Our Graduation Party Menu for 50 People: What Worked and What Didn't

Your Quick Plan

My full menu is very detailed but to help make your menu planning easier, I can summarize the core items like this:

1. 2 Catered Main Dishes (sandwiches and popcorn chicken)
2. 2 Homemade Main Dishes (macaroni salad and salad bar)
3. 6 Small Bites (deviled eggs, fruit, dips, etc.)
4. 5 Crunchy Dipper Options (pretzels, chips, etc.)
5. 4 Desserts (mostly homemade)
6. Lemonade Bar + Drinks

Our Full Graduation Party Menu

Here is an overview of what I served for a graduation party for 50 people, you can get the make-ahead timeline here.

Main Dishes

These are designed to be mixed and matched as main dishes or sides:

1. Cubanito Sandwiches: Catered
2. Popcorn Chicken with Dipping Sauces: Chicken Catered, Sauces Homemade
3. Salad Base & Toppings: Homemade
4. Macaroni Salad: Homemade

Condiments

These worked as dipping sauces for the popcorn chicken or as salad dressings for chicken salads.

1. Buffalo Sauce
2. Honey Mustard
3. Ranch
4. Raising Cane Sauce
5. Chick-Fil-A Sauce

Small Bites

For guests who wanted to drop in quickly and eat something light before heading out to other parties:

1. Deviled Eggs
2. Fruit Platter with Fruit Dip
3. Veggie Platter
4. Spinach Dip
5. Boat Dip
6. Hummus

Dippers

To pair with the dips or to be enjoyed as a simple snack, I offered plenty of crispy things for dunking.

1. Seasoned Pretzels
2. Tortilla Chips
3. Potato Chips
4. Pita Chips

Desserts

1. 1/4 Sheet Cake: From the Bakery
2. Chocolate Eclair Torte: Homemade
3. Lemon Sugar Cookie Cups: Homemade
4. Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies: Homemade

Beverages

Since this was a high school graduation party, we kept most of the available beverages non-alcoholic. I did have white wine and beer for the adults.

1. Lemonade Bar: Our DIY lemonade station was more an activity than a beverage. You can make this a centerpiece of your whole event.
2. Coolers Filled with a Variety of Sodas
3. Bottled Water

Below I've shared all my notes about what I catered vs. what I made from scratch, how much I made, and what people actually ate vs. what we had leftover!

Guest Opinion: Homemade vs. Catered Food

Perhaps it shouldn't have surprised me, but the homemade food was overwhelmingly more popular than the catered food I served.

A deli breaded chicken tender just tastes better with a homemade dipping sauce. I thought this was a personal quirk of mine, but my guests seemed to heartily agree, they loved the easy condiments I had prepped.

The homemade macaroni salad I prepared as a side dish ended up being the most popular main dish and got compliments all evening long.

The bakery cake was barely touched while my homemade desserts were cleared out by the end of the party.

During graduation season when people will be attending many events over a short period of time, an easy way to make your menu stand out is to offer easy homemade dishes to complement your store-bought short cuts.

This approach is so much easier than making everything homemade but is nicer than having everything store bought.

Catered Food to Order

I chose one hot and one cold main dish to have catered from our local Publix.

What to Order

Remember, we were planning for 50 people but only 30 people came.

Party Sandwiches:
I ordered 2 large platters of Publix Cubanito Sandwiches.
1 Platter: 28 servings
How Much Got Eaten: Our 30 guests didn't even finish 1 whole platter.

Popcorn Chicken:
I ordered 2 large Publix Popcorn Chicken containers in oven-safe containers, not the platters since I wanted to keep them warm in the oven.
1 Platter: 28 servings
How Much Got Eaten: Our 30 guests didn't even finish 1 whole container.

Bakery Sheet Cake:
I ordered a 1/4 sheet cake
Serving: 15 - 20 people
How Much Got Eaten: It was the least popular dessert and barely got touched. HOWEVER, my daughter was tickled pink to have a cake with a graduation message on it and it served as a fun table centerpiece.

Pick Up Timing

I picked up our order at 2:30pm for a 4pm party start time.

How to Store and Serve

I stored the sandwiches in our fridge to keep them cold until right when guests arrived.

I placed the oven-safe containers of chicken on a sheet pan and kept them warm in the oven at 170°F until I was ready to serve.

Homemade Main Dishes

Since the two main catered items involved meat, I wanted to offer vegetarian-friendly options for a main dish as well.

Macaroni Salad: I made a double batch of my Southern macaroni salad but I think just one batch would have been enough. This was one of the most popular dishes from the whole menu.

Leafy Green Salad with Tomatoes & Shredded Carrots, Croutons: I washed and chopped 3 heads of romaine, I could have probably offered just 1 head, almost no one made a salad.

Homemade Condiments

Several days before the party, I prepped easy homemade condiments that taste great as a chicken dipping sauce but could also work as a salad dressing.

My recipes are usually scaled for weeknight family dinners so I had to increase the quantity of most of them to be able to plan for 50 people:

• Easy Homemade Buffalo Sauce: A little goes a long way so I made the recipe as stated.
• Honey Mustard Dip: I made 4x the quantity called for in the recipe.
• Buttermilk Ranch Dip: I made 2x the quantity called for in the recipe.
• Raising Cane Sauce: I made 2.5x the quantity called for in the recipe.
• Chick-Fil-A Sauce: I made just what is called for in the recipe.

I kept these stored in the fridge in separate air-tight containers.

Homemade Small Bites

A variety of these small bites are essential for an Open House style party. Guests enjoy just having a bite before heading out to the next event.

I prepared most of the items the day before or the morning of the party to keep them fresh.

Classic Deviled Eggs

I made 2 dozen of my easy homemade deviled eggs. I hardboiled the eggs in advance but didn't prep the filling or arrange them until the morning of the party.

The Verdict:
Every last one was completely gone by the end of the party.

Fruit Platter with Fruit Dip

You could easily add this to your catering list but I was working on a budget and it was cheaper to prepare the veggies myself. I washed and prepped the fruit the day before and kept it in the fridge.

4 quarts of fresh strawberries: washed and hulled
1 whole pineapple: cored and cubed
1 small watermelon: sliced into finger-shaped wedges
1 bunch of red grapes: washed
1 batch of my easy fruit dip made the day before.

The Verdict:
The strawberries and pineapple were completely gone, no one touched the grapes. The fruit dip itself was extremely popular and nearly gone by the end of the party.

Veggie Platter

You could easily add this to your catering list but I was working on a budget and it was cheaper to prepare the veggies myself.

1 large bag of baby carrots
2 bunches of radishes
1 large container of sugar snap peas
1 English cucumber, peeled and sliced
I prepped the veggie platter earlier in the day before the party.

The Verdict:
This was a huge hit and the veggies were all gone by the end of the party.

Spinach Dip

I made a batch of my daughter's favorite cold spinach dip the day before the party. I placed it near the veggies for dunking but many of the crispy dippers (pretzels, etc.) pair well with it, too.

The Verdict:
This went over only ok. Some people ate it but it was not the most popular item.

Creamy Boat Dip

I made a batch of this easy homemade boat dip the day before.

The Verdict:
The entire container was completely gone by the end of the party.

Hummus

I bought a container of hummus from the grocery store for our dairy-free friends.

The Verdict:
It went completely untouched.

Store Bought Dippers

With all the dips on the table, I offered a variety of options for dunking:

• Seasoned Pretzels: I made a double batch of my classic seasoned pretzels. This was the most popular dipper option.
• Tortilla Chips: This was the second most popular option.
• Plain Potato Chips: These went barely touched.
• Pita Chips: No one touched these.

I offered the tortilla and potato chips as gluten-free snack options for our friends that needed them. Based on the reaction, if you only pick one you should go with the tortilla chips.

Homemade Desserts

My daughter was thrilled to have a pretty bakery cake with a festive greeting on the dessert table but honestly I think we had one or two guests eat a slice and that was it.

Meanwhile, my homemade desserts were nearly cleaned out by the end of the evening.

Next time, I'd consider adding my banana pudding (without bananas) or this easy chocolate flourless torte as a gluten-free dessert option to the menu and skipping the cake!

1/4 Sheet Cake from the Bakery

This looked so cute on the table and it was easy to pick up, but no one ate it.

Chocolate Eclair Torte

My easy chocolate eclair cake has to be made the day before the party so it has a chance to soften.

The Verdict:
It was completely gone by the end of the night.

Lemon Sugar Cookie Cups

I made a batch of my easy lemon sugar cookie cups with homemade lemon curd filling. I prepped all the elements in advance and then just assembled them right before the party started.

The Verdict:
This was the second most popular dessert option. We had guests asking to take a few to go which I was more than happy to do.

Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies

My mom makes amazing homemade chocolate chip cookies and offered to bring a platter of them.

The Verdict:
It meant so much to my daughter that grandma brought her favorite cookies, but they did not get the attention they deserved at the party. We loved having them the next day though.

Beverages We Served

Since this was a high school graduation party and not a college one, it was very important to me that the kids had plenty of non-alcoholic beverages to choose from.

We served:

• Lemonade Bar: 2 gallons of lemonade plus a variety of flavored syrups. I turned them into the cutest DIY Lemonade Bar with a custom sign that was a huge hit.
• Mixed Sodas: I bought several 12-packs on sale and mixed them up in iced coolers.
• Beer for the Adults: 3 12-packs
• White Wine: 4 bottles
• Water Bottles

Storage Considerations

Refrigerator space for party prep is a significant concern.

I had the benefit of two refrigerators, one is the spare in our garage. If you have just one, you may need to adjust the menu or timeline for prep or be sure to start with a nearly empty fridge to maximize your storage space.

Coolers with ice are also very helpful but you'll need to plan to refill the ice if you use them longer than 4 - 6 hours.

How to Deal with Leftovers

I encouraged guests to take plates of leftovers with them and had plenty of paper plates to make this work.

It would be nice to have aluminum foil or even to-go containers if you want to make it really easy for people to take things home.

We had an entire tray of sandwiches and a whole container of popcorn chicken left. I made good use of them for our family dinners for a couple days and nothing went to waste.

Most Popular vs. Least Popular

If I had to do it all over again, these are the recipes I'd be sure to include on my menu.

The food items that got the best reaction:

1. Southern Macaroni Salad
2. Classic Deviled Eggs
3. Chocolate Eclair Cake
4. Lemon Sugar Cookie Cups
5. Raising Cane Sauce for the Popcorn Chicken
6. The Lemonade Bar
7. Seasoned Pretzels
8. Boat Dip
9. Veggie Platter
10. Fruit Platter with Fruit Dip

The food items that didn't get touched:

1. The Bakery Cake
2. Grapes
3. Potato Chips
4. Hummus
5. Pita Chips
6. The Salad Bar
7. Chocolate Chip Cookies

How Much Food We Actually Needed

Since I planned for 50 but only had 30, here's how much food we needed to feed our 30 guests:

1. 1 Sandwich Platter
2. 1 Large Popcorn Chicken Container
3. 1 Batch Macaroni Salad (2 was too much)
4. 2 Dozen Deviled Eggs
5. 2 Desserts: 1 9x13-inch torte plus 24 individual bite-sized treats
6. 1 Fruit Platter with Dip
7. 1 Veggie Platter
8. 1 Savory Dip with Crispy Dippers (tortilla chips, etc.)
9. 2 Batches Homemade Seasoned Pretzels
10. 3 Homemade Condiment Options

How and When to Prep It All

This may seem like so much work but if you break it down into simple tasks a few days in advance, it is extremely do-able.

I typed up every last note I had on how I prepared all this food mostly all by myself. I had help with other aspects of the party, but I did all this food in my kitchen with a neat and organized timeline.

You can get my graduation party prep ahead timeline here.

More Graduation Party Tips

Graduation Party Food Prep Timeline (What to Make Ahead)

50 College Graduation Party Food Ideas

30 Easy Side Dishes for Party Sandwiches

DIY Lemonade Bar for Parties