11 Super Thrifty Christmas Buffet Ideas
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Feeding a crowd this Christmas? These ideas Thrifty Christmas Buffet Ideas will help bulk out any buffet for pennies and are all super tasty too. From crowd-pleasing roasties to fancy poppy seed and carrot salad there are ideas to suit all tastes and even the smallest budgets.
There are plenty of occasions over the festive period that might call for a buffet. Buffets are brilliant when you have a crowd to feed
Thrifty Christmas Buffet Ideas
1. Pasta Salad
Most of the supermarkets do a basic bag of penne or fusilli for around 30p. Simply cook until soft and then cool under running cold water.
I usually add a tablespoon of olive oil to stop the pasta from sticking and a tablespoon or two of mayo.
As for the vegetables to add that’s entirely up to you! One of the cheapest options is to add a large handful of frozen peas and frozen sweetcorn to the pasta while it’s cooking.
However, anything you have lying around or left can be chopped up and thrown in including onions, cucumber, spring onion, tomato, olives, and cooked broccoli.
You could also add chopped-up ham, bacon, chicken or even leftover turkey.
Pesto is another great way to add flavour to as a Pasta salad.
It’s cheap both to buy or make yourself if you have a basil plant. It’s also great if you don’t want to add a load of other ingredients to your pasta salad – pesto covered pasta is colourful and can be served as is.
The only thing to be aware of here is that pesto isn’t always vegetarian so while you’ll not adding any meat this dish still might not be suitable.
2. Rice Salad
Rice salad is another lovely and cheap addition to any buffet. A 1kg bag of basics rice costs around 50p and unless you’re feeding a huge crowd you won’t need to use the whole bag.
Cook the rice according to packet instructions and then cool in a colander under cold running water.
I like to add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil to my rice for flavour and to stop it from clumping together.
Like with the pasta salad, you can have any combination of vegetables you like – my favourites to go with rice are olives, red peppers, spring onions and mushrooms.
When making rice salad make sure to chop everything up into quite small pieces and use different colours to break up the white. I always add plenty of salt and pepper to this dish too. Be sure to refrigerate until needed.
3. Carrots
Carrots always reduce greatly in price during Christmas week with 1kg bags often down to 20p.
Carrot sticks can be used on a crudité platter or served along with side chips and dips. Grated carrots can be used in salads or be a salad in its own right like this Poppy Seed and Carrot salad recipe.
Of course, there’s also homemade coleslaw which is always a hit. Try mixing it up to use ingredients you already have in – for example, you could use red cabbage instead of white or use grated apple.
4. Thrifty Christmas Buffet Ideas: Potatoes
Potatoes are of course very cheap and super versatile. There are lots of ways to prepare them when feeding and I’m going to share a few of my favourites.
Stuffed jacket potatoes are simple and tasty but do require a little bit of time to prepare. After cooking cut the baked potatoes in half and scoop out the white potato.
Mix the potato with butter and seasoning and then add your choice of filling. Spring onion and bacon is a classic combination. Refill the potato skins, too with cheese and reheat before serving. Serve with a small dollop of Creme Fraiche
Roast potatoes are classic and easy to make. I tend to parboil mine and fluff them up. Don’t to reuse the skins – this recipe is vegetarian one with peppers and onions.
5. Use Cooking Bacon
Cooking bacon is one of my favourite thrifty ingredients and it has a multitude of uses. Diced and fried it could be added to many of the dishes mentioned above as a cheap alternative to ham. It’s also great in quiches and on top of pizzas.
What I Did With A £1.29 Pack Of Cooking Bacon
6. Bread
Serving a bread basket is a great way to bulk things up. Most of the bread I buy comes from the reduced section but a large crusty loaf comes in at around £1 at most supermarkets.
Cut into chunks rather than slices for a more decorative serving suggestion.
You could also cut up a French stick or cook some of the par-baked ones which are usually very cheap.
7. Sausage Rolls
Is a buffet a buffet without sausage rolls?
The cheapest way to do them is to buy frozen and cook them yourself and at around £2 for 50 they’re pretty thrifty too.
8. Puff Pastry
Buying a block of frozen puff pastry that can be turned into lots of dishes is a great way to make one ingredient go a long way.
Take a look at the below recipes for some inspiration
- Cheese straws
- Palmiers – these can be sweet or savoury
- Puff Pastry tarts – just throw on whatever cheese and veggies you have in
- Cheese and bacon Savoury pinwheels
- Vol au Vents – Mummy Vs Work has some Fab Suggestions for fillings in this post.
Puff pastry can often be found in the yellow sticker section, so look out for it in the run-up to Christmas and freeze until needed.
Supermarket Reduction Times: The Best Times For Yellow Sticker Shopping
9. Pizzas
Pizzas are fairly cheap to buy if you go for frozen, most supermarkets will have a budget version for around £1.
Of course, you could also opt to make your pizza using baguettes or English muffins topped with passata, cheese and other toppings you fancy.
10. Sandwiches
Sandwiches are a great way to fill up a buffet and can usually be made pretty cheaply. If it’s post-Christmas then usually there will be plenty of cold turkey or ham to fill them up with. Add cooked stuffing for an extra Christmassy feel and use up any leftover cranberry sauce too. Egg mayo is also a very cheap sandwich filling.
11. Christmas cake
Thrifty Lesley has a fantastic budget Christmas cake recipe which is just £3.
Thrifty Christmas Buffet Ideas – Plan your menu
- Buying ingredients that can be used in one or more dishes is a great way to make sure everything is used up. For example, red pepper could be used for crudités, and in both the rice and pasta salads.
- Avoid pre-cooked sausage rolls, cocktails sausages and mini pasties from the refrigerated section as while convenient they aren’t great value for money, opt for frozen instead. Savoury eggs are worth buying though as they are so fiddly to make
- If you’re planning to eat leftover buffet food the following day make sure it’s out for no longer than four hours and then any ready-to-eat foods are refrigerated (this includes salads, meats, pizza and sandwiches)
