When designing a menu for a catered event, you’ll need to consider all of your guests’ dietary preferences and needs. However, when you work with an experienced local catering company, planning a vegetarian menu for your event doesn’t need to be a challenge. At Tucson Creative Catering, we love creating innovative, unique vegetarian menus that incorporate fresh, locally sourced ingredients. Here are our tips for crafting a vegetarian menu that is sure to wow your guests—even the ones who aren’t vegetarian.
Communicate with Your Guests
The best thing to do right from the start is to communicate with your guests about the menu. If possible, ask for input and get information about dietary preferences and food allergies and sensitivities. Your guests may give you some great insight that can help you start planning a vegetarian menu that goes beyond the standard fare they’re used to at catered events.
Work with Local Vendors
When you work with local vendors, you’ll have access to the freshest and most flavorful ingredients for your dishes. Vegetarian menus should incorporate a wide variety of colors, flavors, and textures and the best way to do that is to find a local vendor who specializes in local and seasonal produce.
Focus on High Quality Ingredients
In order to give your dishes depth of flavor, you must use high quality ingredients. Make sure the catering company you use knows where to source quality ingredients like organic produce, high quality oils, fresh herbs and spices, and both dairy and dairy alternatives. At Tucson Creative Catering, we only use high-quality local ingredients that are handpicked for their taste and appeal.
Don’t Just Replace the Meat with Tofu
A common mistake that hosts make when planning a vegetarian menu is to follow a recipe that uses meat and just replace it with a non-meat alternative like tofu. This typically doesn’t end well, and leaves everyone dissatisfied. Instead, you should use recipes that are specifically designed to be vegetarian.
Don’t be Afraid to be Innovative and Creative
Most vegetarians and vegans expect to go to a catered event and only be able to eat bread and a couple of side dishes. You can really wow your guests by being more innovative and creative with your menu. Don’t just focus on side salads and side dishes. Instead, create one or two vegetarian entrees that will add variety and substance to your overall menu.
Offer Variety
Try to make your menu varied and interesting. Consider the season, occasion, and your guest list when choosing each element of your menu. While some people may be open to trying anything, other guests may have different dietary needs beyond just being committed to following a vegetarian diet. Some may be gluten or soy-free, some may be lactose intolerant, and some may want to avoid high fat or high salt dishes. Work closely with your local catering company to explore a varied menu that offers something for everyone, including appetizers, entrees, side dishes, beverages, and desserts.
Don’t Ignore Presentation
As with any catered meal, presentation is very important. Take as much care with the styling and presentation of your vegetarian dishes as you do with your other dishes. Use colorful garnishes to make the dishes look appealing and unique plating techniques to draw attention to the dishes.
Incorporate Color, Flavor, and Texture
When people who don’t have a lot of experience cooking vegetarian meals try to make them for the first time, the dishes often lack color, flavor, and texture. When you work with an experienced catering company like ours, you won’t need to worry about that. We use a wide variety of textures and flavors to enhance our vegetarian dishes and make them stand out.
Don’t Rely Too Heavily on Pasta and Bread
Another common mistake that people make when planning a vegetarian menu is just offering a pasta dish as an entree. While pasta dishes can be delicious and innovative, they are typically the only thing available to vegetarians at catered events. Try to think beyond pasta and bread and design dishes that are more elevated and unique.
Let Tucson Creative Catering Plan Your Vegetarian Menu
For your next catered event, contact us at Tucson Creative Catering to plan your vegetarian menu. We are a full-service catering and event planning company in Tucson, AZ, and our innovative and experienced catering team loves finding unique ways to incorporate vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free dishes into our menus. Call us today or contact us online to schedule a consultation for vegetarian catering in Tucson and the surrounding areas.