What’s You Best Tip for Feeding a Crowd on a Budget?
Who says hosting has to come with a hefty bill?
It’s the last day of Hip2Save’s Birthday Week! 🥳
All good things must come to an end, and we’ve reached the final day of Hip2Save’s birthday week. We hope you all have had just as much fun as we have! We appreciate each and every one of you for sharing your input in the comments and for being amazing members of our Hip Community. 💗
There’s still time to enter, so be sure to check out the previous giveaway prompts, too —
- What would you buy if you had $25 to spend on Amazon?
- What’s one thing you’ll gladly pay full price for?
- Which store has the best clearance section?
- What’s one grocery name brand you’d never switch from, no matter the price?
During our birthday giveaway, all you have to do is comment for a chance to win. This format is just like our monthly reader giveaway and makes for some great conversation among our Hip2Save community. The giveaway prompt posts will be going live each day now through Friday, and your comment will get you entered to win that day’s prize. Easy peasy!
Today, we’ve got one $100 Amazon eGift card up for grabs. Comment now through Sunday, June 29th 11:59 PM MT for your chance to win.
We want to hear from you!
Today’s Birthday Giveaway Question:
What’s your best tip for feeding a crowd on a budget?
Share in the comments section below for our Hip community to read. By leaving a comment, you are entering to win a $100 Amazon eGift card!
Entries for this giveaway are now closed.
How to Enter:
- Comment Below: Share your favorite way to feed a crowd on a budget.
- Duration: The commenting entry period starts on Friday, 6/27/25 at 7 AM MT and ends on Sunday, 6/29/25 at 11:59 PM MT.
- Eligibility: All approved comments within the entry period are eligible. Winning comments will be chosen at random. Readers may only win one time during the giveaway.
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Winners will be contacted via email at the email address associated with their Hip2Save account or the email used when leaving their comments. You do not need to include your email address within your comment. All giveaway correspondence will come from our giveaway team at giveaways@hip2save.com.
Winners will be contacted by Tuesday, July 1st with the details of their Amazon eGift Card.
Here are our Hip team’s favorite ways to feed a crowd on a budget…
“A baked potato bar is always fun, especially since everyone can customize their own! Bags of potatoes are always super inexpensive, then just add bowls of different toppings like cheese, butter, sour cream, chives/green onions, chili, taco meat, etc!” – Erika
“My go to is pasta (typically baked ziti) when I’m feeding a big crowd. It’s SO cheap, easy/quick to make, and you can pre-make it all beforehand, then just heat it up and not be in a rush day of trying to cook. Plus, sides are super easy too. Just grab a few salad kits and a few loaves of garlic bread and you’re good to go! Easy peasy.“ – Liz
“My daughter hosted her church group recently – over 25 kids. I tried putting a bunch of Nathan’s hot dogs in the slow cooker and that worked so well! 🌭 The taste was awesome, and they could dish up as desired with all the toppings. Cheap and so easy/good. I served chips and cut up watermelon, and they loved it.“ – Lina
We can’t wait to hear your brilliant hosting tips to feed a hungry crowd!
Thank you for celebrating our birthday all week long with us! 🎉 Now let’s get back to the deals…
I would see what is on sale or on clearance that week and work around that
Pizza and salad; or pasta dishes
Doing a potluck where everyone brings a side or dessert. As the hostess I would do a pulled pork or pulled birria meat from Aldi. Their birria meat or pork carnita roasts are very flavorful and reasonable in price.
Whenever I see Domino’s gift cards at a discount price, I buy them. Pair these with a coupon from Domino’s and I am able to pull off a good meal that will not break my budget.
I agree with other commenters in asking everyone to bring a dish, so the load is shared.
Flavorful and hearty soups are a great economical way to feed a crowd. Add a salad, bread, and dessert for a complete meal.
Taco meat in the crockpot
I find it most economical to do a pasta dish with large loaves of garlic bread and a salad, dessert is usually a brownie or cake trifle.
Goulash and fresh bread, possibly a salad.
Potluck is a great way to feed a crowd economically. Chili is also an option. 😋
A big crowd pleasure, easy to make, economical-Chinese chicken salad.
Cabbage- chopped up, rotisserie chicken shredded or chicken breasts cooked and shredded, mandarin oranges, green onions, Asian dressing ( the key), mix all together, top with Chinese noodles. Crunchy, sweet, filling!
Spiral ham or beef in the crock pot and turn them into sandwiches.
It’s okay to buy big tubs of things like potato salad. Food doesn’t have to be fancy. People just like to be invited.
Baked potato bar!!
Lasagana!
Publix friend chicken drummetts with Publix potato salad and hawaiian sweet rolls.
We do brunch for our crowd. Shrimp and grits in the crockpot, homemade applesauce, eggs, bacon, sausage, raisin toast with a variety of preserves. Mimosas and/or chocolate milk!
Baked spaghetti is always good for crowds! You can add some bread from the clearance at Walmart, and can feed so many!
I will either do a pasta, garlic bread, and salad or a taco bar is always fun!
I did a taco bar for my son’s graduation party and it worked great and was budget friendly. I had beef and shredded rotisserie chicken, soft and hard shells and toppings.
Our church does this almost every week and it helps that we all love to cook and bring our favorite dish. It tends to be around noon so as a brunch, anything goes. I like to bring spinach dip in a hollowed-out bread bowl with veggies around the bread. Just takes a bit of time to cut the veggies, otherwise, super simple and healthy.
Use what I have already in the freezer and get creative
Pasta or soup go a long way for a low cost.
Sheet pan pancakes! Fully customizable, and much easier than standing at the stove flipping pancakes one by one. You can slice them up in any size you want, and even stamp out shapes with cookie cutters. It makes it super easy to feed a whole crowd of people.
Buffalo chicken dip, ham and cheese sliders, meat and cheese platter. Fruit and several desserts.
Vegetable soup and cornbread.
Make it a brunch and serve a filling breakfast casserole, with a fruit salad (adding in canned pineapple/mandarin is ok, too). Plus, a big flat of those premade Pillsbury biscuits from Sam’s Club. You get a lot for around $7. Chances are you already have some jellies/jams in the fridge.
Serve water, tea, and lemonade for beverages instead of expensive sodas. A lemonade bar can also be fun and pretty inexpensive.
Cooking from store bought items that are on sale.
Buy everything you need for the meal in bulk. Costco items are great for crowds!
Taco bar or pasta bar. Meat, variety beans, cheeses and all the toppings for make your own tacos or salad for a taco bar. Different sauces, pasta shapes, cheeses and side salad fixings for a pasta bar
Ask others to bring a dish to pass and let everyone vote on what was the best. Also provide a small gift (and bragging rights) to the winner.
Spaghetti 🍝
Customizable “bowls”… having rice or lettuce as the base…protein (ground beef for chicken ) beans, toppings like cheese, sour cream, tomatoes, olives, avocado, etc
Taco bar!
When pork butts, pork loin roast halves go on sale, buy extra. Cook in a large slow cooker or your oven with some liquid smoke. Shred, add buns and BBQ Sauce, then make sandwiches. Easy Peasy!
We do a build your own sandwich bar. Costco crosients, Hawaiian rolls, meat cheese lettuce. Super cheap can feed about forty!
Taco bar is my favorite to do
Carry out pizza using available coupons/ deals. Add a side salad and cookies/bars for dessert.
Don’t? Haha. Pasta always stretches far, but be careful of allergies.
Potluck
Having to feed over 40 teenagers on a regular basis at church youth group or for family Sunday lunch with 25+ people, I have figured out a few crowd favorites that are easy. BBQ Pork sandwiches are super easy and economical with purchasing pork butts on sale. Prep in the crockpot over night with 1 Tbsp salt,1 Tbsp liquid smoke and 3 Tbsp water. Can even cook days in advance, remove fat and then freeze until ready to heat and serve. Prep and freeze macaroni and cheese casserole and then bake the day of as well.
Taco bar is a fan favorite and everyone can customize to their liking – beef, chicken, Sam’s Club pork carnitas are awesome, cilantro lime rice, yellow rice, or Mexican rice, etc. The options are endless and people can help bring fixings (lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, etc). And who doesn’t love chips and salsa. When time is a factor, Little Caesars has always come to the rescue. When ordering for a crowd always order 2.5 slices per person and then throw in one more pizza and the math has never failed us for families, teens, or college age students (small children would be the exception).
People love to be part of something and most want to not only attend a dinner, but also contribute to a dinner. Don’t be afraid to ask people to bring something. It makes them feel more welcome.
Add lots of sides that are inexpensive. So folks will fill up on the extras and take a smaller portion of the main entree.
Pulled pork in the crockpot or the classic New England baked bean “suppah” are our go tos at camp when we are all there and it’s a big crowd to feed!! We try to keep it simple so we can enjoy each other’s company!❤️
Huge salad bar, baked ziti and garlic bread (homemade using sourdough or French loaves from big grocery store bakery). Make a couple Bundt cakes and serve with ice cream for dessert.
Winco, costco and safeway makes pinwheel sandwiches, subs, fruit and veggie platters, hummus platters and of course cupcakes/brownies. Def can feed crowd affordably.
Plan and compare prices.
Or if you want to make the food yourself, casseroles or baked spag/alfredo, garlic bread, maybe baked chicken on the side and side of salad/fruit. Or bbq themed like grilled chicken, corn on the cobb, potato salad/ mac salad, beans, side of green salad, and summer fruits like melons and berries. Can also feed a lot on budget
For meat eaters, plan a meal with ground beef like tacos, sloppy joes, lasagna etc. Check warehouse clubs and sales for the best price. Add mashed beans to the ground beef make it go farther. For Vegetarians and Vegans make a dairy free pasta dish or Potato Bar and salad.
there are always deals on pizza and dollar general for sadodeals