feeding the masses on a budget

silly me volunteered to cook for our youth group on occasion.
I need to feed 20 to 40 teenagers on the cheap.

Suggestions please awesome recipe peeps.

chop suey and rice.

sausage sizzle.

are you feeding them breakfast, lunch or diner?

macaroni cheese

spag bog

vege soup, stew

Make a giant pot of vege soup, and toss a few chunks of beef into it for the meat. Then get a block of pastry and make cheese pinwheels for a savory to go with it, and a chocolate self-saucing pudding in your biggest roasting dish for dessert. None of the ingredients are expensive (except perhaps the cheese! ) and all can be made in bulk and still taste good.

what equipment do you have? ? ?
I too, have made this kind of offer. The first thing I work out - am I cooking on site (at the camp, or the church hall, or whatever), or am I cooking at home, and then bring the food to them (or WORSE, they come to me! ! ! ? ? ? )

Anyway, if you have a commerical kitchen, then you have lots of options.
I assume that you don't, so here are some tricks.

Don't think 20 or 30, rather than dinner for eight multiplied by 3 or 4. It seems easier for me.

Then work out what you can cook it:
At my house, we have a oven and the stove top, and a electric frying pan, and a rice cooker and a crockpot and a BBQ.

Then think about the time of year: if it is soon, then sausage, bread, and salad might work for one meal. If it is wet on the day, then find a well ventiliated porch or the shelter side of the building, and cook under the eves of the roof.

Other options:
Rice with a curry (don't hot, but for flavour) and veges. If you do a curry with lots of potatoes and other vege, the cost per serve can be reduced.

Lasagne, if you have lots of oven space.

Using two large sized crock pots, an Irish Stew... Again, lots of potatoes reduce the cost per serve

Chilli Con Carne: This is a good dish make if you want to use mince, add the beans, and serve with rice - again means a lower cost per serve.

we did american hotdogs last night and they went down well.

thanks for the great ideas. We have a stove, crockpot and electric frypan to use.

Will be cooking at Church and feeding the teenagers there.

sorry forgot to add is for dinner before youth group.

which explains the variation of numbers - between 20 and 40.

Also, how many people can you convince to give you a hand...
I assume that you are doing this regularly... so here is my suggestion for a term planner:

Week 1: Lasgane - ask four other people to make a lasgane for 8 and deliver it hot to the church

Week 2: Chilli Con Carne - depending on whether they like food hot and spice, or just flavoursome - use either chilli beans or baked beans;
serve with rice (if you are doing this regularly, purchasing a rice cooker from Moore Wilsons or Briscoes, it will cost around $30 on sale).

Week 3: Hamburger - make your own. You cook the patties, besides that the other ingredients are laid out on two trestle tables.

Week 4: BBQ sausages in bread - salad on the side

Week 5: Roast Veges Salad - so cook the roast veges earlier in the day, and serve with a dressing; add some cubes of cheese for the protein.

Have you got access to the wholesaler? ? ?

Week 6: find a cheap supply of burrittos - you might need to purchase 50 or 100. If you need to purchase 100, then plan to freeze half and repeat the meal two weeks later.

Will keep pondering what ideas I have for Week 7 and Week 8;

Then, on week 10 ask "what have you like best? ? ? " and repeat that meal.

you could try homemade pizza. Use tortilla's for the base (I pick up a pack of 15 home brand ones at a time much cheaper than anyone elses). On the base use either spaghetti or a tin of tomato's with basil and oregano (suggest you whizz them up to a paste first) add some cheese and either bacon or ham. can also add pineapple. into oven until cheese melted.
You should be able to do 6-8 at a time in the oven.
Winter time hot soup and rolls or chelsea buns goes down well.
We found tomato soup and chicken were winners but a nice vegie one also. I cook the vegies then mash them to give a smooth soup rather than a chunky soup, that way you dont need spoons can drink straight from cup.
something like a shepherds pie, with bread on the side.
Bacon and egg slice/pie. can be made like the self crusting quiches, so no pastry.