Buffet ideas

[mummytothree87]

So it's my daughters 16th soon and I'm looking for ideas for a buffet that is suitable for everyone including vegetarians and diabetics. I have already planned sausage rolls and sandwiches, quiche and cocktails sausages as well as different crisps,a vegetable platter, dips, and a selection of muffins and donuts I'm.just not sure if it's enough. I'm.aiming to feed about 50 ppl so if you guys can give me any ideas of what to add it would be much appreciated.

Your existing selection sounds good. There's already plenty of variety of you are worried it's not enough order food for 60 despite expecring 50 and you will be fine.

Important tip from many other mn buffet threads - make sure that at least 66%-75% of the food is veggue/vegan because in a buffet the meateaters will load their plates with a bit of everything and if you only have veggie food in proportion to the number of vegetarians some of them will definitely go hungry. So have 3 flavof sausage roll 1 meat 1 veggie 1 vegan, sandwiches ond third meat, one third veggie including eggs and cheese, one third vegan. Meateaters don't want or need meat in every bite and are often trying to reach their vegetable 5-a-day.

You could add a cheeseboard with crackers and grapes?

Carbs!

Big pasta salad? tear n share garlic breads?

Not sure the format of the party but if food will be sitting around i’d sack off sandwiches which go dry really quickly if sat out. Wraps are better as they don’t dry out as quick.

mini burgers and hot dogs could be quite cool for that age.

For dessert could you borrow a chocolate fountain from someone and do marshmallows and fruit on skewers for dipping? That could be fun.

Cheese and pineapple on sticks always goes down well.

I like to have something hot on a buffet, I have an electric food warmer and a slow cooker so something like a chilli that can sit and not go off. You can serve rice or baked potatoes to go with it, and with what you have said I would probably make it a vegi chili.

You can buy in some frozen pizza and then if it looks like people need more food you can just shove them in the oven.

Filo parcels always look good and you can do vegi or vegan although my favorite filling is brie and mango chutney.

Do you have any Indian sweet centres near by? If so a bag of samosas works well.

We're having the party in a church hall so needing stuff that will be quick and easy to prepare at the venue. We have 2 different types of rice aswell. Will have a look in the local Indian and Chinese supermarket for samosas and spring rolls etc and they do great selections of crisps also. Thankyou for making me think about them 😂

I think a selection of Indian snacks would be great, something a bit different from the usual buffet food, and offers a good choice of vegetarian items. Samosas, pakoras and bhajis would all work well, maybe some chutney and yoghurt dips too?

I agree with the cheese board suggestion. I often do falafel as a veggie option. How does the rice fit in? Rice salads? If so it sounds like you are doing a fork buffet rather than just finger food. In which case I'd add a coleslaw. A bit retro but coronation chicken is always popular here!

The rice is African jollof and African fried rice along with chicken and plantain. My daughter is half African and insisted these were added but not everyone enjoys spicy food hence the finger buffet 😂 but definitely going to add coleslaw and potato salad too. Everyone will be going home with tubs of party food at this rate 😂

Every party I do I do a fruit kebab and they go down really well - strawberries, grapes and marshmallow on a cocktail stick , they look so appealing as they are so bright 😀

My youngest son went to a party in a hall recently and the party mum had a slow cooker filled with hot dogs and sliced some rolls, thought it was such a good idea. Cheap, hot and tasty for kids!

Most diabetics have to avoid carbs and rice, so some of your options could be problematic. From your current suggestions, I'd only be able to eat the cocktail sausages and vegetable platter as a diabetic as everything else is far too carb laden or sugar laden.

A cheeseboard is a fantastic idea, also a charcuterie board. Antipasti like olives/artichokes/sundried tomatoes etc are all also good. A mix of nice salads would also be good - ranging from simple greek salads to calorie laden coleslaws or potato salads to bowls of cherry tomatoes or radishes. A fruit platter would also be good, or fruit kebabs. Nuts are also good. None of these things need much cooking or prep.

Thankyou guys, I'm going to write a list of most of the above ideas and have my daughter ask her friends what they would like and what they can eat in regards to the vegetarian and diabetics so I can make sure they all have a decent spread, I hate the thought of anyone going hungry or not having a decent variety of things.

Barbie themed ... all pink dessert/pud foods

@Comfysock she's actually having a princess and the frog theme so all the decorations are green gold and purple. After speaking to her dad we are going to have the African rice,chicken and plantain and then a large selection of finger foods including vegetarian and diabetic friendly sandwiches,wraps and salads aswell as fruit and salad platters and I have a friend of a friend who is going to make a diabetic friendly cake and cupcakes as her daughter is also diabetic so she is well aware of what is needed. Thankyou so much for the ideas. Like I said I hate the thought of anyone going hungry or feeling left out and would much prefer they left with leftovers 😂. Of anyone has any ideas for party favours for 15/16 years old that could also come in handy. We have so far bought mini speakers and.power banks for the bags 😂 but no idea what else to add

Party favours - pens or pencils with the Disney characters.

I bought some cheap felt tip pens (from the £ shop) for a class, they happened to be frozen themed, the kids went nuts for them.

Mini hand cream, lip balms and/or sanitisers are nice party favours and usually get used at least. Keychains. A low value coffee shop or Amazon voucher is usually a winner for teens too.

Having recently been at a party with bubbles in little champagne bottles I can confirm the teens were going mad for them. Apparently bubbles make for very instagramable pictures!