Your Favourite Dishes For Larger Numbers

SandwichShortOfAPicnic

SandwichShortOfAPicnic

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So you're cooking for 10 or more people and are responsible for the food for a long weekend.
What are your go to dishes?
What are your favourite get ahead menus and what do you freeze beforehand and thaw n heat on the day?

Do I have a vested interest in this thread, hell yes, I'll have 10 people for 3 days who will need breakfast, lunch and dinner.
I'd like to enjoy myself and not spend the entire time in the kitchen so I'd like easy ways to get ahead but only with dishes that are delish.
Obviously Lasagne is now going on the menu 😆
 
I can honestly say I've never cooked for more than 5 (and that was when son and daughter and son's girlfriend lived here) so I can't really help. I suppose I'd go for stew type dishes for dinner (anything that can be made in a large pot). But cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner for 10 every day is a tall order indeed. Can't they go out for lunch?

karadekoolaid has experience of catering for large numbers...
 
A curry. You can make it today, or tomorrow, and it'll be even better by Saturday or Sunday. Make the sauces today or tomorrow and add the proteins on Friday.
Lasagna, actually, is pretty hard work, because you have to cook the pasta, make the tomato/meat sauce, make the bechamel and THEN assemble the whole lot.
Paella or Arroz a la Marinera? If you've got the ingredients all ready in front of you, then it's just a question of putting things together. However, pasta with a homemade sauce - you can partially cook the pasta , make the sauce, and then put it together within 10 minutes. I'd go for something like a Puttanesca or Primavera.
A tapas night? you can start off with Manchego and jamón Ibérico, platefuls of olives. Then some montaditos with tuna, anchovies and a slice of red pepper (straight from a tin). A baked Camembert with local honey. Capressas on a stick (toothpick, half a bocconcini or local soft cheese, half a cherry tomato). grilled sardines on toast with some fresh tomatoes. Croquetas. Spanish omelette. 10 bottles of tempranillo.
Go Lebanese. Bake some aubergine and make a babaghanush. Blitz some chickpeas and make some hummus. Zap that tin of red peppers with a few hazelnuts, some paprika and a spot of hot pepper and make m'hammara. skewer some chicken, beef, lamb, marinate them in yoghurt, garlic, cumin - and grill . add some flatbreads.
 
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karadekoolaid said:
A curry. You can make it today, or tomorrow, and it'll be even better by Saturday or Sunday. Make the sauces today or tomorrow and add the proteins on Friday.
Lasagna, actually, is pretty hard work, because you have to cook the pasta, make the tomato/meat sauce, make the bechamel and THEN assemble the whole lot.
Paella or Arroz a la Marinera? If you've got the ingredients all ready in front of you, then it's just a question of putting things together. However, pasta with a homemade sauce - you can partially cook the pasta , make the sauce, and then put it together within 10 minutes. I'd go for something like a Puttanesca or Primavera.
A tapas night? you can start off with Manchego and jamón Ibérico, platefuls of olives. Then some montaditos with tuna, anchovies and a slice of red pepper (straight from a tin). A baked Camembert with local honey. Capressas on a stick (toothpick, half a bocconcini or local soft cheese, half a cherry tomato). grilled sardines on toast with some fresh tomatoes. Croquetas. Spanish omelette. 10 bottles of tempranillo.
Go Lebanese. Bake some aubergine and make a babaghanush. Blitz some chickpeas and make some hummus. Zap that tin of red peppers with a few hazelnuts, some paprika and a spot of hot pepper and make m'hammara. skewer some chicken, beef, lamb, marinate them in yoghurt, garlic, cumin - and grill . add some flatbreads.
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Some lovely ideas there. Thanks. I think the tapas night is too many dishes for me to handle for that many people on trestle tables but something along those lines with less dishes could work well 👍
I have one with a nut allergy (the real deal), four with dairy intolerance 💩, one with an aubergine allergy and me the coeliac.
I know, I know tell them to go elsewhere 😆

I agree lasagne is hard work but it is a dish that so long as you undercook the sheets of pasta freezes and cooks very well later on.
Plus I have mastered my dairy free lasagne, I found good dairy free cream and cheese that actually taste like cheese (if you go lightly with it) and I know three of them won't have had lasagne in years so I'd like to surprise them.

Curry is a good'n. I hadn't considered making the sauce and adding the protein later, that's a great idea and definitely going on the list.

The most I've catered for on my own is 16 but that wasn't every meal for three days. Breakfast out is definitely going on the list.
 
If I had a pizza oven, it’d be pizza night every night because once it’s up to temp, you can crank them out in 90 seconds or.

Lasagna doesn’t have to be that hard - no-boil noodles and most homemade lasagnas here wouldn’t include a Bechamel, just the meat sauce, and make it even easier and go with baked ziti. We used to do “Men in the Kitchen” night at one of the German clubs I belonged to and it was always baked ziti and an industrial-sized salad and garlic bread.

Here, baked hams would be high on the list because they’re fairly affordable, they serve a lot of people, and they’re pre-cooked (and usually pre-sliced, but still on the bone), so it’s just a heat-and-eat affair.

Mom cooked for 10 people, three meals a day, for years and years (parents, us kids, and her in-laws), and she made a whole lot of pork chops, cornbread, and mashed potatoes. It’s pretty straightforward to scramble up eggs for that many, I think.
 
TastyReuben said:
If I had a pizza oven, it’d be pizza night every night because once it’s up to temp, you can crank them out in 90 seconds or.

Lasagna doesn’t have to be that hard - no-boil noodles and most homemade lasagnas here wouldn’t include a Bechamel, just the meat sauce, and make it even easier and go with baked ziti. We used to do “Men in the Kitchen” night at one of the German clubs I belonged to and it was always baked ziti and an industrial-sized salad and garlic bread.

Here, baked hams would be high on the list because they’re fairly affordable, they serve a lot of people, and they’re pre-cooked (and usually pre-sliced, but still on the bone), so it’s just a heat-and-eat affair.

Mom cooked for 10 people, three meals a day, for years and years (parents, us kids, and her in-laws), and she made a whole lot of pork chops, cornbread, and mashed potatoes. It’s pretty straightforward to scramble up eggs for that many, I think.
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I do love ziti but lasagne is gonna win out because I want to see their faces when they looked concerned and say "Are you sure this is dairy free?" and I say yerp!

Baked hams aren't a thing here. You can find minuscule rubber renditions with a high price tag. It's the worse ham I've ever tasted. I'd even place that reformed wafer thin awfulness above it. The pre-cooked boneless joints rubber balls available here are only worthy of batting into outer space 😆

But you can buy decent cooked side of salmon from M&S so that's a helpful thought you've triggered!

I might go for continental help yourself breakfasts because I always cook far far too much and people are often still full the next morning.
 
A taco bar, ground beef filling, tex-mex pork filling, vegan and/or regular shredded cheese, Pico de Gallo, shredded lettuce, corn and/or flour tortillas, sour cream and/or a substitute. Roasted mushrooms too for vegans/vegetarians.

Kalua pork with fresh or tinned lite syrup pineapple, plain white or coconut rice, Hawaiian macaroni salad, baked sweet potato. I've made Kalua pork and hawaiian macaroni salad (heavy mayo and sweetish), but I'm sure K-girl could help.

My semi homemade chicken and yellow rice if you can get the rice. Just scale up my recipe. We sometimes have a side of avocado salad, sliced avocados, thinly sliced red onions (soaked in ice water and drained) with a lime juice, s and p, EVOO dressing; Cuban bread, which is a hole-ly, thin, crisp crust bread, sliced in half lengthwise, brushed with butter or substitute inside and out, wrapped in foil, flattened and baked at 375 F until crust is nicely crisp; black beans, we use canned and doctor. I can post the doctored black bean recipe if needed.

This sounds awful since so many cans are used but https://www.cookingbites.com/threads/black-bean-yellow-pepper-and-cumin-chili.11538/#post-103344 . It was a hit though. We also roasted some portabello mushrooms, and now I'd do some onions as well for tacos, and made a roasted red bell, honey sauce for them that was fantastic.
 
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Curries & stews are the first things that come to mind.
And stews include things like beef bourgignon, coq au vin etc.

Other things:
A big pot roast on stove or in oven
Spaghetti with meatballs in tomato sauce (can be made ahead)

Do you have a bbq/grill/braai/barbie?
Just different meats, garlic bread, couple salads & some sauces.
You could even do flatbreads on the grill.

Big pot of soup, like ham & pea or beans, or something in between stew & soup with whatever vegetable you can find & crusty bread

Chili con carne
 
medtran49 said:
A taco bar, ground beef filling, tex-mex pork filling, vegan and/or regular shredded cheese, Pico de Gallo, shredded lettuce, corn and/or flour tortillas, sour cream and/or a substitute. Roasted mushrooms too for vegans/vegetarians.

Kalua pork with fresh or tinned lite syrup pineapple, plain white or coconut rice, Hawaiian macaroni salad, baked sweet potato. I've made Kalua pork and hawaiian macaroni salad (heavy mayo and sweetish), but I'm sure K-girl could help.

My semi homemade chicken and yellow rice if you can get the rice. Just scale up my recipe. We sometimes have a side of avocado salad, sliced avocados, thinly sliced red onions (soaked in ice water and drained) with a lime juice, s and p, EVOO dressing; Cuban bread, which is a hole-ly, thin, crisp crust bread, sliced in half lengthwise, brushed with butter or substitute inside and out, wrapped in foil, flattened and baked at 375 F until crust is nicely crisp; black beans, we use canned and doctor. I can post the doctored black bean recipe if needed.

This sounds awful since so many cans are used but https://www.cookingbites.com/threads/black-bean-yellow-pepper-and-cumin-chili.11538/#post-103344 . It was a hit though. We also roasted some portabello mushrooms, and now I'd do some onions as well for tacos, and made a roasted red bell, honey sauce for them that was fantastic.
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Some lovely ones there. Thanks. 🙏

What is EVOO dressing? I thought evoo was a cooking fat, like an oil?

Also not familiar with "minced canned chipotle chilies" don't think we have those here. Fresh would probably sub if I knew the strength of it?

Love the sound of the chicken and rice. It would have the be the from scratch version though
IMG_2393.jpeg

😱😱😱

I wonder as marketed as spanish rice if you can get a version of it in Spain? 🤔
 
badjak said:
Curries & stews are the first things that come to mind.
And stews include things like beef bourgignon, coq au vin etc.

Other things:
A big pot roast on stove or in oven
Spaghetti with meatballs in tomato sauce (can be made ahead)

Do you have a bbq/grill/braai/barbie?
Just different meats, garlic bread, couple salads & some sauces.
You could even do flatbreads on the grill.

Big pot of soup, like ham & pea or beans, or something in between stew & soup with whatever vegetable you can find & crusty bread

Chili con carne
Click to expand...
I do have a BBQ and was thinking of slow cooking and smoking something but I've only just got it and am not familiar with it. My first attempts have given me far too strong a smoke flavour. It's still in it's experimental phase.

Beef bourguignon is a definite contender 🙏
And soup in the evening after a main meal at lunch time would be just right 👍
 
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SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
Some lovely ones there. Thanks. 🙏

What is EVOO dressing? I thought evoo was a cooking fat, like an oil?
Click to expand...

lime juice, s and p, EVOO dressing,

All make the dressing. Extra virgin olive oil .
SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
Also not familiar with "minced canned chipotle chilies" don't think we have those here. Fresh would probably sub if I knew the strength of it?
Click to expand...

Chipotles in adobo are smoked and dried jalapeños rehydrated and canned in a sweet and tangy purée of tomato, vinegar, garlic, and some other spices, for a ruddy sauce that packs wicked heat but with plenty of balance and body. Per Serious Eats.

1712668790899.png


There are various brands.

SandwichShortOfAPicnic said:
Love the sound of the chicken and rice. It would have the be the from scratch version though View attachment 112129
😱😱😱

I wonder as marketed as spanish rice if you can get a version of it in Spain? 🤔
Click to expand...

Wowsa. You do know that's for a case of 12, right? They don't have singles?

I would imagine there are probably similar products for quick paella. It's pretty much the same thing honestly.
 
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