Fancy Something on the Side? Lucas Kitchen Can Help!
Now we know what you’re thinking, but no, we’re not talking about running off into the sunset: We’re talking about offering your customers something delicious to go with their choice of meat from your counter. Not so exciting you might think, but you could be surprised!
Side dishes represent a brilliant profit-making opportunity and they will help you achieve the goal of being a one-stop option for your customers. Whether they’re buying sausages, chops, chicken, or a joint, you can be offering side-dishes that will make the perfect accompaniment and most importantly, you’ll be making your customers’ lives easier. Selling sausages? You’ve got a delicious mash as well. Pork chop, or chicken escalope? You’ve got some superb cauliflower cheese. Bacon joint? You’ve got the perfect potato gratin.
The variations on this theme are endless. Lucas Potato Topping Mix really does taste like real mash and can be served as it comes, or pepped up with a whole variety of fresh additions. You can make Colcannon, mash with bacon, bubble & squeak, cheesy mash, mash with veg and herbs and certainly lots of other varieties we haven’t thought of yet! Our Bechamel Sauce Mix is another winner when it comes to creating side-dishes. Leeks in white sauce go really well with pork cuts, or add some cheese for a whole host of other vegetable-based dishes.
For something that’s really simple to prepare, try halloumi, courgette & tomato kebabs, topped off with a Lucas Garlic Butter. Then, of course, there’s the old favourite of Corn on the Cob. Again, just pop on a knob of delicious butter and there you have it – a tasty side to go with pretty much anything…
The presentation of a selection of side dishes might encourage your customers to try something they haven’t bought from you before – especially if it means they have a complete meal that they can buy there and then. That will result in improved sales for you and a satisfied customer who will come back. Side dishes are easy to change on a regular basis too, so you can introduce seasonal varieties, or weekly specials. Once you have the right base – and you’ll get that from Lucas – you can go away and produce your own versions and ‘signature’ dishes, or follow some of our tried and tested ideas.
There are plenty of ideas and recipes for side dishes on the Lucas website, along with ‘how to’ videos that you can follow. Take a look and you’ll enjoy something on the side sooner than you might have thought!