Sandwich Platter – guide how to feed a crowd
The Sandwich Platter is always a great way to feed a crowd!
Season of entertaining and hosting is here. And while cheese boards and charcuterie platters are great and delicious, they usually cost a bit more and often serve as an appetizer only.
Sandwich platter are much more cost effective and you can easily prepare them ahead of time.
In this post you will learn:
– What kind of bread to choose
– How to assemble a sandwich platter
– 3 Top secrets to ensure your sandwich platter is a hit
– The most popular „crowd pleasers” fillings
– Open sandwich platter as an alternative
First of all make sure that you have your bases covered in terms of dietary requirements. Plan to have vegetarian/ vegan options as well as gluten free/protein bread. You know your guests best but it’s always good idea to have a mixture of different flavors on your sandwich platter. We
would highly recommend few classic cold sandwiches as a starting point and then adding creative flavors so your guest can try something new and keep conversations flowing.
You are probably wondering how much sandwiches you’ll need to have. We always advise to have 6 small quarters of the sandwich per person + an extra 12 quarters just in case. You can easily do the math knowing amount of guests your are entertaining although it all depends from length of the event you are hosting as well as if there will be other appetizers/canapés served.
Bread – star of your sandwich platter
Make sure that bread is fresh as nobody likes stale bread. Choice of bread often depends on the fillings but you can never go wrong with classic white and wholemeal. When you use combination of both it would make nice color contrast on you sandwich platter so it will look delicious and make your guest mouth watering.
White bread is the most common choice for the sandwich platter. It is soft and fluffy with buttery and slightly sweet flavor and you can never go wrong with the white bread but don’t you think it’s a little boring?
Wholemeal bread is made from the whole wheat grain so it’s definitely much more nutritious compering to white bread. It matches very well with strong flavors such as mature cheese, roast beef or mustard.
If any of your guests is gluten intolerant, there are many GF options available on the market. Please see the links below for our favorites.
M&S Made Without Brown Seeded Bread Loaf
Warburtons Gluten Free White Loaf
The most popular “crowd pleasers” fillings
There are no certain rules on etiquette in terms of filings on your sandwich platter. We would recommend you use variety of different flavors so your guests have many options to choose from.
Our favorites are below. You can’t go wrong with the classic but it’s nice to add a bit of twist as well.
* Free range egg mayo & cress
* Three cheeses, onion & tomatoes
* Tempting tuna mayonnaise and sweetcorn
* Rich smoked salmon & cream cheese
* Smoked ham, cheese and honey mustard
* Ham, cheddar and tangy pickle
* Tender chicken salad
* Fruity Coronation chicken
In terms of the presentation you have few different ways of cutting your sandwiches.
The post popular are triangles, finger slices or little squares (cocktail sandwiches) but in our opinion it is best to have combination of them all on your sandwich platter. It’s very visually appealing especially when you put them on at different angles. You can serve them on large wooden board, as well as simple white platter or stone slate, possibilities are endless. It’s up to you to decide however we recommend that the surface of your platter or board is flat rather than at angle so the sandwiches want fall down on each other.
3 Top Secrets of Perfect Sandwich Platter
1. Try to use bread that is square in shape so your sandwich triangles on you platter are nice and even. Otherwise you will end up with sandwich platter that look a bit messy so this is something you definitely want to avoid.
2. Prepare sandwiches the day before, wrap them tightly in cling film and refrigerate overnight. You can cut them into triangles following morning. We can assure you that you will be thanking us for this advice. Cling film keeps the sandwiches nice and fresh. Sandwiches will hold their shape much better and look very juicy on the platter when you serve them following day. You will end up with beautifully cut soft sandwich rather than sandwiches that are filling apart and are hard to present nicely on you sandwich platter.
3. Glue! You are probably thinking, what??? Glue in the sandwiches? Yes, you read it correctly. Use mayonnaise, mustard, cream cheese or butter as a “glue” to hold you sandwiches together. You use you “glue” in between each layer of the sandwich. If you prepare them to dry they will fall apart and again as we mentioned before you sandwich platter will look messy and unpleasant to an eye.
Open sandwich platter as an alternative
Classic sandwich platters are well known but if you want to surprise your guest with a little bit of the twist we offer beautifully crafted open sandwiches platter. They are great alternative to traditional sandwiches but that are usually served on fresh baguette rather than on sliced bread. You can be very creative with toppings starting from old good rich smoked salmon and cream cheese to progressive flavor like plum jam and Brie with pancetta.
As it is unusual form of serving sandwiches you can be sure that your food will get lots compliments from your guest. Those sandwiches are heaven for foodies and looks absolutely mouthwatering! Real food art at its finest.
