The hard part of cooking for a crowd is not the cooking, it is the arithmetic and the oven space. A recipe for four tripled does not fit in one pan, and three pans do not bake in the same time as one. Everything below is written for ten servings or more as published, so the pan size and the timing are already correct.

Twenty-five recipes grouped by what they are for: big mains first, then lasagnas, meatballs, party trays, dips, breakfast, rolls and breads, and sheet-pan desserts. Every entry lists the real total time, the exact number of servings and the ingredient count. The smallest here serves ten; the largest serves fifty.

Mains That Feed Ten or More

Four centerpieces. Three of them are mostly unattended oven or smoker time.

Texas Ranch Style Stew

A pound and a half of ground beef with smoked sausage, four potatoes, three cans of tomatoes, pinto beans, corn and frozen vegetables in four cups of water. Fourteen ingredients, serves ten, and ninety minutes. View the full recipe — 1 hour 30 minutes · 10 servings · 14 ingredients

Honey Glazed Spiral Ham

A bone-in spiral cut ham glazed with a cup each of honey and brown sugar, Dijon, cider vinegar, butter and a teaspoon of ground cloves. Eight ingredients, serves sixteen, two hours. View the full recipe — 2 hours · 16 servings · 8 ingredients

Garlic Herb Roasted Turkey

A whole turkey with a cup of butter mashed with garlic and a quarter cup of fresh sage, rosemary and thyme, stuffed with lemon and apple and basted with a cup of white wine. Four hours fifteen. View the full recipe — 4 hours 15 minutes · 10 servings · 10 ingredients

Smoked Whole Packer Brisket

Five ingredients: a ten-pound packer brisket with a quarter cup each of kosher salt and coarse black pepper, garlic powder and oil, smoked thirteen hours. The whole recipe is salt, pepper and patience. View the full recipe — 13 hours · 12 servings · 5 ingredients

Lasagna for Twelve

Three lasagnas, all serving twelve, each solving a different problem: no boiling, freezing ahead, or a sauce worth three hours.

No Boil Lasagna

Twelve no-boil noodles with a pound of ground beef and eight ounces of Italian sausage in forty-eight ounces of sauce, plus half a cup of water so the noodles hydrate. No pot of boiling pasta at all. View the full recipe — 1 hour 45 minutes · 12 servings · 12 ingredients

Freezer Lasagna

Two pounds of ground beef with onions, carrot, celery and mushrooms, thirty ounces of ricotta and eighteen uncooked noodles, built to go straight into the freezer. Eighteen ingredients. View the full recipe — 1 hour 55 minutes · 12 servings · 18 ingredients

Slow Simmered Meat Sauce Lasagna

A pound of sweet Italian sausage with three quarters of a pound of beef in twenty-eight ounces of crushed tomatoes, twelve ounces of tomato paste and half a teaspoon of fennel seeds, simmered before it is layered. Three hours fifteen. View the full recipe — 3 hours 15 minutes · 12 servings · 19 ingredients

Meatballs and Tamales

Three. The first makes fifty and takes four hours of slow cooker time you do not have to watch.

Simmered Meatballs in Marinara Sauce with Parmesan

Three pounds of ground chuck with six eggs and a cup and a half of breadcrumbs, simmered in eight cups of marinara. Thirteen ingredients, serves twelve, and the meatballs hold in the sauce for hours. View the full recipe — 1 hour 30 minutes · 12 servings · 13 ingredients

Homemade Pork Tamales

Four cups of masa harina with a cup of lard and two cups of broth, filled with shredded pork and cheese in twenty corn husks. Eight ingredients, twenty tamales. View the full recipe — 2 hours 30 minutes · 20 servings · 8 ingredients

Honey Garlic Meatballs

Thirty-two ounces of frozen fully cooked meatballs in a sauce of ketchup, a third of a cup of honey, brown sugar, soy sauce and four cloves of garlic. Nine ingredients, fifty servings, and almost no work. View the full recipe — 4 hours 10 minutes · 50 servings · 9 ingredients

Party Trays

Four appetizers by the dozen. Three of them make twenty-four or more.

Cheddar Sausage Balls

Six ingredients: a pound of bulk breakfast sausage with two cups of sharp cheddar and two cups of biscuit mix. Makes thirty-six in forty minutes, and they freeze raw. View the full recipe — 40 minutes · 36 servings · 6 ingredients

Classic Deviled Eggs Recipe

Twelve eggs with a third of a cup of mayonnaise, yellow mustard, a teaspoon of cider vinegar and garlic powder. Eight ingredients, twenty-four halves. View the full recipe — 45 minutes · 12 servings · 8 ingredients

Dill Pickle Cracker Bites with Cream Cheese

Six ingredients: sixty buttery crackers topped with eight ounces of cream cheese beaten with garlic powder and fresh dill, and a slice of dill pickle. Makes thirty. View the full recipe — 45 minutes · 30 servings · 6 ingredients

Crab Rangoon Bombs

Eight ounces of cream cheese with two cans of lump crab, imitation crab, mozzarella and green onions, breaded in panko and fried. Makes twenty-four. View the full recipe — 1 hour 42 minutes · 24 servings · 8 ingredients

Dips and Snack Mix

Two things that sit out for hours without anybody tending them.

Homemade Savory Cereal Mix

Nine cups of cereal in three kinds with two cups of pretzels, a full cup of butter, two tablespoons of Worcestershire and seasoned salt. Ten ingredients, serves ten, and it keeps a week in a tin. View the full recipe — 1 hour 40 minutes · 10 servings · 10 ingredients

Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Dip

Four cups of shredded chicken with half a cup of hot sauce, eight ounces of cream cheese, ranch, two cups of cheddar and a cup of blue cheese crumbles. Seven ingredients, and the slow cooker keeps it warm all afternoon. View the full recipe — 2 hours 40 minutes · 12 servings · 7 ingredients

Breakfast for a Crowd

Three. One makes twenty-four and the sheet pan pancakes replace standing at the griddle.

Blueberry Sheet Pan Pancakes

One batter poured onto a sheet pan and baked instead of flipped. Ten ingredients, thirty minutes, twelve servings, and everybody eats at the same time. View the full recipe — 30 minutes · 12 servings · 10 ingredients

Pancake Sausage Bites

A simple pancake batter around eight breakfast sausage links, baked in a muffin tin. Eight ingredients, makes twelve. View the full recipe — 40 minutes · 12 servings · 8 ingredients

Muffin Tin Mini Quiche with Pie Crust

Six ingredients: two refrigerated pie crusts cut into rounds, five eggs with half a cup of milk, and a cup of whatever add-ins you have. Makes twenty-four in forty-three minutes. View the full recipe — 43 minutes · 24 servings · 6 ingredients

Rolls and Bread by the Dozen

Three. One of them makes forty-eight servings from a single mix.

30 Minute Soft Pretzels

Seven ingredients and thirty minutes with instant yeast: four cups of flour, a tablespoon of honey and a quick boil before baking. Makes twelve. View the full recipe — 30 minutes · 12 servings · 7 ingredients

Fluffy Homemade Dinner Rolls

An enriched dough with a cup of whole milk, half a cup of butter and two eggs, making twenty-four rolls. Eight ingredients, two hours eighteen, most of it rising. View the full recipe — 2 hours 18 minutes · 24 servings · 8 ingredients

Soft Crusty Bread Loaves

Six ingredients at scale: four cups of warm water, three tablespoons of yeast and eleven cups of bread flour. Forty-eight servings from one mix, which is three or four loaves. View the full recipe — 2 hours 30 minutes · 48 servings · 6 ingredients

Sheet Cakes and Big Desserts

Three desserts that cut into twenty or more squares, which is what you want when the count is uncertain.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Sheet Cake

Three quarters of a cup of cocoa with two teaspoons of instant coffee and a cup of boiling water in the batter, under peanut butter buttercream, chocolate drizzle and mini peanut butter cups. Twenty servings. View the full recipe — 2 hours · 20 servings · 22 ingredients

Marshmallow Creme Chocolate Fudge

Three cups of sugar cooked with evaporated milk and butter, then twelve ounces of chocolate chips and seven ounces of marshmallow creme. Seven ingredients, thirty-six pieces. View the full recipe — 2 hours 20 minutes · 36 servings · 7 ingredients

Sheet Pan Tiramisu Cake

A six-egg sheet cake soaked in coffee liqueur syrup under four cups of whipped cream with mascarpone and condensed milk. Twenty-four servings, and the ten hours is almost entirely chilling. View the full recipe — 9 hours 50 minutes · 24 servings · 14 ingredients

Questions About Cooking for a Crowd

How do I work out how much food I need?

For a sit-down meal, count one main serving per adult and add ten percent. For a party with appetizers, count four to six pieces per person across all the trays, which is why the thirty-six sausage balls and thirty cracker bites on this page are usually two of several things rather than the whole spread.

Which of these can I make ahead?

The freezer lasagna is built for it, the sausage balls freeze raw, the meatballs hold in sauce for hours, and the snack mix keeps a week. The tiramisu sheet cake and the fudge both need to be made at least a day ahead anyway. Deviled eggs and the fried crab rangoon are the only two that should be made the same day.

What serves the most people here?

Honey Garlic Meatballs at fifty servings, then Soft Crusty Bread Loaves at forty-eight and the sausage balls and fudge at thirty-six each. The smallest thing on this page still serves ten.

How do I keep food warm for a party without drying it out?

A slow cooker on warm is the best tool, which is why the buffalo chicken dip and the honey garlic meatballs both use one. For oven dishes, cover with foil and hold at 200 degrees F, and add a splash of liquid before you cover a lasagna or a stew.

Can I bake two lasagnas at once?

Yes, but not on the same rack and not at the stated time. Put them on separate racks, rotate them halfway through, and expect fifteen to twenty minutes longer than one pan. Two pans in a home oven block airflow, which is the whole reason the timing shifts.

What is the least work for the most people?

Honey Garlic Meatballs: nine ingredients, frozen meatballs, a sauce you stir together, fifty servings. After that, the brisket at five ingredients for twelve, and the snack mix at ten ingredients for ten.

Which are cheapest per serving?

Texas Ranch Style Stew, which stretches a pound and a half of ground beef across ten servings with potatoes, beans, corn and canned tomatoes. The tamales and all three lasagnas are also low cost per head because the pasta, masa and beans do most of the bulk.