A catering menu for picky eaters that still feels special

Catering for picky eaters is the request that lands in my inbox more than any other, and it almost always arrives as an apology. “Sorry, my team is really picky.” “Sorry, half of them are kids.” “Sorry, my father-in-law thinks cilantro is a punishment.” Nobody needs to apologize. A picky crowd is not a hard crowd; it is a crowd that wants to know exactly what is on the plate before they commit to it.

The short answer: A catering menu for picky eaters works when every dish is simple on its own and every strong flavor is optional. Serve one mild main that people already recognize, keep your own toppings in separate bowls, label everything by name, and plan two tamales per person for lunch or three for dinner so nobody has to gamble on an unfamiliar dish to get full.

That rule has fed offices, church halls and more birthday parties than I can count, and it is the reason my “picky” orders come back as repeat orders. Below is the short menu I recommend, how to handle each kind of picky eater, and how to order for a room where you cannot predict who eats what.

What “picky” usually means, and why it is good news

When someone tells me their guests are picky, I ask one more question: picky about what? The answers fall into a handful of buckets, and none of them is a problem for a tamale kitchen.

• Heat. The biggest one by far. People are afraid of spice, not of flavor. Our tamales have a little kick, as our reviewers like to say, and the chicken in green salsa is the gentler of the two. Leaning the order toward chicken solves it.
• Texture. Some people will not eat anything wet, mixed or “mystery.” A tamal is a clean thing: soft corn masa around seasoned meat, nothing floating in it.
• Unfamiliar words. A guest who would never order “chicken in tomatillo salsa verde” will happily eat “chicken tamales, mild green sauce.” Naming matters more than recipes.
• Real restrictions. Gluten, dairy, nuts. These are not picky eaters, they are people with a good reason, and they deserve a straight answer, which I give further down.
• The declared skeptic. Every office has one person who “doesn’t like Mexican food.” I have watched that person eat three tamales at a training day and ask what they were called.

Once you know which bucket your guests are in, the menu almost writes itself. I have never met a picky eater who disliked warm, mildly seasoned food they could see clearly.

The catering for picky eaters menu I actually recommend

Here is the menu I recommend for a picky crowd, whether it is an office ordering corporate catering by the dozen or a backyard birthday. It looks short on purpose. Short menus calm nervous eaters; long menus make them suspicious.

• Chicken tamales in green salsa, made with chicken breast. The gentlest thing in our kitchen. Mild, savory, familiar. For a picky room I lean the order toward chicken, about two-thirds chicken to one-third pork.
• Pork tamales in red salsa. Slow-cooked pork in red chile salsa, for the guests who want more depth. Our green tomatillo salsa is the milder of the two, which I explain in my note on red versus green salsa on tamales, so a picky room gets more chicken than pork.
• Your own plain toppings, if you like. A bowl of sour cream and a bowl of shredded cheese from the grocery store make a tamal feel like comfort food to someone who grew up on mac and cheese.
• Chips from your own pantry. The safety net. A picky guest who takes chips first will come back for a tamal once they see other people enjoying them.

Notice what is missing: no cilantro sprinkled over everything, no long list of dishes to decode. Two tamales a guest can name, and every extra is a choice a guest makes with a spoon, not a surprise on the plate. The full tamale menu shows both tamales with their prices: a half dozen is $30 and a dozen is $60.

Handling each kind of picky eater

Kids

Kids are the easiest picky eaters in the world if you give them three things: a chicken tamal cut in half, a little cheese, and chips. One tamal fills a small child; older kids eat like adults. I count them properly in my guide to estimating food for a party with kids, but the short version is to count every child over ten as a full adult and every younger child as half.

No-spice guests

Point them at the chicken tamales and the sour cream and tell them the chicken is the mild one. Then leave them alone. Nothing makes a cautious eater dig in faster than nobody watching.

The dietary restriction

Our masa is gluten-free corn, and the tamales themselves contain no wheat. I am careful to say that we are not a certified gluten-free facility, so a guest with celiac disease can make an informed choice. Dairy and nuts I cover in my article on common allergens in tamales; if you put out sour cream and cheese, keep them in their own bowls so a dairy-free guest simply skips them.

The declared skeptic

Do not argue with them and do not order a separate sandwich tray for one person. Put a chicken tamal on their plate, call it “chicken in corn dough, kind of like a savory cornbread,” and change the subject. The tamal will do the rest. I have had more than one skeptic ask for a dozen to take home.

How much to order when you cannot predict who eats what

A picky crowd does not eat less. It eats more of the safe thing and none of the risky thing. So I do not reduce the count; I shift it toward chicken. Two tamales per person is a lunch, three is a dinner, and one to two is enough when there are other dishes on the table. At $5 per tamal, $60 a dozen, the math stays simple.

For a dinner party, multiply the tamale column by one and a half and round up to the next dozen. Delivery fees are shown at checkout, and anything you add yourself (chips, a salad, drinks) sits on top, so treat the table as the shape of the budget. I would rather you take a dozen home than run out while the nervous eaters are finally warming up.

Labels, setup and the one sentence that makes picky eaters relax

The way you set the table matters as much as the food. For a picky crowd I ask hosts to do four small things:

1. Put the mildest thing first in the line. Chicken tamales, then pork, then any sides you made, then the toppings at the end. Cautious eaters build a plate from the front and never feel forced into the sauce.
2. Write plain-language cards. “Chicken tamales, green salsa, mild.” “Pork tamales, red salsa, a little warmer.” “Sour cream.” “Cheese.” Four index cards do more for a picky room than any menu I could design.
3. Keep toppings in separate bowls with their own spoons. Nobody wants cilantro that has been visiting the jalapeños.
4. Say one sentence out loud. “The chicken is the mild one; the pork in red salsa has a little more warmth.” I have watched entire tables relax at that sentence and then go back for seconds.

If you are feeding a group in Plano or Frisco for the first time, our Plano catering page and Frisco catering page explain where we deliver and how ordering by the dozen works.

What to think through before you order

Before you open the online store, answer three questions beyond the date and headcount: how many guests are children, whether anyone has a real restriction such as gluten or dairy, and whether the room is spice-shy. Those three answers set your chicken-to-pork ratio. A spice-shy room with lots of kids can go mostly chicken; a room of adventurous adults can go half and half. It takes you one extra minute and it saves you the awkward moment of a guest standing over the table, unsure.

In the store you pick chicken or pork, a half dozen or a dozen, delivery or pickup, and today or a date ahead, then pay online. If you are ordering for the next day, the order must be received and confirmed by us before noon the previous day. Our FAQ answers the other questions that tend to come up, from reheating to how delivery works, and you can always call or text (469) 888-8398.

Ready to feed a picky crowd?

Whether it is a room of twelve or a family gathering of sixty, two tamales from Maggie’s, chicken in green salsa and pork in red salsa, will feed the cautious eaters and still please the adventurous ones. Work out your dozens with the table above, lean toward chicken, and order online for delivery or pickup. Questions? Call or text (469) 888-8398.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best catering for picky eaters?

Food that is simple to look at, mild on its own and served with any strong extras on the side. A chicken tamal in mild green salsa is my go-to because a cautious guest can see exactly what it is, and anything spicier is a choice rather than a surprise. Label every dish in plain words and put the mildest item first in the line.

Are tamales too spicy for picky eaters?

Not when you lean the order toward chicken. Our chicken tamales in green tomatillo salsa are the milder of the two, and the pork in red chile salsa has a little more warmth. For a spice-shy room I suggest about two-thirds chicken, so the guests who like a kick take the pork and everyone else eats the chicken.

How do I cater for kids and adults at the same event?

Order one mild main that both can eat and change only the portion. A child under ten is about half a tamal to one tamal; older kids and adults eat two for lunch or three for dinner. Cut tamales in half for small children, put any cheese or sour cream in separate bowls and keep chips within reach. You do not need a separate kids’ menu.

Can you accommodate gluten-free and dairy-free guests?

Our tamales are made with gluten-free corn masa. If you put out cheese or sour cream, keep them in their own bowls so a dairy-free guest simply leaves them off. We are not a certified gluten-free facility, so a guest with celiac disease should know that when deciding. Questions about ingredients? Call or text (469) 888-8398 before you order.

Should I order less food if my guests are picky?

No. Picky guests eat more of the safe dish and none of the risky one, so the total barely changes. Keep the count at two tamales per person for lunch or three for dinner and shift the mix toward chicken, roughly two-thirds chicken to one-third pork. Leftover tamales freeze well, so rounding up costs you very little.

What if one guest refuses to eat Mexican food at all?

Serve them a plain chicken tamal, describe it as chicken in soft corn dough, and let it speak for itself. In my experience the skeptic is objecting to spice or to unfamiliar words, not to warm seasoned chicken. Do not order a separate tray for one person; a bowl of chips covers the rare holdout without making them feel singled out.