cheapest vegetarian alternative to chicken

[panfries]

Anyone talented at hosting on a budget?

I'm cooking for 38 people. I need a protein to go with sides. For meat eaters I am doing chicken thighs. What can I do for vegetarians? Falafel is too expensive. It also needs to be easy to make. Stick in the oven preferably

Roast beans. The recipe for 4 is - tin of mixed beans, teaspoon of harissa, teaspoon of tomato paste, bit of paprika, plenty of olive olive. Mix it all up and roast in a flat metal tin at 180 for 30-40 mins. Should scale up easily and be cheap.

Chickpeas or lentils, cheaper than chicken

Veggie sausages?

Halloumi

Veg and chick pea / lentil curry

Quorn nuggets.

How are you cooking the chicken thighs? Is there any sauce or marinade with them? If so I agree with the PPs who suggested beans, perhaps with chunks of roasted squash or similar too (not protein but tasty!) same marinade. Could put in some halloumi for last 10-15 mins of roasting.

Just get some nice veggie sausages. Squash isn't a protein, roasted beans sound ok but sausages are easier. Veg curry isn't going to go with the rest of the meal, halloumi will be ruined if it's not eaten as soon as it's grilles.

Halloumi or mozzarella sticks. Not fake meat.

Fake meat is revolting. Agree with pp on halloumi or nice veggie sausages. Personally I don't think you can beat a good old school bean burger

By mozzarella sticks do you mean the ones covered in breadcrumbs? They are fair enough as part of a buffet with other choices but I wouldn’t be happy with greasy breadcrumbed cheese as my main.

A mixed bean casserole of some kind ?

Or as others have said, veggie sausages are easy.

It probably depends on what the sides are.

If you make your own falafel it’s not expensive.

How about loaded baked potato skins with cheese ans spring onions/chives? Can add some chopped pepper or sun dried tomatoes too. Unless the sides include potatoes.

Tesco have 'This Isn't' Sausages on offer for £1.95 in the frozen aisle at the moment- they are gorgeous. As a veggie, I am personally bored of chickpeas/ falafels/ squash curry being the go-to alternative.
Easy traybake recipe, obviously adapt to suit budget- https://www.dontgobaconmyheart.co.uk/sticky-honey-mustard-sausage-tray-bake/

What are the sides and how many vegetarians? If you have access to Costco you can get a big pack of falafels for about £6, Sainsburys have them frozen for not much too.

Are you able to rethink? There's lots of vegetarian friendly spreads suitable for everyone where you can just add chicken for the 'must have meat crowd' that aren't expensive.

Eg chick pea curry, bombay potatoes, salad, naan, yogurt sauce.

Or falafel, salad, hummus, pitta, halloumi, yogurt sauce.

Bean chilli, rice, salad, tortillas, sour cream, guacamole and salsa.

What’s the recipe? I wouldn’t love any fake meat or just random veggie sausages if the rest of the meal was to complement roast chicken.

If you are making a rice salad, roasted veg, then halloumi would be nice. Check with your vegetarians though, because not everyone loves halloumi. Or a lentil based curry. Or spiced baked paneer.

It really does depend on what the rest of the meal is though.

I don’t eat meat. If there wasn’t a decent bean / lentil / chickpea dish available I might feel a bit shortchanged.

No fake meat / sausages please. And not keen on mashed up anything. Food as close as possible to its natural state - appropriate to the season and weather.

I do a bean and red lentil chilli on my meal rotation

It's my favourite meal
Provides what feels like a neverending supply of chilli, delicious, healthy and really cheap.

It really depends on what sides you’re planning to do with the chicken. Impossible to suggest anything otherwise.

two of the vegetarians don't eat egg but here is what's cooking. And i have no idea about marinade for the chicken

• Quiche
• Flatbread
• Dips - hummus
• Boneless Chicken thighs
• Falafel (need cheaper alternative
• Cous Cous salad
• Green Salad

I hadn't thought of veggie sausages!

Sorry but why do you need a cheaper alternative to falafel? Is falafel more expensive than chicken!?

Right, that sounds good, except you could swap the quiche for that spinach and cheese pastry thing (spina..... CBA to look it up). They do big ones in Lidl. Hopefully it's egg free so everyone can eat it.

Who's paying for all this? If it's you, can you ask one of the near 40 diners to buy some falafels if budget is an issue? People are usually happy and often ask , to bring contributions to group meals. Falafels really aren't expensive and fit in with the rest of the spread - ask if anyone has a Costco card so they can buy some from there. The Gosh ones are about £6 for a large box. I think they also have the spinach pastry thing, hummus and possibly some of the other stuff too - could someone take you to Costco if you don't have your own card.

Definitely not sausages with those sides!

You could make loads of courgette and feta fritters for the price of a couple of packets of falafel and they’d go well.

Or a big pan of roasted vege with some halloumi

Lose the quiche unless it’s a really nice homemade one that the veggies can also eat.

Home-made falafels.
Beanburgers
Traybake.
I'd make quiche not spanakopita