What are some good party foods?

Question

Basically I need lots of food for ALOT of people? But I'm trying to keep a moderate cheap budget....its for my best friends suprise party shes turning 21...any suggestions?

Answer 1

Baked ziti (the one made with ricotta cheese).  Everyones loves it.  Serve it with Salad and garlic bread or crusty italian bread.  I made it for my daughters 14th Bday party on Saturday and despite the fact that she really wanted pizza...everyone loved it and the casserole dishes were empty in 5 minutes.

Answer 2

To keep the price down, your going to find the best way to go is to make the food yourself.  You could make all kinds of things that are easy.  You didn't mention your cooking abilities, so I will assume it's limited (like my 22 year old daughter! :) lol)

I would do...

Deviled eggs

Meat platter

cheese platter

croissant platter

condiment platter with pickles, olives, onions, lettuce, & relish

spinach dip in a bread bowl and baguettes sliced and layered around the bread bowl.

meatballs in a honey garlic sauce (Safeway sells a great honey garlic sauce in the BBQ sauce aisle - it's safeway select brand) (Any BBQ sauce will work too - and you can use frozen meatballs too) (served right out of a crockpot, with toothpicks to fish them out)

a vegetable platter with ranch in the middle of a hollowed out bell pepper.  (Cauliflower, brocoli, carrots, celery, black olives, green onions, radishes etc) (don't forget the leafy red tipped lettuce to lay under the veggies to "decorate" the platter.  You can buy the platters at Dollar Tree for $1 each)

I would also do some crackers, chips and munchies at different tables,  Some grocery stores have the bulk bins that sell the trail mixes and sometimes they have the spicy chinese mix which is good to put out on tables.

Answer 3

Take a seedless  watermelon and trim the end off. Use a sharp knife to peel all the skin off cut into strips and then cubes. Do the same with a cantaloupe and/or a honeydew melon. Place all the cubed fruit in bowl. Garnish  whole strawberries, there is no need to stem them. Celery, radishes and babay carrots with dip. Baked pasta which can be made ahead of time and cooked or re-heated with garlic bread and green salad is easy and pretty inexpensive. Cream cheese especially when bought in bulk can be mixed with other flavorful cheeses and add in like parmesan cheese and basil pesto or blue cheese and spiced or toasted nuts. As spreads for crackers.

Answer 4

Burgers and dogs

Answer 5

Nachos with corn chips and a crock pot simmering 16oz cubed Velveeta melted with a large jar of Goya Pico de Gallo and have sour cream and guacomole and sliced jalapenos in pretty serving dishes. You could have a plate of cubed steak, chicken, or shrimp skewers with cherry tomatos, onion, or cheese cubes in between. Serve a large salad with romaine, baby spinach, crushed walnuts and sliced red onion and tomato wedges. Have a few bottles of salad dressings to choose from. Or create your own vinagrette with olive oil red wine vinegar, a dash of honey and salt and pepper. Mix until emulsified and toss with greens. Yum.