How to make dinner for a crowd that everyone will love. I served this meal for 10 people One the menu: Chicken salad on croissants, funeral potatoes, green salad, and fruit!

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Sunday nights we invite my adult kids, and anyone else who needs a meal, to our house for dinner. (check out my list of big group dinners here).

This week, I was able to prepare most of this meal on Saturday, which was great for keeping the kitchen clean on Sunday!

What I served with Chicken Salad Croissants

With this meal, I served:

• Chicken salad sandwiches
• Green salad
• Funeral Potatoes
• Fruit (specifically grapes)

Shopping for dinner for 10 people

The hardest part of feeding a crowd is knowing how many groceries and ingredients to buy. Here’s how I shopped for this meal:

• 1 dozen Costco Croissants.
• One large package of Chicken thighs (3 lbs) I calculated this assuming each person will eat 4 ounces of meat) You can also use chicken breasts, and I actually think breasts taste better in chicken salad. You’d still want 3lbs.
• 1 jar Mayonnaise
• 4-5 stalks celery
• Lettuce and tomatoes for people who want to add this to their chicken salad sandwich (Not much!)
• 1 lb grapes (for the chicken salad and on the side)
• Two bags of green salad from Costco (we keep getting the Kale salad because everyone seems to like this.) One bag has 8 cups/servings, and I try to get 1 cup of salad per person.
• Enough potatoes, cream of chicken soup, cheddar cheese, and sour cream for one 9X13 pan of funeral potatoes.
• and I topped it all off with some chocolate chips to make cookies again. (I used this recipe for chocolate chip cookies, and I will NEVER try another recipe again! They were absolutely perfect!

To prep the day before.

I love that I could get this whole thing ready the day before. It makes the day of the dinner relaxed and enjoyable- plus all the dishes could be cleaned before the overload of dinner dishes.

• So, I made the ENTIRE chicken salad. This is best the next day anyway as it can chill in the fridge overnight.
• I prepped the funeral potatoes, without cooking them, and kept it in the fridge overnight.
• And I made the chocolate chip cookies.

To finish just before dinner

• Just before dinner, slice the croissants in half if they didn’t come that way (Costco’s does not).
• Bake the funeral potatoes in the oven. This takes at least 1 hour, especially from straight out of the fridge. So, make sure you start this on time.
• Mix the salad.
• Wash the rest of the fruit and put in a bowl.

Tips for making it weight loss friendly

You can absolutely make delicious food for your family, and stay on your diet! The way I modified this meal to fit my current weight loss goals, is

• Put the chicken salad on lettuce instead of the croissant. (147 calories, 18 g protein, 9 g carbs, 5 g fat)
• I added two slices of tomato
• I skipped the funeral potatoes.
• I had a generous helping of green salad (per cup 160 calories, 3 g protein, 17 g carbs, and 10 g fat)
• And ate some grapes. (30 calories, 0 protein, 10 g carbs, 0 fat)

For a grand total of 337 calories, 21 g protein, 36 g carbs, and 15 g fat.

Then, you’re ready to eat! Honestly, this meal takes less time in the kitchen than you would think. It’s quick, easy, and everyone loves it!