How to Feed a Crowd on a Tight Budget

A large pot of chilli can serve dozens of people for relatively little cost.

Feeding a crowd of people doesn't just challenge your cooking skills -- it puts pressure on your wallet. However, shopping smart and choosing meals with relatively inexpensive ingredients makes it easier to feed a crowd on a tight budget. Calling in a few favors from friends might also take the sting out of the cost. Some foods are better suited to large-scale cooking than others. Anything cooked all together in a large pot, from soups to chilis, usually can feed a crowd for less.

Difficulty:

Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Work out your exact budget. The amount you have determines the type of food you can buy. Also, consider the expectations of the crowd for which you're cooking. Kids will be happy with mac and cheese. Adults at a dinner party need something more grown up.

2. Plan your meal to include low-cost, but tasty items. For example, avoid recipes that require high-cost ingredients such as seafood or steak. Instead choose foods such as pasta dishes or stews. Not only are these cheaper to make, but they're also easier to prepare for a crowd.

3. Choose cuisines well-suited to feeding a crowd. For example, buy beans, rice, tortillas, cheese, vegetables and chicken to make a Mexican-style fajita feast. Italian food also offers low-cost options, including pizza, pasta and tomato stews. Try cooking up a huge pot of gumbo for budget-friendly Southern-style flavor.

4. Write down exactly what you need before going to the store. Shopping without a list of the exact ingredients can lead to buying items you don't need. Raid your cupboard before shopping. You may find that you already have ingredients such as flour, spices or vegetables.

5. Shop at big vegetable markets, wholesalers, warehouse stores, butchers or anywhere that sells items in bulk. For example, buying one large pack of rice nearly always costs less than buying several smaller ones.

6. Buy cheaper cuts of meat that work in stews when softened in the oven. For example, choose chuck, neck or braising beef to make beef stew. Use thighs and drumsticks instead of chicken breasts. If you're making a fish stew, ask your fishmonger for offcuts rather than whole fish fillets. These tend to be cheaper.

7. Borrow extra pots, cutlery, crockery and cooking utensils from friends, rather than buying larger versions of what you already have. If you can't find spare plates to borrow, buy paper plates and plastic cutlery.

Tips & Warnings

• Avoid having a starter course to keep costs even lower.

• If you know your local store has a particular food promotion on, try building a recipe around that deal to save more money.

• Avoid prepared food. It's nearly always cheaper to cook your own food from scratch.

• Take care when cooking large amounts of food -- it's often harder to ensure meat is properly cooked in large volumes, which can lead to food poisoning.

References

• "Cooking for Crowds for Dummies"; Dawn Simmons, Curt Simmons; 2005
• "Cooking on a Budget: Cookbook, Volume 1"; Sarah L. Perren; 2008
• BBC Food Ingredients: Beef Recipes

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish