Tips for planning the perfect block party menu

The biggest challenge to a block party menu is organization. Who’s bringing what? For how many? Take a breather and follow these tips for easy summer party planning with a little help from some familiar web services.

Planning a block party can be daunting. Perhaps one of the most challenging parts is feeding the hungry crowd. How do you make sure there’s enough food for all and that everything (including incidentals) is taken care of? How about a little help from an online sharing service like Clipboard or Pinterest?

Organizing the menu

You may be tempted to just ask everyone to bring their favorite foods, but remember that means that you’ll have a lot of disjointed dishes, and you could easily end up with six potato salads and no veggies.

Set up a board on Clipboard or Pinterest just for your party planning and invite one member of each household to join. While Pinterest works for this, we prefer Clipboard because it has a few features that make it especially useful for party planning (like tagging, the ability to @-reply to bring a note to someone’s attention and the ability to create notes without special clips from the web).

Have a single small committee decide on the menu or theme. For example, if you decide to do barbecue, you’ll want one or two people in charge of the main dish and everyone else in charge of extras. Either assign each household a dish to bring or ask them to submit ideas by pinning or clipping them to the main board. Then everyone can see at a glance if there’s a duplicate and those things can be worked out in advance.

Once the menu is set, make sure you keep people informed of how many people they’ll need to serve and other information they’ll need. For example, if someone is supposed to bring baked beans, add a note to their clip letting them know how many people they’re serving, what serving utensils to bring, if any, and whether they should bring optional add-ins (like cheese, green onions, etc.).

• A variety of sodas (make sure you have diet and caffeine-free options and lemon-lime for the kids)
• Mocktails for the kids
• Watermelon & jalapeño margaritas
• Plenty of water
• A variety of beer (we recommend asking guests to BYOB)

• Grilled stuffed jalapeños with fresh cilantro lime sauce
• Adorably cheesy animal appetizers
• Vodka-infused tomatoes with dipping salts (Vegetarian, vegan if made with Imperial brand or other vegan-approved sugar)
• Crackers and several cheese spreads
• Vegetable platter

• Mexican-spiced baby back ribs with chipotle honey glaze
• Favorite burger recipes from football legends
• Quinoa veggie burger (Vegetarian, vegan if egg white substitute is used; make sure they aren’t cooked on the same grill as meat)

• Honey barbecue beans with applewood smoked bacon
• Grilled sweet potato and mango salad (Vegetarian, vegan if made with Imperial brand or other vegan-approved sugar) 
• French fries
• Grilled vegetables (Vegan if not grilled using animal fat)
• Homestyle coleslaw (Vegetarian, vegan if made using mayonnaise substitute)
• Cactus fries with avocado dipping sauce (Vegetarian, vegan if made using vegan sour cream and mayonnaise substitutes)

• S’mores dessert pizza
• Piñata cookies
• Vegan coconut chocolate pudding
• Cake batter brownies
• Store-bought candy and fruit (watermelon is always popular)

Other important stuff

The menu isn’t the only thing people need to know about, though. Use the notes feature to add party details, like the time and date, where they should bring the food and any other important info.

It’s also helpful to post a note or link containing food safety tips (how to keep it warm or cold, etc.). Basically, it’s helpful to have a central location with details that apply to everyone.

And don’t forget the utensils and plates! Make sure someone’s in charge of bringing the right kind of plates (for barbecue or messy food, you’ll need heavy-duty plates, preferably with dividers), spoons, forks, serving utensils, cups (do you need special glasses for a cocktail?), drinks (especially plenty of water) and napkins. If you want these things to match, make sure you post and assign the exact type or color you need.

You should also suggest special disposable containers guests can buy for their dishes instead of bringing their own. You may also need ice, ice chests, tables, chairs and other incidentals. If you can’t find it online, you can post a note and assign it.

More on block party planning

10 Tips to organize an outstanding block party
Bring back the block party: 3 Creative themes you have to try
How to plan a holiday block party