Slow cooked chilli with braising steak. Doesn't have to be spicy. But it lovely & rich.

Lasagne, cottage pie, jacket potatoes and fillings?

Sofa Bol and garlic bread surely! 😀

Spaghetti Bol. Sofa Bol is much harder to make

Jacket spuds, side salad and a selection of fillings to cover all bases.
Chilli,
Beans,
Cheese,
Egg Mayo
Chicken etc.

Is it a sit down style dinner, or just some snacks? A BBQ luncheon or evening meal? In summer or Autumn?

• Chicken drumsticks in a boring, plain flavour? Teriyaki, satay, soy/honey/sesame- as long as that isn't too foreign

• Or get a few whole chickens, spatchcok out for quicker cooking and marinade overnight. Once cooked, cut each into 8 pieces and serve on a platter. A very cheap option!

• Selection of salads

• Savoury rice

• baked potates with a choice of toppings

I made quiche and spag bol for a lunch of 12 with kids. Kids actually loved the quiche good job I made 2!

Could you just do buffet? Help yourself kind of thing? My first thought was lasagna

This pulled pork recipe. I add garlic and some spices to the sauce

Homemade pizzas? Burgers?

We did burgers on the BBQ recently. Served as a build your own with a small selection of basic sides, sauces and toppings. Ice cream, in icecream cones, for after with a couple of sauces/sprinkles/flakes. Again, self service.

It was much cheaper and less effort than any entertaining I’ve ever done and was very well received.

From the mouth of a very young child, on saying goodbye when prompted by his mum to say thank you for having me: normally I don’t like coming here because it’s boring but today was fun so thanks for having me

I’d go lasagne and garlic bread with salad
Or posh butchers sausages, garlic roasted potatoes and veg
Although these don’t feel particularly summary.
Maybe roast a few chickens with lots of herbs, lemon, garlic and serve with buttered jersey royals, salads, coleslaw etc.

Hello, thank you for all the answers! I will try a few of these, they sound really easy. This is not a one off meal, by the way. I am on a holiday with my family and will be together for three weeks, I just wanted a few ideas as it will be my turn to cook soon and I haven’t got that many ideas...

That slow cooker recipe looks amazing.

Pulled pork served in burger buns with coleslaw, chips or potato wedges and salad.

The pulled pork recipe looks beautiful and so easy.

Shepards pie
Roast chicken and chips / salad
Gammon veg and baby potatoes