What food goes best at a tennis club party?

Snacks abound: what do you want to be serving at your tennis club?

The key to figuring out exactly how to cater for events can also be difficult. Our advice is to determine what kind of event or party you are hosting and adjusting the menu as appropriate.

For example, if you are having a daytime party full of active tennis activities, you’ll want to prioritize healthier, less bloating snacks so that your guests can enjoy both training and your delicious food. 

If you are not planning to do any activities, and are holding a more refined party, the foods you’ll want to serve will, of course, be different. If you are planning a party in the daytime, we would recommend going back to the origins of tennis and serving a delightful, wholesome, and surprisingly filling British Afternoon Tea.

When planning a fancier fiesta in the evening, an evening of canapés would be the port of call. 

As you can maybe tell, our general recommendations tend to revolve around finger food and stuff that can be grazed upon throughout an event, rather than being gorged upon in one go. Your partygoers (being tennis club members), are likely to be relatively active and health-conscious, so giving them the option to control how much they eat on a granular level will be much appreciated.

First, we will consider what you can serve if you are planning a particularly active party, reviewing the healthiest options for this. 

After that, we will move to consider some more refined options you can serve, including canapés and the classic afternoon tea. 

If you have ever wanted to find out what food to bring to a tennis club party, then read on as we provide a comprehensive breakdown of the different options you have! It will be sure to leave all your guests satisfied, and hopefully raving about the delicious spread provided.  

Cheap, cheerful, and chock full of vitamins

So, let’s say you’ve organized or are attending a day of tennis fun at your tennis club. Of course, you want to provide some food, but want to make sure it is healthy and tasty for when people are taking breaks from games.

Here are some great choices for just that occasion:

Raw vegetables

When used as a snack, a raw savory vegetable/fruit is often referred to as a “crudité“. These can take many forms; we would recommend the following:

• Carrots
• Radishes
• Cauliflower
• Cucumber
• Celery
• Bell pepper (red and yellow in particular)

Homemade Hummus

This is one you might not think to make but is delicious. It is also surprisingly simple to do, and if you create the hummus yourself you can control how fatty (or not) you wish to make it! Hummus requires equal parts chickpeas, tahini, and quantities of olive oil and lemon juice adjusted to texture and taste, all blended up together.

You can also incorporate garlic as well but be careful with the quantities of raw garlic used as it can be exceptionally powerful. If you want a bit of garlic in the hummus, it might be worth roasting it first, as that will temper the harsh raw flavor. 

The Afternoon Tea

The afternoon tea. A staple of British high society, and an outstanding afternoon appetite-quencher. 

The key to a great afternoon tea is finger food. First: the sandwiches. Use a mix of white and brown bread. The types of sandwiches we would recommend for this spread is as follows: 

• Ham and mustard (find an English or Dijon mustard for this if you can – serve on white bread)
• Cream cheese, salmon, and dill (mix the diced dill with the cheese, serve on brown bread) 
• Beef and tomato (use thinly sliced peppered beef and even thinly sliced and salted tomato – brown bread and a light dash of mayonnaise is perfect here)
• Cucumber sandwiches – this one is simple, finely sliced cucumber on some lightly buttered white bread.

Cut these sandwiches into small “fingers” (rectangles) and serve with some scones (and clotted cream/jelly) and some fancy potato chips. Small quiches, tarts, and other such baked delights would work brilliantly too. 

Canapes

Here is the perfect food to bring to an evening tennis club party. The small serving size and huge variety in choice works brilliantly for health-conscious folks, and we have curated a couple of healthier canapé options to fit your club’s demographic.

Cucumber crackers with blue cheese and fruit

Combine thick slices of cucumber with blue cheese, and then alternating blueberries and pomegranates on each. This provides a sweet-savory, low-calorie snack that will blow partygoers away.

Smoked salmon, avocado, and pickled radish oatcakes

Take an oatcake (preferably seeded). Top it with some smashed avocado, a slice of delicate smoked salmon, two pickled radish slices and some freshly cracked black pepper. Consider some lemon juice squeezed on top as well. 

References

– https://www.drugs.com/cg/healthy-snacks-for-athletes.html

– https://www.bucklandmanor.co.uk/dining-drinking/afternoon-tea

– https://afternoontea.co.uk/information/what-is-afternoon-tea/

– https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/healthier-canape-ideas