Party Platter Ideas
Creating trays full of food requires thought and planning. It's important to organize the different foods well and make sure your guests can tell what they are. There are many ways to do this, including labeling the food or pairing similar items on the same tray. As important as choosing the types of foods to include on your party platters is choosing the correct amounts based on the number of people attending and the other food being served. Does this Spark an idea?
Number of Items Per Person
To avoid having a lot of food left over, the Food Network website offers advice for determining how many items to place on a party platter (see Resources section). If a full meal is being served, prepare only four to six items per guest. If the platter items are the only food items being offered, plan for each guest to eat at least 12 items.
Selection Choices
Offer a variety of items. Not everyone is going to enjoy every dish you prepare. Some might be vegetarians, and others might have food allergies or specific food preferences. Prepare trays that include cheeses, fruits and vegetables, and meat options. Keep these on separate platters to organize the platters and avoid the mixing of foods for those with allergies.
If you have cubed fruits and vegetables, place toothpicks nearby. Put forks near sliced items.
Wrapped Items
Items prepared as wraps are good for party platters because they are not messy. Bake food wrapped in phylo or other dough, such as pigs in a blanket, miniature corn dogs, cheese puffs, and egg rolls. Wraps for sandwiches also make it easy for guests to carry them with one hand and socialize. When creating wraps, offer items with and without cheese.
Labels will help prevent guests from trying to open the wraps to see what's inside or taking one taste and wasting the item because they don't like it.
Create a Theme
The items on each of your party platters should be related in some way. For example, put all the spicy items on one tray and the mild ones on another. Label these trays so your guests know what they are getting. Create platters themed around Southwestern ingredients, Italian ingredients or Asian ingredients on separate trays to give your guests an idea of what they are.
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