Hosting holidays comes with many stresses of accommodating those you’ll be welcoming to your festivities. A stress for many is dietary restrictions. When I’m hosting, personally, I always want to make sure everyone is taken care of so this used to be a huge stress of mine. Never did I want someone to feel like they were an inconvenience though. Yet biggest fear was someone showing up and me having nothing to serve them.

Today we are going to tackle how to rock the holidays without having to worry if you are serving something for everyone. Dietary restrictions are extremely common whether it’s by choice or by medical need. For some it’s whether they are vegetarian or vegan. For others it can be things like gluten-free, lactose-free, peanut-free, sugar-free, etc. And that’s just grazing the surface.

Depending on the size of your holiday gathering, this may not be an issue for you. The more I experience the need to accommodate dietary restrictions, the more confident I am in hosting.  If you are having a large gathering with plenty of new faces though, this has likely crossed your mind. I’m here to give you a breath of relief and say:

You can host holiday gatherings, accommodating everyone including those with dietary restrictions, without a second thought.

The simplest thing you can do is – ask. Simply ask if your guests and/or the guest they will be bringing along have a dietary restriction you need to be aware of. It’s the straightforward way to go but it could add extra pressure on you or make them feel a little more singled out, so here’s my advice. 

Offer Fresh or Dried Foods on Your Menu.
With your finger foods put out dried or fresh fruits or vegetables to offer up to anyone attending. Put them right alongside the rest. This makes them accessible to everyone attending the party and creates an option to someone if they have dietary restrictions. This makes them feel confident about nibbling along with everyone else. Fresh Fruits and Dried fruits from Hickory Farms are a wonderful addition allowing you to offer a fresh variety to your guests.

Your Guests Know What They Can & Cannot Eat Already.
If someone attending your party can’t or shouldn’t eat something, they are likely quite used to being in this situation. If they have a question about one of the items and it’s ingredients they’ll either skip it or they will inquire about your recipe! The person that just passed on your stuffing? Maybe they’re gluten free or maybe they just don’t prefer stuffing – either way, no one will eat what they can’t or shouldn’t. 

Keep Ingredients as Simple as Possible.
When picking something up or ordering it online, pay attention to the ingredients listed. When you are comparing a couple of products choose the one that has the least amount of ingredients and fillers. The less amount of ingredients in something, the more people are likely able to eat them and they better for you the product will be.

Hickory Farms just released a brand new line of Simply products that are gluten free and have less additives than their other products. Within their line they have a delicious line of summer sausages, cheeses and mustards. 

Now it’s your turn: What are some ways you make dietary restrictions easier to accommodate at your holiday gatherings? 

Today’s post was a part of our collaboration with Hickory Farms. We were sent the products we created the recipe with, as well as, compensated. All opinions and imagery belong to Joyfully Smitten.