Christmas party menu ideas for companies: lunch or dinner
Choosing the menu for the office Christmas party is harder than it looks: you have to please a team with different tastes, diets and ages, and everything has to be easy to eat in the middle of a celebration. Here are Christmas party menu ideas for companies, organised by format, with tips on balancing the menu and catering for everyone.
Christmas party menu ideas by format
The format comes first: a standing drinks reception calls for small pieces eaten without cutlery, a buffet allows heartier dishes that people serve themselves, a seated meal works in courses, and live cooking turns the dish into a show. First decide how you want to celebrate; then decide what to serve.
| Format | What works | What to avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Standing drinks reception | Mini croquettes, mini sandwiches, skewers, mini omelettes, dessert cups | Dishes that need a knife, sauces that drip, large pieces |
| Buffet | Salads, Iberian cured meat and cheese boards, empanadas, quiches, sponge cakes and tarts | Dishes that go cold or are passed around the table |
| Seated meal | Starter, main and dessert in courses, with waiting staff | Dishes that take a long time to plate |
| Live cooking | Tacos made to order, ceviches, aguachiles (a Mexican cousin of ceviche), fresh pasta, woks | Slow stews, where there is nothing to watch being cooked |
If you are torn between formats, our guide to organising the Christmas lunch at the office helps you decide based on space, numbers and calendar. Here we focus on the menu.
Dishes that travel well and can be eaten standing
A good dish for a standing celebration meets three conditions: it is eaten in one or two bites, it can be held in one hand, and it does not lose quality if it waits a few minutes on the table. This is the territory of finger food, which also helps people mix and chat across departments.
Some pieces from María Lluch’s usual menu that meet those conditions:
- Mini croquettes of Iberian ham, confit leeks, porcini or truffle.
- Mini sandwiches and mini baguettes: smoked salmon, turkey and rocket, pastrami with mustard, sobrasada (a soft, spreadable Mallorcan cured sausage) with honey and brie.
- Skewers of semi-dried cherry tomato, Emmental cheese and basil oil.
- Mini Spanish omelettes, with a truffle option.
- Pastrami rolls with mustard and rocket.
- Mini burgers, classic or with caramelised onion and foie gras.
By contrast, dishes that need a knife, fall apart or drip are a bad idea with a glass in the other hand. If you want a showpiece, a station with tacos made to order works as a centrepiece without breaking up the standing format.
How to balance hot and cold
A balanced menu combines cold pieces that can wait without any problem and hot pieces that bring the festive touch. As a guide, start with the cold food while the team arrives, bring out the hot food once the atmosphere has built, and leave the sweet things for the final toast. That way the table is never empty and nothing goes cold.
A combination that tends to work:
- To welcome (cold): acorn-fed Iberian cured meat and Spanish cheese boards with grapes and walnuts, hummus with crudités, mini sandwiches.
- To liven things up (hot): mini croquettes, confit leek, goat’s cheese and brie quiche, chistorra (thin Navarrese chorizo) puff pastry bites, breaded chicken fillet bites.
- To finish (sweet): dessert cups, mini brownies and fruit skewers.
In December, with offices colder, hot food is welcome, but do not overdo it: if everything is hot, you need to coordinate serving times and keep the temperature up. A mix of cold and hot is easier to manage and safer.
Vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options
In any team there will be someone who does not eat meat, someone who avoids dairy and someone who cannot have gluten. The most practical approach is for the menu to include several options that anyone can eat, rather than a single “special” dish for them. That way nobody feels set apart or has to ask what they can try.
From María Lluch’s menu, a few ideas:
- Vegetarian: caprese salad, cherry tomato and Emmental skewers, mini vegetable samosas and confit leek, goat’s cheese and brie quiche.
- Vegan: vegan spring rolls with sweet chilli sauce and, depending on the recipe (confirm when you order), the classic or semi-dried tomato hummus with crudités and the guacamole with homemade tortilla chips. We explain what a vegan menu excludes in vegan catering.
- Gluten-free: cheese, Iberian cured meat and fruit are naturally gluten-free, but the bread and breadsticks that come with the boards are not, so ask for them separately and serve them apart. More information in gluten-free catering. At María Lluch Catering, every dish has its own allergen sheet; tell us about allergies and intolerances and we will adapt the menu.
A useful detail for live cooking: the vegetarian option in the live cooking proposal means the station can be the same for everyone, including those who eat neither meat nor fish.
Non-alcoholic drinks for the toast
A good drinks list includes genuine non-alcoholic alternatives, not just water and soft drinks: some guests are driving, some are pregnant, some don’t drink on principle and some have a meeting afterwards. If the toast is only made with cava, those people are left out of the most photographed moment of the celebration.
Some simple ideas:
- Alcohol-free cava or wine for the toast, served just as chilled and in a glass.
- Fresh seasonal juices, such as orange or pomegranate, in a jug.
- Sparkling water and flavoured waters with citrus or herbs.
- Herbal teas and coffee to close, especially if it is a lunch.
Decide from the start how many drinks you are allowing per person and how many will be non-alcoholic, so that they appear in the proposal. In our guide to catering prices we explain how to compare one proposal with another.
Christmas desserts you can eat standing
The ideal dessert for a company celebration is eaten in two bites, needs no cutlery and is easy to hand out. Mini formats and dessert cups beat a whole cake, which means cutting and handing out plates. The sweet course usually closes the event, so it is worth taking care over the presentation.
From the usual menu, these work well:
- Mousse cups of dulce de leche, lime or mascarpone.
- Mini brownies with walnuts and brownie cube skewers with red berries.
- Mini apple tarte tatin, creamy mini cheesecake and mini chocolate fondant.
- Homemade sponge cakes of lemon with poppy seeds or of orange.
- Fruit skewers, which lighten the ending.
To add a Christmas touch, you can ask for turrón (Spanish nougat), polvorones (crumbly almond shortbread) or marzipan to go alongside, which the whole team recognises; tell us when you request a quote and we will look into it.
How to adapt the menu to a diverse team and to allergens
A menu for a diverse team is built on a common base that almost everyone can eat (boards, fruit, hummus, vegetarian pieces) and completed with dishes that do exclude someone, clearly labelled. That way nobody depends on a “special” dish and the menu adapts to the list of dietary needs, not the other way round.
Guidelines for designing the menu:
- Start from the list of dietary needs: how to collect it with the invitation is explained in our guide to organising the Christmas lunch.
- Give each dish its own label, with its name and any of the 14 allergens that must be declared by law that it contains.
- Separate the delicate items: if someone has a serious allergy, ask how cross-contamination is avoided in the kitchen and at the table, and ask for those pieces to be served separately.
- Double up on the base dishes, so the pieces everyone can eat do not run out before the rest.
- Respect religious or cultural reasons: if someone does not eat pork or does not drink alcohol, make sure there are clear alternatives in the savoury dishes, desserts and toast.
At María Lluch Catering, every dish has its own allergen sheet; tell us about allergies and intolerances and we will adapt the menu.
Frequently asked questions
What is usually served at a company Christmas lunch?
It depends on the format. At a drinks reception you serve small cold and hot pieces (croquettes, mini sandwiches, skewers) and desserts in cups. At a buffet, boards, salads and sharing dishes. At a seated meal, a starter, main and dessert. The usual approach is to combine cold and hot and to look after the vegetarian options.
Which traditional Christmas dishes can be included?
The ones that suit a company celebration best are those served as a bite or on a board: Iberian ham, cheeses, turrón, polvorones and marzipan for coffee. Stews, soups and the roasts of a family dinner work less well standing up. Quantities per person are in our guide to organising the Christmas lunch.
Can I ask for vegan or gluten-free options?
Yes, and it is best to say so when you request the proposal so they are taken into account when designing the menu. María Lluch’s menu includes vegetarian and vegan dishes, such as the vegan spring rolls with sweet chilli sauce. For gluten-free, say so when you request information and we will adapt the menu.
How do I know which allergens each dish contains?
Ask when you book: Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 requires information on the 14 allergens even for unpackaged food, and ideally each dish is labelled on the table. If someone has a serious allergy, tell them in writing before the menu is finalised and ask how cross-contamination is avoided.
Next step
With the format chosen and your team’s dietary needs in hand, you have what you need to request a tailored proposal. Book before 30 November: see our office Christmas party in Madrid page and, once you have a date and number of guests, request information or a quote. We reply to your quote request within 24–48 h.
Related service: Company Christmas party
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