Using ground beef for reception dinner

Meatballs, meat sauce are the two options of ground beef pasta i can think of, and is really easy to do with some warmers! Salad and bread, good to go!

There’s a million ways to cook ground beef. Browse Pinterest for ideas. Not everyone finds meatballs appetizing but they may have no issue with ground beef crumbled in spaghetti sauce or enchiladas. Even burgers are a crowd pleaser.

View Quoted Comment Yes, that sounds great for a pasta bar, but my bigger question is how to cook and hold that volume of pasta without a large kitchen nearby?

Professional caterers use hot plates when manning action stations. https://www.homedepot.com/b/Appliances-Small-Kitchen-Appliances-Food-Warmers-Hot-Plates/N-5yc1vZc69y


Costco has food service bowls and pots for large quantities. Do you plan to reuse these items for large parties of this caliber after the wedding or this is one time use?

Have yinz thought of doing mini meatball appetizers?

View Quoted Comment A professional caterer would use chafing dishes. I really would not suggest self catering a wedding for 300 and encourage you to find a caterer/chefs to handle this for you.

View Quoted Comment Agree with this 💯 percent.

View Quoted Comment I agree that catering for 300 is impossible in this setting. Family and friends will not have five seconds to enjoy the wedding as a guest. If you are on a budget, look into drop off catering from a favorite local restaurant and hire staffing from thumbtack.com but do not DIY.

You could make a mini meatloaf, wrapped in bacon if you want to make it fancier. Salisbury steak with a cream gravy. Hamburgers for the kids, if you think it's too informal to serve as a main. That's very nice of your family and friends to offer to help. I would consider hiring staffers to serve at the reception though. That's alot of work.

View Quoted Comment I’m not sure how you plan to prepare and store enough of any type of food for 300 people without a large kitchen.

View Quoted Comment We come from a large, close-knit rural community where huge family gatherings are the norm, and practically everyone knows how to cook from scratch. We've attended numerous weddings and events where the food prep and service was entirely provided by family, friends, and acquaintances. Think Amish and Mennonite...only we aren't either. 😊 Most of these events include a line of Nesco ovens (borrowed from various people) filled with various kinds of pulled meat and sides. It's a beautiful thing when families and church come together for the purpose of uniting two people together; you might be amazed at how many WANT to help serve in this way and offer up their assistance without even being asked. Yes, it's a lot of work, but it's done together, and it's also a lot of fun. I've done it myself. I only asked the questions here that I did to possibly get extra insight and suggestions very specific to using the aforementioned ground beef.

What about lasagne or meatloaf? I personally do not eat beef (don't like taste or texture-- but would happily fill up on salad/starch/bread).

Burgers, lasagne, or ragu bolognese are good options I think! 👍 it's so nice you live in such a helpful community of people

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My parents wedding was exactly the same way when they held their wedding at a church back in 1990. I would ask the people who have agreed to help prepare the food if they have ideas about how to store it and warm it. You can buy pizza bags pretty easily and could put aluminum 9x13's filled with your food in there. Salad and rolls are easy sides for italian food and wont be difficult to store at all. If your community is used to this kind of celebration I am sure they are all more than willing to help you with the logistics. Maybe ask someone you know who did something similar how they handled it.

As far as the ground beef, meat sauce and meatballs are a great option. Using it in lasagna would be good. You could also do goulash or a soup. Soup would just be much more difficult to store and cater for that many people.

I’m not a vegetarian, but I would definitely prefer the option of meatballs over a meat sauce where you can’t avoid the ground beef. Just as a consideration if you decide to go the pasta route.

Congrats! I feel for those who haven't had the pleasure of attending and/or participating in an event like you describe. It IS purposeful and beautiful and the collective effort adds to the joyous occasion.... and yes, people besides caterers manage to hold large yummy and safe meals every day.

I'm all for the taco bar myself. Most all of the ingredients can be prepped and stored properly ahead of time, and the meat can be seasoned and cooked and ready for warmers in short order. The colors of all the fixins, a green salad and maybe some fresh fruit to start out with.... I'm salivating thinking about it. Anyone who doesn't eat meat would have plenty of choices to put together a substantial salad.

Taco bar or not - Good luck with whatever you choose and I wish you and yours a happy future.

View Quoted Comment I would ask then the people in your circles who do this regularly. This is extremely poor hosting, so most posters here will be unable to help as proper guest hosting is a high priority for most brides.

View Quoted Comment What an ignorant reply.

View Quoted Comment Thank you to those who were kind enough to be helpful rather than critical. Apparently I did not realize just how rare a sense of community is in our day and age. It so happens that we are blessed with a very large group of close friends and family, all of whom we want to include on our special day, rather than cutting them out because weddings supposedly need to cost mega thousands. We also don't believe in starting out with debt, unlike the vast majority of couples end up with. It doesn't have to be this way, and it's really sad that someone can say that a wedding done our way is "extremely poor hosting." I feel sorry for you, that you are unable to grasp a different outlook, and that you seem to be more concerned with appearances. Our guests are coming because they love us and want to share in the the joy and celebration, not because they expect a fancy expensive meal. For what it's worth, we are paying for the food, but are only looking for some help serving and preparing it - I believe I've already mentioned that there is a whole network of people willing - and those who do help are always compensated. But many of them refuse it because it's their way of showing love. That's just how we roll here. I guess I forget how unusual we are in this little micro-community. So I won't waste yours or my time any more here.

View Quoted Comment Thank you for your encouraging words.