A woman emailed me recently asking for tips on cooking for a large group. She has to cook dinner for 100 people later this month and wanted all the details on how I make butter chicken dinner for a crowd. So this post is for you, Vicky. I hope it helps!
I'll admit I had never made butter chicken before I tried it for a group of 50 earlier this year. It turned out to be a real favorite, and it happens to be gluten free too. It's easy to make dairy free as well: just leave out the butter in everything and sauté the vegetables in oil instead.
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The group wanted dinner at 6:30. It was mostly women, along with a few male staff, about 50 people in all.
We started work at 9 am with my wonderful, cheerful assistant Brittney, and it turned into quite an adventure. My approach to cooking for a crowd is to do everything I can to avoid last-minute panic and rushing. You never know what curveballs will come your way (this day was a perfect example!), so leaving some “wiggle room” for surprises matters a lot.
Step 1: Lay the skinless, boneless chicken breasts (in 2 to 3 kg boxes) on large baking sheets, sprinkle with butter chicken spice, and bake in a 350-degree oven.
Step 2: While the chicken bakes, make the sauce and toppings, and have your assistant whip up the no-bake cheesecake.
This meal is a bit like a Polynesian dinner crossed with curry chicken. For toppings, guests can add sunflower seeds, sour cream, fresh-cut pineapple, and coconut (not pictured) over their chicken and rice. (The fruit in the background was for the next morning's breakfast.)
Once everything is in serving bowls, cover the toppings and store them in the cooler (or fridge).
Also cover the finished cheesecake (made from a Jell-O cheesecake mix) and put it in the cooler.
Here is how to prep the butter chicken sauce:
Mix one 2.84-liter can of coconut milk and 1.42 liters of tomato sauce with 1/4 cup of butter chicken spice.
(This is the amazing spice I use, from www.acecurriestogo.com in Vancouver.)
Once combined, cover the sauce and refrigerate it in the cooler.
Also dice 3 onions, cover them, and store them in the cooler for later.
By now (about 30 to 45 minutes after it went into the oven), the chicken should be cooked. The thickest part should reach 74 degrees Celsius.
Let the chicken cool a little, then cut it into 1-inch chunks, divide them between 2 medium-deep hotel pans, cover, and refrigerate in the cooler.
That finishes the pre-prep. At this point (around noon) you could set up your serving line…or you could go home and do a few loads of laundry! :)
This is when things got a little adventurous! At 4:00 I headed back to the kitchen to start the butter chicken and discovered the power was out!!
Thankfully, we have propane stoves and gravity-fed water, so the show could still go on! :)
I started sautéing the diced onions in butter with about 1/8 cup of garlic, but it turns out sautéing in the dark is tricky!
Thankfully, Brittney had a flashlight app on her phone…
Once the onion and garlic were nicely sautéed, I stirred in the sauce and kept stirring until it started to simmer. Then I added the chicken chunks and let everything simmer a few more minutes.
Next I moved the chicken into 2 medium-deep hotel pans, covered them with foil, and set them in a 300-degree oven. There they simmer and let the flavors meld until dinner is served.
Brittney then cut and plated the desserts and stored them in the cooler.
Next I prepped the rice. For this group I put 6 cups of basmati rice into each of 2 medium-deep pans, sprinkled it with salt, and added a couple of chunks of real butter.
Then I poured 11 cups of boiling water over each pan, covered them tightly with foil, and baked them in a 350-degree oven for 45 minutes. (I time it to finish 15 minutes before serving.)
Brittney prepared the naan by cutting each round into quarters and brushing them with melted butter seasoned with garlic. It only needs about 5 minutes in the oven right before serving.
The spinach salad went into a large bowl, was sprinkled with craisins and feta cheese, and tossed together. (Buying washed, ready-to-serve salad greens will save you a TON of time, and they aren't necessarily more expensive.) Pour the salad dressing into serving bowls.
If the serving line isn't set up yet, do that now. (I completely forgot to take a picture of it!)
I bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the frozen peas about half an hour before serving. They do NOT need long to cook! Once they're done (about 5 minutes?), I drain them, add a few pats of butter, cover them with foil, and keep them warm in the warming oven.
And this is where a photo of the finished meal should go…
You'll just have to picture it with me. The power outage threw my photo system off completely! It came back on 15 minutes before the meal, but I was a bit too busy by then…
P.S. Looking for more meals for a crowd?
These ham and cheese sliders are a favorite!
