Easy entertaining for 16

[VintedoreBay]

16 guests coming after Christmas , what to serve them? A bunch of them are teenage boys aka bottomless pits.

Needs to be easy to put together! I was thinking a main dish with picky buffet style bits as well. Suggestions please!

TIA

I'd do lasagne (easy to make several big portions) with salad, wedges

Curry is traditional after Christmas to use up left over meat

easy to make, most teens will eat a curry & serve with rice, flavoured rice, cous cous, pitta bread/flat bread, add in a vegetable curry for any vegetarians

then samosaset for your finger food

I'd do a big tray of lasagne and another of macaroni cheese. Loads of garlic bread, a Caprese salad and a green salad.

Or pulled pork with warm baguettes, stuffing, apple slaw. Potato salad .

Or chicken Katsu curry. (Bread or buy chicken in advance so it ready just to pop in the oven) sauce can also be made in advance and warmed through. Serve with rice and some steamed tenderstem broccoli.

Fajitas

Big pot of chilli, jacket potatoes, rice, garlic bread, tortilla chips, sour cream, salsa, guacamole, crunchy iceberg lettuce, grated cheese as another suggestion.

Is it just for one meal or several?
I'd do something "one pot" such as chilli and then plenty of sides for the teenagers to fill up on. 2 large slow cookers might be useful here too.

Pulled pork, jacket potatoes, bread rolls, coleslaw, apple sauce

Big pot of soup and festive rolls.

Get some part baked rolls and stuff them full with Christmas left overs , pack into roasting tins and bung in the oven to heat

Im thinking, turkey and stuffing with cranberry , stilton and bacon, ham and chipolatas with cheddar , just whatever you have - serve sauces and dips

Is it just one meal? 16 is always tricky with things like curry or stews because most of us aren't used to cooking for that many people in one pot. So multiple options can work better - eg two or three type sof curry or two or three types of baked pasta.

I am a big fan of chicken thighs in situations like this as I have one of those huge oven dishes that came with my oven so I can cook a LOT of chicken thighs simultaneously (slow roast them so they all come out fab), then serve with mashed potato/bread etc and lots of greens or big salads.