What to serve at 50th House Party

[crispy2019]

Having a 50th party at the house and I need ideas about what to serve people to eat.

The ideal food would be something that could be batch cooked and left out for folks to help themselves to, with a veggie option.

There will be 30/40 ish people...it's going to be intimate a squash

I don't want to spend all evening playing caterer.

There will be no formal sitting down and it's likely to get quite loud! Any ideas wise mum netters?

Slow cookers - chilli, pulled pork, curry - disposable dishes/plates and they can help themselves

Chilli in a slow cooker. Rice in a rice cooker. Keeps hot for hours.

Where I live there are a lot of shops where you can get delicious and inexpensive samosas, pakoras, bhajis etc - along with raita, chutney etc.

Job done.

For my dad’s 50th we did a joint of pork and a joint of beef, served with bread rolls, coleslaw, potato salad and roasted onions, a side of salmon and salad. All out on the table for people to help themselves. It works great and often features at our family events as a simple solution to a buffet. Decent paper plates and cutlery and you are away to go.

plus any left overs can be saved for sandwiches etc throughout the week

Get some salad - easy stuff like cherry toms, celery sticks, carrot sticks etc. Then definitely order in pizza - meat and veggie options.

Huge cheese board
baguettes
humus
dips
charcuterie board
peppers different colours, pre-roasted , cold with basil and olive oil herbs
Olives
Paper plates
no cooking , keep it simple, more fun for you .

For my husband’s 40th I did jacket potatoes with chilli, pulled pork (both done in slower cookers, I borrowed one from a friend), cheese, beans, tuna etc. It kept everyone happy and was relatively easy to do.

Huge slow cooked pork shoulder that can be shredded off the bone and put in baps with apple sauce and stuffing. Plus a load of salads

I did a grazing table recently, it looked amazing, put everything on a clean table on grease proof table, dips, cheeses with cocktail sticks sticking out but not in a 70s way , 2 big wheels of Brie, pork pies, with salad, tomatoes dotted about and a string of lights running through it. Picky bits, no food presented on plates but bread in baskets. It all looked rustic and cost me £70 from Aldi, no packaging on show so it looked really good

joints of meat cooked and then lots of buffet stuff to go with it. Theres lots of party foods around now buy & freeze until you need it

Go to Costco and get some trays of things to warm up

I'd go for two curries if doing something hot (a punchy jalfrezi and a milder korma plus a veggie jalfrezi)
rice
poppadoms
naan bread
sag aloo
mango chutney

i loathe chilli so I definitely wouldn't serve it !

fir DSs 40th in a village hall (but I still catered it) I did fishfinger sandwiches and wedges. I just cooked loads if fishfingers and put out all the stuff to make the sandwiches, worked really well.

All of you suggesting rice, how do you keep it warm safely-please

Rice causes an issue when it is incompletely reheated after being cooled. It will not be a problem being boiled and kept warm the first time it is served. I presume that the OP will be hiring catering equipment such as crockery, cutlery and glassware for her event so I would be hiring a couple of chafing dishes as well.
this is a chafing dish
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Snowtaros-Stainless-Rectangular-Catering-Banquets/dp/B0BYCVJ755/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?c=ts&keywords=Chafing+Dishes+%26+Food+Warmers&qid=1703834744&s=kitchen&sr=1-2-spons&ts_id=10708591&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.75166066-20e3-4754-b877-e8b97a40eca8&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

Will people be expecting dinner? I’d just do a cheeseboard, chips, maybe a few canapés. A sushi platter a good option too. Don’t spend the evening worrying about food or clearing up!

A buffet type meze table is definitely the way to go. Big bowl of punch / non alcoholic one too, cheeseboard, crackers, quiches, chopped up veggies and dips, sausage rolls incl vegan ones( recommend ALDIs), hummus, etc etc not one big hot dish which means everyone has to eat at the same time.

I won't add to the food suggestions but having participated in a few parties like this, what you really need if you want to enjoy it yourself, is a couple of people roving about to clear up the rubbish and top up the drinks!

My BIL's 50th recently (about the same number of people but in a pub function room) was massively understaffed because there was one poor employee trying to run the restaurant, the bar and look after us. A very competent one, but still.

I spent a lot of the party clearing away/replenishing plates because you have to - otherwise as someone said, every surface is covered and you've got nowhere to put the cake.

Also put someone reliable in charge of taking photos. It hadn't occurred to anyone at BIL's bash that it's usually him!

Thank you Stiffy

Slow cook pork shoulder (s) and serve with rolls, BBQ sauce, salad, coleslaw etc, veggie sausages perhaps as alternative. Sweet potato fries and truffle mayo (Lidl has) is a great extra. Have gluten free rolls kept separately if required

The last few times I’ve entertained I’ve made a charcuterie board but saved myself a load of hassle by pre-ordering all the food from Morrisons. They have party food available to order in advance and collect from customer services. Things like cold meat, cheeses, wraps, sandwiches, chicken skewers. Sausage rolls, etc. I then buy extras including bread sticks, carrot sticks, crisps, nice bread, crackers and fruit and lay it all out as a grazing table. You can google grazing table or charcuterie table for inspiration on how to lay it all. It takes some setting up but no hassle on the night at all

I host at my house fairly often and tend to just go for a beige buffet and it goes down fine! You can order pre-prepped sandwiches, wraps, sausage rolls etc from most major supermarkets so I do an order which I pick up morning of and keep in the fridge until needed. I also pre-prepare some salad bits, fruit, crisps, dips, olives, nuts and other easy grab things. The last thing I do is wack a few pizzas in the oven so they’re fresh when people arrive.

Everything is laid out on the table with some dessert options such as cheesecake, cupcakes, cheese board etc. I do a separate drinks station and put up signs for people to help themselves.

Leave out plenty of paper plates, napkins and bin bags in strategic locations and you can mostly mingle and have a nice time without worrying about having too much to do.

My view on home catering is it works best when it’s informal, easy grab and eat stuff. Lots of suggestions here for chilli but that’s a pain to eat if you’re standing up. Ideally I want things that can be eaten with minimal fuss and cutlery!

Charcuterie is lovely but can be pricey and you really need a lot and tons of variety for it to look good. For bigger parties we’ve ordered in 2 homemade chicken pies which feed 20 each and made a huge spanakopita and a few salads. Lasagna is an option too, and garlic bread. It’s less mess and fuss if you stick to a few big dishes.

When I do house parties I like to do a standard buffet, wedges etc, then as it gets later (about 8/9) the hot food.
Depends on what equipment you have but I've got two slow cookers, so they go out with chilli or chicken/goat curry in one and butternut dahl in the other, also put out the rice cooker and warm pittas sliced into strips, people can help themselves or I normally start dishing it out and just handing it out.
Curries/chilli can be cooked a month in advance and frozen.

Pork pork, rolls , potato wedges, salad … veggie quiche for non meat eaters

This is really helpful thank you