My family ranks the Breakfast Burrito Bar as one of the best ways to feed a crowd in the morning!
It seems that I’ve been on a bit of a Build a _________ Bar kick during the past few months. I believe it just makes sense now that my kids are older. They definitely have specific tastes and preferences. Laying out ingredients and letting individuals put together what they like just makes sense.
That, and it’s much less work for me. I like this part best of all.
Beyond the family, the Build a __________ Bar idea is wonderful for company. Guests can fill their bowl or plate just the way they like. This is a great way to accommodate people with food allergies or differing tastes.
So let’s see. Shall we review the Build a ______ Bar ideas I’ve shared up to this point?
I thought surely I had posted about Build a Chef Salad Bar, but I guess I never have. That’s one of the easiest meal ideas, so I highly recommend it.
And now, consider a Breakfast Burrito Bar. This worked wonderfully for company a few weeks ago.
Simply lay out breakfast burrito items and let everyone fill their plate according to their tastes. Here are some suggestions for the buffet:
Build a Breakfast Burrito Buffet
- Warm tortillas
- Scrambled eggs
- Cooked meat like ham, sausage, or bacon
- Shredded cheese
- Salsa
- Chopped veggies like peppers, onions, and mushrooms
- Spinach
Of course, it’s great to offer a variety of fresh fruit for a side dish.
Do you have any other Build a __________ Bar ideas to share? I love how simple this is!
For big groups, there may be no better Build A ___ Bar than the Baked Potato Bar! You can bake a slew of potatoes and either provide an amazing array of toppings, or make it a potluck – chili, steamed broccoli, and all the rest of the goodies. So easy and SO filling!
We are doing a popcorn bar as part of a church activity later this week. We are providing the popcorn and lots of butter. We have asked everybody to bring their favorite topping or a creative topping to share.
We do all the usual Build A __ Bars (the sundaes, the pasta, the tacos) and we also do pizzas because, well, I have boys and boys have friends (I know you know this one, Laura!). So easy — I just make 10″ prebaked crusts and then set up our own little pizza kitchen and let them go to town. It’s a great thing for the younger set too — we’ve been doing it since the kids were probably 5. No complaints in 11 years!
We do Build A Bowl of Oatmeal Bar at our house! I cook up a big batch of oatmeal (usually I cook it with chunks of apple so that the apple will be cooked already and everybody here loves apple) and then I put out bowls of raisins, dried cherries, cranberries, and apricots,. For fresh fruit I do sliced banana and blueberries. I usually do a couple kinds of chopped nuts – almonds, walnuts, pecans. Also cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, honey, brown sugar, maple syrup, and shredded coconut (that makes it taste like a granola bar).
When I do this with guests I usually serve ham or bacon on the side. :)
We did the build your bowl of oatmeal bar for a work party a few weeks ago and it was a huge hit.
I also just did a build your own taco bar for my son’s birthday this past weekend.
I’ve also done a build your own pasta bar. Put out a huge colander of cooked pasta, a red sauce, a white sauce, different cheeses, pre-cooked sausage, ham, beef, and pre-softened veggies.
I LOVE this idea, and all the other “Build a ______ Bar” ideas shared too! The idea I wanted to share isn’t quite as enjoyable for the cook at eating time, but I’ve seen “build your own” omelets done in hotels…just have all of the ingredients set out where your guests can select what they want, then the cook puts it all together in the pan. You could do a “Build a _____ Bar” for sandwiches or burgers. And maybe a “Build a _____ Bar” for waffles or crepes –you could do sweet and/or savory. Like the “Build a ____ Bar” idea for Sundaes, you can also do “Build a ____ Bar” for cookie and cupcake icing/toppings {can be used as a party activity for children}. The possibilities seem endless really. ;)
My daughter wants to do a crepe bar at her next birthday party (in lieu of cake). She wants to have various fresh fruit choices, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, bananas, etc. plus whipped cream. I also suggested homemade chocolate sauce for garnish (since it was a birthday :) The crepes will be served with bacon, sausage and smoothies. I make my crepe recipe with whole wheat pastry flour and no one can tell they are whole wheat, so they should go over well with her school friends. With any luck, I can master using 2 crepe pans at once by then! I think crepes are best eaten fresh.
What is your crepe recipe? Is the pastry flour from soft white wheat. I have lots and love making crepes, but have not made many whole wheat ones.
My recipie is from the children’s book “Crepes By Suzette”.
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 tablespoon organic sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Beat eggs with an electric mixer (or whisk), beat in milk, add flour an mix until smooth, add butter, sugar and salt and blend well. cover batter and chill 1 hour or overnight.
I double the recipe for my family of five so there are leftovers for my kids. I use TRader Joe’s white whole wheat flour in pancakes and waffles, but tried Bob’s Red Mill whole wheat pastry flour in my crepes on a whim and LOVE it.
Ok, I’m a little late to the “Build a ANYTHING Bar”. Never dawned on me until reading all of your posts about the subject. It just wasn’t done when I was growing up. But now that my kids are a little bit older, I am finding that they LOVE it. My picky son will actually eat his salad without complaint. Both kids will. (I do have to supervise as they will take all of some ingredients leaving none for everyone else) And since they’ve been watching Master Chef Junior….they are a hoot to listen too. They sound like little chefs using phrases like “good presentation” and “this will add a nice texture”. And then they eat ALL their food in record time. love the idea..I just need to remember to do it. :)
I hope to do breakfast burrito bar for about 75 people and wondered how much meat bacon and sausage to prepare for 75 also how many scrambled eggs to plan to prepare