This Is Bobby Flay's Go-To Way To Feed A Larger Crowd

Hosting a party at home can be a lot of work, especially when you're expected to be feeding everyone. If you're the type to have people over — especially for hot summer cookouts — any sort of expert hack that takes some of the load off is more than welcome. For Bobby Flay, it's all about letting your guests make their own food. The celebrity chef shared his summer hack with People magazine, writing, "I do everything family-style, whether it's a burger bar or a taco bar."

It's a pretty good strategy. Going with a self-service taco bar takes a lot of the logistics off your hands when it comes to feeding crowds. You don't need to spend an extra hour of your time assembling individual tacos for your dozens of guests; part of the fun is that they can do it themselves. At the same time, it lets people customize their dishes according to their diets — your gym buddies can pack more protein in their tacos, while friends who can't handle a lot of spice can lay off the salsa.

With your guests keeping themselves busy making the tacos of their dreams, you've got more time to sit back and treat yourself to an easy, three-ingredient frozen summer cocktail. It turns out the best crowd-pleaser is one where the crowd itself is more than happy to take on some of the work.

A good taco bar is, of course, determined by the quality and combination of what's on the table. For his take, Bobby Flay said he puts out a spread of spiced seafood, salsas, relishes, slaw, and tortillas. If you're planning on using seafood, too, you'll probably want to go with the type of tortilla that's best for fish tacos. You can also make surprisingly good tacos using canned tuna as long as it's prepared properly.

To go fully on-brand with the taco bar, you can add Bobby Flay's not-so-classic guacamole recipe to the mix. He serves it as a topping for rice crackers, but its non-traditional flavors — including oregano and scallions — should taste just as good in a fish taco. Don't be afraid to go heavy on the queso, either; Flay often says people are wrong about fish and cheese being a flavor mismatch.

To make sure that the food stays safe to eat for as long as the party lasts, equip your taco bar with some food warmers. Food stays safe at room temperature for up to two hours; any longer than that, and bacteria could start to grow on it. A warmer set to around 140 degrees Fahrenheit should be enough to keep the bacteria at bay for hot ingredients like the fish and tortillas. For cold ingredients such as the salsa and slaw, keeping their bowls on a ice bath should do the trick.