How to Plan a Healthy Menu for Your Catered Affair

Hosting a large party is quite the undertaking, with lots to plan, organize, and consider. The top priority is to provide your guests with a memorable and enjoyable experience, and part of that experience typically involves food. For those who will be hosting a catered affair in the near future, it may be worth your time to consider healthy food options. With people being more conscious than ever of what they eat, providing them with tasty yet healthy options can help your party to be a hit.

So, if you’re convinced you need to include healthy options but aren’t sure what that should entail and how to go about it, here are some tips you can use.

Speak to Your Caterer and Get Their Input

Often the best place to start is speaking to your caterer and getting their input. Chances are they have catered for a number of events that requested healthy food options. They may even have an existing menu of choices that you can look over and get ideas from. If you have any specific requests, this is also the time to ask.

Large and professional venues such as Lot 8, a private party venue San Diego, typically have an on-site kitchen which will allow caterers to create spectacular and healthy dishes. Again, this is something that should be discussed well in advance, as you want to be sure the space and equipment needed for your food choices is available at the venue.

Consider Whether Your Guests Have Any Food Restrictions

As a host it’s also up to you to make sure there is something for everyone to eat, which means you need to be aware of any dietary concerns, restrictions, or allergies. It may be necessary to offer gluten-free, sugar-free, peanut-free, vegan, and/or vegetarian dishes.

Be Aware of Preferences

Outside of food allergies, there are also food preferences that most people tend to have. As a general rule, mild-aged guests tend to be open to adventurous and spicy dishes, those who are health and fitness buffs tend to look for vegetarian and seafood options, while older guests tend to flock towards mild dishes.

Ask How the Food is Cooked

Outside of the actual food you choose, it’s also important to discuss how the food will be cooked. You can take a healthy fillet of fish but if it is dipped in batter and then deep-fried, you’ve gone and taken away the majority of the nutritional value.

In order to keep the menu as healthy as possible, select dishes that are poached, baked, grilled, broiled, steamed, or roasted. These will still taste great but will retain most of their nutrients. Also, try to go easy on salt and heavy rich sauces that add all kinds of calories.

Hit a Homerun with a Delicious and Healthy Menu

If you’re looking for a way to impress your guests when it comes to the menu, opting for healthy foods cooked in a way that retains the most nutrients possible is definitely the way to go.