Table of Contents
Key Takeaways
- Offering a range of customizable meal options caters to different dietary preferences and restrictions, ensuring everyone can enjoy a meal together.
- Including healthier choices ensures that all employees, regardless of dietary needs, have appealing options.
- Incorporating build-your-own stations adds an interactive element to the lunch, making it more engaging and enjoyable for the team.
- Asking employees for their input on menu selections and accommodating their preferences not only guarantees satisfaction but also fosters a sense of community and inclusion within the team.
Catering lunches for your office is a great way to boost morale and productivity for your team. It gives everyone a chance to take a break, step away from their desks, and enjoy a delicious meal together.
But choosing menu items that satisfy everyone can be tricky. You want dishes that are delicious yet also healthy, while accommodating any dietary restrictions employees may have.
To help you out, here are some great lunch catering ideas that you will thank us for.
Sandwiches and Wraps
A classic sandwich or wrap bar is always a crowd-pleaser at the office. You can set up an assortment of breads, wraps, deli meats, cheeses, and veggie fillings for people to assemble their own creations.
Some ideas for sandwich fillings include:
- Turkey, ham, roast beef
- Swiss, cheddar, provolone cheese
- Lettuce, tomato, onion
- Mustard, mayo, oil & vinegar
For wraps, you can include spinach or sun-dried tomato tortillas along with fillings like grilled chicken, tuna salad, hummus, roasted veggies, or falafel.
Make sure to include vegetarian and vegan options. Some easy picks are grilled veggies, avocado, hummus, or falafel wraps.
You can also offer pre-assembled sandwiches and label ingredients for those with dietary restrictions.
Salads
A salad bar is a tasty way to offer lighter, healthier options at your office lunch. With a spread of fresh greens, veggies, proteins, and dressings, you can appeal to a variety of preferences and dietary needs.
- Build your own salad station – Set up stations where employees can customize their own salads with their choice of lettuces, mixed greens, chopped veggies, cheeses, nuts, seeds, dried fruits, and proteins like grilled chicken, salmon, or tofu. Provide a variety of homemade dressings, like balsamic vinaigrette, lemon tahini, green goddess, or ranch on the side.
- Signature salad options – Offer 2-3 composed salad options like a Chinese chicken salad, Greek salad with grilled chicken, or spinach salad with strawberries, feta, and nuts.
- Salad shakers – For something fun, provide individual clear containers or mason jars for employees to layer and shake up their own salad.
- Salad bar toppings – In addition to greens and veggies, make sure to provide hearty toppings and ingredients with protein, like hard boiled eggs, avocado, beans, nut butters, seeds, and shredded or crumbled cheese.
Pizza
Pizza is always a popular choice for catered lunches. The great thing about pizza is that you can order several different varieties with different toppings to please everyone.
Here are some tips for ordering pizza:
- Choose a couple of cheese pizzas as a baseline. This satisfies the plain pizza lovers.
- Get pizzas with a variety of meat toppings like pepperoni, Italian sausage, ham, bacon, etc.
- Don’t forget about veggie lovers. Get pizzas with mushrooms, onions, peppers, olives, and other fresh veggies.
- Try some unique specialty pizzas like BBQ chicken, buffalo chicken, Hawaiian, etc. These offer new flavors.
- Order a few smaller personal-sized pizzas with gluten-free crusts for those with dietary restrictions.
- Get some pizza dipping sauces like ranch, garlic butter, and marinara on the side.
Pasta Buffet
A pasta buffet is a great office lunch idea that allows everyone to customize their plates. You could set up a few pasta, sauce, protein, and topping options so employees can build their own pasta dishes.
Some great ideas for your DIY pasta bar:
- Pastas: Penne, bowtie, rotini, fusilli
- Sauces: Marinara, alfredo, pesto, olive oil, balsamic vinegar
- Proteins: Chicken, shrimp, Italian sausage, meatballs
- Toppings: Mushrooms, spinach, roasted peppers and onions, olives, tomatoes, parmesan cheese
Taco/Fajita Bar
Who doesn’t love to build their own taco? Bring that fun, casual vibe to the office with a DIY taco and fajita bar.
Rather than ordering from a restaurant, make it yourself for a fresher, healthier, and more cost-effective option.
Set up a table with homemade tortillas, grilled chicken and steak, sauteed peppers and onions, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, salsa, guacamole, cheese, and any other favorite taco toppings.
Making tacos is easy, allows for customization, and brings a festive, informal atmosphere ideal for team bonding. Just be sure to offer both corn and flour tortillas to accommodate different preferences. Provide a vegetarian protein option, like beans or tofu, as well.
Desserts
No office lunch is complete without something sweet at the end. Desserts are a fun way to satisfy everyone’s sweet tooth.
When choosing desserts, go for crowd-pleasing options like cookies, brownies, cupcakes, and donuts. Cookies are an easy option – just pick up a variety box from the grocery store or bakery. For more decadence, go for brownies topped with chocolate frosting.
You can also opt for bite-sized desserts like mini cupcakes or cake pops so people can sample a few different things.
Fruit is always a healthy dessert option, so create a fruit salad or skewers with a sweet dipping sauce.
Don’t forget beverages to go with food too. Offer coffee, lattes, or hot chocolate for something warm and comforting. Iced tea, lemonade, or fruit infused water are also great options.
Tip: Ask Employees for Input
Before choosing dishes for the office lunch, it’s best to get input from the members of your team about what they’d like. Send out a survey to get office lunch ideas on cuisine preferences.
You can make it multiple choice with options like Italian, Mexican, Asian, sandwiches, salads, etc, and have an open response for additional suggestions.
Getting your team involved from the start will help ensure you order food items that the majority will enjoy. People appreciate being asked for their opinion. As a bonus, it builds camaraderie when co-workers feel their voices are heard.
Make the survey anonymous so employees feel comfortable answering honestly about what they like and don’t like. Let them know their feedback will directly influence the lunch menu options.
Once you get the results, tally up the votes to see which cuisine categories are most popular. If the responses are mixed, try to incorporate a variety of the top choices across different days. This ensures everyone will get to eat their favorites sometimes.
Wrapping Up
The key to a great office party lunch is choosing menu items that appeal to a variety of tastes while also fitting within your budget.
When planning your menu, make sure to ask employees for input on their preferences. This will ensure there are options for any dietary needs and that people are excited about the choices. You may want to send out a survey for people to vote on their favorite food items.
Sources
- Roaming Hunger. (2024). Catering Lunch Ideas + Guide to Insanely Satisfying Corporate Lunches Retrieved from https://roaminghunger.com/blog/13166/delicious-catered-food-ideas/
- Fooda: (n.d.). 49 Corporate Catering Ideas Your Employees Will Love. Retrieved from https://www.fooda.com/blog/49-unique-corporate-catering-ideas-your-employees-will-love/
- Thrive Blog. (n.d.). 18 of the Best Office Lunch Ideas that’ll Bring Your Team Together. Retrieved from https://blog.thriver.com/office-lunch-ideas/
