Many hosts choose a buffet style meal to stretch their dollars.
Feeding a crowd can be an expensive prospect even when you take steps to stretch your food dollars to the max. A hungry group can wipe out your carefully planned menu before you know it and come back for more. When you're working on a limited budget and need to get the most bang for your buck, it's crucial to plan carefully, shop smart and still see that all of your guests are well-fed.
Instructions
1. Provide a salad bar with all the fixings. Green, leafy vegetables are cheap and fill up your guests early on. Provide chopped eggs, shredded cheese, sliced onions, diced tomatoes and homemade croutons. Prepare dressings from scratch and take the edge off of your guests' appetites.
2. Offer soups and bread to your guests before the main course. Chicken noodle, potato and onion soups are inexpensive to make, as is chili. Provide loaves of a variety of breads and spreads, and allow your guests to eat their fill before presenting your entree.
3. Implement pasta and rice dishes as sides to accompany your main dish. Pasta salad, macaroni and cheese, broccoli and rice casserole and Spanish rice are all options that won't break the bank and offer a hot, filling option to please your guests.
4. Opt for main dishes made from inexpensive ingredients. Serve soup beans with ham and cornbread. Make several pans of lasagna -- meaty, meatless and vegetarian options -- from scratch. Serve spaghetti and homemade meatballs prepared from ground beef and dry soup mix. Choose a Mexican theme, prepare all of the ingredients and let guests create their own tacos, burritos and nachos. All of these dishes are made from inexpensive ingredients that you can easily stretch to feed a crowd.
5. Choose punch as your main beverage, rather than spending a fortune on expensive cans of soda pop. Mix up several quarts of powdered drink mix and sugar, add cans of carbonated citrus drinks and create your own punch in minutes. Add crushed pineapple or strawberries for a fruity touch.
6. Pick up several boxes of cake mix and containers of frosting at your local dollar store. Purchase cereal there as well, and make crispy rice and marshmallow treats that you can easily cut into dozens of squares. Opt for an armful of budget brownie mixes, and top them with your own homemade frosting made from vegetable shortening and confectioner's sugar.
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