How to Host the Perfect Brunch by Premio
Can there be anything more fashionable and fun than a delightful brunch with friends or family? Maybe you and your posse enjoy going down to the local diner or café for a mix of pancakes, sandwiches and coffee, all while getting to spend time with one another and enjoy the relaxing calm of the weekend.
But there are only so many times you can visit the same restaurants before you’ve tried everything on the menu and are beginning to wish for something new. If you and your friends have reached that point, you may be wondering what the next step you can take to shake up your weekend brunches.
If you’re looking to mix things up, why not try hosting brunch at home? Perhaps you and your friends could all alternate turns, hosting brunch first at one person’s house and then at another person’s home. This allows for all the opportunities in the world to try new recipes and still enjoy one another’s company. And as a bonus, it’ll be easier on your wallets as well.
Not sure what to serve for brunch? We can help with that. We’ve compiled this quick guide to hosting a brunch party with all the tips you’ll need to get your party started. Additionally, we’ve also added some easy brunch food recipes so that you and your guests will never run out of tasty things to try.
Ready? Then let’s talk brunch parties.
Tips for How to Host a Brunch
A large part of hosting any party, including a brunch party, comes down to personal style and preference. For example, some people may enjoy making things look fancy, including putting up decorations or buying matching paper plates, cups and napkins. Others may like a simpler approach. Some people may prefer to do everything themselves, while others welcome input and added effort from their friends. In matters such as these, you’ll want to decide for yourself how you’d like to run things.
However, there are a few items which are slightly more universal. These are tips that we recommend everyone follow, as they will go a long way towards helping you achieve a fun and stress-free brunch.
1. Plan Your Menu Ahead of Time
We can’t stress this one enough. Always, always, always, be sure to plan out everything you’re going to serve ahead of time. Even if you’re the type of person who normally prefers a more off-the-cuff planning style, we still recommend following this tip. There is nothing quite as stressful as having a houseful of people and panicking over whether to make them scrambled eggs or French toast. Worse, you might realize too late that you don’t even have all the ingredients needed for the recipe you decide to make. Which brings us to item number 2 —
2. Go Grocery Shopping Ahead of Time
There’s an additional advantage to planning your menu ahead of time. Not only does it minimize your stress on the morning of your brunch, but it also allows you the time and forethought you need to go through your fridge and pantry to take stock of your ingredients. Do you have eggs? Milk? Cheese? Syrup?
Write down every ingredient you might conceivably need and check this list against your current food supplies. Then double-check it. Make a list of everything you need to buy and get yourself out to the grocery store to buy it. Do this at least a full day in advance, if not more. Trust us, you don’t want to be trying to rush out to the grocery store for extra milk on the morning of your get-together.
3. Lay Things out the Night Before
While it may not be practical to pull the milk and orange juice out the night before, you can get plenty of other things ready. Pull plates, forks, cups and coffee mugs out and stack these neatly on the counter so they’re ready to go. If you use cloth napkins, make sure these are clean and ready, and if you use paper napkins, be sure a fresh stack of these are ready.
Consider measuring out dry ingredients ahead of time to save yourself time and hassle in the morning when you’ll be busy with other things. Even if you choose not to measure things out early, you might at least pull the ingredients out of the pantry and set them out on the counter where they’ll be waiting for you in the morning.
4. Consider Going Paper and Plastic
Imagine you have a crowd of 10 guests over for brunch and every single one of them uses a plate, a bowl, a cup, a coffee mug and multiple eating utensils. Then think about your frying pan, spatula, whisk, serving tray, coffee pot and all the other dishes that you used in preparation.
This becomes a large number of dishes to wash. The odds are good that you’ll be standing there for at least a half an hour just trying to get the dishes clean again. Even if you use a dishwasher, this may well be too many dishes to load in at one time.
The easy solution is to skip these dishes altogether and instead head to the dollar or grocery store to pick up packages of paper plates, plastic cups and silverware. Once your guests are done eating, these can easily be rinsed and recycled, leaving you with more time to socialize with your guests.
5. Avoid Time-Consuming Recipes
By avoiding time-consuming recipes, we don’t necessarily mean that you should avoid every dish that takes longer than 10 minutes to make. Instead, we advise caution when it comes to recipes that require a lot of time directly before they’re served. Pancakes, for example, need you to post yourself in front of the griddle and not move from that spot as you constantly pour batter, flip it and turn out fresh pancakes. By the time you’re finished, your guests may well be done eating.
Instead, opt for dishes that you can all eat together, without you exempting yourself to keep cooking. Look for easier recipes or ones you can partially prepare ahead of time instead.
6. Try a Self-Serve Bar
Setting up a self-serve bar is a great way to allow guests to customize their breakfast a little bit more and also let you off the hook from preparing everyone’s plate for them. Parfait bars, toast bars or even coffee bars are all great options that take a little bit of the work off your shoulders. All you have to do is buy the ingredients, pop them into serving bowls or plates and let your guests do the rest.
7. Opt for an Exciting Mix of Foods
The best brunches and the best meals, in general, are the ones where there’s a little something for everyone. As you plan your menu, search for ways to add enough variety so that if someone doesn’t care for one dish, there’ll be plenty of other things to fill up on, and if someone likes everything, they’ll have a plate filled with variety.
While your menu can be your own, here are a few guidelines to consider following:
- Beverage options: Coffee is a must have, and orange juice and milk are good stand-bys as well.
- Meat: There should always be some type of meat on your menu. Choose from options like sausage, ham or bacon for a hearty course at your brunch.
- Eggs: Eggs are something of a staple in any breakfast menu, and that includes brunch. While omelets might be a bit time-consuming, there are so many other ways to prepare eggs such as scrambled, fried, hard-boiled or cooked into a casserole.
- Something sweet: With meat and eggs already on the menu, you’ll want something sweet to help balance things out. Choose fresh fruit, yogurt or breakfast pastries to provide a delicious contrast in your menu.
Breakfast Sausage Brunch Recipes to Try
Of course, it’s all well and good to talk about the importance of planning your menu ahead of time and choosing just the right combination of dishes, but it’s another thing entirely to do it. If you feel like you’re at a loss for what to serve your guests at your upcoming brunch party, why not pick one of these tasty breakfast sausage recipes and give it a try?
1. Premio Pancake Muffins
Just because pancakes are a bit too time-consuming to be practical at brunch, this doesn’t mean you have to cut them out of the menu entirely. Get your pancake fix by serving up a warm batch of Premio Pancake Muffins.
Ingredients
- 1 package chopped Premio sausage — choose your favorite flavor
- 1 egg
- 1 cup flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ cup and 2 tablespoons sugar
- ¾ cup milk
- ½ cup melted butter
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Maple syrup, optional
Instructions
Begin by preheating the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grab your muffin tin and grease nine of the cavities while filling the other three halfway full of water to ensure an even bake. Set this aside while you mix up the batter.
Use a mixing bowl to stir together the flour, 1/4 cup of sugar and baking powder. Use a separate bowl to mix together the egg, milk, butter and vanilla before pouring these mixed wet ingredients in with the dry ones. Stir it all together until the batter forms.
Take out your Premio sausage and heat it in a skillet according to the instructions on the package. Chop it up into small bite-size pieces as it cooks. Once this is finished cooking, remove it from the stove and fold it into the muffin batter.
Scoop the batter into the greased muffin tin cavities and bake for 14 to 16 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown nicely. Let them cool a few minutes before serving and top them with maple syrup if desired to best mimic the pancake experience.
2. Wild Mushroom and Sausage Quiche
Looking for a fun and exciting way to serve eggs at your brunch? This Wild Mushroom and Sausage Quiche might be just the thing for your next party. It serves 6 to 10 people, so there should be plenty to go around even when all your friends come over.
Ingredients
- 1 pound Premio Grandes Original Breakfast Sausage, crumbled
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ¾ pound shiitake mushrooms
- 2 shallots, chopped
- ½ cup parsley, chopped
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 1 ½ cups Parmesan cheese, grated
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. While this is heating, heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Add the mushrooms, sausage and shallots, and cook in the olive oil over medium-high heat. Keep cooking these ingredients until the crumbled sausage and mushrooms are browned, and the shallots are nice and tender. Once this is done cooking, drain the sausage grease from the pan and add parsley to the mix.
Beat the three eggs together in a bowl, adding in cheese, half-and-half and salt. Pour this over the mushroom-sausage mixture and stir together until they’re thoroughly combined.
Pour this whole filling into the pie crust and bake in the oven for 30 minutes, or until the filling has set and the crust is browned. Remove, cool and enjoy with your guests.
3. Great Morning Scrambles
Are you and your friends looking to cut down on the carbs and gluten and seek healthy breakfast alternatives? Then something like these Great Morning Scrambles might be just the ticket to a brunch that’s both healthy and delicious. Best of all? It’s effortless to make and can be done in 30 minutes or less.
Ingredients
- 4 ounces Premio Sweet Italian Sausage, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- ¼ cup broccoli, chopped
- ¼ cup onions, chopped
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 4 beaten eggs
Instructions
Using a preheated skillet, begin by melting your butter on the stovetop. Once this begins to melt, throw in garlic, broccoli, onions and the chopped sausage. Cook this mixture together until the onions are opaque and the sausage starts to brown.
At this point, pour your beaten eggs into the mixture, mixing all the ingredients together thoroughly. Keep cooking until the eggs are entirely scrambled, and the sausage is cooked through. It should now resemble scrambled eggs with a skillet-load of other delicious ingredients mixed throughout.
Note that this recipe is only intended to serve two, so you may want to double or even triple it according to the number of guests you anticipate at your brunch.
Stock up on Sausage for Your Brunch Today
Is your next brunch party approaching? Don’t be caught unprepared. Visit your closest Premio distributor today to stock up on all the sausage you’ll need to keep your guests satisfied. From traditional breakfast sausage or chicken sausage to sweet or spicy Italian sausage, we’ve got all the flavors you’ll ever need.
Sausage isn’t the only thing we have to offer, either. If you’re hunting for more great recipes to cook up for your brunch, browse our selection of sausage-themed breakfast recipes and pick something that’ll be sure to dazzle your guests and leave them asking for the recipe.
