Buffet Recipe Ideas

When you begin looking for buffet recipe ideas you’ll quickly discover that there’s an awful lot from which to choose. So the best thing to do? Take a step back and consider other factors like your budget, the number of guests coming to your dinner party or celebration, and if you want to have a theme for the buffet. The number of guests affects your budget directly, and the budget influences what kinds of food you can serve. A theme helps in picking out recipes.

Photo by: Amanky

If at all possible, try to make all but items that need to be served fresh ahead of time. The less you have to fuss on the day of your party the better it will be for everyone. Just remember to defrost on time!

In terms of laying out your buffet recipe ideas, use small serving trays. These accomplish several things. For one, they’re less likely to get dropped because they’re not as heavy as bigger platters. Second, the food on the tray should stay fresh until its time to bring another tray (i.e. it won’t last as long because there’s less on it). The rest of your offerings can be kept hot or cold as needed until you’re ready to serve them. Remember if your food is left at room temperature for more than two hours, throw it out. Safe temperatures for maintaining food is 140 degrees or higher for your hot food and 40 degrees or less for cold food.

Types of Buffets

Buffet recipe ideas come in a variety of sizes and shapes geared to the occasion at hand. A full buffet is a complete meal with all the fixings. This can actually become rather formal if you wish (some people hire waiters to walk the room with each offering).

A second buffet type is a display buffet. Not only will the buffet be showing off the food but typically includes some type of accent piece like an ice sculpture or flower assortment. There’s also fork buffet, which is designed in such a way that people can eat with a fork while socializing around the room. Be careful with your choice of buffet recipe ideas here – anything that gets unwieldy using only a fork won’t be successful in this setting.

How Much Food do You Need?

If you’re not sure how much food to make for your buffet, this will help a little bit. Based on a gathering of 20 people, you will want the following:

- 4 or 5 different appetizers (enough so each person can have 2-3 each)
- 5-7 pounds of potato or macaroni salad any type; three heads of lettuce for a green salad
- 7 pounds boneless meat
- A 9×13 casserole
- 3 cakes or dessert offerings
- 3 gallons coffee/tea
- 1-2 rolls per person

Putting it all Together

When you’re finalizing your buffet recipe ideas remember to mix it up. You want finger foods, side dishes, meat and sweets. Options include:

Meat: Sliced roast beef, fried chicken (or chicken wings), honey glazed ham, barbecue ribs, braised pork, deli meats.

Casserole or Crock pot: lasagna, chili, beans, mini hotdogs, sliced sausage in barbecue sauce, cheesy potato casserole, meatballs (any variety)

Fish: Shrimp, crab cakes, lightly breaded fish sticks

Finger Foods: cracker creations (any type), finger sandwiches, snacks

Vegetables: Asian green beans, Cole slaw, crunchy roast potatoes, Broccoli with cheese, green salad, stuffed tomatoes, cucumber mozzarella salad with basil, tempura sweet potatoes

Other: Bread, butter, rice, home made potato chips (sweet and white), deviled eggs, antipasto, olive & cheese tray, etc.