Housewarming party food ideas for a house that is not unpacked yet

The best housewarming party food is food that does not need your kitchen, because your kitchen is not ready. The pans are in a box marked “garage,” the oven still has the manual taped inside, and you found one spatula and it belongs to your mother. I have delivered to a lot of new houses in Richardson, Plano and Frisco, and the ones that go well all share the same plan.

The short answer: Serve food that arrives hot, needs no oven, no knives and no serving pans, and can be eaten standing up with one hand. Plan two big tamales per adult, ordered online for delivery or pickup. For 30 guests that is five dozen tamales, $300 at our menu price, plus chips, salsa and a drink station you set up on the one clean counter you have.

That is the whole idea. The rest of this article is the menu, the math for 20 to 80 guests, where to put the food in a house with no furniture, and the short list of things I would not serve until the dishwasher is hooked up.

Why a housewarming is a party without a kitchen

Every other party you host, you cook the day before, chill things overnight and reheat as guests arrive. A housewarming happens two or three weeks after the move, when you know where the bathroom is and not much else. Half your dishes are still wrapped in newspaper. The fridge is full of moving-week takeout. The trash bin is a contractor bag in the corner.

So the food has to do three things at once. It has to arrive ready. It has to stay good for the three or four hours that people drift through. And it has to leave nothing behind but a bag of paper plates. Anything that needs a sheet pan, a cutting board or an oven you have never used is a risk, and this is not the week for risk.

There is also the tour. Every guest wants to walk through the house, and every guest ends up holding a plate while they do it. Food that can be carried up the stairs and eaten in the empty guest room, with no fork, is the food that wins.

Housewarming party food ideas that need no cooking at all

Here is the spread I recommend for a new house: our tamales as the main, plus a few things from the grocery store. The tamales are the same ones we describe on our parties and celebrations page:

• Pork tamales in red salsa and chicken tamales in green salsa, hot, in their husks. A tamal is its own plate. You unwrap it, eat it, and the husk goes in the trash. No cutting, no serving spoon, no leftover pan to wash in a sink with no dish soap.
• Chips, salsa roja, salsa verde and guacamole. Pour the chips into the biggest bowl you can find, even if that bowl is a mixing bowl you just unwrapped. Guacamole gets a squeeze of lime and a lid between refills.
• A topping tray from the store: crema, cotija, cilantro, lime wedges, pickled jalapeños. Everything in the containers it came in, lids off. Nobody at a housewarming expects a platter.
• Something cold and easy: a fruit tray from the grocery store, or cut watermelon in a cooler.
• A drink station in a different room than the food. Ice in a cooler, water, sodas, a pitcher of iced tea if you want color, and whatever the neighbors bring.

Our masa is gluten-free corn masa and the chicken tamales are made with chicken breast, so the new neighbor who does not eat gluten and the coworker who is watching what she eats both have a full plate without a conversation. The two fillings and prices are on the tamale menu: a half dozen for $30 and a dozen for $60.

What makes this work is that the main dish is complete when it comes through the door. You order in our online store, choose delivery or pickup at our Plano kitchen, and pay online; delivery fees are shown at checkout. Have paper plates, napkins and a few forks from the grocery store ready. I wrote up exactly what a caterer provides and what you still need to have on hand, and for a housewarming the honest answer is: plates, trash bags, paper towels and a place to put things.

How much food for a housewarming

A housewarming runs like an open house. People come at different times, stay an hour, and eat once. Plan two of our tamales per adult; they are big, and two is a full lunch. Add a third for teenagers and for anyone who helped you move, because those people have earned it. If it is a Saturday afternoon and you are also putting out chips and fruit, two is plenty.

Count the people who said yes, not the people you invited, and then add the plus-ones you forgot about: partners, kids, the neighbor who walks over because the door is open. If you are hosting a smaller crowd, my guide to catering for 20 guests goes through the small-party version of this math, including what to do with the extras.

And there will be extras, on purpose. A tamal that does not get eaten on Saturday is Sunday breakfast in a house that still has no groceries. Wrap them in foil, put them in the fridge, steam or microwave them the next morning. That is the one leftover I want you to have.

Setting up food in a house with no furniture

You do not need a dining table. You need one flat surface for the food, one for the drinks, and a path between them that does not go through the front door.

Use the kitchen island or the longest counter

Clear it completely. Wipe it down. Put the tamales at one end, the salsas and toppings in the middle, and the plates and napkins at the end closest to the living room so the line moves away from the kitchen. If the counters are still covered in boxes, a folding table against the wall in the dining room does the same job. Cover it with a bedsheet if you cannot find the tablecloth; nobody will notice and everybody will understand.

Keep the tamales in their husks and covered

Tamales hold their heat for a long time when they stay wrapped and covered, and the husk protects the masa from drying out. Take out a dozen at a time onto a tray, keep the lid on the rest, and refill as the tray empties. If you happen to own a slow cooker and it is unpacked, set it to warm with a little water in the bottom and stack tamales in it; it becomes a steamer that runs all afternoon. I go deeper on this in how to keep catered food hot for hours, including the chafing-dish version.

Put the trash where people can see it

Husks, plates, cans. At a housewarming the guest cannot ask where the trash goes because you do not know either. Two open bags, one by the food and one by the drinks, and your first cleanup is done before the party ends.

Timing, drinks and what people will bring

Most housewarmings run as a drop-in window, something like 2–6 PM on a Saturday. Our kitchen is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday between 9 AM and 2 PM, so for a Saturday afternoon party you choose Saturday delivery or pickup in the online store and keep the tamales covered until the first couple rings the bell; a Sunday party means a Saturday order and a fifteen-minute reheat in a steamer or a covered pan with a splash of water. Next day orders must be received and confirmed by us before noon the previous day. Only confirmed orders will be delivered as requested. If you are new to the area, our delivery area covers Allen, McKinney, Fairview, Frisco, The Colony, Plano, Murphy, Carrollton, Addison, Richardson and Far North Dallas, which is most of the new construction I see.

Guests bring things to a housewarming. Plants, a bottle of wine, a candle, a loaf of bread from a bakery. Give the gifts a spot near the door, not on the food table. And when someone asks what they can bring, say “ice” or “a dessert” and mean it. Dessert is the one course I do not make; a tray of conchas or a store-bought cake next to the drinks finishes the table.

On drinks, one rule: keep them away from the food. If the ice chest is next to the tamales, the line to grab a soda blocks the line to build a plate, and in a house with no furniture, that line is the whole living room.

What I would not serve at a housewarming

• Anything that needs your oven. A new oven can run hot, run cold, or have a shipping bolt still in it. Do not find out with forty people in the house.
• A charcuterie board. It looks great for twenty minutes, then the cheese sweats and the crackers go soft, and it needs a knife, a board and a fridge with room, none of which you have.
• A build-your-own bar. Nacho and sandwich bars need lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, warm toppings and six serving spoons. That is a dishwasher load in a house where the dishwasher is still in its plastic.
• Anything that requires a serving piece you cannot locate. If the plan needs the punch bowl, and the punch bowl is in one of thirty identical boxes, change the plan.

Tamales pass all four tests. They are cooked, wrapped, portioned and hot when they arrive, and the only tool a guest needs is a hand. The questions people ask me about delivery, reheating and dietary needs are all answered on our FAQ page if you want to check something before you order.

Ready to feed the new house?

Count your guests, plan two tamales each and round up to whole dozens: from four dozen for 20 guests to fourteen dozen for 80. In our online store you choose chicken or pork, a half dozen or a dozen, delivery or pickup and the date, and you pay online, so nothing in the plan depends on a box you have not opened. Questions about your day? Call or text (469) 888-8398. The ordering page explains how it works, or go straight to the store: Order online.

Frequently asked questions

What is the easiest housewarming party food when nothing is unpacked?

Food that arrives hot and needs no oven, knife or serving pan. Tamales are the easiest I know: they come cooked and wrapped in the husk, they stay hot for a long time when covered, and a guest can eat one standing up while touring the house. Add chips, salsas, a topping tray and a cooler of drinks and the table is finished without a single burner turned on.

How many tamales do I need for a housewarming party?

Plan two big tamales per adult, three each for teenagers and for the friends who helped you move. Round up to whole dozens: 20 guests need about four dozen, 40 guests about seven dozen, 60 guests about ten dozen. Count the people who said yes plus the partners and neighbors you forgot, and keep any extras for breakfast the next day in a house with no groceries yet.

Can catering be delivered to a brand-new address?

Yes, inside our delivery area. Put the full street address, the gate code if the neighborhood has one, and a phone number for the person who will be home in your order. New subdivisions in Frisco, McKinney and Allen sometimes do not show up correctly on map apps yet, so a cross street or a note like “the house with the blue door” helps the driver find you on the first try.

Do I need plates, utensils or serving spoons for tamales?

You need very little. A tamal is eaten from its own husk, so a napkin and a small paper plate are enough for most guests. Pick up plates, forks and a pair of tongs at the grocery store; then all you need on hand is a flat surface, a cooler of ice and two open trash bags. Nothing has to be washed afterward except the counter.

How do I keep the food hot for a four-hour drop-in party?

Leave the tamales in their husks, keep them wrapped and covered, and put out a dozen at a time on a tray. If you own a slow cooker or a chafing dish and can find it, set it on warm with a little water underneath and stack tamales inside; it acts as a steamer for the whole afternoon. Keep the lid on between guests.

What if some guests are gluten-free or eating light?

All of our tamales are made with gluten-free corn masa, and the chicken tamales use chicken breast in a green tomatillo salsa, so both fillings work for most gluten-free guests without a special request. Our kitchen is not a certified gluten-free facility; if a guest has celiac disease, call or text (469) 888-8398 with your questions before you order.