Hot buffet ideas

[Pollydollydoodle]

I'm catering for a surprise anniversary party for my in laws for about 30 people. I'm happy to prepare cold food in advance (cheese boards, sandwiches etc) but feel I need to do a couple of hot dishes too. Thinking I could prepare a chilli in advance that would just need heated. What else could I do that won't result in me being stuck in the kitchen all evening. Was thinking maybe something in the slow cooker but not sure what?? Hit me with your inspiration please x

Curry?

Spag bol, chilli, curry, lasagna , moussaka, cottage pie

@Boopeedoop curry a good idea and I could do that in the slow cooker too!

What sort of venue is it? Do you want things that need cutlery, which also means everyone being able to sit / perch to eat? If you haven’t this space and expect people to eat standing up then you need to stick to finger food.

If its stand up finger food you need, you can still do hot, sausage rolls, pigs in blankets, hot rolls, small pies.

@Chewbecca it's in my house! I've got quite a bit of living space but certainly not space for everyone to sit down to eat. Do you think hot food standing won't work??

Hot is ok but not things you need cutlery to eat. You just can’t really eat a JP or a curry whilst standing up. Especially if they are older people.

I would stick to finger food, hot and cold.

Macaroni cheese is always the thing that got eaten quickest at my parties. You can make a couple of big dishes in advance and just stick it in the oven for the party, and it's easy to eat with just a fork while standing up.

Had a big party at home recently with another 40 guests, enough space for standing a chatting and also being seated and chatting but not table space for 40, I don’t live in Buckingham palace 😂
We did a strictly finger food only buffet. I don’t have 40 sets of cutlery - it worked really well. Meant we could do some homemade hot food like quiche (not my idea of fun food but there were a lot of vegetarians!) and I made both veggie and meat sausage rolls that went in the oven before everyone arrived, dh marinaded chicken drumsticks, lots of bits were served hot but only needed a paper plate, napkin and fingers.

You could manage a fork buffet standing up I think. Or hot bite-sized pieces like vol au vents, small pizza slices, quiche, sausage rolls etc

Pigs in blankets, cheese straws, sausage rolls can be hot as can a mini pasty.

https://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/collections/beef-stew-recipes/page/2/

any of the beef recipes, and find a chicken fork recipe that can be eaten with rice and a fork stood up.

Most people will not eat a full portion when stood - so if you're catering for 30 people, make hot food enough for 24 will be fine.

Id ditch the sandwiches and have some nice nibbles as a starter, then a couple of hot sites with rice and a couple of cold puddings - pavlova, ice cream and a tray bake sticky toffee pudding

I prepared a beef chilli (not too spiced)and vegetarian chilli in advance. Cooked rice in the oven in a big roasting tray, and had bowls with coriander, limes,, extra spices/fresh chillies etc, guacamole, cheese for everyone to help themselves. Bamboo plates and forks. It was really easy on the night

You can't do a curry or chilli in a domestic slow cooker for 30 , even a 6.5litre show cocker would only feed about 12-15. Hot robots always go really well. You need a massive stock pot, I'm going to say 10 -12 litre minimum. I would do chili to go with nachos and grated cheese and make the bowls small. One ladle per person

You could do soup and serve it in mugs for people to stand around and drink.

I had 15 people over for a gathering on Sunday and I can tell you now, the following were scoffed in double quick time! Finger food only...

Mini sausage rolls. I bought them in, and made about 50 of the things for the first round, all gone in a flash.

Cocktail sausages, exactly the same, but they are addictive!

Pizza - the oblong ones, sliced into squares and cocktail sticked, stuck? Gone.

Quiche, the same, cut into bite size pieces, cocktail stick, gone.

I did make sandwiches, very posh ha ha, triple deckers, crusts off, cut into squares, cocktail sticks, all scoffed. Ham cheese layers, then egg mayo and salad layers, and salmon and cream cheese. They went down very well.

Cheese straws,
Crisps,
Nuts
Etc. and dips.

I didn't put it all out at once. Did one round of everything, then half an hour or so later put the same out again.

Did a couple of big Tiramisu desserts minus the alcohol - kids around.

That might help, as cooking something hot to be plated up was beyond me!

Did lasagne once, one meat one and one vegan one, which covered all bases. And the vegan one was more popular!!