What are your favorite cheap snacks and appetizers for parties and holidays? It can get expensive to feed a large group of people, so how do you save money on such foods? Do you use inherently cheap items or lots of coupons or shop sales? What's the best way to provide lots of tasty snacks for not a lot of money? Any tips, ideas, or recipes, are much appreciated.
If you're thinking of snacks such as potato chips, biscuits, sweets and chocolates, try home brands instead. They are often much cheaper and the quality is not as bad as the 'branded' ones. In fact most supermarkets selling home-brand products often get the same manufacturers to produce their home-brand goods! Just look at the label and see which factory it is coming off. As for savory foods or meals, if salads are your thing, or roasts for a meal during parties, try going to the supermarkets with a hot deli around closing time. These foods are often still fresh and at a reduced price. Simply keep them in your fridge and the next day, you'll have good and cheap food all ready for your party or whatever event you are hosting! This isn't feeding your guests 'cheap' food, it is just knowing when to make the purchase!
A good tactic is to find a way to combine things and make them impressive enough to the point where the impact comes more from the creativity rather than the quantity. If you are able to make some nice recipes it won't matter if you used cheaper ingredients or you don't make as much. Also, another good tactic is to find recipes that spread out ingredients a lot better. Making mini burgers, for example, may be a good appetizer, but the amount of ground meat you're using for each burger will add up to a lot if you have lots of guests, whereas if you used the ground beef for individual mini pizza horderves you could spread out the meat a lot more since you'd only need a smaller amount per individual serving.
We used to buy cold savory types snacks, and have sausage rolls available on the table, as well as some ham and cheese sandwiches, but we haven't done that for a while now. we usually just put out lots of chocolate and sweets. Also, we will put out chips/crisps too. Pringles, Malteasers, Haribo, Doritos. All sorts.
Yes, that's true, it is cheaper and easier to do chips and stuff rather than heartier foods. I tend to do more of that for birthday parties or ballgames and such. I still like to step it up a little bit more than setting out bowls of chips or pretzels, when it comes to holidays and really special occasions if possible. Making meats go further is a very good tip, @DrRipley. I like to do veggie trays and things like that as well. I wanted to make a fruit basket decoration or one of those fruit bouquets, but it was going to cost a pretty penny. I opted for fruit kebabs instead, which used much less fruit, thus costing less. It was less time and work as well. They still looked pretty and appetizing, and everyone enjoyed them.
You can save a lot of money on buffalo wings by making them yourself in your oven. Just buy them fresh (don't get the frozen ones, they're junk and shrink down to almost nothing when cooked) and toss them with some McCormick brand Garlic & Herb buffalo wing seasoning and cook them in your oven for about an hour and a half, or until golden and cooked through. You may need to chop the wings first yourself, to separate the drumettes and the wing tips, but it's pretty easy with a meat cleaver and a cutting board. It also helps to cook the wings on a baking sheet with some foil and a wire cookie rack, so they're not swimming in their own grease. Paula Deen's recipe for Spinach & Artichoke dip is foolproof and awesome. Plus it only uses 6 ingredients and you can find all or most of them at Dollar Tree - frozen spinach, canned artichokes, parmesan cheese, mayo, monterey jack cheese (I use pepperjack), and sour cream. Wal Mart sells Red Baron frozen pizzas for around $3 or so each. They're 12" pizzas, but you can easily get several of them for what you would pay for one pizza from your local pizza shop. Cut them into squares, so people can snack on them without having to eat a larger slice if they don't want that much. Wal-Mart also sells large loaves of "french bread" which you can cut in half and make french bread pizzas, or just brush some garlic butter on them along with some parsley and a little parmesan cheese for a garlic bread, baked in your oven until golden brown. Marinate some boneless skinless chicken thighs in a can or two of Chipotles In Adobo overnight, then grill them and dice up the chicken for chicken tacos/burritos/burrito bowls. This is basically a copycat of Chipotle's diced chicken. Similarly you can easily make their rice by just seasoning some steamed white rice with sea salt, fresh lime juice and fresh cilantro. Their corn salsa is also easy to make from scratch - Chipotlefans.com has the recipe. You could do a taco bar, with some fresh lettuce, pico, shredded cheese and sour cream. Check your local restaurant supply stores, such as Gordon Food Services. They allow you to shop there even without any membership. They sell deli meats and cheeses in bulk much cheaper than your grocery store, so you can put together a meat and cheese tray for much less. They also have great prices on large bags of pre cut salad mix.
Wow, ohio, thank you for all those great tips and ideas. That sounds like a great start to a party right there. Garlic and herb wings sounds like a nice change from the typical too. I can cut the wings myself. I have a boning know that's meant for the job. I have done the pizza trick, although I cut them into smaller, appetizer sized pieces. I usually get Jack's pizza instead of the Red Baron. Diane Lane also had a good idea, earlier. It's a variation of the Rotel and Velveeta dip, but with meat. You brown and drain ground beef to add to it. That's a good way to make a little ground beef go a long way and provide a hearty snack too.
Several times when we had a children's party, I was able to buy a bulk sales of Nacho in S&R. The discount was around 30% for the 3 big packs. What we did was to serve it to the guests on a per pack basis. Good because only 2 packs were consumed. We bought a dip that is cheese flavor and cooked ground beef for the flavoring. It was a hit not only to the kids but mainly to the adults. They said it is a good appetizer.
I just cook from home when I have friends over or have a small party and I just buy the food and disposable containers at the supermarket. I use promos and discounts on items especially when they are bought in great amounts. The supermarket I go to gives these discounts if you buy in bulk. I just cook simple foods during parties like fish fingers, spring rolls, mini burgers, etc. These finger foods are really great for parties since washing utensils are not needed anymore and the containers are disposable for easy clean up after the event. There are also ready to cook part foods like frozen pizzas, fries and the like but if you want to save it is better to cook at home and you can also make it taste great that your guests will love and have give positive comments about, which is really a happy feeling, especially when you are complemented at the time of the party or get together.
I recently ate this party snack that consisted of hotdog and cheese wrapped in a circular shaped bread that was fried, so you might want to try making that one. It seems quite cheap.
I have made tuna wraps in the past. The canned tuna cost less than a dollar each. Then I bought some lettuce and flour wraps. All the other ingredients like mayonnaise and eggs I already had at home. Just prepare the tuna how you like, stuff each wrap with tuna and lettuce, roll them up and cut it a fancy way.
We host quite a few holiday parties every year, therefore I am always looking for new ideas for party recipes and snack foods! Great idea for a post! In fact, we are hosting a Halloween party this weekend, therefore I will share with you our inexpensive Halloween menu items: Large slow cookers of chicken noodle soup and chili which people can serve themselves as they get hungry. This time of year is cold and damp in our area, thus soup is an inexpensive way to warm and fill people up!Homemade guacamole, salsa, and tortilla chips. Avocados can be carved like jack-o-lanterns, and can be purchased usually for $1 or less. Homemade salsa is super cheap and delicious.Mummies: Hot dogs or smoked sausages wrapped in shreds of refrigerated croissant roll dough and baked.Spinach dip and crackersPretzelsCheese puff ballsApple, peanut butter, marsallow "Monster Mouths"Veggie tray shaped like a jack-o-lantern: Baby carrots, cucumber, ranch dressing or sour cream.Candy (It is a Halloween party, after all.)For other family gatherings, I usually have some kind of meat, homemade bbq baked beans (because beans are cheap) in the slow cooker, a tossed salad (think basic, sucb as lettuce, tomato, cucumber, carrot), and some kind of potato dish (again, potatoes are cheap). Another inexpensive party meal is homemade spaghetti and garlic bread with salad, or a Mexican themed meal. When in doubt, feel free to ask guests to bring a dish to pass, or maybe at least their favorite beverage.
If I was throwing a party and it was for 20 people and I couldn't afford to cater, I'd buy everything on sale for the party. People love to eat and if it's free they'll enjoy eating whatever you serve. Drinks too go on sale and I'd stock up early too on sale items. It's the best way to go for bigger parties if you can't cater it. It's so much easier to cater to me if you can afford it. I'd shop around for delivery too because they got sales on food deliveries too at times. Have fun at your party and don't forget to have someone help you clean up too after the party.
Thanks to all of you for sharing your great party food ideas. Buying in bulk and watching for sales are great tips. I try to do that on a regular basis, but especially when I need to buy a lot of food. I don't really have the opportunity to shop "warehouse" stores like Sam's Club or whatever, since we don't have any nearby. I should always take a trip to Aldi before a gathering though, and they have a lot more party food there these days. I will remember your advice to also have fun at my parties, @Krissttina Isobe. It's too easy to get caught up in trying to make everything perfect, instead of enjoying ourselves.
I tried something similar for the first time recently lol. It was called a cheese dog? Though I don't know if what you are talking about is what I am talking about, or if it is what I ate. It tastes the same as a hotdog but it is just on a circular bun instead, and there is a slice of cheese between the split hotdog.
@DreekLass, Yup it's like white bread and hotdog and cheese strips rolled all in one. But it's a finger food though, so it's really not filling. I wanted more, lol! For me they taste better than Shanghai Rolls. I'm not really a fan of those.
My go to appetizer when I'm having company is chips and salsa. It's inexpensive and great tasting. If we are having company over to watch a sporting event I also will do bowls of popcorn with different seasonings on top. I also like to make platters of fruits and veggies, crackers and cheese. I'll buy the crackers on sale, cheese from Costco and make my own platters. I find it's too expensive to buy the premade platters from the grocery stores. I also like to put out chips, pretzels, peanuts (if there aren't any allergies).
My go to when I need to feed alot of people is a big pot of spaghetti, it is quick to make and does not have to cost much if you use vegetables in your sauce. Add some garlic bread and a salad and you have a good meal and a good party.
