Cooking for crowd on vacation

[Anonymous]

Indian food! Butter chicken/ paneer - same sauce in two different pots can make it suitable for the veggies. Sheet pan aloo gobi. Plain rice and store bought naan on the side (Costco has a good one in the bakery section, Trader Joe's in the freezer section)

[Anonymous]

HH in April is probably not going to be that warm (we were there last spring break) so I definitely think you could do baked ziti, salad, garlic bread one night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Indian food! Butter chicken/ paneer - same sauce in two different pots can make it suitable for the veggies. Sheet pan aloo gobi. Plain rice and store bought naan on the side (Costco has a good one in the bakery section, Trader Joe's in the freezer section)

Ugh, no. Horrible for picky eaters and it will stink up the rental.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Love the kebabs idea. Otherwise:

Baked potato bar. Wrap 20 potatoes in foil and stick them in the oven for 40-60 minutes. Meanwhile, heat up meat-based and vegetarian chili. Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, avocado, diced onion, diced tomatoes, a pan of roasted broccoli if you are feeling ambitious (it can cook along with the potatoes if the oven is big enough).

Or pasta bar. Giant pot of rotini. Pots of Bolognese, marinara, and cheese sauce. Side salad.

20 potatoes as dinner for 20 people?

Good point. WASP MILs only need 1/2.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Indian food! Butter chicken/ paneer - same sauce in two different pots can make it suitable for the veggies. Sheet pan aloo gobi. Plain rice and store bought naan on the side (Costco has a good one in the bakery section, Trader Joe's in the freezer section)

Ugh, no. Horrible for picky eaters and it will stink up the rental.

Sounds like they will warm up sauces which is NBD. The stink is from high high temperatures and spices in oil.
Even picky eaters like naan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m curious, what beach and condo building?

We will be in Hilton head / one family member has a large(er) home there so we will be gathering for meals there and have a real kitchen set up to work with.

Hilton head is in the 80s at spring break??

I would do burgers, but honestly this seems like a huge pain. No on wnats to do this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m curious, what beach and condo building?

We will be in Hilton head / one family member has a large(er) home there so we will be gathering for meals there and have a real kitchen set up to work with.

Hilton head is in the 80s at spring break??

I would do burgers, but honestly this seems like a huge pain. No on wnats to do this.

Why chime in on page three having clearly not read the thread?

[Anonymous]

I cannot believe no one has yet mentioned NY Times chicken Schwarma

[Anonymous]

Pasta bar...buy every thing premade, red and white sauce, cheese, meat balls, no meat balls, bagged salad kits, garlic bread. Some kind of pre served ice cream pops or sandwiches for dessert.

I think you also have to check with these others as many people will go to pasta..

[Anonymous]

Pasta bar with Italian appetizers would be easy.

Maybe brunch for dinner? You could pick up quiches, have salad, fruit, cheese plate, etc.? Like a fancier version of breakfast for dinner!

[Anonymous]

Stuffed shells/Lasagnas...can make some veggie some not, but all are in make-ahead pans. Pop in oven and bake. Add some garlic bread and a salad. Honestly on these types of vacations everyone is so drunk it almost doesn't matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why get together for both lunches and dinners? I don’t want to spend my vacation eating at a set schedule every day.

I agree with this. We did dinners together like this on vacation for a group of 20 for about 10 years. You end up having so many people with different schedules during the day, like the babies with naps, etc. If your group is like ours, we spend all day on the beach together, minus a day or two of bike riding or shopping. So everyone socializes together all day and can go eat their lunch whenever. Just making dinner one night for that big of a crowd is enough work and stress. Lunch should be easy-cold cuts, salads, leftovers, whatever you want to do for your own condo/family.


OP- I have made pans of lasagna a week before and frozen them. Meat and meatless/veggie. Then all you have to do is reheat, add a salad and bread and you're done.

I have also done Pork BBQ in a crockpot before, frozen it, and defrosted that on vacation right in the crockpot. Add buns, baked potatoes and a salad.

[Anonymous]

Also, this is literally what fried chicken buckets were invented for. Get a can of beans or something for the vegans.

[Anonymous]

It might be not everyone wants to eat at the same time. Just sayin'. Late afternoon/early evening is prime beach time for us.

[Anonymous]

Panini bar - Italian, Turkey/pesto/mozz, Caprese, grilled cheese for kids. Couple soups on the side and some chips.