Are you looking to host a formal dinner for your family, friends or any large group? With these easy and budget-friendly 4 course meal menu ideas you’re sure to serve delish and beautiful dishes your guests will love!
A four-course meal is a luxury that the majority of us rarely indulge in. But with careful budgeting, and a few volunteer chefs you can deliver a delicious fancy dining experience on a budget.
In this post, I will share with you the complete menu that was used to feed 17 guests at recent Church Youth Banquet.
You will learn the recipes used, ideas for when to prepare them, a free menu planning resource and tips as you serve your guests.
By the end of the post, you will be equipped with a full, simple and yummy menu plan. Now without further a dew, let’s get cooking!
Budget-Friendly 4 Course Meal Menu Ideas
Budgeting Your Meal
The menu I will be sharing cost roughly $135 USD in total for the ingredients. Of course, the prices and supply will vary. Hopefully, with the framework and ideas in this post, you can tweak it to fit your needs.
Because this was an event open to any youth in the church, we sold tickets to cover the cost of the meal. Each guest was treated to a four-course meal and received the full restaurant experience for just $8.50 USD a piece!
Keep in mind that to serve a large crowd a multiple-course dinner, you may want to consider help in the kitchen. We were blessed to have 2 amazing ladies in the church who cooked and plated all the meals. As well as some willing volunteers as waiters.
Organizing Your Time
When serving a four-course meal, structured time management is a must. Each dish must be cooked, plated, and served according to its order.
Whether you choose to use these recipes or not, keep in mind the level of difficulty and time required.
To help with your planning, I have put together a “4-course meal menu planner”. You can easily download and print this, or you can customize the template for a digital copy.
With this planner you can:
- Choose your desired dish for each course
- Record where your recipe is found (Pinterest, recipe book, URL)
- Choose your drinks
- Create a shopping list for each course
- Easily meal prep each course
- A Chefs timetable for your event
- page for notes
The best part is this is resource completely free!
The 4 Course Meal Menu Summery
Here you’ll find a brief summary of the menu we used for our Church Youth Banquet.
If you are interested in using the same physical menus as featured in the photo, check out the link above.
Appetizer
Avocado and Shrimp Toast
Pastry Brie Bites
Starter
Cream of Mushroom Soup
Thai-inspired soup
Main
Creamy Chicken and Bacon Fettuccine
Dessert
Chocolate Brownie & Vanilla Ice Cream
Appetizer
Appetizers can be served either as a sit-down first course, by waiters circling the guests, or simply placed in different areas of the room.
Bite-sized, easy-finger food that isn’t at risk of making a mess if being eaten standing is ideal. It is also best to have napkins easily available.
Below is a simple avocado and prawn recipe, curated for this event. Followed by a link to the Puff Pastry Brie Bites.
Super Easy Avocado and Prawn Toast
Super Easy Avocado and Prawn Toast
Ingredients
- 2 Loaves Sourdough Baguettes
- 75 grams Butter
- 5 Large Avocados
- ½ tsp Chili Flakes
- 500 grams Prawns
- 3 tbsp Olive oil
- ½ tsp Paprika
- ½ tsp Garlic powder
- ¼ cup Lemon juice
- Salt and pepper
- chopped parsley sprinkling
Instructions
- De-tail the prawns and marinate them in olive oil, paprika, and garlic powder. Leave to marinate for at least 20 mins – an hour.
- Mash the avocado with 1 tbsp lemon juice, chili flakes and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
- Slice your Baguettes into 1 1/2-inch-thick slices. Butter both sides of each slice and gently pan-fry till both sides are golden brown.
- Pan-fry prawns on high heat until just cooked through, roughly 1 minute per side.
- Set aside and add salt, pepper, and lemon juice.
Assembling
- Add a generous amount of mashed avocado to each slice.
- Add a prawn on top of each.
- Finish with a sprinkle of chopped parsley.
Notes
Puff Pastry Brie Bites
Starters
Soups are a fantastic starter option as usually they can made early and heated when the time is right. Or better yet keep it warm in a slow cooker!
You will also want to have some variety of bread, buttered and toasted or fresh, to complement this dish.
We chose to give our guests the option between soups. This is totally up to you as one standard starter meal would be quite adequate.
Unfortunately, I am unable to provide the recipe for the Thai-inspired soup, so feel free to switch that out for another easy and tasty soup or just stick with one.
Cream of Mushroom Soup
Main
The great thing about chicken fettuccine is I don’t think you’ll ever meet someone who doesn’t like it.
This delicious pasta is uncomplicated, tastes delicious and with a simple sprinkling of parsley is ready to be served.
Creamy Chicken and Bacon Fettuccine
Creamy Chicken and Bacon Fettuccine
Ingredients
- 1 kg Streaky bacon
- 2.4 kg Fresh fettuccine
- 2 kg Boneless/skinless chicken thighs
- 2 tbsp Chicken stock
- 2 liters Heavy cream
- 250 grams Cheese
- 2 tbsp Butter
- Salt and pepper
- Parsley for garnish optional
Instructions
- Chop up bacon and fry in a pan with 1 tbsp butter until cooked. Remove from pan and place on paper towels.
- Chop the chicken and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tbsp butter in the pan and add the chopped chicken to cook.
- Sprinkle over the chicken stock.
- Add the cream and let simmer until reduced slightly and the sauce starts to thicken.
- Add the cooked bacon and stir through the sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Once the sauce is thickened add the cheese and turn off the heat.
- Cook the pasta according to the package directions and then drain.
- Add the pasta to the sauce and stir through. Sprinkle with parsley if desired.
Notes
Dessert
On to everyone’s favorite course… Dessert!
As seen above we served a warm brownie, with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of chocolate sauce, topped with fresh strawberries.
Brownies, or other such slices, are a good option as they can be made way ahead of time and then quickly warmed in the microwave.
The vanilla ice cream and strawberries act as pallet cleaners against this decadent chocolate feast.
Best Ever Chewy Brownie Recipe
