We are having Christmas Dinner again at our house this year. Last year I made lasagna - big hit. This year my mom wants to make lasagna for Christmas Eve dinner with the family, so now I need a new idea. (Can't do ham or turkey, because we are doing that the weekend before for my husband's family). Any suggestions? 15 people: adults and children. Want it to be easy or something I can do ahead of time (which is what I did with lasagna) so I don't have to cook all day Christmas day!!
Was thinking about Italian Beef Sandwiches in a crockpot, but need a good recipe. Thanks all!
What about a nice beef stew? You could put it in the crock in the morning and it wil be ready when company arrives. Serve it with hot, crusty rolls and you're all set!
You could do swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes. That is what we are doing. My kids love meatballs, so that makes it easy for us.
what about a potluck? then you don't have to do it all :)
A bit hit for us is hamburgers in brown gravy. We cook hamburgers until they are 90% complete and then put them in a slow cooker with jar gravy (Heintz I think, but any will do) and let them cook for another hour or so. It is so easy and can be done in advance and reheated.
Merry Christmas!!
Have you tried allrecipes.com for an Italian Beef recipe? I think that is a great idea that most of the family should love. My mom makes a good Italian Beef and I believe it was a recipe she found off that site. Good luck with your dinner!
This is what my son-in-law made once last year for our very large family...he bought thinly sliced or shaved deli roast beef and just put it in the crock pot with beef broth (you could add some sauteed thinly sliced onions), heated it up and served it on crusty rolls and it was delicious, and so easy. Hope this helps you. Merry Christmas!
Do a nice roast. Very easy and not labor intensive. Make some potatoes and a salad to go with it. Allrecipes.com has great roast recipes that are all rated by folks who tried them.
Do a pork loin on the crockpot. I recently did one that turned out really good and you just rub salt and pepper on the pork, add an envelope of Onion Soup mix and a can of regular coke; cook for 6-8 hours and you can add some potatoes about 2 hours before you think it will be ready.
Serve with a salad or some vegetables and voila!
Good luck!
I would say do Tacos but not sure how well that would go over for a Christmas dinner. If you choose tacos then you can make all the meat ahead of time. I had to cook this summer a meal for 4 kids and 8 adults. I made 3 meats (one hamburger, one chicken and one shredded beef)...all the meat was made ahead of time.
So my other thought was like alot of other suggestions..make ahead of time (even now and freeze it) 3 different kinds of soups. Then have a HUGE salad and lots of yummy rolls. Going lighter on the meal will make for chowing on the dessert :):)
One last one would be like you said make shredded beef and/or pork sandwiches. If you need a recipe, go to ALLRECIPES.com and search for shredded beef. I ONLY cook the recipes that have 4 1/2 stars or 5 and have lots of reviews.
I made a really good chicken and rice casserole for a family gathering right after thanksgiving. It was the Campbell's soup chicken and rice with cream of mushroom soup. Look online at the Campbell's website. I doubled it and used cream of celery soup also and the recipe calls for a packet of dry Lipton's Onion Soup mix. I diced up the chicken, rather than the whole chicken breasts for ease of serving. I then doctored up the recipe and added chopped fresh celery, and mushrooms and a couple of cans of water chestnuts. We had a salad and a loaf hot crusty bread. Oh and also some good wine!
Pulled pork sandwiches are easy to do ahead of time, as well as carnitas, and then have a taco bar?
Roast beef or meatballs.
Have you ever tried chicken paprikash in the crockpot? It's really yummy and super easy to make, and it's a great winter comfort food kind of meal. There are lots of variations, but here's mine, which feeds about 6, so you could triple it and be good to go:
1 medium onion
3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 stick of butter
1 medium tub sour cream
1 box spaetzle (Kroger carries it in the pasta aisle)
2 cloves garlic, minced
paprika (I buy the smoked/sweet Hungarian kind - you'll need alot!)
garlic powder
salt and pepper
dash Frank's Red Hot sauce
Dice the onion and throw into a large crockpot, mix in the minced garlic. Season the chicken with salt, pepper and garlic powder and place on top of onion. Cover the chicken with paprika until the chicken is red (and I mean really red - I probably use 4 tablespoons). Place butter on top of chicken and cook 8 hours on low. Before serving, shred up the chicken with a fork and add 1/2 the tub of sour cream and a dash of Red Hot, then taste it and add more if you want it creamier/spicier. Cook the spaetzle according to the package directions, drain and add into the crockpot, mixing everything together. Allow it to cook on low for another 1/2 hour and it's ready to go. Serve in bowls with crescent rolls and a green salad.
It's even better the second day! Good luck with dinner :)
a Taco bar is always a great idea also. Make up the taco meat and some chicken fajita meat the day or 2 before. then all you have to do is heat it up and throw it in the crock pot the day of. you can chop all your lettuce, tomatoes and onions up and put in ziplocks ahead of time. open some sour cream and guacamole and chips and wala your done.
your actually not far from me lol so going to suggest our favorite italian beef place. go online and order Portillo's italian beef. they deliver it frozen to anywhere in the united states. it will come with a container of the juice. It is the best italian beef you will find anywhere. just get some hard rolls and your good to go. (I sent it to my son in law to his army base in Louisiana and he loved it)
What about pulled pork. You let it cook till its falling a part in the crock pot, shred it with a fork and addyour favorite BBQ sauce. Server with rolls and you are done. So easy and so yummy.
Six Hour Pork Roast
Basically get a boston shoulder pork roast from your butcher. Bake it at 275 for 1 hr per pound.
Easy: check
Good: check
Low Cost: check
check out the Six Hour Pork Roast recipe from food networks. I've made it quuite a few times (twice for Christmas) and I skip or take wide leeway with the seasonings. It turns out great.
How bout enchiladas? I did that one year and my MIL thought I was crazy! but I did them before hand only had to heat them up - had a green salad and some refried beans with fried bacon and cheese in them. It was easy all of it I did ahead of time and just had to warm things up real quick. It made for a great day and I actually got to socialize with people and relax instead of spending my whole day in the kitchen!!
As far as Italian Beef Sandwiches in a crock pot, I use a 7 bone boneless roast and brown it on all sides with LOTS of garlic salt. then put it in the cock pot on low, get a BIG jar of Pepperocini's and pull the stems off and dump the whole jar in juice and all, and let it cook all day - then shred up the beef with a fork and serve on rolls. That would be easy as well!!
Another thing I do with a roast sometimes is cook it all day in the crock pot with a big can or two small cans of enchilada sauce - you can then use it for enchiladas, or just use it to make kinda like soft tacos. When I do it with enchilada sauce I sometimes throw in onions and bell peppers and use it for fajitas.
I LOVE the crockpot!! Hope you have a wonderful Christmas with your family!!
you can do a roast in the crock pot - cook about 8 hrs. you can also do a nice stew in the crock pot or what about brisket?
We have different soups for Christmas Dinner. Usually 3 different crockpots going at a time. Last year we had Chili, Clam Chowder, and Beef and Veggie. We also have breads and crackers to go with the soups. It makes it really easy with little mess. We usually have between 15 and 20 people. Its also less expensive to do it this way too. Merry Christmas!
How about ravioli or stuffed shells? You can buy them at Costco, Sam's or BJ's. Cook up some sauce, cook up the ravioli or shells a few days a head of time, put it all together and refrigerate until Christmas Day. Through it in the oven add some salad and bread and there you go.
My favorite meal to feed a lot of people is homemade soup with salad and some sort of bread or rolls and a dessert. It doesn't take much to put it together and you can eve put the soup in a crockpot.
