In a group Marco Polo chat, one of my friends with teenage daughters asked for anyone to share ideas for dinner ideas for this group of teens to come eat dinner at their house before the school dance. The catch was--two or three of the kids could not eat dairy, whether that was by a dairy allergy or lactose intolerance. So that posed an interesting dilemma. I couldn’t think of too many ideas right off the bat, but these gals shared several ideas that I thought were great to share with you guys as well. It seems you can never have enough easy ideas about what to feed crowds to can also cater to those that cannot eat dairy. These meals are also really great to work off of for those who are allergic to nuts, peanut and eggs as well.

HAWAIIAN HAYSTACKS.

This was far and away everyone’s favorite idea. These are yummy and with many different toppings to choose from. You start with a base of

TACO HAYSTACKS.

This is the Mexican food version of Hawaiian Haystacks and this was my favorite fresh new idea. You layer crushed up Doritos or tortilla chips, a layer of fluffy white rice, taco seasoned ground beef and then add whatever toppings you like on top including cheese, sour cream, shredded lettuce, olives, chopped jalapenos or green chile peppers, salsa, diced tomatoes and guacamole.

BAKED POTATO BAR

Lay out chili, cheese, sour cream, ranch dressing, chopped ham or bacon bits, chopped chives or green onions, and olives along with your already baked potatoes and everyone will so happy to put whatever they want on their potato. This is very filling and delicious!

TACO BAR

Pretty much the same toppings as the taco haystacks but tacos are always a win. You can have crunchy or soft tortillas to give some options.

SWEET AND SOUR MEATBALLS AND RICE

Find your favorite meatball recipe (I really like the easy sweet and sour meatball recipe from Our Best Bites) and use a cookie scoop to scoop the meatballs into your pressure cooker. They only take about 20 minutes to cook and are really easy to pair with rice and a side of veggies of some kind or a salad.

It was a really fun conversation because people were definitely sharing their horror stories of meals that went terribly wrong and I got tons of great dinner ideas out of it. I love Marco Polo. And I love how food and special recipes can really bring people together :)