I have volunteered to bring a main course for our Christmas party potluck dinner, and would like some suggestions on a good thing to make for this situation. Ideally it would be something I can make a whole roaster or stewpot of, possibly even the day before, and preferably somewhat simple to make. It doesn’t need to be anything restricted in any way - we’re all a bunch of omnivores. 
Ideas?
Whole roast pig - never fails to impress.
Of course, it relies on you having a big oven…
lasagna
30-35 people sounds like a lot of food for one person to make (as a main course).
You said its a pot-luck, so why not pot roast? It uses a cheap cut of meat, and can be held for hours.
Depending on the size of your oven, you could roast a bunch of beer-can chickens. That method (not actually requiring beer) roasts smaller chickens standing up (with a beer can up their *ss). I find that with them standing up you can fit mroe in an oven. And by doing a bunch of smaller chickens you can usually fit more in an oven.
Are you making a single main course for all 35 people?
Turkey chili.
Beef Bourguignon?
Any type of Beef Stew?
Couple of turkeys or hams?
Italian Beef? This is what I do for the bar - and I usually end up feeding about 40 people.
For the main coarse we collect money from everyone, and then one person picks it up and brings it. That way the people that never bring anything, but eat everything contribute. Sliced ham and buns is always a hit at my workplace. It’s something most people like, and goes with any other dishes well. You put the ham in a crockpot and people make there own hot sandwich.
Spaghetti on top of the stove, lasagna in the oven and chicken breasts in the smoker. Thats what I did last time the family got together. I cheated on the lasagna and bought Marie Calendars. (nobody noticed :dubious: )
After considering the number of lasagna recommendations, maybe a fun thing to do would be a pasta-buffet. Make a couple of fun pasta sauces, and cook up a couple of different pastas and let people build their own. By the way I’m a BIG fan of letting people “build their own” when I cater. Sort of a cheap way to make sure everyone is happy.
I would suggest a giant chicken pot pie, pasta e fagioli, or carne guisasa (might be too expensive, but could be ‘cheapened up’ by adding some potatos).
I use Allrecipes dot com alot- I think they have a coversion table to adjust the recipe size.
guisada
I love the pasta bar idea, as long as you have a way to keep the pasta hot. I, too, am a fan of letting people “build their own” to guard against picky eaters not liking something about the entree.
Thanks Brynda. Keeping any food hot at an event like this is usually my biggest concern. Its that reason why I love potroasts, braised dishes, and stews so much.
As for the pasta bar, the sauces are easy enough to reheat and then keep warm. I think for the pasta itself there are a few options: One is to cook them to 90% the day before, toss with a small amount of oil and store covered in the fridge. When its time to serve just plunge them into a huge pot of boiling water for the last few minutes of cooking. It sort of depends on where you plan to serve the potluck, this option really isn’t well suited for travel. But in my defence, fresh pasta, although expensive, cooks remarkably fast.
Another option is to build your own steam table using two of those large tinfoil roasting pans. Fill one with boiling hot water. Punch small holes in the other and then set this in the first. Put your food in and cover with foil. Might be a bit more work than anyone wants to bother with.
I’d make a stew in the crockpot and roast a large turkey (getting to be that time of year when they are on special, too). The turkey can be served warm or cold.
I agree with the turkey idea. As mentioned, they will be cheap(er) that time of year, it doesn’t get any easier than making a turkey (slap in oven and wait until it is finished), can be eaten hot or cold, can be zapped in microwave portion-wise.
Turkey is also fairly healthy food, and most everyone likes it.
That said, I always make lasagna at Christmas and I use frozen, left-over Thanksgiving turkey to make THIS great soup! (I make a portion 4 times the size in a huge pot. Leftovers freeze well in indvidual containers.)
Lot’s of great ideas - thanks, everyone. The main course is supposed to serve 30-35 people, but there will be so much food there that I think a small serving for each would be okay. I like the lasagna idea - I know where I can get great frozen lasagna. I also like the idea of making something with ham or turkey - maybe a meat in sauce with cheese on top kind of thing.