Cooking for huge crowds is not my cup of tea!
Not saying I won’t do it, but I really don’t have much experience in cooking for more than 35 people at a time. If I let myself, I can have knots in my stomach the whole time I’m in the kitchen . . . wondering if there will be enough to go around and hoping I don’t burn the entire recipe.
At our church school, the mothers serve hot lunch to the children every Wednesday. When you divide it up between three ladies per time, your turn usually comes around three times each school year. This past Wednesday it was my turn to be in charge of the hot dish and so I chose ham and potatoes.
This recipe made two of these electric roaster about three-fourths full each. (I think the roasters are 18 quart size). We served close to ninety people and came away with probably 1 1/2 gallons of ham and potatoes left over. However, that included many young children. If it had been more adults, we would’ve come out about right. But leftovers was fine with me! My family got them for supper and the rest put in the freezer to pull out at a moment’s notice.
This stockpot is what I made the white sauce in and it was almost to the top. A little bigger one wouldn’t hurt!
Now for the recipe:
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Ham and Potatoes for 100
30 lbs. potatoes, peeled, cooked, and diced
18 lb. ham (bone-in), baked, cut off bone, and diced (reserve 1 quart of ham juice)
Put some of your ham juice in the bottom of your roasters. Now dump in the cooked potatoes and ham. Make your white sauce.
White Sauce:
5 quarts milk
2 1/2 cubes butter
2 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 tablespoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons pepper
2 1/2 lbs. Velveeta cheese, cubed
1 large onion, chopped (or sprinkle on onion flakes instead)
Heat butter and 4 quarts milk. Note: I also put in a small amount of the reserved ham juice to get the rich ham flavor throughout the sauce as well.
Mix 1 quart milk with flour; pour into hot milk. Stir constantly until thick. Take off heat. Add Velveeta cheese, salt, and pepper. Stir until cheese is melted.
Pour over ham and potatoes. Sprinkle onion or onion flakes on top and mix all together carefully.
Heat about 1 hour.
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Now strap on your apron and enjoy feeding that crowd!!
They’re not so scary when you have a good recipe to back you up!
Linking to some of these blogs.
- The Adventum CD Collection – Sale Now - March 27, 2021
- Alternative To Facebook Option - January 30, 2021
- The Beauty of the Hoary Head - January 2, 2021
Cindy Sweitzer says
I have a small cookbook called “Cooking for a Crowd”
and I love it and it has come in quite handy.
livingintheshoe says
That is what I need! Where did you get it?
Rattlebridge Farm -- Foodie Friday says
Cooking for more than 12 is an art form–bravo to you! A great recipe, one that everyone needs!
Heather says
wow—you are not used to cooking for more than 35 at a time? Oy! I am good if I can make a roaster full of soup for canning up a couple times a year, or a large dish to share for potluck at our church monthly! Thanks for linking up at our weekly link party! Really enjoyed it, liked your page on FB, and will look forward to more submissions in the future!
Have a wonderful and blessed day, Kendra!
~Heather @ The Welcoming House
Kendra says
Wow that looks so good!! I rarely if ever encounter situations where I need to cook for 100 people, but I could definitely half this for a church potluck at least. If I sit down with my calculator I could probably figure out how to make this for my family of 4 haha! Yay fractions 😉 It just looks super delicious!!
Kendra says
Aren’t calculators and fractions awesome for cooking?!!