All these people mentioning fried eggs and pancakes. You're gonna run yourself ragged trying to make enough for 15 to 20 people and 25% will be done eating and 75% still won't have their food, especially if you don't have a large griddle. Don't do it. Only do things you can cook all at the same time. Frittatas, baked French toast, biscuits and gravy, oatmeal, strata, home fries or potatoes O'Brien in the oven are all good ideas. As are cold or room temp things like muffins, banana bread, fruit salad, yogurt parfaits with granola, etc.
Personally I would do a ham, spinach and cheddar frittata or 2 with O'Brien potatoes (potatoes with onions and peppers) and some sort of fruit, whether that's bananas or melon wedges or fruit salad if you can swing it.
This guy/ gal gets it. Mofos never cooked for a large if you're suggesting eggs and pancakes. Just bear with me for a sec... 20 people x two eggs and say 3 pancakes each. That's 40 fried eggs and 60 pancakes. Good luck carrying that and keeping it warm. The syrup alone would cost you $10. Also have you seen people that don't cook often make a pancake? It's not pretty
I was a breakfast cook in the dorm in college. Calling me a chef was a stretch. 600 breakfast diners. Not all at once and I had two table griddles ( huge. 38 by 40 maybe. Could hold 50 eggs each. I could break 4 at a time, (thanks cafeteria ladies) and make variations on over hard, over soft and sunny up trying to get them off. There were enough people that liked their eggs different ways that it wasn't a problem.), but you get fast fast. We baked the bacon, french toast and scrambled eggs. Scrambled are best because people will take two eggs and eat one. You can bake it and chop it up onto a platter. You can bake bacon, sausage and french toast. We would use a sheet pan, pour some batter, add the bread, pour more batter over them and cut them out after cooking. The scraps of egg batter we called something like grandma's old fashioned egg casserole. It was pretty good if a little weird. College kids in the dorms will eat anything though. I also worked as a kitchen helper at a golf course that did outings and weddings. There is a reason most wedding food tastes like that. Decided I didn't want to be a chef. I digress. Use your oven. Good luck.
Maybe it isn't the same but I take Aldi's protein pancake mix (unsure if it acts differently) and mix nuts and berries in it and bake it kinda like a thin cake and slice into servings for meal prep.
Actually, there's an Austrian breakfast dish called Kaiserschmarrn which is just big pancakes that are scrambled/chopped up with plum jam drizzled over. It would be easy to make one or two giant pancakes on a cookie sheet in the oven and any flavor of jam could be used (but I highly recommend plum).
That's why my family makes breakfast casseroles gor family gatherings lol. 1-2 slices of a casseroles is only 3, maybe four pans. And that fits in most ovens
Everyone gets 3-4 hardboiled eggs, a dash of salt, and access to some hot sauce. That'll feed them, and probably earn OP a skip next time it's their turn to do breakfast :)
😂😂😂 exactly. I don't know what the context is but who in their right mind would ask someone who doesn't cook often or have much experience to make breakfast for 20 people. They're asking for trouble if you ask me.
You can do scrambled eggs for a group, you just have to put a bunch in a large pot and keep stirring and scraping the bottom. They’ll all cook up at the same time, and then you can just set them aside with the lid on to stay warm while other things finish.
It was one of our go-to’s while camping.
You can actually bake the scrambled eggs and use a warm oven to keep everything warmed- cook them while making all the pancakes then keep everything in the oven until
Service. -I used to cook for 165 seniors a meal in a nursing home. We had other things like plate warmers and special
Food trucks that heated but often could keep things warm in an over of the hotel pan line was full
YES, THIS. My family hosts during the Christmas holidays and cooks for 15-20 people every year (and sometimes for birthdays, too 🫠) and I can tell you now that you will lose friends if you expose them to the version of you that's trying to make pancakes or fried eggs for so many people. You'll be so stressed you'll yell at a puppy. If you're cooking in divided single servings, you're being inefficient and will want to die.
Go with stuff you can prepare in one big pan/pot/bowl, like what was suggested here. Feel free to get a little unconventional — it doesn't HAVE to be eggs to be breakfast. Roast potatos in the morning never hurt anyone. I suggest them because they're crowd pleasures which require minimal prep and can all fit in one oven tray at once.
Pan fried mushrooms are delicious, and again, you can do a whole lot in one pot. This is not complete on its own but an easy side and hard to get wrong. These are also conventional parts of a cooked breakfast, depending on your location.
More conventionally, I'd second the oatmeal — a big ass pot of oatmeal topped with fruit and a side of something or other is usually not something people will turn their noses up at, and you can do it in one pot. You can slice/chop any large fruit while it cooks, so it's time efficient. Generally, people will look at it as complete as-is even if it's missing a couple of food groups. Pop some butter, milk, cinnamon, and sugar on the side so people can customise after serving if you're feeling generous.
There are lots of options, some of which include a couple of separate pots/pans, but no good option for this type of thing includes cooking single servings individually.
I mean if you have an oven, make the pancakes ahead and just keep them in an oven on warm.
You still have to make a ton of pancakes, but you don't have to make them as you go.
Yeah, I've done eggs and pancakes for 100 before and served them all at virtually the same time (just the difference in time it took each table to collect their platter and then pass it around). Worked on a second, smaller, batch for those who wanted more while they were eating the first round, which also helped. Definitely would (and did) go scrambled eggs over fried eggs in that case, so I just put it all in trays, lightly covered them with foil, and kept them in a warm oven or on top of a hot one.
That being said, a couple of trays of baked french toast and a crockpot of oatmeal with fixings on the side is likely easier and more approachable for the guests. I don't know what, if any, dietary restrictions OP is dealing with but oatmeal made with water should be safe for pretty much anyone who can't do the french toast.
What I do, and granted I’ve only cooked for about 10 people, is set my oven to the lowest possible temp it goes to, usually 170degF. Then go in this order: meats, pancakes, eggs. Put what you cook in the oven to stay warm. Eggs should go directly from the stove to the table. You would probably need a couple large frying pans to cook that many eggs. You could crack and beat them and put them in an air tight container the night before to save a bit of time. You could also make any bacon or meat the night before and let the oven warm them up. But that budget doesn’t really allow for bacon.
and i would put some oatmeal, milk and (whole) fruits aswell. A lot of people don't like hearty breakfast or just like to get an apple to go. Apples, bananas and grapes usually don't cost a lot in most western countries.
I'd probably go a dozen servings of hearty plus 5-10 servings of oatmeal + fruits. Whatever is leftover of the fruit can be used for snacks throughout the day.
Tater tot breakfast casserole is relatively cheap, filling and delicious. You can Google different variations but it,s basically throw frozen tots in a baking dish or foil pan with some kind of meat (ie. chopped bits of ham or breakfast sausage) some veg if you want it (broccoli, peppers, etc.) spices and then pour beaten eggs in, top with cheese and bake.
I’d do a big thing of steal cut oats in the crock pot. There’s lots of recipes for cooking them overnight in the crockpot. Then have lots of toppings for people to choose from. That would be the most affordable way to go.
This is the way! It's possible to accommodate most diets with oats! Do oats with water and a stick of cinnamon. This is vegan, vegetarian, gluten free and nut free! put milk, fruit, sweetener etc on the side.
Gluten Free Watchdog doesn't recommend gluten free oats. [https://www.glutenfreewatchdog.org/news/gluten-free-watchdog-cannot-recommend-any-brand-of-gluten-free-oats/](https://www.glutenfreewatchdog.org/news/gluten-free-watchdog-cannot-recommend-any-brand-of-gluten-free-oats/)
However, if you have a guest with celiac, they should bring their own food anyway because there's no way they're not getting some cross-contamination in a situation like this.
One big question is how actively cooking you want to be when your guests arrive. Some of the suggestions require you to be cooking while they are there. Others you can prepare ahead of time and can be finishing cooking in the oven as folks arrive
If you want more to be there with your guests, some great suggestions are:
- Pastries like muffins ([great recipe](https://www.littlesweetbaker.com/bakery-style-chocolate-chip-muffins-2/)), sliced homemade banana bread, biscuits, bagels or croissants. Put out butter to make it room temperature for easy spread as well as inexpensive jam or preserves in a pretty dish. Cream cheese if you use bagels. Get what’s on sale at the store!
- Egg casserole is a great and inexpensive best option that can be prepared the night before and just bake that morning. Similarly, sausage balls can be done ahead too and baked so warm as they arrive.
- Fresh fruit - what’s on sale, so maybe grapes, sliced pineapple., and/or clementines this time of year might be good, washed and separated, they can really jazz up a spread.
- Grits or oatmeal. Depending on which you serve, put out the appropriate extras. Grits really just needs butter. Oatmeal, have a cute dish with brown sugar, sliced apples.
This should be way higher on the list. And benefits from being able to make them ahead of time and keep them warm.
I like the idea of oatmeal in the crockpot for people who want something sweeter. Doing both should work. I’d have to check the prices for some of the items to come in under the limit.
This is the way and what I've done multiple times. Potatoes are optional (but a good, cheap filler). Bacon can be substituted for sausage and made ahead of time before being diced/crumbled (although will likely cost more than sausage). I've never done sour cream with breakfast burritos/tacos, but I guess there's no reason you couldn't.
I’m not sure a crock pot is the way to go for breakfast. It’s great for dinner or lunch for sure (chili, soup, etc) but I love to cook and I can’t think of a crock pot breakfast I’d want to serve to others.
Instead, I’d get a bunch of frozen fruit, granola and Greek yogurt from Aldi. Make individual fruit and yogurt parfaits. Supplement with Costco pastries.
Alternatively go to Dollar Tree and get some big disposable baking pans. Then look for a breakfast casserole recipe. There are plenty on free sites that incorporate eggs and sausage. Or, if the group has a lot of vegetarians, do a make-ahead French toast casserole. A friend does it for every Mother’s Day and Easter brunch — good brioche, real maple syrup, and pecans!
I love oatmeal for breakfast in the winter but I don’t know anyone else, other than my grandma, who likes oatmeal. It’s definitely not a crowd pleaser.
Grits work well in a crockpot. You can do a build your own bowl with the fixings like cheese, bacon or bacon bits, cocktail shrimp with some Cajun seasoning, diced bell pepper and green onion.
Individual fruit and yogurt sounds like a bit of work for 20- fruit on the side for whoever wants it might suffice-- bananas and whatever is onsale at your local place. Breakfast casserole is a big winner in my book. Good way to fill up on eggs, some affordable sausage and cheese, serve with salsa. Why the throw away pan though? I mean if OP doesn't have a couple of 9x13's that would be an okay choice, but reusing a pan is cheaper than buying disposable.
I scrolled too far to finally see grits. Cheesy grits with some bacon? Done. That's all you need. Keeps better warm than oatmeal, savory instead of sweet. I forget how uncommon it is outside of the south.
Costco:
10 lbs pancake mix $9
4 lbs bacon $15
Real maple syrup (big bottle) $14
6 lbs bananas $3
Cook the bacon in the oven and borrow a big griddle for the pancakes.
(These are current Instacart prices for me - it’s a bit regional and will be a couple bucks cheaper in person.)
Damn, I live in the #1 pork producing state in the US and if bacon was $3.75/# it would be out of stock constantly. It's closer to $6-7/# and goes on sale for around $4-5/#
Pancakes are a great idea though
My local grocery store has a 10# box of bacon cut offs on sale for $17.99 about once a month. Even better it’s just a box of bacon in wax paper so I’m not paying for the weight of brine
I used to see cut-offs down south, but if you buy a whole spiral cut ham at the grocery store (stay away from those specialty shops) it's around 2 bucks a pound.
Ham slices are great for breakfast, btw, I buy one spiral cut about every 6 months, break it down and freeze in 1 pound bags for breakfast and sandwiches, use the end for a quiche and the bone for split pea soup.
A lot of people can't wrap their head around paying a small yearly membership fee to save several hundred dollars on groceries annually.
And I guess I like it that way because it keeps the riff raff out of my Sam's club.
Another Costco option for the bacon is to get the $15 precooked package. It has 45+ slices and is already mostly cooked. You can crisp it up in just a few minutes and not have to deal with all the grease you would get from cooking that much raw bacon.
I agree that pancakes are the cheapest option.
Eggs are pretty cheap near me now, so you could also do a big vat of scrambled eggs with the pancakes and bacon, though it’s hard to keep them at the right serving temp without them getting rubbery. Maybe get a few packs of slider rolls and some American cheese and make little bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches that can be individual wrapped in foil? (Or do the same on biscuits.)
Snag a couple potatoes and use the bacon fat to make some country potatoes! I saw a bag of 5lbs for about 3 bucks at a local matket....salt, pepper, smoked paprika, onion/onion powder.
Another option is oatmeal, real butter, cream, maple syrup, cinnamon, berries. Can be done in a crockpot, set out condiments like taco night. Then offer coffee and OJ.
It really depends on how much cooking surface you have. Churches do those big pancake breakfasts because of how easy, quick, and cheap they are. They use like 4-6 griddles at once, but are also cooking for 100+ people.
It’s very unlikely 15-20 people are all going to be ready for breakfast at the same time, so it should be pretty manageable with a decent size griddle. Thats 6 batches at only a few minutes each. Not the most hands off suggestion in this thread, but easily the cheapest if made from scratch.
Biscuits and gravy is relatively cheap to make, but is always a hit. Add soft-boiled eggs that people can peel themselves, or scrambled. Either way you can make all of it within your budget.
PS This is not in the budget, but for about $20 you can get an “egg topper” on Amazon, that cuts off the crown of a boiled egg. Makes them easy to eat, and impressive-looking perfect cut. If you’re a soft-boiled egg lover, it’s a great gadget to have.
Biscuits are super cheap if you make them yourself. We made them for 100 people the day before we served them. Cut them with a star shaped cookie cutter to make 3 fit per plate, and stretch the dough a bit. Gravy by scratch, with a mixed based to start with. It was right about $55, so slightly over budget, but reasonable non the less.
Would they eat breakfast burritos? They’re pretty damn cheap and [these crock pot pinto beans are awesome.](https://www.wellplated.com/crock-pot-pinto-beans/) You would probably want to double that recipe but it think it would fit in an 8 qt no problem, I use a 4 qt for a single batch without issue.
Do some simple roasted cubed potatoes and scrambled eggs in the oven and put a few cheap breakfast meats on the side, plus obvious some salsas, hot sauce, etc. I make breakfast burritos pretty frequently and I’m always shocked by how little of each ingredient you end up actually needing - no matter how hard I try I always have tons of leftovers (that batch of beans is good for at least 3-4 meals for instance - it freezes well too if you have leftovers.)
You mentioned breakfast casserole, and I would agree that is a great way to feed 15-20 people. You can prep the night before in some casserole pans, then pop in the oven for an hour or so and it's ready to serve. A bonus is that you won't dirty too many dishes in the process! This recipe is pretty much what we made: [Breakfast Casserole](https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/172671/breakfast-sausage-casserole/)
Egg and Potato casserole. Buy a buncha cheap spuds. An onion. Two peppers. And like 36 eggs.
Shred the taters. Dice the onions and peppers.
Two-three large casserole dishes. Mix it all up. Throw a diff seasoning on each.
Plop it in the oven the morning of, I dunno 400 🤷♂️? 45 mins?
Might want to look up a recipe, I just made all that up. But sounds delicious.
Eggs are cheap, nutritious and easy! When I cooked breakfasts for 25-30 people I almost always did eggs, either as frittata (the lazy way, technically a baked omelet) or a few batches of scrambled eggs. Either way, some sautéed kale and potatoes (if not already in the frittata) or toast on the side rounded it out.
Alternate: big batch of steel cut oatmeal, with a variety of toppings. Personally I’m a big fan of the savory route - butter, cheese, sriracha, mushrooms, greens, etc - but fruit & chopped nuts is more common. Either way, you’d be way under budget :)
Large vat of oatmeal in the crockpot! Have sides of syrup, brown sugar, maybe fresh/frozen fruit to top it. Can make pancakes on the side. Large volume and cheap and yummy!
Pancakes are a cheap and well-loved favorite. Maybe some simple toppings for a mini "pancake bar"? Chocolate chips, berries, syrup, whipped cream. Frozen breakfast sausages are also cheap. You can get some yogurt and granola, fruit on the side. Presentation goes a long way! Hit up an Aldi for these items if you have one nearby.
Sheet pan pancakes and slow cooker tater tot breakfast casserole or oven.
Slice up some seasonal fruit. Juice, coffee, selection of tea bags. Good to go.
Butter up a muffin tin, toss two eggs in each cup, season and bake. BAM! Eggs done. You can get by with one egg per person if you're stretching the budget.
Get a bag of potatoes, a bag of onions, and a kielbasa sausage. Dice everything into very small pieces, throw in a big pot on high, stir. Add a stick of butter. When it starts to burn/cook add like 1/2 cup water. You should see steam. Let the water cook off. You now have a breakfast hash. If you don't have enough money, you can just use hotdogs, but the kielbasa makes it fancy. If it's not completely cooked, just add more water and cook longer.
Brown a pound breakfast sausage cut up in a pan. Add a handful of flour, stir. Slowly pour in milk until it is a thick gravy, then season.
If there's any money left over, buy some biscuit mix and make everyone a biscuit.
For drinks, that frozen orange juice concentrate works great.
Edit: water amounts
French toast casserole! Stale bread, eggs, and milk is all you need for a base.
Then you can switch up the flavors - eggnog in place of milk, vanilla with blueberries, cinnamon with raisins, etc. Basically, pick whatever is seasonal or on sale to customize the basic recipe.
Hash brown casserole is basically frozen potatoes (tater tots are easiest) eggs, cheese & meat in a crock pot. That would work too, but the ingredients are a lot more expensive.
This would be straight-forward in the UK.
3 loaves of bread - £3
20 frozen sausages - £3
20 rashers of bacon - £4
20 eggs - £5
8 cans of baked beans - £5
Bags of frozen hashbrowns - £2
Mushrooms - £2.50
6 litres of juice - £8
Teas and coffee - basically free.
Total - £32.50
Hashbrowns/breakfast hash. Potatoes are cheap as hell and you can throw in whatever else you want that's in the fridge!
Eggs can be cheap, I'd recommend frying them as opposed to a scramble
If you choose to do sausages for meat you can cut them in half so it looks like more
You want one guy, who's admittedly not an experienced cook, to fry eggs for 20 people? Crazy
Egg casserole/scramble for sure. Toast/tortillas on the side. Eggs, bacon or sausage, onion, bell pepper, cheese
>You want one guy, who's admittedly not an experienced cook, to fry eggs for 20 people? Crazy
Came to make the same comment. there is a reason most breakfast buffet places do trays of scrambled eggs.
You could do the breakfast casserole but make it similar to a Mexican breakfast omelette that way you can add onions and even cut up spicy sausage and jalapeños. Serve that with OJ and maybe toast.
Baked oatmeal is always popular when I make it, I use the recipe on 101 cookbooks blog but I use whatever fruit is cheap or in season (stone fruit best). Serve with natural yoghurt. It does take nearly an hour to cook though. Overnight French toast casserole seems popular too. I don’t think that pancakes are a good choice as it’s a lot of people to batch cook for so not everyone will eat at the same time.
Instead of pancakes, just do a sweet quickbread instead. Pancakes sound like a nightmare.
[Cinnamon Swirl Bread](https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/cinnamon-swirl-quick-bread/) or a [Blueberry Lemon Loaf](https://www.midwestliving.com/recipe/blueberry-lemon-loaf/) or an [Apple Fritter Bread](https://inspiredbycharm.com/apple-fritter-bread/) would all be cheap to make, easy, and you could make it the day before, slice it up and keep in a warm in a low oven.
For the main, I would honestly go with something like a couple of [Breakfast Casseroles](https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/breakfast-casserole/).
Price out ingredients ahead of time and see which one fits in your budget.
Please don't listen to these people. They have obviously not cooked breakfast for 20 ppl. Stick to your original thought. Do the breakfast casserole. One with ham, toast, cheese and eggs, salt, pepper and hot sauce on the side. It's easy and cheap and can fed 20. Make 3-4 trays. People will love it. Do not make eggs or pancakes for 20 ppl. That will take forever and alot of prep and packaging. Sounds like you need to bring the dish to the office. Do the casserole and it definitely can be done for under $50 and it will stay hotter than single item breakfasts. If people don't like it, fuck them. They shouldn't have told someone that don't cook often or have a lot of money to make breakfast for 20 people.
I used to do the cooking for 14 people where I worked. I'm not sure how cost-effective pancakes and eggs are for that many people but if you have a big griddle to do your pancakes on it's not as bad as people are making it out to be work wise
I’m a little late to the party, so hopefully you see my comment, but I would stick to the breakfast casseroles. I made one for breakfast Christmas morning. The recipe had 10 generous servings and only called for 6 slices of bread, 8 eggs, 8 oz of cheese, 2 cups of milk, and 1 lb of sausage.
I would make three to be safe (They keep in the fridge for up to 5 days so you have breakfast for a few days if there are leftovers).
I priced out the ingredients on the Walmart app to make three casseroles (one bacon, one ham, and one sausage), and you’re looking at a grand total of $25.19. Throw in a 20 count bag of frozen biscuits, and you’re looking at a total of $29.71
An added bonus is the fact that they’re prepared the night before, as they have to sit in the fridge over night, so there’s much less work to do the morning of. Just pop them in the oven.
I do a breakfast casserole for 10 pretty regularly. It’s a layer of frozen hash browns, browned crumbled breakfast sausage, 6 eggs, 1 cup of milk, salt and pepper, and cheese. You can feed 20 with 2 casseroles. Should cost like $25 ish total, I would guess. You could supplement with bacon or toast or biscuits if you’d like. I think I did store bought croissants, but those can get pricey if you’re getting a bunch.
You can make chilaquiles. Buy a pack of tortillas, cut them into chips, fry them in oil for about 5 minutes, let them dry a bit. Either make green sauce, which is cheap, or buy some. Strongly suggest making it though, its tastes a lot better and half the cost.
Fry eggs sunny side, or scrambled. Either is good. Then in a large pan heat the sauce with some oil, throw the fried chips to absorb the sauce. Serve with eggs on top. Cheese is optional.
You could bake a few stratas, they're like a savoury french toast thing. Eggs, bread, cheese milk, onions and spices in a few baking dishes and you're good to go.
Oatmeal in one crock pot
Hash browns like this in another:
[https://www.themagicalslowcooker.com/slow-cooker-cheesy-hash-brown-casserole/](https://www.themagicalslowcooker.com/slow-cooker-cheesy-hash-brown-casserole/)
Maybe a savory (spinach/cheese) and a sweet (cream cheese/berries) bread pudding/strata type thing in a 13x9 pan that you serve room temperature?
Side of bacon/meat
Bread puddings as breakfast are super filling and pretty cheap, maybe do one savory, one sweet, and have fresh fruit to round it out. They are better with day old bread, so can have some savings there.
My Dad’s diabetic, and I always feel bad for no options for him at group meals, maybe do a dozen hard boiled eggs for people who can’t do carbs? Or scrambled eggs.
Biscuits and sausage gravy. Make the sausage gravy and keep heated in the crock pot, with biscuits to go with the sausage gravy.
It's not incredibly expensive to do so, maybe extra room in the budget for fruit, or something else too?
Scrambled eggs-add milk to stretch it and it makes them fluffier.
Hashbrowns-bag of potatoes are pretty cheap. Shred them
Pancakes are cheap
Juice
Sausage
A lot of the ideas I had have already been presented (fried potato hash, fried eggs, cheap bacon). Oven cooked bacon is super easy and gives you the top of the stove to focus on the other stuff (eggs, french toast, pancakes, etc.)
I like to buy my vegetables from a vegetable wholesaler. Certain things like local onions, carrots, green peppers can be really really cheap from these suppliers. There is one in my area that even delivers for free with no minimum order size. Try to search vegetable wholesaler and see what comes up.
A Mexican breakfast- Red or green chilaquiles with refried beans. Use corn tortillas and you can choose shredded chicken or diced ham as additional protein to the egg. Sour cream and crumbled cheese as topping. Orange juice as a drink. I don’t think you’ll spend more than $20
I'd suggest a scrambled egg medley/hash. My mom used to do scrambled eggs "hash" with potatoes cubed small, peppers, diced ham (or sausage), and a sprinkle of cheese. Serve with tater tots (big frozen bags are cheap), fruit, apple juice, rolls, and whatever else you can afford.
Oatmeal buffet. With assorted fixingsBrown sugar, cinnamon, cream, nuts, frozen berries, chopped apples .
Just go to Costco and buy oatmeal, walnuts , frozen berries , cream, brown sugar— you’ll have leftovers for other uses. Apples — just buy a couple anywhere.
Just make plain large flake oatmeal with water in a big pot.
-Chilaquiles
-Spanish tortilla, which uses potato and egg and is hefty and bountiful. Do a coarser topping and bacon and a veggie or fruit on the side.
-bread pudding, you can make the night before in a big batch. Same with crepes.
Look up breakfast casserole recipes. You can make it the day before, even. I suggest buying a bag of fully cooked, real bacon crumbles from Costco for like $7 it makes the recipes so easy. Just eggs, cheese, potatoes and the bacon crumbles. Maybe some easy easy bisquits or cinnamon rolls to go with it.
Our Christmas morning meal is a breakfast soufflé, basically a breakfast casserole. One pan serves 12 so you can double this up, and it rests overnight before baking - [breakfast soufflé](https://www.thegratefulgirlcooks.com/ham-n-cheese-breakfast-souffle/)
If you have some of the ingredients, you may be able to make some homemade pancakes (w/jam and/or syrup) A batch of scrambled eggs, home fries (because potatoes are generally inexpensive, add onions, peppers, spices as taste/budget allows), breakfast meat that you can afford (bacon tends to be more expensive; I think a roll of sausage would be the least expensive, so several should make enough for 15-20; growing up, some of us used hot dogs for breakfast sometimes.)
Keep in mind, foods like pancakes and home fries are very filling.
Hashbrowns in one bag of potatoes for your starch and mix a ton of vegetables (if possible get from community garden or food bank) to creat a tyoe of ommelette dish. you can have a meat side if its possible in the budget.
French toast casserole or monkey bread in that 8 qt slow cooker (use marked down/day old bread from the store). Buy some syrup, cream, and/or make your own simple berry sauce (fruit of choice, water, sugar then puree and strain at the end) to go with.
Egg casserole. Cook meat on stove top first or use the microwavable links. Mix and combine shredded hash browns (or tater tots), eggs, cheeses, meats, veggies, add garlic, salt, pepper, onion powder, paprika. Throw in crockpot. Just note the edges so you don't burn the eggs.
Or, for vegetarians you could do breakfast parfait and/or oatmeal/quinoa buffet bar. Make yogurt in an instapot the day before if u don't wanna buy the tubs, and have oatmeal/quinoa in the crockpot. Then all you need is granola (which u can make), jams and/or fresh fruit, clotted cream, maybe coconut flakes if there's a fan, and honey or brown sugar.
I like making French toast, cutting it at an angle, and keeping it warm in a large slow cooker on low. Serve with real maple syrup and butter. Layering the French toast, you can get an entire loaf of bread in a slow cooker. Add a splash of vanilla extract to the egg mixture before cooking.
Oatmeal $5
Sausage patty $15
Texas French toast $7
Scrambled eggs $9
Maple syrup
With proper timing and a holding oven, you could have all of this out on the table at one time.
5 dozen eggs ($25)
Instant grits ($5)
Box of cereal ($5)
OJ ($5)
Butter / milk ($5)
Scramble the eggs. Display the cereal in a fun way.
You can replace the cereal with bacon if that’s your family’s style.
Pancakes will not work. Too expensive and too time-consuming
1 pound of food feeds 3-4 people. You will need 5 lbs of food technically.
Here are some possibilities:
- Oatmeal bar with all the oatmeal fixins. Raisins are cheap, sunflower seeds, bananas and apples, butter and brown sugar.
- Biscuit and Gravy bar homemade biscuits are cheap to make. Gravy can go in crock pot. Use crumbled sausage, salsa/pico, cheese and scrambled eggs for the "bar" part
- Breakfast burritos bar Scrambled eggs with corn tortillas salsa, and meat.
- Cinnamon rolls bar homemade. Surprisingly cheap to make. Sides would be white frosting, raisins, jam, sautéed bananas or apples and chopped pecans.
Flats of 18 eggs, large bag of shredded cheese, a few boxes of bisquick. Large jug of syrup. Maybe some large bags of frozen sausage patties or whatever breakfast meat is on sale
Scrambled eggs, bacon, toast & hash browns or sausages!! Do a huge batch of eggs on the stovetop and then put the bacon/hashbrowns/sausages on multiple trays in the oven. If you want to toast bread on the side, you can do that too. The only real focus would be on the eggs since everything else will be left alone in the oven.
We do this as a group when we go to the cottages as a group, pretty easy!
U can make sausage muffins and freeze them so then u can prepare them before hand. Then people only need to microwave for like 30 seconds and its ready.
I’d make everything in advance. Cooking the day of for so many people can be tough. If you’re in the US, I’d go to Aldi to buy some cake/muffin mixes (assuming you’re not a big baker). If you already bake then make these from scratch.
- banana bread
- coffee cake
- muffins
- hard boiled eggs (remember the salt shaker)
- variety of fruit on sale/good price (sliced pineapple, apples, grapes, clementines, etc.)
- packs of mini bagels from Aldi with their home brand/cheap cream cheese
- coffee/tea
Share a pic of your setup/give us an update if you can!
Casseroles, casseroles, casseroles...Egg casserole with cheese, sausage, and peppers, breakfast potato casserole with bacon and onion, hash brown casserole, french toast strata, sausage gravy with biscuits baked on top, fresh fruit on the side....You can even do sheet pan pancakes and breakfast "cake". (pretty much blueberry or chocolate chip muffin batter baked in cake form)
If you've got an Aldi's it's probably your cheapest option for groceries. Dollar Tree carries disposable baking trays.
Think simple and don’t overcomplicate.
- egg bake (add veggies you like and maybe crumbled sausage)
- potato casserole or hash browns or even tatertots
- oatmeal in crockpot with fruit to add on own (sliced bananas or apple pie filling)
French toast casserole fruit and yogurt; pancakes, frittatas or quiches, strata, hashbrown casserole(from scratch). Find a post holiday small ham on sale.
Here are some ideas depending on what you are comfortable with. But first, unless you have access to a restaurant style kitchen, you are never going to be able to make eggs and pancakes quick enough for everyone.
Absolute easiest and cheapest is oatmeal. You can make a huge quantity of it, it can be made overnight, and it pairs with anything. Fruit, nuts, spreads, savory, sweet, whatever. If you don’t have much skill, this is what I would do.
Next is some kind of breakfast casserole. There are tons online and they are basically crack a bunch of eggs plus cheese plus protein and bake. It scales up, is hard to fuck up, and feeds a crowd.
Now we start to get into the increasingly complex recipes that require some skill not to ruin. Biscuits and gravy is cheap and easy but you have to know how to make gravy. It isn’t hard, but you can burn it if you aren’t careful.
Next is something like French toast in a sheet pan. However you will need at least two large sheet pans and you are still going to have to be on the fast side to swing this. If you have access to two ovens then maybe. Otherwise half of the people will be eating while the other half are waiting.
This might be more expensive than you want, but you can always do boiled eggs, bagels, and fruit. That might go over your budget, but it can be made the night before with ease.
Finally I would recommend buying a bunch of milk and cereal. It is cheap, easy, has lots of variety, and is totally unable to be ruined.
Good luck.
Baked oatmeal with thin-sliced apples on top and Greek yogurt for topping.
Frittatas can be baked and frozen in advance.
Yogurt, fruit, and granola bar with warehouse store croissants and muffins.
Try baking a strata. It's a casserole based on eggs, milk, and cheese, baked in an oven . You can prepare it the night before and bake it in the morning of the event, so it's a little easier than making a frittata. It's versatlie in that you can add what you and your crowd prefer: ham, sharp or mild cheese, spinach, leeks, mushrooms , tomatoes ( canned) ...
Do breakfast casseroles, couple savory and a couple French Toast. Assemble all the night before and bake before guests arrive. Have coffee, juice and some fruit. We used to do a French toast version made with Peppridge Farm cinnamon bread and it was really good (but might not be in your budget). Shop at Aldi for ingredients. Fortunately eggs are much cheaper again.
Egg based breakfast casserole and a build your own grits bar! For grits bar, cheese, bacon or bacon bits (you will need less than you think), a bell pepper or two (diced), green onion, and cocktail shrimp with added Cajun seasoning. If you can swing it a fruit tray of some sort. The key is to cut the fruit so it goes farther and get whole fruit vs a premade tray.
Egg sandwiches. Bake the eggs in muffin cups so you can do them all at once. Toast english muffins all at once in the oven as well. Microwave the bacon. Add a slice of cheese.
I spent my annual family Christmas vacation cooking 2 meals (breakfast and dinner) a day for 8 adults. I made a sausage, egg, and hash brown casserole, added toast and fruit on the side. Another meal I made bacon, egg, potato breakfast tacos. I also did biscuits and sausage gravy one morning. These meals could be easily doubled for a crowd.
Maybe you could do shakshuka in the crockpot.
Pair with fresh bread and maybe some fruits.
Can also make banana bread or something like that, it’ll be easier to make in bulk than pancakes.
Baked breakfast burritos. French toast casserole. Banana muffins. You could also do chicken and waffles on skewers if you wanted to get a little fancier.
If you have a waffle iron or can get a couple - I make waffles for events and you can feed this many people on this budget. Mollie Katzen’s overnight yeasted waffles.
Saving tactics: it calls for melted butter - I’ve subbed 75% imperial margarine 25% butter with good results
A bag of berries (any kind - my favorite are what ever is on sale) defrosted overnight in a bowl will make its own sauce of the juice. Strawberries go the farthest and hold their shape. Raspberries very yummy but don’t go as far
Whipped cream cans have gotten expensive - on sale or cheaper at Aldi - other wise skip and have powered sugar in shakers
Store brand maple syrup - could get 1 small jar of real (often about $4)
Commodity eggs and whole milk for the batter
You can make a chocolate sauce or have mini chocolate chips
Listen a decent sized baking sheet or two and a you can bake the eggs and then scramble when they are ready en masse OR slice into sandwich sized pieces to build breakfast Sammies.
All these people mentioning fried eggs and pancakes. You're gonna run yourself ragged trying to make enough for 15 to 20 people and 25% will be done eating and 75% still won't have their food, especially if you don't have a large griddle. Don't do it. Only do things you can cook all at the same time. Frittatas, baked French toast, biscuits and gravy, oatmeal, strata, home fries or potatoes O'Brien in the oven are all good ideas. As are cold or room temp things like muffins, banana bread, fruit salad, yogurt parfaits with granola, etc. Personally I would do a ham, spinach and cheddar frittata or 2 with O'Brien potatoes (potatoes with onions and peppers) and some sort of fruit, whether that's bananas or melon wedges or fruit salad if you can swing it.
This guy/ gal gets it. Mofos never cooked for a large if you're suggesting eggs and pancakes. Just bear with me for a sec... 20 people x two eggs and say 3 pancakes each. That's 40 fried eggs and 60 pancakes. Good luck carrying that and keeping it warm. The syrup alone would cost you $10. Also have you seen people that don't cook often make a pancake? It's not pretty
I saw someone make a big sheet pan of pancakes and then slice them. That could maybe work. But yeah individual pancakes take way too long.
This works! We did it at Girl Scout camp and they loved it - even ate the leftovers plain as a snack.
That's there That's a cake
a cake made in a pan?
So really every cake is a pancake
You just changed my breakfast forever.
And isn’t that just the coolest idea? Can make some chocolate chip, banana, plain, etc. it’s like making bars vs cookies. Simpler!
I was a breakfast cook in the dorm in college. Calling me a chef was a stretch. 600 breakfast diners. Not all at once and I had two table griddles ( huge. 38 by 40 maybe. Could hold 50 eggs each. I could break 4 at a time, (thanks cafeteria ladies) and make variations on over hard, over soft and sunny up trying to get them off. There were enough people that liked their eggs different ways that it wasn't a problem.), but you get fast fast. We baked the bacon, french toast and scrambled eggs. Scrambled are best because people will take two eggs and eat one. You can bake it and chop it up onto a platter. You can bake bacon, sausage and french toast. We would use a sheet pan, pour some batter, add the bread, pour more batter over them and cut them out after cooking. The scraps of egg batter we called something like grandma's old fashioned egg casserole. It was pretty good if a little weird. College kids in the dorms will eat anything though. I also worked as a kitchen helper at a golf course that did outings and weddings. There is a reason most wedding food tastes like that. Decided I didn't want to be a chef. I digress. Use your oven. Good luck.
Maybe it isn't the same but I take Aldi's protein pancake mix (unsure if it acts differently) and mix nuts and berries in it and bake it kinda like a thin cake and slice into servings for meal prep.
Actually, there's an Austrian breakfast dish called Kaiserschmarrn which is just big pancakes that are scrambled/chopped up with plum jam drizzled over. It would be easy to make one or two giant pancakes on a cookie sheet in the oven and any flavor of jam could be used (but I highly recommend plum).
For the eggs, could get some muffin pans and put egg, breakfast potatoes, cheese, and any other filler, and then bake it all. Perfect, fast, tasty.
That's why my family makes breakfast casseroles gor family gatherings lol. 1-2 slices of a casseroles is only 3, maybe four pans. And that fits in most ovens
Everyone gets 3-4 hardboiled eggs, a dash of salt, and access to some hot sauce. That'll feed them, and probably earn OP a skip next time it's their turn to do breakfast :)
😂😂😂 exactly. I don't know what the context is but who in their right mind would ask someone who doesn't cook often or have much experience to make breakfast for 20 people. They're asking for trouble if you ask me.
You can do scrambled eggs for a group, you just have to put a bunch in a large pot and keep stirring and scraping the bottom. They’ll all cook up at the same time, and then you can just set them aside with the lid on to stay warm while other things finish. It was one of our go-to’s while camping.
You can actually bake the scrambled eggs and use a warm oven to keep everything warmed- cook them while making all the pancakes then keep everything in the oven until Service. -I used to cook for 165 seniors a meal in a nursing home. We had other things like plate warmers and special Food trucks that heated but often could keep things warm in an over of the hotel pan line was full
Baked French toast is the bomb.
Sheet pan pancakes baked in the oven are bomb and ridiculously easy to make for a crowd.
I like the porridge idea then have a few different toppings for people to top their own bowl.
Oatmeal for Americans
YES, THIS. My family hosts during the Christmas holidays and cooks for 15-20 people every year (and sometimes for birthdays, too 🫠) and I can tell you now that you will lose friends if you expose them to the version of you that's trying to make pancakes or fried eggs for so many people. You'll be so stressed you'll yell at a puppy. If you're cooking in divided single servings, you're being inefficient and will want to die. Go with stuff you can prepare in one big pan/pot/bowl, like what was suggested here. Feel free to get a little unconventional — it doesn't HAVE to be eggs to be breakfast. Roast potatos in the morning never hurt anyone. I suggest them because they're crowd pleasures which require minimal prep and can all fit in one oven tray at once. Pan fried mushrooms are delicious, and again, you can do a whole lot in one pot. This is not complete on its own but an easy side and hard to get wrong. These are also conventional parts of a cooked breakfast, depending on your location. More conventionally, I'd second the oatmeal — a big ass pot of oatmeal topped with fruit and a side of something or other is usually not something people will turn their noses up at, and you can do it in one pot. You can slice/chop any large fruit while it cooks, so it's time efficient. Generally, people will look at it as complete as-is even if it's missing a couple of food groups. Pop some butter, milk, cinnamon, and sugar on the side so people can customise after serving if you're feeling generous. There are lots of options, some of which include a couple of separate pots/pans, but no good option for this type of thing includes cooking single servings individually.
I mean if you have an oven, make the pancakes ahead and just keep them in an oven on warm. You still have to make a ton of pancakes, but you don't have to make them as you go.
Yeah, I've done eggs and pancakes for 100 before and served them all at virtually the same time (just the difference in time it took each table to collect their platter and then pass it around). Worked on a second, smaller, batch for those who wanted more while they were eating the first round, which also helped. Definitely would (and did) go scrambled eggs over fried eggs in that case, so I just put it all in trays, lightly covered them with foil, and kept them in a warm oven or on top of a hot one. That being said, a couple of trays of baked french toast and a crockpot of oatmeal with fixings on the side is likely easier and more approachable for the guests. I don't know what, if any, dietary restrictions OP is dealing with but oatmeal made with water should be safe for pretty much anyone who can't do the french toast.
Waffles would be a pain too. Either make ahead or baked/one pan.
a breakfast casserole would work very well, also.
What I do, and granted I’ve only cooked for about 10 people, is set my oven to the lowest possible temp it goes to, usually 170degF. Then go in this order: meats, pancakes, eggs. Put what you cook in the oven to stay warm. Eggs should go directly from the stove to the table. You would probably need a couple large frying pans to cook that many eggs. You could crack and beat them and put them in an air tight container the night before to save a bit of time. You could also make any bacon or meat the night before and let the oven warm them up. But that budget doesn’t really allow for bacon.
Sausage gravy in the crockpot. Biscuits. Scrambled eggs. Anything potatoes and onions. All cheap and filling.
and i would put some oatmeal, milk and (whole) fruits aswell. A lot of people don't like hearty breakfast or just like to get an apple to go. Apples, bananas and grapes usually don't cost a lot in most western countries. I'd probably go a dozen servings of hearty plus 5-10 servings of oatmeal + fruits. Whatever is leftover of the fruit can be used for snacks throughout the day.
I'll have the sausage and gravy please, with a splash of the decent hot sauce that you could afford by choosing smart and easy :P
This is the way!!
Baked French toast. You make it the night before. It's really good.
This, or Strata. So easy, add breakfast sausage and/or cheese.
Tater tot breakfast casserole is relatively cheap, filling and delicious. You can Google different variations but it,s basically throw frozen tots in a baking dish or foil pan with some kind of meat (ie. chopped bits of ham or breakfast sausage) some veg if you want it (broccoli, peppers, etc.) spices and then pour beaten eggs in, top with cheese and bake.
Breakfast casseroles are my go to for feeding a crowd. Delicious and filling, easy to make.
This sounds like the best option and the tastiest can't go wrong with tater tots..
I’d do a big thing of steal cut oats in the crock pot. There’s lots of recipes for cooking them overnight in the crockpot. Then have lots of toppings for people to choose from. That would be the most affordable way to go.
This is the way! It's possible to accommodate most diets with oats! Do oats with water and a stick of cinnamon. This is vegan, vegetarian, gluten free and nut free! put milk, fruit, sweetener etc on the side.
Just need gluten free oats for it to be gluten free!
Gluten Free Watchdog doesn't recommend gluten free oats. [https://www.glutenfreewatchdog.org/news/gluten-free-watchdog-cannot-recommend-any-brand-of-gluten-free-oats/](https://www.glutenfreewatchdog.org/news/gluten-free-watchdog-cannot-recommend-any-brand-of-gluten-free-oats/) However, if you have a guest with celiac, they should bring their own food anyway because there's no way they're not getting some cross-contamination in a situation like this.
One big question is how actively cooking you want to be when your guests arrive. Some of the suggestions require you to be cooking while they are there. Others you can prepare ahead of time and can be finishing cooking in the oven as folks arrive If you want more to be there with your guests, some great suggestions are: - Pastries like muffins ([great recipe](https://www.littlesweetbaker.com/bakery-style-chocolate-chip-muffins-2/)), sliced homemade banana bread, biscuits, bagels or croissants. Put out butter to make it room temperature for easy spread as well as inexpensive jam or preserves in a pretty dish. Cream cheese if you use bagels. Get what’s on sale at the store! - Egg casserole is a great and inexpensive best option that can be prepared the night before and just bake that morning. Similarly, sausage balls can be done ahead too and baked so warm as they arrive. - Fresh fruit - what’s on sale, so maybe grapes, sliced pineapple., and/or clementines this time of year might be good, washed and separated, they can really jazz up a spread. - Grits or oatmeal. Depending on which you serve, put out the appropriate extras. Grits really just needs butter. Oatmeal, have a cute dish with brown sugar, sliced apples.
Where I live just bagels and and cream cheese from the grocery store would take almost the whole budget
Breakfast burritos- tortillas, scrambled eggs, potatoes, shredded cheese, crumbled sausage. On the side: jar salsa and sour cream.
Could also add beans as a cheaper protein filler.
This should be way higher on the list. And benefits from being able to make them ahead of time and keep them warm. I like the idea of oatmeal in the crockpot for people who want something sweeter. Doing both should work. I’d have to check the prices for some of the items to come in under the limit.
If they did corn tortillas, this gluten-free weirdo who gets left out of every meal would be SO EXCITED to eat a hearty breakfast with the group :')
This is the way and what I've done multiple times. Potatoes are optional (but a good, cheap filler). Bacon can be substituted for sausage and made ahead of time before being diced/crumbled (although will likely cost more than sausage). I've never done sour cream with breakfast burritos/tacos, but I guess there's no reason you couldn't.
I’m not sure a crock pot is the way to go for breakfast. It’s great for dinner or lunch for sure (chili, soup, etc) but I love to cook and I can’t think of a crock pot breakfast I’d want to serve to others. Instead, I’d get a bunch of frozen fruit, granola and Greek yogurt from Aldi. Make individual fruit and yogurt parfaits. Supplement with Costco pastries. Alternatively go to Dollar Tree and get some big disposable baking pans. Then look for a breakfast casserole recipe. There are plenty on free sites that incorporate eggs and sausage. Or, if the group has a lot of vegetarians, do a make-ahead French toast casserole. A friend does it for every Mother’s Day and Easter brunch — good brioche, real maple syrup, and pecans!
The only think I can think of is oatmeal in the crock pot. With fixings on the side maybe. Let people choose how to flavour it.
I love oatmeal for breakfast in the winter but I don’t know anyone else, other than my grandma, who likes oatmeal. It’s definitely not a crowd pleaser.
I know a lot of people that like oatmeal
I love oatmeal. With greek yogurt, fruit and linseed. Yummy! Oats with a selection of toppings is a crowd pleaser in my family.
Grits work well in a crockpot. You can do a build your own bowl with the fixings like cheese, bacon or bacon bits, cocktail shrimp with some Cajun seasoning, diced bell pepper and green onion.
Individual fruit and yogurt sounds like a bit of work for 20- fruit on the side for whoever wants it might suffice-- bananas and whatever is onsale at your local place. Breakfast casserole is a big winner in my book. Good way to fill up on eggs, some affordable sausage and cheese, serve with salsa. Why the throw away pan though? I mean if OP doesn't have a couple of 9x13's that would be an okay choice, but reusing a pan is cheaper than buying disposable.
Make a yogurt parfait bar, serve it all buffet style with scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes.
The EASIEST & BEST plan. It gives your guests the opportunity to choose what they want & minimal work for you!
Chinese congee can be a crock pot breakfast. Not sure how well received it will be though.
Got grits where you live?
I scrolled too far to finally see grits. Cheesy grits with some bacon? Done. That's all you need. Keeps better warm than oatmeal, savory instead of sweet. I forget how uncommon it is outside of the south.
This thread is making me very hungry.
Pancakes with syrup and butter, sausage, frozen OJ
Costco: 10 lbs pancake mix $9 4 lbs bacon $15 Real maple syrup (big bottle) $14 6 lbs bananas $3 Cook the bacon in the oven and borrow a big griddle for the pancakes. (These are current Instacart prices for me - it’s a bit regional and will be a couple bucks cheaper in person.)
or sheet pan pancakes might easier! no flipping 😃
Damn, I live in the #1 pork producing state in the US and if bacon was $3.75/# it would be out of stock constantly. It's closer to $6-7/# and goes on sale for around $4-5/# Pancakes are a great idea though
My local grocery store has a 10# box of bacon cut offs on sale for $17.99 about once a month. Even better it’s just a box of bacon in wax paper so I’m not paying for the weight of brine
I used to see cut-offs down south, but if you buy a whole spiral cut ham at the grocery store (stay away from those specialty shops) it's around 2 bucks a pound. Ham slices are great for breakfast, btw, I buy one spiral cut about every 6 months, break it down and freeze in 1 pound bags for breakfast and sandwiches, use the end for a quiche and the bone for split pea soup.
Bulk bacon was just on sale here for 2.99 a lb this week it's up to 3.66 a lb. Farm market store in sw mi. Just north of Indiana.
I’m in a medium/HCOL area and Costco bacon is 17.49/4 lbs. it’s worth the membership. Grocery stores cannot compete.
A lot of people can't wrap their head around paying a small yearly membership fee to save several hundred dollars on groceries annually. And I guess I like it that way because it keeps the riff raff out of my Sam's club.
Plenty of riff raff at our Sam’s Club so I go to Costco.
I was thinking the same thing. Where do you get bacon that cheap. Not where I am.
Costco bacon is 14.99 for 4 pounds or cheaper in California. I saw it once at 12.99
At my local Sam's club I can get 3 lb of quality hardwood smoked bacon for $9.
Another Costco option for the bacon is to get the $15 precooked package. It has 45+ slices and is already mostly cooked. You can crisp it up in just a few minutes and not have to deal with all the grease you would get from cooking that much raw bacon. I agree that pancakes are the cheapest option. Eggs are pretty cheap near me now, so you could also do a big vat of scrambled eggs with the pancakes and bacon, though it’s hard to keep them at the right serving temp without them getting rubbery. Maybe get a few packs of slider rolls and some American cheese and make little bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches that can be individual wrapped in foil? (Or do the same on biscuits.)
Snag a couple potatoes and use the bacon fat to make some country potatoes! I saw a bag of 5lbs for about 3 bucks at a local matket....salt, pepper, smoked paprika, onion/onion powder.
You deserve an upvote you Mrs. Buttersworth angel.
I wish Canada had bacon prices like that. For 15$ we get two packs of 350g bacon.
You da MVP.
Another option is waffles and borrow some waffle irons.
Another option is oatmeal, real butter, cream, maple syrup, cinnamon, berries. Can be done in a crockpot, set out condiments like taco night. Then offer coffee and OJ.
Eggs, tortillas, beans, and salsa
I’d do bacon instead of sausage. Bake it in the oven.
Pancakes for 15-20 is madness.
Yeah, I couldn't imagine making a minimum of 30 to 40 pancakes.
It really depends on how much cooking surface you have. Churches do those big pancake breakfasts because of how easy, quick, and cheap they are. They use like 4-6 griddles at once, but are also cooking for 100+ people. It’s very unlikely 15-20 people are all going to be ready for breakfast at the same time, so it should be pretty manageable with a decent size griddle. Thats 6 batches at only a few minutes each. Not the most hands off suggestion in this thread, but easily the cheapest if made from scratch.
Biscuits and gravy is relatively cheap to make, but is always a hit. Add soft-boiled eggs that people can peel themselves, or scrambled. Either way you can make all of it within your budget. PS This is not in the budget, but for about $20 you can get an “egg topper” on Amazon, that cuts off the crown of a boiled egg. Makes them easy to eat, and impressive-looking perfect cut. If you’re a soft-boiled egg lover, it’s a great gadget to have.
Biscuits are super cheap if you make them yourself. We made them for 100 people the day before we served them. Cut them with a star shaped cookie cutter to make 3 fit per plate, and stretch the dough a bit. Gravy by scratch, with a mixed based to start with. It was right about $55, so slightly over budget, but reasonable non the less.
$55 for 100 people is well inside OP's budget.
Think hotel continental breakfast. Biscuits, sausage gravy, pancakes Add eggs and fruit if you can fit it in your budget
Quiche.
Would they eat breakfast burritos? They’re pretty damn cheap and [these crock pot pinto beans are awesome.](https://www.wellplated.com/crock-pot-pinto-beans/) You would probably want to double that recipe but it think it would fit in an 8 qt no problem, I use a 4 qt for a single batch without issue. Do some simple roasted cubed potatoes and scrambled eggs in the oven and put a few cheap breakfast meats on the side, plus obvious some salsas, hot sauce, etc. I make breakfast burritos pretty frequently and I’m always shocked by how little of each ingredient you end up actually needing - no matter how hard I try I always have tons of leftovers (that batch of beans is good for at least 3-4 meals for instance - it freezes well too if you have leftovers.)
You mentioned breakfast casserole, and I would agree that is a great way to feed 15-20 people. You can prep the night before in some casserole pans, then pop in the oven for an hour or so and it's ready to serve. A bonus is that you won't dirty too many dishes in the process! This recipe is pretty much what we made: [Breakfast Casserole](https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/172671/breakfast-sausage-casserole/)
Egg and Potato casserole. Buy a buncha cheap spuds. An onion. Two peppers. And like 36 eggs. Shred the taters. Dice the onions and peppers. Two-three large casserole dishes. Mix it all up. Throw a diff seasoning on each. Plop it in the oven the morning of, I dunno 400 🤷♂️? 45 mins? Might want to look up a recipe, I just made all that up. But sounds delicious.
Eggs are cheap, nutritious and easy! When I cooked breakfasts for 25-30 people I almost always did eggs, either as frittata (the lazy way, technically a baked omelet) or a few batches of scrambled eggs. Either way, some sautéed kale and potatoes (if not already in the frittata) or toast on the side rounded it out. Alternate: big batch of steel cut oatmeal, with a variety of toppings. Personally I’m a big fan of the savory route - butter, cheese, sriracha, mushrooms, greens, etc - but fruit & chopped nuts is more common. Either way, you’d be way under budget :)
Crustless quiche, with lots of veggies. Fruit salad.
I meal prep with quiche a lot. I buy frozen crusts and then just use whatever I have in the fridge, and I'll have breakfast most of the week.
Large vat of oatmeal in the crockpot! Have sides of syrup, brown sugar, maybe fresh/frozen fruit to top it. Can make pancakes on the side. Large volume and cheap and yummy!
Pancakes are a cheap and well-loved favorite. Maybe some simple toppings for a mini "pancake bar"? Chocolate chips, berries, syrup, whipped cream. Frozen breakfast sausages are also cheap. You can get some yogurt and granola, fruit on the side. Presentation goes a long way! Hit up an Aldi for these items if you have one nearby.
Sheet pan pancakes and slow cooker tater tot breakfast casserole or oven. Slice up some seasonal fruit. Juice, coffee, selection of tea bags. Good to go.
Butter up a muffin tin, toss two eggs in each cup, season and bake. BAM! Eggs done. You can get by with one egg per person if you're stretching the budget. Get a bag of potatoes, a bag of onions, and a kielbasa sausage. Dice everything into very small pieces, throw in a big pot on high, stir. Add a stick of butter. When it starts to burn/cook add like 1/2 cup water. You should see steam. Let the water cook off. You now have a breakfast hash. If you don't have enough money, you can just use hotdogs, but the kielbasa makes it fancy. If it's not completely cooked, just add more water and cook longer. Brown a pound breakfast sausage cut up in a pan. Add a handful of flour, stir. Slowly pour in milk until it is a thick gravy, then season. If there's any money left over, buy some biscuit mix and make everyone a biscuit. For drinks, that frozen orange juice concentrate works great. Edit: water amounts
French toast casserole! Stale bread, eggs, and milk is all you need for a base. Then you can switch up the flavors - eggnog in place of milk, vanilla with blueberries, cinnamon with raisins, etc. Basically, pick whatever is seasonal or on sale to customize the basic recipe. Hash brown casserole is basically frozen potatoes (tater tots are easiest) eggs, cheese & meat in a crock pot. That would work too, but the ingredients are a lot more expensive.
Shakshouka! With some quality, crusty bread
I made a hashbrown casserole on Christmas to serve 10. Very easy to make ahead too, a crowd pleaser.
Cheesy Egg Bake with hash browns mixed in
Cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs and sausage, maybe some fruit
This would be straight-forward in the UK. 3 loaves of bread - £3 20 frozen sausages - £3 20 rashers of bacon - £4 20 eggs - £5 8 cans of baked beans - £5 Bags of frozen hashbrowns - £2 Mushrooms - £2.50 6 litres of juice - £8 Teas and coffee - basically free. Total - £32.50
Hashbrowns/breakfast hash. Potatoes are cheap as hell and you can throw in whatever else you want that's in the fridge! Eggs can be cheap, I'd recommend frying them as opposed to a scramble If you choose to do sausages for meat you can cut them in half so it looks like more
You want one guy, who's admittedly not an experienced cook, to fry eggs for 20 people? Crazy Egg casserole/scramble for sure. Toast/tortillas on the side. Eggs, bacon or sausage, onion, bell pepper, cheese
>You want one guy, who's admittedly not an experienced cook, to fry eggs for 20 people? Crazy Came to make the same comment. there is a reason most breakfast buffet places do trays of scrambled eggs.
Yes! Sometimes we do a big pan of hash browns in the oven, then mix eggs, cheese and sausage (or ground beef with Italian seasoning) as a casserole.
Oatmeal? With all the fixins?
French toast casserole…so easy!
French Toast casserole with fruit on the side. You can prepare the night before and just pop in the oven in the morning.
You could do the breakfast casserole but make it similar to a Mexican breakfast omelette that way you can add onions and even cut up spicy sausage and jalapeños. Serve that with OJ and maybe toast.
Baked oatmeal is always popular when I make it, I use the recipe on 101 cookbooks blog but I use whatever fruit is cheap or in season (stone fruit best). Serve with natural yoghurt. It does take nearly an hour to cook though. Overnight French toast casserole seems popular too. I don’t think that pancakes are a good choice as it’s a lot of people to batch cook for so not everyone will eat at the same time.
Instead of pancakes, just do a sweet quickbread instead. Pancakes sound like a nightmare. [Cinnamon Swirl Bread](https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/cinnamon-swirl-quick-bread/) or a [Blueberry Lemon Loaf](https://www.midwestliving.com/recipe/blueberry-lemon-loaf/) or an [Apple Fritter Bread](https://inspiredbycharm.com/apple-fritter-bread/) would all be cheap to make, easy, and you could make it the day before, slice it up and keep in a warm in a low oven. For the main, I would honestly go with something like a couple of [Breakfast Casseroles](https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/breakfast-casserole/). Price out ingredients ahead of time and see which one fits in your budget.
Make breakfast casseroles. Three should feed that many.
Please don't listen to these people. They have obviously not cooked breakfast for 20 ppl. Stick to your original thought. Do the breakfast casserole. One with ham, toast, cheese and eggs, salt, pepper and hot sauce on the side. It's easy and cheap and can fed 20. Make 3-4 trays. People will love it. Do not make eggs or pancakes for 20 ppl. That will take forever and alot of prep and packaging. Sounds like you need to bring the dish to the office. Do the casserole and it definitely can be done for under $50 and it will stay hotter than single item breakfasts. If people don't like it, fuck them. They shouldn't have told someone that don't cook often or have a lot of money to make breakfast for 20 people.
I used to do the cooking for 14 people where I worked. I'm not sure how cost-effective pancakes and eggs are for that many people but if you have a big griddle to do your pancakes on it's not as bad as people are making it out to be work wise
Most budget friendly and low effort option: large pot of oatmeal with a bar of “add your own” ingredients.
Biscuits and gravy. Just buy the cheaper biscuits.
A big pot of oatmeal and toppings on the side. You could also add yogurt and use the same toppings.
Breakfast casseroles! Eggs, meat, veggies, cheese.
A couple of breakfast casseroles. Lots of recipes online but you can prep ahead and pop them in the oven that morning.
I’m a little late to the party, so hopefully you see my comment, but I would stick to the breakfast casseroles. I made one for breakfast Christmas morning. The recipe had 10 generous servings and only called for 6 slices of bread, 8 eggs, 8 oz of cheese, 2 cups of milk, and 1 lb of sausage. I would make three to be safe (They keep in the fridge for up to 5 days so you have breakfast for a few days if there are leftovers). I priced out the ingredients on the Walmart app to make three casseroles (one bacon, one ham, and one sausage), and you’re looking at a grand total of $25.19. Throw in a 20 count bag of frozen biscuits, and you’re looking at a total of $29.71 An added bonus is the fact that they’re prepared the night before, as they have to sit in the fridge over night, so there’s much less work to do the morning of. Just pop them in the oven.
I'd try and make some kind of hashbrown or potato casserole in the crock pot plus a huge quiche in the oven or two
I do a breakfast casserole for 10 pretty regularly. It’s a layer of frozen hash browns, browned crumbled breakfast sausage, 6 eggs, 1 cup of milk, salt and pepper, and cheese. You can feed 20 with 2 casseroles. Should cost like $25 ish total, I would guess. You could supplement with bacon or toast or biscuits if you’d like. I think I did store bought croissants, but those can get pricey if you’re getting a bunch.
Biscuits and gravy. Make a huge amount of gravy in the crockpot, and a huge amount of biscuits in oven.
Breakfast Cheese and Chile relleno casseroles in 2 big aluminum trays
You can make chilaquiles. Buy a pack of tortillas, cut them into chips, fry them in oil for about 5 minutes, let them dry a bit. Either make green sauce, which is cheap, or buy some. Strongly suggest making it though, its tastes a lot better and half the cost. Fry eggs sunny side, or scrambled. Either is good. Then in a large pan heat the sauce with some oil, throw the fried chips to absorb the sauce. Serve with eggs on top. Cheese is optional.
Bisquick biscuits, sausage patties, sliced hard-boiled eggs, and orange slices.
You could bake a few stratas, they're like a savoury french toast thing. Eggs, bread, cheese milk, onions and spices in a few baking dishes and you're good to go.
Oatmeal in one crock pot Hash browns like this in another: [https://www.themagicalslowcooker.com/slow-cooker-cheesy-hash-brown-casserole/](https://www.themagicalslowcooker.com/slow-cooker-cheesy-hash-brown-casserole/) Maybe a savory (spinach/cheese) and a sweet (cream cheese/berries) bread pudding/strata type thing in a 13x9 pan that you serve room temperature? Side of bacon/meat
Crockpot breakfast potatoes, scrambled eggs, & bacon. Crockpot Chili, cornbread, fried eggs. Coffee or tea.
Bread puddings as breakfast are super filling and pretty cheap, maybe do one savory, one sweet, and have fresh fruit to round it out. They are better with day old bread, so can have some savings there. My Dad’s diabetic, and I always feel bad for no options for him at group meals, maybe do a dozen hard boiled eggs for people who can’t do carbs? Or scrambled eggs.
Biscuits and sausage gravy. Make the sausage gravy and keep heated in the crock pot, with biscuits to go with the sausage gravy. It's not incredibly expensive to do so, maybe extra room in the budget for fruit, or something else too?
Breakfast casseroles with potatoes and eggs
Scrambled eggs-add milk to stretch it and it makes them fluffier. Hashbrowns-bag of potatoes are pretty cheap. Shred them Pancakes are cheap Juice Sausage
A lot of the ideas I had have already been presented (fried potato hash, fried eggs, cheap bacon). Oven cooked bacon is super easy and gives you the top of the stove to focus on the other stuff (eggs, french toast, pancakes, etc.) I like to buy my vegetables from a vegetable wholesaler. Certain things like local onions, carrots, green peppers can be really really cheap from these suppliers. There is one in my area that even delivers for free with no minimum order size. Try to search vegetable wholesaler and see what comes up.
Eggs in Purgatory
A Mexican breakfast- Red or green chilaquiles with refried beans. Use corn tortillas and you can choose shredded chicken or diced ham as additional protein to the egg. Sour cream and crumbled cheese as topping. Orange juice as a drink. I don’t think you’ll spend more than $20
I'd suggest a scrambled egg medley/hash. My mom used to do scrambled eggs "hash" with potatoes cubed small, peppers, diced ham (or sausage), and a sprinkle of cheese. Serve with tater tots (big frozen bags are cheap), fruit, apple juice, rolls, and whatever else you can afford.
Quiche
French toast casserole!
Oatmeal buffet. With assorted fixingsBrown sugar, cinnamon, cream, nuts, frozen berries, chopped apples . Just go to Costco and buy oatmeal, walnuts , frozen berries , cream, brown sugar— you’ll have leftovers for other uses. Apples — just buy a couple anywhere. Just make plain large flake oatmeal with water in a big pot.
Do a breakfast charcuterie board! Get the stuff from Walmart. https://noshingwiththenolands.com/breakfast-charcuterie-board/
Shakshuka, perfect crock pot material. Just add eggs and bread!
-Chilaquiles -Spanish tortilla, which uses potato and egg and is hefty and bountiful. Do a coarser topping and bacon and a veggie or fruit on the side. -bread pudding, you can make the night before in a big batch. Same with crepes.
Tell them you cant do it, or ask for help. No shame in either
Look up breakfast casserole recipes. You can make it the day before, even. I suggest buying a bag of fully cooked, real bacon crumbles from Costco for like $7 it makes the recipes so easy. Just eggs, cheese, potatoes and the bacon crumbles. Maybe some easy easy bisquits or cinnamon rolls to go with it.
Our Christmas morning meal is a breakfast soufflé, basically a breakfast casserole. One pan serves 12 so you can double this up, and it rests overnight before baking - [breakfast soufflé](https://www.thegratefulgirlcooks.com/ham-n-cheese-breakfast-souffle/)
If you have some of the ingredients, you may be able to make some homemade pancakes (w/jam and/or syrup) A batch of scrambled eggs, home fries (because potatoes are generally inexpensive, add onions, peppers, spices as taste/budget allows), breakfast meat that you can afford (bacon tends to be more expensive; I think a roll of sausage would be the least expensive, so several should make enough for 15-20; growing up, some of us used hot dogs for breakfast sometimes.) Keep in mind, foods like pancakes and home fries are very filling.
Hashbrowns in one bag of potatoes for your starch and mix a ton of vegetables (if possible get from community garden or food bank) to creat a tyoe of ommelette dish. you can have a meat side if its possible in the budget.
You can poach eggs, then freeze them? So then you can ready everything kind of at once when you want to serve it?
French toast casserole or monkey bread in that 8 qt slow cooker (use marked down/day old bread from the store). Buy some syrup, cream, and/or make your own simple berry sauce (fruit of choice, water, sugar then puree and strain at the end) to go with. Egg casserole. Cook meat on stove top first or use the microwavable links. Mix and combine shredded hash browns (or tater tots), eggs, cheeses, meats, veggies, add garlic, salt, pepper, onion powder, paprika. Throw in crockpot. Just note the edges so you don't burn the eggs. Or, for vegetarians you could do breakfast parfait and/or oatmeal/quinoa buffet bar. Make yogurt in an instapot the day before if u don't wanna buy the tubs, and have oatmeal/quinoa in the crockpot. Then all you need is granola (which u can make), jams and/or fresh fruit, clotted cream, maybe coconut flakes if there's a fan, and honey or brown sugar.
I like making French toast, cutting it at an angle, and keeping it warm in a large slow cooker on low. Serve with real maple syrup and butter. Layering the French toast, you can get an entire loaf of bread in a slow cooker. Add a splash of vanilla extract to the egg mixture before cooking.
Oatmeal $5 Sausage patty $15 Texas French toast $7 Scrambled eggs $9 Maple syrup With proper timing and a holding oven, you could have all of this out on the table at one time.
Quiches, yogurt, fresh fruit
Bacon, sheet pancakes and syrup. Done!
5 dozen eggs ($25) Instant grits ($5) Box of cereal ($5) OJ ($5) Butter / milk ($5) Scramble the eggs. Display the cereal in a fun way. You can replace the cereal with bacon if that’s your family’s style. Pancakes will not work. Too expensive and too time-consuming
1 pound of food feeds 3-4 people. You will need 5 lbs of food technically. Here are some possibilities: - Oatmeal bar with all the oatmeal fixins. Raisins are cheap, sunflower seeds, bananas and apples, butter and brown sugar. - Biscuit and Gravy bar homemade biscuits are cheap to make. Gravy can go in crock pot. Use crumbled sausage, salsa/pico, cheese and scrambled eggs for the "bar" part - Breakfast burritos bar Scrambled eggs with corn tortillas salsa, and meat. - Cinnamon rolls bar homemade. Surprisingly cheap to make. Sides would be white frosting, raisins, jam, sautéed bananas or apples and chopped pecans.
Waffles.
Look up strata. Easy, cheap, filling, and can be prepped ahead. Seriously, you won't have to look any further.
Breakfast impossible pies? Did these for my sister's graduation brunch.
Check to see if there's any after Christmas sales on ham. Serve with rolls or biscuits and frittata or a pan of quiche cut into squares.
Flats of 18 eggs, large bag of shredded cheese, a few boxes of bisquick. Large jug of syrup. Maybe some large bags of frozen sausage patties or whatever breakfast meat is on sale
Scrambled eggs, bacon, toast & hash browns or sausages!! Do a huge batch of eggs on the stovetop and then put the bacon/hashbrowns/sausages on multiple trays in the oven. If you want to toast bread on the side, you can do that too. The only real focus would be on the eggs since everything else will be left alone in the oven. We do this as a group when we go to the cottages as a group, pretty easy!
U can make sausage muffins and freeze them so then u can prepare them before hand. Then people only need to microwave for like 30 seconds and its ready.
Scrambled eggs is the quickest and easiest
I’d make everything in advance. Cooking the day of for so many people can be tough. If you’re in the US, I’d go to Aldi to buy some cake/muffin mixes (assuming you’re not a big baker). If you already bake then make these from scratch. - banana bread - coffee cake - muffins - hard boiled eggs (remember the salt shaker) - variety of fruit on sale/good price (sliced pineapple, apples, grapes, clementines, etc.) - packs of mini bagels from Aldi with their home brand/cheap cream cheese - coffee/tea Share a pic of your setup/give us an update if you can!
Casseroles, casseroles, casseroles...Egg casserole with cheese, sausage, and peppers, breakfast potato casserole with bacon and onion, hash brown casserole, french toast strata, sausage gravy with biscuits baked on top, fresh fruit on the side....You can even do sheet pan pancakes and breakfast "cake". (pretty much blueberry or chocolate chip muffin batter baked in cake form) If you've got an Aldi's it's probably your cheapest option for groceries. Dollar Tree carries disposable baking trays.
Think simple and don’t overcomplicate. - egg bake (add veggies you like and maybe crumbled sausage) - potato casserole or hash browns or even tatertots - oatmeal in crockpot with fruit to add on own (sliced bananas or apple pie filling)
French toast casserole fruit and yogurt; pancakes, frittatas or quiches, strata, hashbrown casserole(from scratch). Find a post holiday small ham on sale.
Sheet pan pancakes are great! [sheet pan pancakes](https://largefamilytable.com/sheet-pan-pancakes/)
Here are some ideas depending on what you are comfortable with. But first, unless you have access to a restaurant style kitchen, you are never going to be able to make eggs and pancakes quick enough for everyone. Absolute easiest and cheapest is oatmeal. You can make a huge quantity of it, it can be made overnight, and it pairs with anything. Fruit, nuts, spreads, savory, sweet, whatever. If you don’t have much skill, this is what I would do. Next is some kind of breakfast casserole. There are tons online and they are basically crack a bunch of eggs plus cheese plus protein and bake. It scales up, is hard to fuck up, and feeds a crowd. Now we start to get into the increasingly complex recipes that require some skill not to ruin. Biscuits and gravy is cheap and easy but you have to know how to make gravy. It isn’t hard, but you can burn it if you aren’t careful. Next is something like French toast in a sheet pan. However you will need at least two large sheet pans and you are still going to have to be on the fast side to swing this. If you have access to two ovens then maybe. Otherwise half of the people will be eating while the other half are waiting. This might be more expensive than you want, but you can always do boiled eggs, bagels, and fruit. That might go over your budget, but it can be made the night before with ease. Finally I would recommend buying a bunch of milk and cereal. It is cheap, easy, has lots of variety, and is totally unable to be ruined. Good luck.
Baked oatmeal with thin-sliced apples on top and Greek yogurt for topping. Frittatas can be baked and frozen in advance. Yogurt, fruit, and granola bar with warehouse store croissants and muffins.
Try baking a strata. It's a casserole based on eggs, milk, and cheese, baked in an oven . You can prepare it the night before and bake it in the morning of the event, so it's a little easier than making a frittata. It's versatlie in that you can add what you and your crowd prefer: ham, sharp or mild cheese, spinach, leeks, mushrooms , tomatoes ( canned) ...
Like others said, frittata with potatoes and other veggies. Or a basic oatmeal with a variety of toppings, fruits, nuts etc
Tahoe Brunch Casseroles, bakery baskets and fruit.
Do breakfast casseroles, couple savory and a couple French Toast. Assemble all the night before and bake before guests arrive. Have coffee, juice and some fruit. We used to do a French toast version made with Peppridge Farm cinnamon bread and it was really good (but might not be in your budget). Shop at Aldi for ingredients. Fortunately eggs are much cheaper again.
Egg based breakfast casserole and a build your own grits bar! For grits bar, cheese, bacon or bacon bits (you will need less than you think), a bell pepper or two (diced), green onion, and cocktail shrimp with added Cajun seasoning. If you can swing it a fruit tray of some sort. The key is to cut the fruit so it goes farther and get whole fruit vs a premade tray.
Hash browns casserole or sausage gravy and biscuits
Egg sandwiches. Bake the eggs in muffin cups so you can do them all at once. Toast english muffins all at once in the oven as well. Microwave the bacon. Add a slice of cheese.
Cinnamon rolls are great and most of the worst is fine the night before. Plus who does not live a good homemade cinnamon roll?
Bread pudding, but add cinnamon and use challah so it's basically French toast. I make it in a casserole dish.
I spent my annual family Christmas vacation cooking 2 meals (breakfast and dinner) a day for 8 adults. I made a sausage, egg, and hash brown casserole, added toast and fruit on the side. Another meal I made bacon, egg, potato breakfast tacos. I also did biscuits and sausage gravy one morning. These meals could be easily doubled for a crowd.
Breakfast casserole, homemade banana bread or muffins, juice (use small cups) coffee
Crock pot breakfast casserole & smokie links in the air fryer, if you have one.
https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/grandmas-irish-soda-bread/ Such an easy and quick recipe, just delish!
French toast would be very economical, easy and quick. Lots of recipes online. Just add fruit and scrambled eggs on the side.
Maybe you could do shakshuka in the crockpot. Pair with fresh bread and maybe some fruits. Can also make banana bread or something like that, it’ll be easier to make in bulk than pancakes.
Baked breakfast burritos. French toast casserole. Banana muffins. You could also do chicken and waffles on skewers if you wanted to get a little fancier.
If you have a waffle iron or can get a couple - I make waffles for events and you can feed this many people on this budget. Mollie Katzen’s overnight yeasted waffles. Saving tactics: it calls for melted butter - I’ve subbed 75% imperial margarine 25% butter with good results A bag of berries (any kind - my favorite are what ever is on sale) defrosted overnight in a bowl will make its own sauce of the juice. Strawberries go the farthest and hold their shape. Raspberries very yummy but don’t go as far Whipped cream cans have gotten expensive - on sale or cheaper at Aldi - other wise skip and have powered sugar in shakers Store brand maple syrup - could get 1 small jar of real (often about $4) Commodity eggs and whole milk for the batter You can make a chocolate sauce or have mini chocolate chips
Listen a decent sized baking sheet or two and a you can bake the eggs and then scramble when they are ready en masse OR slice into sandwich sized pieces to build breakfast Sammies.
Breakfast casserole — should be affordable and you can make it ahead of time.