Funeral reception catering in Dallas: quiet, warm, and handled for you

Funeral reception catering is the kind of order I care about most, because the person placing it has usually slept four hours, is fielding calls from relatives in three states, and is trying to make sure that after the service there is something warm on a table so people can sit together. That is the whole job. It should not take more than a few minutes to arrange.

The short answer: order one warm, familiar main for the high end of your guess, and let the church or the neighbors bring the rest. For a funeral reception, plan two of our big tamales per adult if they are the meal and one to two if there is other food. Sixty people is 10 dozen, $600 at $60 a dozen, delivered in their husks to the church hall or the house, ready to serve.

I have delivered receptions to fellowship halls in Dallas, to funeral-home reception rooms and to living rooms in Richardson where the family had not yet cleared the flowers off the table. What the food needs to do is the same in every one of them: arrive on time, need nothing from the family, stay warm while people come and go, and taste like somebody cared.

What a funeral reception needs from the food

A reception after a service is not a party and it is not a dinner. It is two or three hours of people arriving from the cemetery in waves, standing in small groups, sitting with the family for a few minutes, and eating a plate because someone put one in their hands. The food has to fit that.

• It has to be ready when the first car arrives, which is often earlier than the family expects, because some people skip the graveside and come straight to the hall.
• It has to stay good for hours, because the last people to eat are the family, and they eat last.
• It has to need nothing. No carving, no assembling, no one standing at a stove. Whoever would normally do that is grieving.
• It has to be recognizable. This is not the day for a new cuisine. People want food that feels like home, and in North Texas, for a lot of families, that is tamales.
• It has to be gentle. Soft, warm, mild enough for an elderly aunt and a small child, with a spicier choice there for those who want it.

A tamal does all five of those. It was cooked in its husk, it stays in its husk, it holds over gentle steam for as long as the reception lasts, and it is a food people in this part of Texas have eaten at every family gathering of their lives, including the sad ones.

Funeral reception catering that arrives ready

This is what I recommend for a reception, and I keep it short on purpose. The tamales come from us, by the dozen, as described on our catering page; the rest is easy for the church or a friend to add.

• Chicken tamales in green salsa, the larger share of the order. Chicken breast in a mild tomatillo salsa is the tamal an eighty-year-old and a five-year-old both finish.
• Pork tamales in red salsa, the rest of the order, for the people who want something with a little more warmth to it.
• Mexican rice and beans, from the church kitchen or a friend, in their own pans. They make a plate look full and they are what people eat when they cannot manage much.
• Extra salsa, sour cream and lime, if someone brings them, in bowls with spoons, set to the side, so nothing on the main plate is spicy unless someone chooses it.
• Serving spoons, utensils and plates from the hall or the house. Check before the day that someone has them.

When the tamales arrive, they go straight into the hall’s chafing dishes or into slow cookers on warm, and the pans of rice and beans go beside them. Lids on. The family does not have to touch any of it.

All of our tamales are made with gluten-free corn masa, with no cheese or cream sauce hidden inside, so the relative who cannot eat wheat is fed without anyone having to ask a question that day. Coffee, sweet tea, water and the desserts are the things the church or the neighbors almost always bring; let them.

How much to order when the headcount is a guess

Nobody knows how many people will come to a reception. The family guesses fifty and eighty arrive, or the reverse. So the rule is: order for the high end of your guess, and count on leftovers going home with the family, where they will be dinner for the next two days when nobody feels like cooking.

If the tamales are the meal, plan two big tamales per adult. If the church is also putting out casseroles and sandwiches, one to two per person is right. Children count as one. Prices below are from our regular tamale menu: $60 a dozen or $30 a half dozen, which works out to $5 a tamal.

The delivery fee is shown at checkout in our online store, so the person organizing sees one total and pays once, online. If someone at the church or a friend is paying, they can simply place the order themselves.

Ordering on short notice

Most funeral receptions are arranged two to five days out, sometimes less. Our online store takes orders for today or a date ahead: choose chicken or pork, a half dozen or a dozen, delivery to the hall or the house or pickup at our Plano kitchen, and pay online. Next day orders must be received and confirmed by us before noon the previous day. Only confirmed orders will be delivered as requested. Our hours are Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 9 AM to 2 PM, and if you have a question about a date, call or text (469) 888-8398. Everything is made from scratch, so a reception order is the same food as any other, just planned faster.

I have written more generally about what is possible on a tight timeline in my article on last-minute catering in Dallas. For a reception, the practical version is: order as soon as you know the date of the service.

If you are the friend ordering on the family’s behalf, you do not need to know everything. The date, the place and a number are enough.

Church halls, funeral-home rooms and the family’s house

Where the reception is changes the setup a little, and I ask about it on every order.

A church fellowship hall

The easiest. Most halls have chafing dishes, a kitchen and a hospitality committee that has done this many times. We deliver to the kitchen door, the tamales go into the hall’s chafers, and the committee takes it from there. I have written about how these volunteer kitchens run in my guide to feeding a church or community event, and a reception is the gentlest version of that.

A funeral-home reception room

Many funeral homes in Dallas and the northern suburbs have a reception room and allow outside food, but the room may not have warming equipment. Ask the funeral director. If there is nothing to hold the food warm, bring a slow cooker or two, or a cooler lined with towels, along with your own serving spoons and plates.

The family’s house

The most intimate and the hardest, because the family is hosting in the middle of grief. This is where I tell the friend who called to be the one at the door when we arrive. A slow cooker or two on warm with an inch of water, the rice and beans in their pans on the counter, salsas in bowls, plates stacked. Then the friend sits with the family and the food takes care of itself. Whatever is left keeps well in the refrigerator in the husk; my note on how long tamales last covers the fridge and the freezer for the days after.

What a friend can take off the family’s plate

If you are reading this because someone you love has lost someone, and you want to help, this is a thing you can do. The family will say they do not need anything. They need this.

1. Ask one question: where is the reception, and roughly how many. That is all you need from them.
2. Place the order in our online store yourself, with your own name and phone number, so the family is not fielding one more call.
3. Be at the hall or the house when we arrive, so the family does not have to be.
4. Make the first two plates and carry them to the family. They will not get up.
5. Send the leftovers home with them in foil, and text them the next day that it reheats in a steamer or a microwave with a damp towel.

We are a family kitchen. The recipes came from the women in my family, and a lot of them were cooked for exactly this kind of afternoon. You can read a little of that story on our about page. Feeding people after a loss is one of the oldest jobs a kitchen has, and we take it seriously.

Ready to arrange the reception?

Take your best guess at the headcount, use the high end, and read the dozens off the table above, leaning toward chicken. Then order from Maggie’s in our online store: chicken in green salsa and pork in red salsa, delivered to the hall or the house or picked up at our Plano kitchen, paid online. If you have a question first, call or text (469) 888-8398 during kitchen hours. Order online, and then let us carry this one part of the day.

Frequently asked questions

What is good food for funeral reception catering?

Warm, familiar, gentle food that needs nothing from the family and holds for hours while people come and go. Tamales in their husks in a chafing dish, with rice, beans and salsas on the side, do exactly that. Lean toward chicken in mild green salsa so elderly relatives and children eat comfortably, and let the church or the neighbors bring the coffee, tea and desserts.

How much food should I order for a funeral reception?

Order for the high end of your guess, because nobody knows the count. Plan two big tamales per adult if they are the meal, one to two if there is other food, and one per child. For up to 60 people that is 10 dozen, $600 at $60 a dozen, plus rice and beans. Leftovers go home with the family and feed them for the next two days.

Can you cater a funeral reception on two days’ notice in Dallas?

Often, yes. Order in our online store with the date ahead and pay online; next day orders must be received and confirmed by us before noon the previous day. The kitchen is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 9 AM to 2 PM, and if you have a question about a date, call or text (469) 888-8398. Everything is made from scratch.

Do funeral homes allow outside catering in their reception rooms?

Many in Dallas and the northern suburbs do, but ask the funeral director, and ask whether the room has anything to keep food warm. If it does not, bring a slow cooker or a towel-lined cooler to hold them, along with serving spoons and plates. We deliver to the funeral home address you give when you order, and the delivery fee is shown at checkout.

Can a friend order the reception food on the family’s behalf?

Yes, and I would encourage it. Place the order in our online store with your own name and phone number so the family is not taking one more call, pay online, and be there when the food arrives. That is the entire job, and it is one of the kindest things you can do that week.

Are the tamales gentle enough for elderly guests and children?

Yes. The chicken tamales are chicken breast in a mild green tomatillo salsa, soft corn masa, made with gluten-free masa and no shortcuts. The pork in red salsa has a little more warmth, and if you put out extra salsa or jalapeños, keep them on the side so nothing on a plate is spicy unless someone chooses it. Rice and beans round out a soft, easy plate.