Simplest and cheapest vegetarian starter ideas for a family dinner

[hadies]

I need the words simplest and cheapest starter.

Throwing a big surprise dinner for a family member there will be 18 of us so I've hired crockery and tables. I also have very little time to prepare. Basically I get back from event and dinner needs to be on the table within 30m (really poorly timed but life happens).

For the dessert I'm getting supermarket cheese cake and plating it up pretty. There are three of us who are plating everything.
For main I have a friend who runs a restaurant so I get 50% off am getting takeaway and plating it up pretty. It will be option of pasta, risotto or chicken and I've already taken orders.

But I need a really quick and easy vegetarian starter that doesn't require heating and that's also really inexpensive.

What do you recommend?

Big pot of garlic mushrooms / roasted multi colour tomatoes/ fresh herbs on top with fancy breadsticks

Caprese Salad is nice too

Dips and chips? You could buy the dips. Hummus, salsa, sour cream dip, pesto etc. You could also use mini breadsticks and crudites (you can buy the cut up carrots or celery is really quick to chop).

Are you willing to prep something in advance or do you want to just arrive and put it out? You could make caprese skewars. Cherry tomato, mozzarella cheese and a basil leaf on a toothpick. Or go retro with cheddar and grape/pineapple. Bonus points if you make it into a hedgehog with half a tinfoil coated grapefruit.

Cream cheese and crackers? Water crackers, ritz or similar and then either put a dollop of herbed cream cheese on top or transfer the cheese to a bowl with a knife and let people smear it on themselves.

Brushetta. Big bowl of tomatoes and onion and feta, some pesto, spoon on to toast and drizzle with balsamic reduction. Salt and pepper and you are away.

Caprese Salad with basil or a pesto drizzle. Some nice bread and a selection of dips to put on like hummus etc

I'm away for three days before so I can't prep in advance and the fridge will be full with the cake.

Caprese is the best idea so far, if there's anything else you can think so , so I can give them each two options, I know a couple don't eat cheese

Mozzarella, tomato and basil with a drizzle of basamic reduction (buy ready made) for added glamour buy pea shoots to scatter on top. Then drizzle.

Could go old school - prawn cocktail, so easy as it’s just mayo, tomato puree, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice and a little salt and cayenne pepper, or use seafood sauce from supermarket, mix with prawn then plate lettuce with the prawn mix and sprinkle on cayenne then serve with a lemon wedge and baskets of bread (perhaps with a fancy butter you can make in advance eg whisk double cream until it separates and forms butter, add salt, sun-dried tomato puree a d chopped basil and mix throughout, form a “sausage” with your homemade butter, refrigerate for a few days until you need it!

Cut some thinly sliced rye bread or pumpernickel into squares or triangles, spread with a bit of cream cheese, put on a bit of smoked salmon, squeeze of lemon, grind on some pepper, garnish with fresh dill. If you had time, a bit of very thinly sliced cucumber could be added. Leave the salmon off for people who don't eat fish.

For those who don't eat dairy as well as fish, spread the rye bread with tapenade (anchovy-free) and/or hummus with an olive on top.

prawns, seafood and Worcester sauce are not vegetarian.

Smoked salmon.

Also not vegetarian.

OK, missed 'inexpensive' and 'vegetarian', but you wouldn't need a lot of smoked salmon, and I assume from the chicken main course not all the guests are vegetarian.

I'd do a mezze type thing. Buy things like baby ganoush, feta, hummus, bread sticks, olives and tomatoes. Then chuck on a big plate. Something for everyone and will be fine in the fridge for a few days beforehand.

This is a good idea. Took me a minute to work out you mean baba ganoush - I was convinced you were talking about baby vegetables for a moment! OP says she won't have fridge space in advance but someone could buy this stuff on the day and just put it out in the frenetic half hour between event ending and meal beginning. I'd add those nice little peppers stuffed with cream cheese, a ready-made salad or tin of beans or lentils, falafel, maybe some little savoury pastries like spanakopitta, vegetable samosas or similar.

Mezze wins for me anyway! I'd put the cake in a cooler box, and the mezze in the fridge.

This!! That way people with small appetites don’t need to be overwhelmed by a starter too. Make your own hummus, a tin of chickpeas makes loads!

It does, but OP doesn't have time or fridge space.

As I hinted above, the cake might be OK in a cooler box, and the mezze can be (ahem), bought for the most part anyway, and stored in the fridge day or night before. Just a thought, but as you say it depends on storage, but that's going to apply no matter what is chosen!

asparagus done in the air fryer

Hummus, radishes, celery sticks.

Devilled Eggs. Quick and easy.

Or, very slightly more effort, toast a load of sliced baguette in the oven and serve in a basket with a plate of sliced tomatoes, olive oil, balsamic glaze and salt & pepper. Bonus points if you stick a bunch of basil alongside. DIY Bruschetta!

Greek salad. Cucumber, tomato, olives, red onions, olive oil. Pretty it up by serving on lettuce With or without feta cheese and there is vegan feta available if you wanted to go that way for those who won’t eat real cheese. Tastes better if not over-chilled so you can make it earlier without the feta and keep it somewhere cool.

I’d do a platter of nice breads with olive oil/balsamic to dip, olives, meats, breadsticks, hummus etc that people can just pick at before serving the main.

She’s looking for a vegetarian option…

You only have to open some packets and stick it on a board and blitz some chickpeas in the food processor!