Anonymous wrote:Pizza is cheap and easy. Order pizza and wings and make a big green salad to go with. Tubs of ice cream, chocolate syrup, sprinkles, chopped nuts, m&m's for DIY ice cream sundaes.

I like to treat people coming to my home better than this. I don't want to just feed them the cheapest crap possible.

Pizza is cheap and easy. Order pizza and wings and make a big green salad to go with.

Tubs of ice cream, chocolate syrup, sprinkles, chopped nuts, m&m's for DIY ice cream sundaes.

Anonymous wrote:What do you serve for dinner at a large family gathering? I'm a terrible cook, but want to be able to make an easy dinner that can serve 20 teenagers and adults. I looked into catering, but that appears to be out of our budget. I don't want to do lasagna, but I'd love any other suggestions! Ideally something that wouldn't require any active cooking once everyone gets to our house.

Thanks!

Why not lasagna?

Are people sitting down? Standing up to eat (so it needs to be an easy food to eat with 1 hand)?
An open house -type where people shuffle through over the course of a few hours (so need to keep things hot or on ice if it's perishables)?

Some info will help Op.

We do baked ziti, pasta and meatballs, big salad, garlic bread, and Italian cookies and gelato for dessert.

I vote for a taco bar. Make a bunch of taco beef, and keep it warm in a crockpot.

Saute some onions, then add some black beans and cumin. Let that simmer for a bit.

Everything else is just toppings. Serve with a variety of chips and salsa, maybe a couple of fruit trays.

I think the various suggestions of rotisserie chicken leaves you with too much slicing and potentially not enough food.

Anonymous wrote:What do you serve for dinner at a large family gathering? I'm a terrible cook, but want to be able to make an easy dinner that can serve 20 teenagers and adults. I looked into catering, but that appears to be out of our budget. I don't want to do lasagna, but I'd love any other suggestions! Ideally something that wouldn't require any active cooking once everyone gets to our house.

Thanks!

Roast chicken is a go to for us. In your case, I might do rotisserie chickens, and either store bought or home made salads. Potato and/or pasta, fruit, green, and maybe a veggie tray and hummus (especially if you will have vegetarians).

I would not bake chicken. Too hard to get it right. Grilling sound like too much work so I'd do:
*Pizza -- order in or get the Costco 4-pack
*Spaghetti -- so easy and everyone likes it. Buy bags of salad and dress up with some cool stuff (I really like toasted nuts, dried cranberries, goat cheese and apple)
*Easy dessert like cookies

Pasta bar...just make some pasta and buy red sauce white sauce, meat balls, cheese, etc. Add a salad.

At this time of year can you grill? Hamburgers, hot dogs, buy sides, cut up fruit?

I'd order pizza TBH.

taco bar

You could do pulled pork or chicken in the crock pot (borrow an extra if you can). Serve with buns and slaw, baked beans, potato salad, and/or mac and cheese (store-bought).

Try this chicken recipe. I use breasts but I think the cut is a personal preference. I have grilled it, air fried it, and baked it. Grilling is messy but tastiest, followed by air fryer. Baking is fine but I like the char the other two methods achieve.

https://foolproofliving.com/greek-yogurt-chicken-marinade/

You can make it and store in aluminum pans to keep it warm. Add a salad. You can make your own on grab some bagged ones from the store. Or do some oven-roasted veggies on a sheet pan and make some baked mac and cheese for a side. Easy peasy.

Or if you don't want to cook at all, you can grab a few rotisserie chickens and sides from costco. Or any of their prepped food. It will be cheaper than catering. You just need to heat it up. Their chicken taco meal is enough to feed 4-5 folks and comes with the meat, tortillas, slaw, limes, salsa and sauce. You could buy several of those, heat up the meat and tortillas, put everything in bowls and plates and have a taco bar.

A homemade taco bar is another easy option. Good luck OP.

What do you serve for dinner at a large family gathering? I'm a terrible cook, but want to be able to make an easy dinner that can serve 20 teenagers and adults. I looked into catering, but that appears to be out of our budget. I don't want to do lasagna, but I'd love any other suggestions! Ideally something that wouldn't require any active cooking once everyone gets to our house.

Thanks!