When I sent out a 911 for no-fail recipes that could feed an army, I was blown away at the response from my Hive Readers!
So, here are some great recipe ideas ranging from quick and easy to allergy-friendly from a few seasoned Hive Resources hostesses. I hope they’ll help you cultivate a hospitable heart while opening your home to others!
And be sure to enter Kristen’s giveaway for the adorable apron from Creative Chics – contest closes Thursday, Feb. 14 at midnight!
- Crock pot Lasagna (Jenna Caron) – Jenna suggests adding add extra tomato sauce because it can be dry.
- Meatball Subs (April Bailey) – Buy cooked meatballs in bulk from Costco or Sam’s and put in the crock pot with your favorite marinara sauce. Serve with hoagie rolls & top buns with meatballs and mozzarella cheese. You can toast the buns first if you want but it’s not necessary. Serve with veggies, chips or a salad.
- White Chicken Chili (April Bailey)
- Sweet and Sour meatballs (Joey Moser) – Frozen meatballs with 2 jars of grape jelly and 2 jars of chili sauce in the crock pot.
- French Dip Subs (Jessi Cooper Bowditch) – Add beef (skirt, flank, anything that will get TENDER–and you’ll literally need 3x what you’d need normally b/c it shrinks in size) to crock pot. Add 1 packet of Lipton’s French onion soup mix, & 2 cups beef broth per 1 cut if meat. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4. Serve on sub rolls-dip bread. Top with sautéd onions, peppers, mushrooms if you want to stretch the meal. You can cut or shred the meat ahead of time and serve with shredded mozzarella on top of sandwich.
- Chili beans w/cornbread muffins (Andrea Moon)
- Mexican chicken (Jessi Cooper Bowditch) – 3-4 chicken breasts (makes 6-8 burritos), 1/2 small jar of salsa, 1 tbsp of taco seasoning, and 1/2 lime’s juice. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8. Can serve with tacos too. Use a slotted spoon to drain meat before putting on taco shells. Pull chicken apart with 2 forks. More people? Throw in 6-8 and full jar of salsa. Frozen breasts work great–Jessi’s are usually frozen.
- BBQ pork tenderloin (Jessi Cooper Bowditch) – 1/2 bottle of Bull’s Eye Carolina BBQ sauce. Cook on low for 8, high for 4. Pull apart meat with 2 forks. Serve on buns. We love slaw w/ ours. This is easy and very economical for feeding large crowds at picnics, fellowship meals, etc. You can also use 4 large chicken breasts (boneless skinless).
- Poppy Seed Chicken (April Bailey) – You could leave out the poppy seeds with no real change to the recipe. Also, April likes to add a can of water chestnuts chopped for extra crunch. Serve over rice or noodles with a salad or green veggie. Read the reviews and make adjustments as needed. You can also cook the chicken ahead of time in the crock pot or boil it – saves time on cooking day.
- Cranberry Chicken with Wild Rice (Christina Fox) – Add chicken breasts, 1 packet of onion soup mix poured on top, canned cranberries on top of that, then pour a cup of French dressing on top to dish. Cover and bake 25 min at 400. Remove foil, bake another 15 at 350. Serve with rice.
- Garlic Lemon Double-stuffed Chicken (Anna Wheelock)
- Chicken-broccoli casserole (Madison Lynn) – Cut cooked chicken breasts in fourths, add bag of broccoli, cream of mushroom soup, water chestnuts, top with shredded cheese and bake for 1 hour.
- Greek Chicken (Amy Benning Baumgardner ) – Roasted chicken sprinkled with Greek seasoning when baking, topped with feta cheese & balsamic vinegar once out of oven. Served with roasted veggies (peppers, onion, zucchini, potatoes & carrots. You can roast chicken & veggies at the same time.
- King Ranch (Beef) Casserole (April Bailey) – 10 tortillas – flour or corn, 1 1/2 lb ground beef cooked, 1-2 cups Monterey Jack or Mexican cheese mix, 1 can cream of chicken soup, 1 can Rotel, 1 can evaporated milk. Mix soup, Rotel and milk together. In a casserole dish, layer tortillas, 1/2 of the meat, cheese and 1/3 of the cream mixture, repeat layers then top with additional tortillas, remainder of cream mix and cheese. Bake in 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes – until edges are bubbly. This can also be adapted for a much larger recipe. You can add some taco seasoning to the meat for more ‘oomph’ or use chicken if you prefer.
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- Paula Deen’s Easy Mac & Cheese (Karen Barfield) – Add a salad or two, bread and a dessert.
- Zesty Italian Potatoes (Andrea Ward) – Andrea said added 30 minute to the baking time and used shaved Parmesan cheese for a more elegant. Andrea made it on Saturday night and then heated it up during church service in the church kitchen, sprinkled with cheese and served.
- Dump Chicken (Jessi Cooper Bowditch) – Check out this link with over 20 recipes for meals you assemble precooked in zip-lock bags and freeze! Thaw when ready and pop in the oven! Jessi suggests using these meals for shut-ins, new moms, hospitalized friends, or new neighbors.
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- Texas Sheet Cake (April Bailey) – Sheet cake is an easy dessert that everyone loves. April omits the nuts and add about 1/2 tsp cinnamon to the cake batter.
- Monster Cookies (April Bailey) – 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup white sugar, 1 stick butter, 1 1/2 cup peanut butter, 2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt, 3 eggs, 4 1/2 cup oatmeal, 4 ounces M&Ms, 4 ounces chocolate chips. Cream butter, sugars and peanut butter until fluffy. Add baking soda and salt then add eggs one at a time, beating well after each one. Stir in oatmeal, M&Ms and chocolate chips. Drop by ice cream scoop onto a cookie sheet. Bake 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. This makes 3 dozen LARGE cookies (you can make them smaller if you wish). Don’t overbake – take them out of the oven before they turn brown. They also freeze very well – baked or unbaked.
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Got Allergies?
Check out my friend Dawn’s newly-launched foodie blog – Separate Spoons! She has some great allergy-friendly meals & menu items for your table. I love this recommendation – Lotsa Veggies Lentil Soup – that you could make and freeze! Thank you Dawn!!
Three cheers for all you Hive Resources hospitality experts! Thank you for submitting your ideas AND how you tweaked the recipe!
Looking for more inspiration? Check out some of my Pinterest boards on hospitality and yummy things to eat!
Leave your favorite recipe in the comments! Also, share the link to your favorite Pinterest board or your own! I love finding new boards to follow!
*Please note, I have not tested these recipes, but they come very highly recommended. I hope they bolster your recipe arsenal! Thank you to everyone who contributed their ideas!
I am getting ready to cook for crowd of students(30-35)..can not decide what to pick,all looks so good