A catering business lives and dies by its menu — food is the factor that attracts clients and shapes the guest experience. If your restaurant offers a catering service or you run a standalone catering company, a top-notch menu is a must. With the right catering menu ideas, you can elevate your offerings from good to great.

How catering works: Catering and menu styles

How you organize your restaurant’s catering operation is completely up to you. Most restaurants choose from a few main options:

• Full-service catering. With this type of catering, your restaurant prepares food, handles setup and breakdown, and manages food service at the customer’s event. You might set up a buffet line, pass appetizers to guests, or offer a full sit-down meal service. As part of the fee, you provide servers, kitchen staff, and bartenders. Full-service catering is a common choice for large or formal gatherings, such as weddings, galas, and corporate events.
• Catering delivery. A delivery business model is more streamlined — your restaurant prepares catering orders and delivers them to customers. They handle everything else, including setup, service, and cleanup. This is a popular option for casual corporate catering; companies often order catered lunches for meetings and other daytime gatherings.
• Food truck catering. Food trucks are a relatively new addition to the catering scene. Instead of ordering a specific set of dishes, clients hire a food truck to come to their event. That way, guests can order whatever they like from the menu. You might see this unique catering idea at outdoor events, including barbecues, company picnics, and weddings.

The type of service you offer will have a strong influence on your catering menu. For example, food-truck operations tend to have smaller menus with a selection of indulgent catering ideas — think individual servings of macaroni and cheese, empanadas, or burgers. Full-service catering, on the other hand, often focuses on multicourse meals.

As you evaluate different catering ideas, it’s also important to consider your preferred clients and events. Most types of catering fall into a few top categories:

• Corporate events: This may include small office meetings, corporate gatherings, training sessions, and larger regional events.
• Weddings: A wedding menu is highly variable. Whether it be a small bite during cocktail hour (like roasted tomato and fresh mozzarella) or a larger plate at dinner (like fresh herb grilled chicken), weddings tend to be more elegant and upscale.
• Social events: Menus tend to be more casual at social events and may cover a wide variety of options. We’re talking party food: fried chicken, BBQ, etc.
• Concessions: Concession catering plays into the favorites that a majority of people will enjoy (i.e., comfort food). Hot dogs, hamburgers, fries and ice cream are the usual suspects.

Why should your restaurant consider adding a catering business to your regular operations? This extra venture requires an investment in materials, equipment, and labor, but it can also:

• Diversify your revenue. Catering adds another revenue stream to your business, which increases profits and helps the business get through slow times.
• Support your employees. Offering catering shifts to staff members is a great way to help them earn more money.
• Increase brand awareness. Event catering exposes your brand to a larger audience. If guests love your food, they’re more likely to stop by your restaurant or hire you to cater an event of their own.

Catering menu tips and best practices

Event catering is a new skill for many restaurant owners. You’re still preparing food, but you have additional factors to consider. What foods work well when prepared in bulk? How will you keep food hot in transit and at the venue? What new equipment do you need? Do servers need additional training to delight guests?

As you’re working out the kinks, keep these tips and tricks in mind:

• Match your catering concept to your restaurant. Many of your catering customers will place orders because they love the food at your restaurant. To meet their expectations, ensure your catering concept and menu feel like a natural extension of your main brand.
• Define your catering style. Assess your resources and capabilities and determine what type of catering you can reasonably offer guests. If you don’t have the budget to invest in vehicles, equipment, and extra staff, delivery catering could be a great place to start.
• Price your catering menu wisely. Catering customers might pay anywhere from $20 to $200 for each of their guests, depending on the food and the level of service you’re providing. As you determine catering menu pricing, factor in the cost of food, supplies, equipment, labor, transportation, and service to ensure you’re making an adequate profit.
• Consider the season. Many catered events center around seasonal themes and celebrations. To help event planners match the food to the theme, consider offering new catering ideas for different times of the year. Seasonal favorites are an effective way to draw customers in and keep their attention — especially if other catering companies in town stick to the same catering menu year-round.

Catering menu ideas to test out

Ready to start testing out new catering ideas? Use these dishes to inspire your own culinary creations.

1. Standout breakfast dishes

Breakfast catering is increasingly popular, particularly in the corporate sector. There’s no reason to limit your breakfast catering ideas to yogurt parfaits and muffins. Instead, get the day off to a great start with options that are anything but sleepy:

• Breakfast burritos
• Tropical fruit platters
• Make-your-own breakfast sandwich buffet
• Fresh omelet or pancake station with a chef
• Smoothie bowls or açai bowls
• Hot breakfast bar with waffles, bacon, and hash browns

2. Seasonal catering ideas

Fun and festive seasonal menus are the perfect way to ensure your schedule is always packed with event catering jobs. You can organize different menus by season or holiday.

Examples of holiday-based catering ideas include:

• Valentine’s Day. Heart-shaped pizzas, cherry cheesecake, and sparkling punch
• St. Patrick’s Day. Miniature corned beef sandwiches, green crudité platter, miniature mint shakes
• Halloween. Mummy-wrapped corn dogs, pumpkin-shaped sugar cookies, spooky purple punch 
• Thanksgiving. Butternut squash soup, roast turkey dinner, individual pumpkin cheesecakes, spiced apple cocktails
• Christmas. Cranberry and brie crostini, honey-roasted ham, holiday cookies, mulled wine

Ingredients are the star of a seasonal menu. In the spring, you might feature fresh vegetables and light, bright fruits. In the winter, guests often crave squash, roasted meats, creamy cheeses, and hearty pastas.

3. Tiny treats that pack a punch

Appetizers are among the most popular catered items — guests love the opportunity to try a variety of small dishes. These one-bite treats are appropriate for weddings, corporate meetings, and social gatherings. When your catering business offers a variety of creative and tasty finger foods, clients can build a custom menu design to suit the event and the theme.

To attract more clients, make sure your menu is packed with sweet and savory catering ideas, such as:

• Bacon-wrapped dates
• Watermelon and feta bites
• Meatballs
• Stuffed mushrooms
• Sweet potato slices with goat cheese
• Caprese skewers
• Bite-sized sliders
• Miniature corn dogs
• One-bite cheesecakes
• Chocolate-dipped strawberries
• Cake pops

Don’t be afraid to choose indulgent appetizers. Guests might not want to eat a whole plate of fried macaroni balls, but they’re often delighted to have one or two.

4. Plant-based foods

Plant-based eating is on the rise — 63% of Americans report that they’re trying to cut back on their red meat consumption. Some are vegans or vegetarians; others want to eat more plants for health or environmental sustainability reasons. Make sure your menu appeals to these customers by adding fun, delicious, meat-free catering ideas into the mix.

Plant-based foods that work well in a catering environment include:

• Creative salads
• Vegetable skewers
• Spring rolls
• Vegetarian gyoza
• Dips including hummus and baba ganoush
• Vegetable lasagna
• Couscous or quinoa salad with nuts and dried fruit
• Pasta primavera
• Meat-free minestrone soup
• Fruit salad

To satisfy a wider audience, make sure you have plant-based options that accommodate other dietary restrictions. Gluten-free, nut-free, and dairy-free items are essential to a modern catering menu.

5. Fan favorites and crowd-pleasers

Even if you try out new catering ideas for each season, your core menu should be packed with dishes that are popular all year long. Time-honored favorites include:

• Sandwiches
• Charcuterie
• Soup and salad
• Sushi
• Burrito bowls
• Pasta
• Burgers

If you’re not sure where to start, look to your restaurant menu for inspiration. What are your most popular dishes? Chances are, they’ll also be popular with catering clients.

New to catering? Grubhub is here to help

Whether catering is already a core capability of your restaurant or you’re preparing for your first foray into the catering world, a great menu is essential to your success. Once you have a solid offering, look to Grubhub to help you get the word out. Our 33 million customers want more than standard food delivery — they’re also browsing for caterers.

In fact, Grubhub’s Corporate Catering platform connects local restaurants to companies looking for reliable catering options to feed their offices. When you offer catering with Grubhub you will instantly get access to thousands of corporate clients looking to feed their teams.

With Grubhub, it’s a breeze to add a catering menu to your listing. That way, diners can place their catering orders at any time. You can accept orders through email, Grubhub Marketplace, or even your Direct online ordering site and manage them in your Grubhub for Restaurants portal.

As your restaurant grows, we’re proud to be a partner on your side. To see how we can support your growth, get started with Grubhub today.