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If you’re lucky enough to have a solid friend group who are either vegan themselves, or adventurous enough to try your vegan cooking, GOOD FOR YOU! Keep those great people! Today at the FEMPIRE we’re breaking down what it takes to be the hostess with the mostess – VEGAN STYLE. This is how to impress your friends: Vegan Entertaining. Lets go!
Choose Your Theme
All great dinner parties have a theme right? Or maybe this is a brunch with the girls, where we can serve a beautiful french toast casserole and a tofu scramble? Add in mimosas and coffee? OR maybe this will be a mexican fiesta with tempeh tacos, homemade guac, and lime quinoa (my friends love this meal!) How about a romantic Italian spread with vegan garlic bread, lasagna, and wine?
Whatever your craving is pick about 3 dishes to serve in accordance to your theme. Include your friends with this, we all like options! Send out a group text or email and include about 3 different options and see what your guests are feelin’!
**We will say here- choose a meal or a spread that you’ve done before, no one wants to order takeout if the meal is a vegan flop. ALTHOUGH if you have some daring friends you could always set aside one night per month or twice per month to do “New Vegan Dinner Nights” and try something together? Have everyone bring a new vegan component? Just an idea!
This is your opportunity to show off those vegan skills, and every single time you do, you could always sway a non vegan! Show em’ off!
Get The Prep Done Early
You’ll already have a lot on your plate being the hostess. We don’t want you to miss out on all the fun because of that! So get all of the annoying prep work that keeps you in the kitchen forever, done early! Sometimes depending on what you’re doing you can prepare a lot of things the day or night before. And as a result, you’ll be able to mingle and hang out with your friends while your beautiful meal is cooking!
Examples of things you can do the night before: chop veggies, peel potatoes (put them in water after to avoid browning), make toppings (tofu ricotta, homemade sauce, etc) OR prepare the whole meal if its a casserole based dish – that way you’ll only have to toss it in the oven! We love those meals. Our BEST EVER homemade vegan mac and cheese is always our go-to for entertaining. It’s SO easy, I throw it together the night before, and its a huge crowd pleaser. Even the non-vegans love it – that’s when you really know you made somethin’ good.
Have Snacks And Apps
When your friends get there they’ll probably be hungry, hence why they’re there right? Greet them with some friendly vegan apps. Treat this as an opportunity to show off some skills. Maybe try a homemade vegan cheese dip? Or homemade refreshing guac? Or maybe blow em’ all away with a buffalo dip! (We make this A LOT during football season, its always a hit!) Don’t forget guys, a lot of the basic snacks ARE vegan, pretzels, chips, crackers, nuts and trail mix. Options are endless!
Make Everything Look Pretty
You guys knew this would be in here. Presentation! We don’t want to see anyone using grandmas old dusty nasty serving bowls! The Dollar Tree, Christmas Tree Shop, Walmart, Target, WHATEVER your impulse store of choice is, has LOADS of CUTE AS* serve-ware! You ARE the hostess with the mostess, and we gotta’ make you look like one!
Some of the best serving dishes I have are impulse buys from Home Goods, or Target and even the Dollar Tree! They’re always conversation starters, always look super cute, and lets get real doesn’t the food TASTE better when it LOOKS better?
If ya’ll are more online shoppers – we feel that too. Here are some of our favorite serve ware right from Amazon – thank GOD for prime, am I right?!
Beautiful White Serving Bowls – Stackable!
A Bamboo Ramekin Sampler Serving Tray
Cutest Ever Salad Bowl – Comes In Other Colors!
One of my favorite serving dishes is sectioned into four little squares. I use it ALL the time for Mexican night. We put homemade guac in one, salsa in another, vegan sour cream, and chopped up romaine in the last! Looks BEAUTIFUL and everyone comments on it!
Just like this one!
Never doubt the power of a wooden cutting board or serving board! Whatever your put on these guys, looks beautiful. I don’t care if you’re even doing prep work. Thats the most beautiful stinkin’ jalapeño on that board I’ve ever even seen and it makes me want to eat it even more seeing it on the wooden cutting board. (OK maybe this is just me…I love wooden cutting boards guys)
We’re linking a few of our favorites here – all different price ranges you guys! Pick your favs!
Middle Of The Road Option (Includes lifetime warranty!)
Lower Priced Option! (Includes three different size boards!)
Vegan entertaining doesn’t have to be expensive entertaining! No pressure, this is meant to be fun! And remember once you have these items entertaining is a breeze!
Make The Table Cute Too!
This is 2023 everyone. I feel as though the days of dining together family style around the table are slimming down, and I HATE that. Here at our FEMPIRE we sit and have dinner together at the TABLE like humans whenever possible. I do work some nights so not every night is possible to do this but whenever it is, thats where we eat.
Set your table with cute napkins (again Target or the Dollar Tree has cute napkins all the time!) fun plates, THE SAME SILVERWARE (for the love of God this isn’t college where half of us have plastic disposable utensils and the other half has grandma’s silver) use cute hot plates and trivets, I got mine off Amazon they’re wooden (again my obsession is real guys) and they’re dope, and the same plates or bowls depending on your meal!
Have A Vegan Dessert!
This is optional, but MOST dinner parties and vegan entertaining are just incomplete without a little somethin’ sweet after. This doesn’t have to be complicated and if baking isn’t your thing (its really not mine- but I’m learning) Whole Foods comes to your rescue. Trader Joe’s has your back also. Last resort guys, Duncan Hines IS VEGAN, just use a vegan egg substitute! Game changer, I know.
Have Fun!!
Enjoy being the hostess FEMPIRE! We know you can do it! If you have any questions or tips for other hostess’s leave em here! Happy vegan hosting!
Wow, this article is really helpful! I will use your tips next time I give a dinner party. 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much Suzie!! 🙂 let us know how it goes! Good luck!