17 Food Bar Ideas
Make your own food bars are a great addition to a birthday party, baby shower, graduation party or even a simple Friday night dinner with friends.
Main course food bar ideas
1. Nachos
Who doesn’t love nachos? With a nacho bar, you set everything out and let guests decide what they want piled on top of their crunchy corn chips. Plus, you can use the punny phrase “This is nacho your average party!”
2. Pizza
Who doesn’t love pizza? And the toppings are endless! The only thing tricky about this party bar idea is to think through how the pizzas will be baked.
3. Burrito bowls
For a healthy option, whip up chicken and add avocado, peppers, corn, lime, beans, and rice. For more details, check out The Handmade Home.
4. Mashed potato bar
Who doesn’t love mashed potatoes? Let guests choose from toppings like cheese, bacon bits, sour cream, chives, and mushrooms. The possibilities are endless. image via Imaginary Wedding.
5. Pasta
Boil up a variety of noodles and add sauce! See more about how to make a pasta bar at Somewhat Simple.
Breakfast Food Bar Ideas
6. Oatmeal
Gather cranberries, brown sugar, raisins, and nuts and display in glass containers for a simple, hearty breakfast that each person can make their own. Oringially from Echoes of Laughter.
7. Cereal
How cure are the plastic buckets filled with cereal and the empty milk carton filled with crepe paper flowers? Plus, who doesn’t love cereal? And the Froot Loop garlands are pretty cute too. Find more at The Purple Pug.
8. Biscuit bar
A biscuit bar would make be perfect for brunch. Bake up the biscuits and add Nutella, honey, jams, and peanut butter. Find out more on Kojo Designs.
9. Yogurt
For more details, check out Pretty Providence.
10. Crepes
Fill a crepe with whatever you please for a sweet or savory crepe. For more check out Kojo Designs.
Dessert Food Bar Ideas
11. Cookie Bar
Cookies are always a good idea and I love that cookies can double as party favors.
12. S’mores
This S’more bar is cute and scrumptious! Set everything up in glass cylinders for easy access. See more at Secret Agent Josephine.
13. Candy bar
Display the guest of honors favorite candy in clear containers. Done and done. Image via 27 Pineapples.
Drinks & Snacks
14. Root beer floats
Consider subsisting Root Beer for your fizzy beverage of choice. Coke floats and Sprite plus Sherbet are delicious too. Find out more at A Crafty Spoonful.
15. Banana pops
Simply chop bananas into pieces and supply a ridiculous amount of toppings. Delicious! See more at Bakers Royale.
16. Hot chocolate
Add a hot chocolate party to any winter party for instant fun. There is no wrong topping for a hot chocolate bar. Consider peppermint bites, sprinkles, coconut, marshmallows, cinnamon, and caramel sauce. See more at Kevin and Amanda.
17. Trail Mix
I love that the trail mix supplies is set up in brown paper bags. So sweet and simple. Oringially found at Jacks and Kate.
Comments & Reviews
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Very Cool! I can’t help holding a party, it looks so attractive!
Breakfast sandwich bar (biscuits, English muffins, sausage, bacon, eggs, and all the possible toppings) is fun for a brunch. Also Bloody Mary bar is great.
I recognize the nacho bar from kojodesigns. We went to that party, and it was so well done. They do a lot of themed parties and post it on their blog. Everything they do is wonderful. You should check them out.
A few years ago we had a Hot Dog Bar. Cut all the hot dogs and buns in half (so you could try more). and had fixings for 5 different styles of hot dog. (Ex. Carolin Dogs, Chicago Hot Dog to Kansas City Hot Dogs) We posted the recipe for each hot dog and guest fixed there own.
Beth, cutting them on half is a great idea!
I used to cater and one of the most requested lunches I would do was a Build your own Subs bar- I would have mini size sub buns (6″) and a platter of lunch meats- ham, turkey, roast beef, salami; one of cheeses- American, provolone, Swiss and cheddar (sometimes co jack); a tray of toppings- sliced tomatoes, sliced bell peppers in red, green and yellow, sliced red and sweet onions, shredded lettuce; then mayo, mustard, ketchup, oil & vinegar, black and green olives, sandwich size pickles, hot and sweet peppers and jalapenos. chips and pretzels and chocolate chip cookies would complete the buffet.
I also did a Top the Dog hotdog bar- Hotdogs, hotdog buns, Ketchup, Mustard, Relish Dill, Relish Sweet
Diced Onions, Cheese sauce- not nacho, Chili with beans, Coney island sauce, Sauerkraut, potato salad or baked beans, Chips, Pretzels, cookies.
Another Favorite i used to do was You’re the Chef Salads- let them make their own. I included:
lettuce & red cabbage & carrot blend; shredded carrots, cherry Tomatoes, sliced mushrooms, diced red onion, diced bell peppers, English Cucumber sliced, Cheddar cheese, shredded, Swiss cheese, shredded, Turkey, chopped, Ham, chopped, diced hard salami, Bacon , cooked crisp and crumbled, Hard-boiled eggs, cubed, Sliced black olives, cranraisins, croutons,and assorted dressings.
I hope these inspire you!
Great ideas! Thanks for sharing!
My husband’s office had a risotto bar at their holiday party last year. There was a big dish of plain risotto with all sorts of mix ins like cheese, bacon, chives, etc. It was really fun and delicious!
Risotto! What a fun idea… thanks for sharing!
I am doing a “Make your own sushi roll” party soon!!! I went to a sushi class were I learnt how to make it. The teacher told us ideas to invite our friends and make a sushi party. She suggested to everybody prepare thei own mini cons so hosts didnt have to make all the effort. Of course you can also make evrybody to prepare their own rolls but for every roll there are around 6-8 bites of the same and with the mini cons they can prepare a different bite for each con.
I’m doing a ‘Ready to Pop’ baby shower in a couple of weeks. We are doing a popcorn bar, with about 10 different flavored popcorns & popcorn cupcakes ( just mini marshmallows made to look like popcorn on top of cupcakes). We found individual popcorn containers & Large ones to put the popcorn in on the bar at Party City. I think it will be a great shower! I can’t wait! Love the idea of a potato bar & the pizza bar.
I love the cupcake bar idea – so many options, guests could get really creative!
Caramel apple bar. Huge hit!! Caramel, m&ms, pecans, Heath, mini chocolate chips, coconut. So yummy!!
My daughters recently attended a party where the girls were able to make their own shish-kabobs from a bar full of choices. Various meats (chicken, sausage..), peppers, mushrooms, pineapple were part of the selection. They loved that they could create a shish-kabob then get their dinner grilled.
Just saw a “mini fruit pizza” bar on pinterest. Using sugar cookies, blending cream cheese and marshmello fluff, and different chopped fruits like kiwi, strawberries, and blueberries. I love the cream cheese mixture, it makes a great fruit dip.
We are doing a cheesecake bar for our wedding reception…. plain cheesecake from Costco (which is very affordable!) and all the toppings for our guests to choose from: caramel sauce, fudge sauce, crushed oreos, fruit, nuts, and whipped cream. 🙂
What a cool idea!
We’ve done hotdog bars in the past – always a big hit. This past year, for my daughters 9th birthday we did a “Build Your Own Sundae Bar” – complete with everything you could possibly want for your ice cream. The kids LOVED it and loved even more that we allowed them to put on their own whipped topping! lol Going to definitely try some of these ideas out in the future!
I do a crepe (thin pancake) bar, we have the fixings for sweet and savory crepes. Sweet fillings include: pudding chocolate and vanilla, all kinds of fruit, peanut butter, nutella, jam, whipping cream, chantilly cream, chocolate sauce, fruit sauces, syrups, nuts and chocolate and butterscotch chips. The savory fillings include: meats such as ham, bacon, thin sliced steak or beef, grated cheeses cheddar and mozzerella, brie cut in slices, cooked asperagus, spinach, brocolli and cauliflower, tomato slices, lettuce, onions, pickled hot peppers, black olives, hollandaise sauce, salsa sauce, brushcetta, cheese sauce.
I am planning a baby shower and plan to have a candy bar. Does anyone know of an affordable online candy vendor?
nuts.com is a great website! I usually go to “candy & sweets” where you can order tons of different candy varieties by the color in bulk! Hope this helps!
I’m doing a Banana Split station for my twins 3rd birthday party. I think it will be a hit!
FUN!
An ice cream sandwich bar is really fun. You can use different soft cookies from the bakery section at the grocery store (or make your own), and offer different ice cream flavors. It’s fun to make the sandwiches before dinner, wrap them in wax paper and then serve them for dessert. Everyone gets just what they want, and you don’t have to do much work! And, if anyone is too full from dinner, they can take their sandwich home!
I need to do another food bar post! There are so many other great idea out there! Thank you!
I did a carmel apple bar at my wedding. We had placed a green apple on a stick at each place setting for everyone before hand. We had crockpots of carmel and we also had nuts and oreos to put on their apples. We also had containers for everyone to take it home if they didn’t want to eat it there. It went over very well.
What a great, tasty, unique idea!!
For a Super Bowl party 2 years ago I had a potato skins bar. It was a huge hit! I made the potato skins in advance and then had tons of different toppings. The two teams that played were the Packers and the Steelers so we had lots of different cheeses (including WI cheese curds), bratwursts, and onions for the Packer skins and sausages, sauerkraut, and cheese for the Steeler skins plus chili, shredded cheese, sour cream, green onions, bacon bits and lots of other toppings.
I think it would be cool to have a quesadilla bar as well. Set out tortillas, cheese, chicken, salsa, sour cream, onions, guacamole, and anything else you can imagine. Let everyone make their own and then throw them on a griddle or in a skillet. Quick and easy and everyone can make it just how they like it.
Thank you so much for this wonderful collection of food bars. I will definitely be making some of these really soon!
For my son’s first birthday we did a burger bar; we grilled pork and beef burgers and as toppings we set out three different types of cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, sautéed onions, sautéed mushrooms, jalapeños, homemade jalapeño aioli, homemade BBQ sauce, avocadoes, several different types of mustard, ketchup, and mayo…it was HUGE hit, everyone had a blast creating their own burgers!
I love food stations! I did a hashbrown bar for a St. Patrick’s Day brunch a couple of years ago and people loved it. Crumbled bacon, ham, chorizo, three kinds of cheese, lots of different veggies, sour cream, salsa, ketchup, corn flakes. You really can put anything on potatoes . . .
How about a Falafel Bar or a Salad Bar or a Wrap Bar?!
Salad bars have been a tradition in our family for eons! They’re great for vegetarians and meat-eaters alike. My parents just call it “chef salad” but put everything out separately, which is the same thing, right? LOL
I recently saw an Italian Soda bar on a blog {I can’t take credit for it…and now am drawing a blank as to which site it was}. It was so fun. Lots of syrup choices, sparkling waters, stripey straws, and lots of whipped cream and cherries.
Awesome ideas. Yummy & fun!
We did a a chili bar for my son’s, who is a winter baby, birthday. We did things you put chili on as well as what you could put on chili.
Chili is a great idea! Thanks 🙂
I have also done a chili bar on many occasions. I make sure to make a pot of veggie chili too and use a completely different recipient so there is a little more variety.
I’ve done several potato soup bars (one served 25-30 and the other served 125) that were always a big hit!!! Sides offered were: sour cream, bacon bits, fried kielbasa slices, corn, sliced green onions, cheddar cheese, and Parmesan cheese. Comfort food!
We had a big party here at our horse stables/riding school last Fall. We had a “hot dog bar” and it was a blast. I grilled everal different kinds of hot dogs, brautwurst & sausage. Set up a “fixins bar” with all the usual condiments plus grilled onion, sauerkraut, jalapeños, different cheeses, chili, bacon, relishes, blue cheese, etc. We also offered several types of buns & rolls. It was a big hit!
I am planning on doing this for the barbeque baby shower (baby-q) im hosting next month! Im glad to hear it was a hit. Im hoping it will be for me too!!
Hi! Can you please tell me where you got the divided dish for the pasta bar? I would love to get one like that. Thanks!