Fabulous Fall Menu Ideas for Restaurants

Posted on October 14 2019

The weather is cooling down, the leaves are starting to change color, and holiday décor is making its yearly debut…autumn is here. The fall season hosts many holiday festivity favorites, all of which are closely associated with seasonal foods.

Although we expect our desired pumpkin and apple associated treats for Halloween or turkey and squash dishes for Thanksgiving, traditional recipes can get a little bland year after year. With guests looking to try something new, but still enjoy their taste of autumn, it’s worth looking at creative ways to incorporate fall foods into new dishes.

Check out our 6 fall menu item ideas below using popular flavors to spice things up in your restaurant this season.

Incorporate Pumpkin Spiced Trends: Pumpkins are the food mostly associated with fall and although you may think you’ve seen every recipe possible, we still have new ones to try. Most restaurants add a savory pumpkin pie to their menu to satisfy their customers’ cravings, but guests will appreciate you taking the pumpkin additions a step further. Add a Spicy Pumpkin Dip to your appetizers or swap out one of your pastas with a Pumpkin Pasta recipe.

Cozy Up with Unique Soups & Stews: With fall comes the desire to cozy up with foods that warm the soul. Make sure to bring soup options to your menu if you don’t have some, especially if you’re located in an area where guests will be coming in from subfreezing temperatures. You can use this addition as an opportunity to try something fresh by whipping up an Autumn Chowder or Carrot Squash recipe.

Keep it Sweet – Apple-Inspired Dishes:Not only are apples another fall-food favorite, but they add the perfect amount of sweetness to a variety of dishes. Go all out with an Apple Pie Crepe or keep things simple and refreshing with an Apple Butter Glazed Ham recipe. Apples can even be incorporated into refreshing drink recipes, like an Apple Pie Punch, or simply just be used as an aesthetic garnish.

Mix Things Up – Purple Sweet Potatoes: We all know that sweet potatoes are a fall season staple, but did you know that there are a variety of purple sweet potatoes like Stokes or Okinawan? The unique thing about purple sweet potatoes compared to other purple vegetables is that their distinctive purple-magenta color maintains, and even brightens, throughout the cooking process.

You can use purple sweet potatoes in any recipes that you would normally use regular orange ones; you’ll just have a beautiful and unique added pop of color. Try a Purple Sweet Potato Tart or an Okinawan Potato Chip recipe.

Squash Your Usual Sides: Swap out some of your typical sides to include interesting squash recipes like Acorn Squash Baked Eggs or Queso with Butternut Squash and Cauliflower. Squash is another autumn favorite that can be used as an added festive touch to any main dish. It can even be combined into soups and salads.

Turkey Dishes You Can’t Turn Away: You can’t even think about Thanksgiving without thinking about Turkey. It is almost a required dish to include, at least for the month of November. However, put your culinary creativeness to the test by trying recipes like Turkey Sliders or Deep-Fried Sriracha Turkey. Guests will almost certainly be inclined to order some unique spins on this traditional favorite.