The Best Food Plating Ideas for Parties and Get-Togethers

Food just tastes better when it looks good, right? We’re all for rustic, home-cooked meals that look and taste like they’ve been made with love. But once in a while, it’s fun to switch things up and be a bit more refined. If you’re throwing a dinner party or hosting a get-together, these food plating ideas will wow your guests and make the meal you share even more special.

7 tips to elevate your food plating skills

Creativity is king. Yet if you’ve never tried to outdo a restaurant, it can be hard knowing how to get simple food presentation ideas. These tips are bound to get your creative juices flowing.

1. Emphasize height

If you pay close attention, upscale restaurants often stack ingredients on the plate. Instead of spreading out all the components of the meal to fill up the plate, they create several levels.

Height is important. It makes the dish beautiful seen from different angles—be it from bird’s-eye view or from the side, to showcase each layer.

Serving your guests a spaghetti dish? Twirl the pasta on a large fork or carving knife and place it on the center of the plate, like a tall nest. This creates a much more interesting presentation than covering the entire plate with pasta.

2. Be bold with shapes

Shapes are also an important aspect of food styling. This is where your creativity can really shine. Plate all components of the dish in the same shape or in various shapes for a more eclectic look.

Let’s say you want to serve your guests teriyaki chicken with broccoli and rice. You could shape the rice into a circle using a rice mold, lay the broccoli on top, and display the chicken in a star next to it.

3. Play with textures

Something else to consider is texture. There’s so much you can do with it in the kitchen. For starters, different textures add complexity to the dish, making it more interesting and delicious. Secondly, they also add that wow factor to the look of the dish.

For example, you could plate carrot purée or mashed potatoes alongside a medium-rare steak and crunchy veggies on the side. Then, you could drizzle gravy on top to tie everything together. It’s a feast to both the eyes and taste buds.

4. Bet on contrasting colors

What do you think looks more appealing to the eye? An all-yellow plate (think fried chicken and fries) or a colorful plate? Humans are drawn to colors—especially to contrasting colors.

When plating a dish, make sure you add vibrant elements that pop. For instance, steak (brown) with roasted carrots (yellow) and peas (green) all look great together. A generous drizzle of white gravy over the meat adds even more complexity to the dish.

5. Nail the portions

At first, you may be tempted to focus too much on the food plating and not enough on the actual food. In other words, you may end up with too much of one ingredient and not enough of another, simply because one looked more aesthetically pleasing. Don’t let this happen.

Before plating, think of what portions you should be serving. For example, if the star of the dish is roast beef, be sure to include more of that than of the sides.

Additionally, if you’re going for a polished and upscale look, serve small portions. That’s what most high-end restaurants do, and for good reason. Small portions tend to look better on larger plates, period. To ensure your guests don’t leave hungry, go big on the starters and dessert.

6. Use edible garnishes

Edible garnishes are a great finishing touch. From edible flowers to deep-fried shallots and cilantro, the choices are endless. They look best sprinkled on top of the dish in random patterns right before serving. And, besides looking great, they also pack a boost of flavor and texture.

Cooking shows and cookbooks are great places to get garnishing food presentation ideas if you’re stuck. Just make sure the garnish you’re adding makes sense with the dish served.

7. Don’t underestimate the decor

Lastly, remember that there’s more to food plating than just the food. For example, the color and shape of the plate you choose can make a great difference in how your presentation looks overall. The same can be said of cutlery, napkins, and table cloth.

What tools do I need to plate like a chef?

All food plating ideas in the world are easier to execute if you have the right tools at hand. Fortunately, they’re easy to find and quite affordable.

Piping bag

Piping bags allow you to make beautiful, interesting shapes with purées. They’re the same used in baking to decorate cakes.

Squeeze bottles

Squeeze bottles give you greater control of how your sauces and gravies look on the plate. No more inconsistent drizzles or accidental spills.

Tongs

Tongs come in handy when you want to place small food elements in specific places. For example, when it comes to salad plating ideas, usually certain ingredients need to be neatly stacked on top of each other. For instance, pomegranate beads on top of baby carrots. Can you imagine having to do that by hand?

Be creative and have fun plating

Cooking and baking are great creative outlets, but so is plating. As you gain more and more experience with it, you’ll probably want to vary what ingredients get featured and left to shine. Whenever you need an ingredient—no matter how unique and hard-to-find—Instacart is there for you. Place your order via the app and, thanks to same-day delivery, you could get it delivered to your doorstep in under 2 hours.

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Author

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