Superheroes of office catering know that the best breakfast spreads can be summed up in three words: cheap, tasty, and energizing. But hitting all of these marks in one menu is no easy feat. Catering on a budget doesn’t have to mean sacrificing price for taste—or taste for nutritional value. Use our budget-friendly strategies to whip up an invigorating, cheap breakfast catering order in a snap.

4 Tips for Breakfast Catering on a Budget

When it comes to catering on a budget, creativity is key. Try incorporating a few of these cheap breakfast catering tricks into your next event.

1. Set Up a Self-Serve Station

The build-your-own bagel, parfait, sandwich, or waffle station is a simple strategy for saving money and sticking to a budget. This method removes the cost of labor from your menu by minimizing your caterer’s prep time. In turn, guests assemble their own meals, and diners can customize their plate according to their preferences.

2. Go All Out on Snacks

Build a catering menu with low-cost appetizers for breakfast—just as you might when trying to keep lunch or dinner costs low. Small snacks are easy to serve and much more affordable than expensive mains like steak and eggs. Cheese platters, fruit sliders, mini muffins, hash browns, and cinnamon rolls can build out your affordable menu.

3. Supplement Your Mains

Stick to a few tasty big-ticket items, like breakfast burritos and quiche Florentine. Then supplement your main dishes with affordable, nutritious sides, like a customizable potato hash with cheese, veggies, and ham, or a colorful fruit and cheese platter. Together, cheap breakfast catering side dishes provide all the energy and nutrition your colleagues need for a hard day’s work—and you won’t overspend.

4. Minimize Outside Expenses

If you can’t compromise your food budget, look for ways to cut costs by minimizing tableware and setup. This means skipping table linens at the breakfast bar, using all-purpose drinkware suitable for coffee and juice, or choosing finger food that eliminates the need for cutlery altogether. Bonus points if you find a caterer that supplies utensils, plates, or crockery at little to no cost.

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Breakfast Menus Your Budget Will Love

Go ahead and sew yourself a cape. With these fortifying and cheap breakfast catering menu ideas, you’ll be crowned the Superhero of Breakfast Catering in no time. You might even want to make yourself a badge!

Ethnic Fusion

According to the National Restaurant Association, ethnic-inspired breakfast menus are a top food trend for 2018. Breakfast foods lend themselves to cultural fusion, so why not marry different cuisines, like Mexican and American? Infuse a cheap breakfast catering menu with unusual ingredients, and you have a fiesta on your hands. Chorizo scrambled eggs, breakfast burritos, coconut pancakes, churro donuts, or huevos rancheros are naturally filling and inexpensive.

Crêpes Station

Think how delighted your team will be when they find a crêpes station at your next morning event. Like pancakes or waffles, crêpes can be both personalized and stretched for a crowd. Order one or two hot fillings, like cheesy eggs and breakfast meats, as well as a few sides, like mixed berries, chocolate spread, and sliced almonds, to accommodate sweet and savory preferences. This is catering on a budget with style.

Smoothie Bar

Super smoothies are popping up all over the country—but they’re a far cry from the grainy smoothies you’ve spotted at gym juice bars. Today’s smoothies are made with plenty of plant-based, milk alternatives, like almond milk, and filled with superfoods like açai and coconut. That makes a breakfast smoothie bar a great catering option if you’re trying to serve vegetarian colleagues while on a budget. Just take The Juice Box in Boston, Massachusetts, for example. Their replenish mint smoothie is blended with cashews, almonds, flax, oranges, dates, mint leaves, and almond milk for a nutritious morning pick-me-up that won’t break the bank.

Comforting Classics

If straying too far from tradition feels unsettling, you can still pay homage to traditional breakfast foods while catering on a budget. Classic dishes, like pancakes, eggs, bacon, and French toast, are both familiar and delicious. Stretch your breakfast catering menu with energizing sides, like fruit, potato hash, all-natural juice, coffee, and tea. A hearty spread like this suits a morning celebration or brunch party when guests have time to eat and chit-chat.

Budget Bagels

Bagel bars are a wise menu option when you’re catering on a budget. Bagels and other pastries are blank canvases for countless ingredients and feed a crowd without a hitch. Level up this cheap breakfast catering option by adding a few high-quality ingredients, like salmon, capers, cucumber and radish slices, and herbed spreads, to the menu.

Parfait Par-tay

According to Shape.com, Greek yogurt is jam-packed with twice the protein and half the carbs of regular yogurt. A make-your-own yogurt parfait station will keep your team energized for hours. Elevate a simple yogurt breakfast with parfait-style toppings, like dried fruit, flaxseed, and chopped nuts. Sprinkle with cinnamon for more flavor—the spice is also good for your blood sugar.

Not all heroes wear capes. But those who create cheap breakfast catering menus on a shoestring are superheroes in the workplace. Try a few of these energizing, wallet-friendly ideas to celebrate your mornings in style—and stay under budget all quarter long.