Cocktail Party Food
A Few Cocktail Party Food Ideas
The beauty of cocktail party food is that you can be very creative and experimental with your selections. It’s not like planning for a meal where the main dish should be something that everyone will like. At a cocktail party, no one will be eating a full meal and there should be a wide enough variety of food that everyone will find something to nibble on.
The ability to provide variety however, may cause some people to feel overwhelmed by the available choices. First of all, remember that cocktail party food is limited by the type of gathering that this is. There are usually more people than there is formal seating. This means that guests are often holding a drink in one hand and they only have one hand to do everything else. Food requiring utensils are definitely out. This limitation alone cuts down on the choices for food to include finger food or food that can be eaten with a toothpick.
Another way to make the food choices less overwhelming is to choose a theme for your party or just for your food. Choosing a theme can help you narrow down the types of alcohol that you need to have on hand as well, and the theme can set the tone for the entire party, such as music and dress. A formal theme would call for more formal attire, Frank Sinatra type background music, martini type drinks, and a more formal flavor profile for the food. Cocktail party food for this type of party could include shrimp skewers and a large assortment of cheeses and crackers.
A Mexican themed party, however would provide a much more relaxed atmosphere. Alcoholic beverages could revolve around tequila with margaritas and tequila sunrises. Food for this party could include mini tacos, empanadas, chips and salsa, and bean dip.
The time of year and the location of the cocktail party can also influence your choice of theme and flavor profile. The theme can revolve around an occasion, a season, or an ethnicity.
Cocktail party guests will be sampling food, not eating only one or two items. This makes it important to think about the flavors of different hors d’oeuvres together. It’s not necessary to match tastes, but it is important to avoid foods that actually clash, or make each other taste bad when eaten together.
Your cocktail party menu should include a variety of foods including meats, seafood, fruits, and vegetables. Desserts are not usually a part of cocktail party food, but serving some bite sized pieces of fruit could satisfy any guests’ craving for sweets.
Decide well ahead of time if this will be a party with a wide range of cocktails offered, or if it will be more of a wine and beer affair. If cocktails are offered, be sure that you either know how to mix a variety of drinks, or that you have some pre-mixed cocktails such as cosmopolitans. Recipes for mixed drinks are readily available on the internet. Be sure to have at least two glasses per guest available, since guests may want to switch what they are drinking, or they may set their glass down and forget where they put it.
When you are determining the amount of food that you will need to serve, estimate that each guest will eat six bites per hour when no dinner is being served. For dips, one ounce is equivalent to one bite. It is always better to have more food than is needed than to run out part way through the party. A typical cocktail party runs about two hours.
Hosting a cocktail party does not have to be expensive, but if you don’t plan well, it is sure to bust your budget. Less expensive cocktail party foods include chicken drumettes, meatballs in sweet and sour sauce, thinly sliced salami, and bowls of nuts. Crackers and cheese are also a staple of cocktail parties.