When you go out to eat, it can be difficult to choose between familiar and satisfying comfort food and exploring something new and trendy. What if you didn’t have to choose? Adding new flavor profiles to popular food basics is a great way to update your menu and keep customers interested while not straying from your core food concepts and what you are known for as an eatery. It is also a way to expand your market to a new customer base.

Where do you begin? Think about substituting proteins in your standard menu items. These days, you can put just about anything on a salad, bun, rice bowl, noodle bowl or taco shell. Change up your spices and cooking oils to give standard proteins a new ethnic flavor twist. Try new dressings and toppings for your salads to bring in the new flavor profile. Add plant based proteins to your menu line-up.

Soups are an amazing way to bring new flavors to your menu. The expense to make soup is fairly low to test the flavors with your customers and see what sells. You can use unusual vegetables, beans, and herbs to create powerful flavors combinations.

Eggs can also be versatile, and a low-cost high-profit entrée item. Omelettes and quiches can be made in so many combinations and with a wide variety of spice mixtures. They also can appeal to some of your non-meat eating customers or those who don’t eat beef, pork or bottom dwelling seafood.

What ethnic groups live and work near your establishment? Do you cater to their tastes in some way? Experimenting with these new flavors might also be a fun and creative way to inspire your staff and break up the day to day grind of the workplace. Creative endeavors always motivate the energy in the workplace.