Hosting a Food Swap 101
You like to cook and try new recipes. You even have some friends that also know their way around the kitchen. And they also have friends that are self-proclaimed “foodies”.
Then you MUST plan a Food Swap.
It’s almost like a potluck, but not quite.
Food Swaps are a creative way to get together with fellow food lovers, showcase your favorite recipe, taste some new ones, and exchange your homemade goods. It makes for an easy event to host, since everyone is bringing something to share.
A classic Food Swap is where folks prepare multiple servings of a particular recipe (e.g. jam, pickles, sauce, salsa, cookies, etc…). Each serving gets packaged up in preparation for swapping. Then everyone comes together for a casual gathering where they sample everything and barter their items.
Events like a Food Swap are popular during the harvest season when one might have a surplus of a particular crop of foods. For example, someone might have an abundance of pesto from their crazy happy basil plants, while another person has jars of freshly packed apple butter stacked up in their pantry.
The idea is for everyone to bring what extra goods they have to offer and exchange them with one another. Each person goes home with a variety of awesome loot.
If this concept feels a little overwhelming, I totally know how you feel.
Good news. There’s more than one way to plan a Food Swap!
Keep it Simple — Pick a Theme
Let’s approach the magical concept of Food Swapping in a new way by focusing on a specific theme that’s easy for everyone to digest.
Think about the holidays when people tend to get together and exchange cookies. That’s exactly like a Food Swap, but with a theme — cookies.
Anyone can get on board with a Cookie Swap, right?
Find a bunch of friends to participate. Each picks a cookie recipe they love. Everyone prepares the same amount, and individually packages similar serving sizes (6-8 cookies depending on how big they are). And then you gather together for sampling + swapping!
Such an event winds up being super fun and everyone walks away with all sorts of goodies. No one leaves empty-handed. A definite win-win.
Well, a Cookie Swap is just the beginning! We’ve compiled all sorts of Food Swap theme ideas you can play with.
We dare you—along with a few of your friends—to try them all.
Need help on where to start? Want some advice on how to organize your own themed Food Swap? Keep scrolling to read our detailed tips on making these events as easy as possible for you to host. Plus, get a free Food Swap template download to use over and over again.
Food Swap Theme Ideas
- Cookie Swap
- Shortbread Swap
- Chocolate Swap
- Candy Swap
- Cupcake Swap
- Hand-pie Swap
- Sweet (or Savory) Tartelette Swap
- Homemade Pop Tart Swap
- Scone Swap
- Soup Swap
- Vegetarian Soup Swap
- Chili Swap
- Granola Bar Swap
- Muffin Swap
- Salsa Swap
- Salad Dressing Swap
- Seasoning Blend Swap
- BBQ Sauce Swap
- Hot Sauce Swap
- Spaghetti Sauce Swap
- Pesto Swap
- Freezer Meal Swap
- Jams + Jelly Swap
- Pickled Veggie Swap
- Kimchi Swap
- Cookbook Swap
- Shrub Syrup Swap
- Pantry Supply Swap (via Alice Waters’ “My Pantry” cookbook)
These should be enough to get you started. And the best part is that you only need handful of friends to make a Food Swap possible.
If you wind up enjoying yourselves, we hope that you’ll host many more!
How to Host Your Own Themed Food Swap
Choose from the crazy long list above or create your own theme.
Get a least 4-6 people to participate. That’s just a minimum amount. Food Swap events get a lot more fun and interesting as the number of participants increases.
Plan the date and location of the event. Sundays in the afternoon or early evening is a great time to host a Food Swap. It allows enough time for everyone to prep their food and travel to the venue.
If you can’t host it at your place, find an alternative spot that includes enough parking, public restroom, and a sink (a full kitchen is even better). You and your friends can take turns hosting, too.
Create a Facebook event page for your Food Swap, or use a site like Meetup.com or Evite.com to send invites and keep everyone on the same page. Either way, you’ll want to have a space where each friend can post a comment and share what food(s) they will bring to your Food Swap. This helps to avoid duplicate foods.
Note :: Encourage those that have a specific food aversion or allergy to share it with the group, as soon as possible. This way folks have enough time to find recipes that will accommodate most everyone.
Decide the appropriate serving size for the exchange. For example, a 4 cup (16 oz) sized container is perfect for storing and swapping soup or chili. If you have 6 people coming to your Soup Swap, each person must bring six containers (4 cups per container) of soup to exchange, plus one extra container to open and sample.
Each serving should be individually wrapped and labeled. You can even get a little creative and dress up the packaging design. Either way, the label should include the name of the item, what the ingredients are, and the date it was made.
On the day of the event, print out our custom designed Food Swap sheets for participants to fill out. The forms enable folks to easily read all of the ingredients to avoid any conflicts with potential allergies. Here is free pdf template for you to use. Be sure to have some extra pens on hand.
Set up each station on a large table, allowing enough space for folks to showcase their wares, put out a tasting sample, and display their information sheet (download free template). As folks arrive, they will need a few minutes to unpack, set up, and complete the paperwork.
Offer some light refreshments and drinks to elevate the experience. If the chosen Food Swap theme is savory, consider offering a small dessert. Or prepare a veggie platter or chips and salsa for a sweeter themed Food Swap.
Take pictures! If you can’t, then designate someone to be the photographer of the event. Then share your favorite shots with everyone on your online event page, or email them.
Make it a Regular Thing
The more you host Food Swaps, the easier it will become. Plus, the above list will inspire you to vary things up throughout the year. We highly recommend organizing a Soup Swap or a Chili Swap (or both) in early winter so you can stock up your freezer!
Our hope is that your Food Swap events bring much joy into your life, and into the lives of everyone who joins you. (The kind of joy that tastes really good and is contagious.)
Yes, you’ll experience a broad variety of foods, but be prepared for something even better. Be prepared to experience deeper connections with others and deeper friendships. That’s part of the magic of organizing events like these.
The food brings you together, but the feeling
of belonging is what keeps you together.
In addition to food, everyone will be exchanging stories and great laughter. A simple Food Swap event can make a profound impact in one’s life. It can bring perfect strangers together and ignite new friendships — friendships that could potentially last a lifetime.
Anything is possible, and it can happen at your event.
Create delicious memories, friends.
We’re Catherina (left) and Jessica (right), and we feel delighted that you’re here. Welcome! Gathering with friends—old and new—around a delicious meal is one of our favorite things to do.
Sadly, people’s social lives are shifting away from the personal face-to-face experience, and more toward the single isolated screen. Yeah, no thanks!
So, we’ve created this site to inspire you to reach out and connect with others (or reconnect with old friends). It’s way more than a food blog . . . Continue
