Party finger food on a budget

muckety

Having a few friends & family in for a significant anniversary. Probably about 50 in all, adults and children for a couple of hours so just looking to do some finger food rather than an anything substantial. Issue is it has to be done on a shoestring budget.

I'm thinking of : (hot) sausages (with a bit of a glaze maybe?) and small new potatoes (roasted in oil); (cold) baguette with home made humous, maybe some mixed cold meats.

I'd appreciate any other (cheap) ideas! Thanks

Diddler1977

Although not finger food, pasta salad is extremly cheap and looks great if you use lots of nice coloured veg. A few large bowls of this can cost just a few euro - and it is filling!

huskerdu

Crackers with a range of pates and soft cheeses are a good idea.

Here is another idea for a nice finger food.

Buy a packet of ready rolled puff pastry. Thaw and roll out quite thinly.
Cut into squares of about 2cm * 2 cm. Put a small dollop of pesto or red pesto in the middle of each square and bake in a hot oven until all puffed up. One packet of party and one jar makes loads. You could experiment with other toppings too.

muckety

That puff pastry idea gives me some ideas alright! Is there an edible lidl or aldi puff pastry? Or is it as cheap in dunnes?

Mrs Fox

Get a punnet of cheap cherry tomatoes.
Slice the top off and scoop out the insides.
Stuff them with a small amount of filling of your choice - hummus, tzatziki, tuna mayo mix, thousands island, pea-sized mozarella with a shred of basil, cream cheese, etc.

Make a small slice across the bottom of the cherry tomatoes to ensure they stand upright.

It'll look something like this.

huskerdu

muckety wrote: »

That puff pastry idea gives me some ideas alright! Is there an edible lidl or aldi puff pastry? Or is it as cheap in dunnes?

I dont think I have ever seen frozen puff pastry in Lidl or Aldi. Tesco or Dunnes is your best bet.

Diddler1977

What about making your own mini pizzas?

emaleth

You could also try mushrooms stuffed with sausage meat. Trés yummy. I soften shallots and garlic and the diced mushroom stems in a little oil, then add some thyme leaves and a splash of white wine. Throw in the sausage meat, break up well and cook. Let it cool down, add a tablespoon or so of cream cheese and then stuff your mushrooms. Grill them for 10 - 15 minutes. They're really, really nice but the sausage meat has to be decent. Last time I used Superquinn's Toulouse Sausages. Still not too expensive at all.

Also, I've had Superquinn's own brand puff pastry and it's as good as Jus-Rol. I haven't ever noticed it in Aldi or Lidl. As far as I can remember it was €1 cheaper than the Jus-Rol.

The crackers and cheese and nibbly things is a good idea too, even cheaper if you make your own pate. Chicken livers are dirt cheap, and the crackers in Aldi are lovely, they're all I buy now. Also on the chicken livers front, there's devils on horseback, which are unbelievably tasty.

BengaLover

Cant beat loaded potato skins.

deelite

Chicken wings are great.

psycho-hope

puff pastry spread with some tomato relish and goats cheese pop it in the oven for about 10-15 mins and cut into slices, its kinda like a pizza, lidl do a nice goats cheese that melts really well

mw3guc

Devilled eggs - a huge favourite for any occasion in our house. Hard boil the eggs in advance to assist in the preparation. A handy tip is to put all the yolks into a good plastic bag with the mayo and your fillings. Mush it all up, snip off the end of the bag and pipe into the white shells. No mess, no muss! A sprinkle of smoked parika and they're ready to serve.

Mrs Fox

Mrs Fox wrote: »

Get a punnet of cheap cherry tomatoes.
Slice the top off and scoop out the insides.
Stuff them with a small amount of filling of your choice - hummus, tzatziki, tuna mayo mix, thousands island, pea-sized mozarella with a shred of basil, cream cheese, etc.

Make a small slice across the bottom of the cherry tomatoes to ensure they stand upright.

You can also do the same with boiled new potatoes.

It'll look something like this.