Family Budget Worksheet

Budget Cooking For A Crowd

No matter if you are cooking for your son's basketball team, a party, an event with friends or preparing meals for your family during the holidays, when it comes to cooking for a crowd, great meals don't have to be wear you out or be expensive!

As many who cook for large crowds can tell you, the key is in choosing the right recipes and in following a few other little tricks. By following their time-tested, simple tips of advice, cooking for a large amount of people can be just as budget friendly as cooking for your own family.

First off, when it comes to cooking for a large crowd, you'll want to look for recipes that are not only delicious, but easy to double or triple. Look for main course ideas like chili, sloppy joes, spaghetti or casseroles. Not only are these dishes easy to prepare lots of, but they can also be kept warm in a crock pot.

Avoid recipes that call for specific amounts of things. A good example of recipes to avoid when budget cooking for a crowd would be those that call for whole cooked chicken breasts. Not only would a recipe like this take a ton of chicken for feeding a large number of people, but it would also be very time consuming to prepare - especially if you are cooking for a crowd of 50 or more.

A further reason for looking for menu ideas that are easy to double is that often, the ingredients that go into them are fairly budget friendly. One can of beans for chili, or one can of fruit for jello salad, is going to be just as inexpensive as two or three. When budget cooking for a crowd, your shopping list is going to be a bit larger, so help it out all you can by looking for these recipes that call for few ingredients.

Look for side dishes and desserts that compliment your main dish, but are also easy to double or triple. Fruit salads, potato salads, bagged chips, salads and dinner rolls are all good ideas, as they are quick to prepare, easy to keep fresh, and fairly cheap in terms of ingredients.

Plus, these types of foods go over well with children, a bonus when trying to prepare meals for large amounts of mixed appetites. While deviled eggs and corn on the cob may be delicious, imagine the amount of work that would go into preparing enough for 50 plus people.

This, in fact, is a good rule of thumb when preparing your menu: ask yourself how much work it would be to prepare it for a large group and how you would keep it hot or cold. If it isn't easy to prepare and store, then consider a different recipe.

By following these easy tips, cooking for a crowd just might prove to be fun, rather than expensive and time consuming!