Critique my BBQ menu (especially quantities!)

[BBQthisweekend]

ARGHHHH I'm so excited! Is it a bit sad I've been dreaming of making this thread (and hosting the first of many BBQs) since before I even bought my house last year? I'm normally the one salivating at the MN BBQ threads and wishing for my own garden big enough to host. Well, now I have one.

So I mentioned to a few people earlier in the week it would be nice to have an impromptu BBQ this weekend and take advantage of the weather, and before I knew it (hehe) I am now hosting approx 40 (30 adults/teens, plus 10 under 10s) on Saturday. I'm very new to grilling, and only have 1 BBQ, but 3 friends are happily bringing another 2 and manning them all - the biggest for meat, and then one for vegan stuff/vegetables (we have a few strict vegans - no other allergies I think), and one for the halloumi and desserts. I am well aware I'm probably going overboard, but also want to make sure there will be enough food which I'm struggling to judge. Also looking for other unmissables that I may have forgotten.

I've asked people to bring something to drink, so I'm hoping the drinks I sort are just a starting point and we don't use all of. TBH I'm happy to over-cater on most fronts, and freeze/store whatever we don't use - I just don't want ridiculous amounts of sausages sat round forever more! I do have a chest freezer, and everything is getting delivered/I'm collecting from butchers/bakery in the morning so I'll use cool boxes with lots of ice to make sure storage stretches.

BBQ:
40x Burgers
60x Sausages
40x Chicken Thighs (marinated in Nando's sauce)
30x Vegan Sausages
10x Halloumi packs (sliced)
20x Large Flat mushrooms
40x Corn on the cob
20x Red Pepper (halved)
3x Pineapples (sliced)

Salads:
Huge ‘everything but the kitchen sink’ chopped salad (4x bags salad leaves, 2x cucumber, 4x avocado, 4x packs cherry tomatoes, grated carrot, 2x grilled sweetcorn, 2x grilled courgette)
Caprese Salad (Friend bringing!)
Watermelon, Feta, Cucumber and Mint Salad (2x watermelon, 2x blocks feta, 2x cucumber, 1x pack mint)
Potato Salad (3kg baby potatoes, dill, greek yoghurt, mayo, 3x bunch spring onions)
Slaw (Friend bringing!)
Crudite platter (edamame, mini corn, cucumber, tomato, carrot sticks) mainly for the kids!

Sides:
Stuffed Potato Skins (40 halves)
Veggie sausage rolls (40, small)
Pitta chips/Crisps (8 bags)
Dip pots (hummus, salsa, sour cream and chive)

Breads:
80x Hot dog rolls
30x crusty burger buns
30x brioche burger buns
4x Focassia (small squares)
4x Sourdough baguettes (sliced and buttered)

Condiments:
70x Cheese Slices (some plasticy American, some emmental)
Caramelised onions (in slow cooker, then kept warm)
2x jars Gherkins
Ketchup
BBQ
Mustard
Mayo
Nandos Mayo
Sweet chilli jam
French dressing
Pickle

Desserts:
Caramelised bananas (in foil with chocolate chips, marshmallows and crushed cookie)
Cookies (from bakery, but warmed briefly on the grill) with scoops of vanilla ice cream
Grilled Peaches with mascapone/ice cream
Magnums (and vegan magnums!)

Drinks:
24x Fruit shoots
24x Cans of mocktails
48x Cans of Soft Drinks (coke/Diet Coke/7up/Fanta)
48x Cans of pre-mixed cocktails
48x Bottles of beer (various)
4x bottles each : red/white/rose

Looks amazing and plenty of food. Have you got lots of ice? And flavoured butter for the corn in the cob is nice if you wanted to do that?

Sounds great, what time shall I head over? 🤣
Enjoy! Hope you have a great time!

Thank you, that’s a great idea! Adding to the order now 😊

Some wings as well?

Sounds great and that amount of food will see you partying into the night - great fun!

I know people are bringing booze but I would double the quantities of vino and make sure I had at least 6 bottles of fizz on ice for arrivals. Tiny critique though! Have fun!

And me looks bloody marvellous!

WAY too much food. Divide the amount by 40 to work out how much each person would need to eat.

so generous! a real party. you have more than enough.

Sounds great. Not sure where you live but it is going to be much cooler on Saturday.

Re the chicken- I would cook it in the oven first then finish it on the barbecue to avoid the risk of undercooked chicken.

The food sounds great, I think you probably will have quite a lot left over. I’d do more drink though, probably double, even if people are bringing drinks, it’s amazing how much slips down over a long afternoon and into the evening. Perhaps add some fizzy water for non-drinkers, when I’m driving I tend to tire of sweet drinks after 2 or 3 and switch to that with maybe some lime cordial. Wine I’d probably go more white wine than red, not sure about sparkling as I don’t drink that. I also like fizzy water to make a spritzer with white wine.

Sounds fantastic. Except the pineapple! Lol.
If I was coming I'd probably like to bring something to ease to burden on you.
I like white wine and prosecco so I might bring a few bottles of that.
I'm sure it'll be a great success! X

So a couple of things -

Firstly that a HUGE quantity of food - are you sacrificing quality for quantity? Fine if it's all top quality - but nobody at all wants to eat value burgers and sausages etc.

As a meat eater that doesn't do burgers and sausages, I'd be mostly digging into the veggie food - have you factored onmivores into the amounts of veggie food? I think many (most?) adults don't really go for UPF burgers/sausages, and there isn't much else on offer for meat eaters apart from the chicken (which you're making spicy which won't be to everyone's taste). That said, you have loads of salads and sides, so it's not like anyone will go hungry.

Do you have plenty of freezer space for leftovers!

It’s sounds lovely but I think that’s too much food for that many people. Better too much than too little but I reckon there’ll be a lot wasted. For each meat eater you’ve got a burger (and bread), 2 sausages and bread, chicken, sides etc. That’s masses and I’m a greedy bugger! And desserts too!

That’s an epic bbq! The menu sounds perfect from the point of view of a guest. I just don’t envy you having to cater for it all! But good luck.
Dont forget some sort of wasp/fly repellant system such as a zapper or citronella candles. And you’ll need a couple of bins dotted around the garden. Do you have cool boxes for keeping drinks and uncooked meet cool?

I also think too much food, I'd assume half the corn and most of the bread would go uneaten. I also would forget all puddings except icecream as most will fill up on savoury food. But that's just my opinion. It sounds amazing, enjoy!

Maybe that other poster who is complaining about her bbq food wasting friend could send them over to your place - there’s plenty to go around!

Way too much food. 40 burgers?! Definitely cook the chicken beforehand and just finish on the bbq. What’s with the pineapples and red peppers? Will they be on skewers?

Not enough booze. That white wine will be gone within the hour

Agree with a lot of this.

It is a lot of food, make iere you pace the cooking to match appetites and have storage for anything that doesn't get eaten.

Possibly too many corn on the cob on you list, tbh I find them a pain to eat and they get stuck in my teeth so I'd probably swerve those. Also perhaps too much bread.

In my experience the UPF phobia isn't as rife in the real world as it is on MN, but you know your own social circle best OP so can judge numbers of burgers and sausages accordingly. Agree maybe don't make all the chicken spicy!

Definitely agree as well that the meat eaters will raid the veggie food so you might want to up the quantities of that a bit and drop a few sausages.

Sounds fab but it's a lot of food! Not every1 will have one of everything I wouldn't do 40 burgers and 90 sausages for 30 adults you are going to be exhausted and cooking none stop. Plus if you have a few call offs as is the norm you are going to be left with a lot of food!

Too much bread. Also have you ordered this already? Everywhere near me always sells out of bread rolls when weather

Beetroot salad, coleslaws. Pasta salad (pasta, peppers, sweetcorn and mayo) always gets eaten here

have you got enough glasses? Not too late to hire from majestic or similar. Paper plates or crockery? That’s a lot of people

Citronella candles

Not every1 will have one of everything

No, but some people will eat twice as much so it will even out. Burgers and sausages can be frozen anyway.

@BBQthisweekend You have cheese slices - what about vegan cheese slices too?

Now that is how you do a BBQ. I am so jealous 😩

@BBQthisweekend im sorry OP I had to stop reading as now I’m hungry and jealous I’m not invited 🤭. Have a fab time!

Just wondering about the vegans - almost all of the salads have dairy in apart from the basic chopped salad. Could you swap something out for a more interesting vegan salad?

I think it really is coming across as a lot of food, but possibly too heavy on the burger/sausage options, and not enough veggie/vegan stuff.

Personally from your list, as a meat eater I'd have

BBQ:
40x Burgers NO
60x Sausages NO
40x Chicken Thighs (marinated in Nando's sauce) - Yes, one or maybe two depending on size
30x Vegan Sausages NO
10x Halloumi packs (sliced) - would want but would worry about eating the veggie food and not leaving enough for them
20x Large Flat mushrooms -would want but would worry about eating the veggie food and not leaving enough for them
40x Corn on the cob - NO (too hard to eat elegantly in public)
20x Red Pepper (halved) - NO - (just my personal taste)
3x Pineapples (sliced) - I've never had BBQ pineapple, but think I might like to try it, but probably as dessert.

Salads: All these salads sound nice and I would have a good selection
Huge ‘everything but the kitchen sink’ chopped salad (4x bags salad leaves, 2x cucumber, 4x avocado, 4x packs cherry tomatoes, grated carrot, 2x grilled sweetcorn, 2x grilled courgette)
Caprese Salad (Friend bringing!)
Watermelon, Feta, Cucumber and Mint Salad (2x watermelon, 2x blocks feta, 2x cucumber, 1x pack mint)
Potato Salad (3kg baby potatoes, dill, greek yoghurt, mayo, 3x bunch spring onions)
Slaw (Friend bringing!)
Crudite platter (edamame, mini corn, cucumber, tomato, carrot sticks) mainly for the kids!

Sides:
Stuffed Potato Skins (40 halves) NO
Veggie sausage rolls (40, small) NO
Pitta chips/Crisps (8 bags) yes, as nibbles before the BBQ was served
Dip pots (hummus, salsa, sour cream and chive) NO if they've been sitting out in the sun

Breads: I probably wouldn't have any breads
80x Hot dog rolls
30x crusty burger buns
30x brioche burger buns
4x Focassia (small squares)
4x Sourdough baguettes (sliced and buttered)

Condiments:
70x Cheese Slices (some plasticy American, some emmental) NO
Caramelised onions (in slow cooker, then kept warm)NO
2x jars Gherkins - Maybe would eat a Gherkin - Olives would be preferable as a pre BBQ snack

Ketchup
BBQ
Mustard
Mayo
Nandos Mayo
Sweet chilli jam
French dressing
Pickle

Desserts: I probably wouldn't have a dessert( maybe peaches with the grilled pinapple at a push), but this sounds like a lovely selection
Caramelised bananas (in foil with chocolate chips, marshmallows and crushed cookie)
Cookies (from bakery, but warmed briefly on the grill) with scoops of vanilla ice cream
Grilled Peaches with mascapone/ice cream
Magnums (and vegan magnums!)

Drinks:
24x Fruit shoots
24x Cans of mocktails
48x Cans of Soft Drinks (coke/Diet Coke/7up/Fanta)
48x Cans of pre-mixed cocktails
48x Bottles of beer (various)
4x bottles each : red/white/rose I'd be helping you with the rose, but I'd be bringing a bottle or two of my own to add to the mix

I should add that I'm quite a good eater, even though this looks like I wouldn't eat much. It's just so heavy/reliant on burgers and sausages, which I wouldn't want. I'd eat far more mains if there was a selection of things like steak, kebabs, salmon, ribs, pork loin, prawns etc rather than just burgers and sausages.

Sounds delicious and plenty of food! People will probably bring drinks, but just in case (as you have 40 people and it will probably go on for a few hours) I might get more soft drinks and more beers.