It's that warm, wonderful time of year again.
As consumers welcome the sunshine of spring, give them renewed reasons to enjoy your dining room. Flex your creativity as a food service professional with timely menu engineering.
Here at Hitchcock Farms, we're committed to providing the freshest produce for your spring restaurant menus.
In this guide, we've gathered our favorite spring recipes to offer you fresh inspiration.
Spring 2025 Restaurant Trends You Can't Miss
Embrace Seasonal and Local Produce
Locally grown, in-season produce will always be the best addition to your restaurant menu.
Spring vegetables like asparagus, peas, and artichokes are always popular among chefs and home cooks during this time of year.
Seasonal fruits like strawberries, rhubarb, and cherries can also have a place on your restaurant menu.
Incorporate Sprouts and Microgreens
Sprouts and microgreens are trending worldwide, and spring is the best time to introduce them to your menu.
Top salads, sandwiches, soups, or stir-fry dishes with these flavorful and nutritious greens.
Focus on Plant-Based Dining
The demand for plant-based menu items continues to grow.
Whether you serve traditional vegetarian meals like pasta and grain bowls or offer meat substitutes like Impossible or Beyond, it's important to keep your plant-based diners in mind while developing your spring menu.
Highlight Pickled and Fermented Elements
Pickled foods are more popular than ever across the globe.
Add depth and tang to your menu by serving pickled vegetables as starters or sides.
Incorporate fermented foods like kimchi and miso for more complexity.
Spring Flavors in Full Bloom: 14 Recipes to Try This Season
Fresh Brunch Menu Ideas for Spring
1. Springtime Artichoke Benedict
The eggs Benedict brunch tradition takes on a fresh look and taste without English muffins.
Instead, this sensational seasonal recipe crowns cooked artichoke hearts with poached eggs, Canadian bacon, and hollandaise sauce.
Early spring is the perfect time to enjoy artichokes, which are actually a variety of thistle that date back thousands of years.
Prepare the artichokes with your method of choice, either steaming, boiling, or roasting.
Spread open the leaves of the artichokes and remove the centers.
Place cooked Canadian bacon into the artichoke centers, and top with poached eggs and a drizzle of hollandaise sauce.
2. Fresh Veggie Frittata
Frittata is one of the best savory brunch dishes to enjoy in the springtime.
This hearty recipe brings together zucchini, potatoes, turkey bacon, and queso fresco in a satiating and protein-packed dish.
If you want something sweet on your plate, serve up a side dish of fruit salad with berries, cherries, pineapple, or your other springtime favorites.
Boil cubed russet potatoes until tender.
Cook garlic, onion, and zucchini in a skillet until tender, then add the boiled potatoes and continue cooking.
Pour eggs over the vegetables and continue cooking while adding the cheese and turkey bacon.
Broil the frittata until the cheese is browned.
3. Bananas Foster Casserole
Transform New Orleans' world-famous dessert into a restaurant brunch sensation.
Its ingredients blend into a French toast breakfast casserole that looks as good as it tastes.
Slightly stale bread soaks up the eggs and syrup better than fresh, soft bread.
If you have a loaf of sourdough or brioche that's starting to get old, it's the perfect opportunity to try this recipe.
Combine butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup in a saucepan to make caramel syrup.
Pour the syrup onto the bottom of a baking dish, and top with sliced bananas.
Place cubed bread over the bananas, and top with a mixture of eggs, milk, and sugar.
After baking the casserole, top it with extra syrup, bananas, and whipped cream.
Special Spring Lunch Menu Ideas
4. Spring Asparagus Salad
Asparagus is one of the season's most celebrated vegetables.
New asparagus plants can take up to three years to start producing, but once matured, they can last for up to 30 years. After such a long growing period, this little veggie is meant to be savored.
Served as a side or entree, chilled asparagus salad is elegantly simple and versatile.
Prepare the balsamic dressing by boiling balsamic vinegar and whisking in mustard, olive oil, marjoram, and garlic.
Boil asparagus in salted water until tender, then drain and rinse with cold water.
Combine boiled asparagus, diced bell pepper, and pecans and drizzle with the balsamic dressing.
5. Avocado and Cucumber Soup
Cold soups are a highly underrated lunch menu offering, especially as the weather starts to warm up.
A cool combination of avocado and cucumber creates a creamy, luxurious soup.
Presentation in iceberg baby bowls makes the meal a unique springtime dish.
Combine cucumber, avocado, and scallions in a food processor or blender and pulse until finely chopped.
Add chicken broth, sour cream, lemon juice, salt, and pepper, and process the mixture until smooth.
Chill for four to six hours before serving.
6. Napa Cabbage, Avocado, Citrus Salad
Nothing says spring like a fresh, colorful salad full of seasonal produce.
This unique salad combines napa cabbage hearts with an array of citrus fruits, avocado, nuts, and seeds.
You can serve it as a lunchtime main, as a starter, or side on your dinner menu.
Create your miso dressing by combining miso paste, sunflower oil, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, ginger, and garlic.
Tear the napa cabbage into large pieces, slice the citrus fruits and avocado, and arrange the fruits and veggies on the plate.
Sprinkle almonds, sesame seeds, and sugar snap peas over the salad, and top with the miso dressing.
7. Fresh Strawberry and Rhubarb Crisp
How do you make spring fruits and vegetables play well together?
Match them up in this delicious dessert recipe from Chef Ina Garten.
Sweet strawberries and tart rhubarb bring out the best in each other when they're baked into a heavenly crisp. Serve with housemade ice cream to take this dessert to the next level.
It's the perfect after-lunch treat or grab-and-go bakery item.
Mix diced rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, and orange zest together.
Dissolve corn starch in orange juice and stir it into the fruit mixture.
Create a crumble topping by combining flour, sugar, oats, and butter.
Pour the fruit mixture into a baking dish, top with the crumble, and bake until golden brown.
Irresistible Spring Buffet Menu Ideas
8. Spring-Fresh Dippers
Plate premium produce with a delicious sauce to create your signature in-house crudités platter.
No vegetable platter is complete without an assortment of dips and sauces, and this creamy spinach dip makes a decadent pairing for your fresh spring veggies.
Combine mayonnaise, fontina cheese, sour cream, spinach, scallions, water chestnuts, and dried leek soup mix in a large serving bowl.
Mix until the ingredients are well combined, and serve with an array of chopped vegetables, pita chips, or tortilla chips.
9. Shrimp and Pasta Primavera
Tender pasta provides just the right textural touch to this chilled buffet dish.
Penne, shrimp, asparagus, and peas combine to create a light and satisfying plate for lunch or dinner.
Customize this springtime recipe by replacing the penne with housemade pasta or adding a creamy white sauce.
Cook the pasta in salted boiling water for a few minutes, then add the asparagus and cook for three more minutes.
Add thawed frozen shrimp and peas and cook for two more minutes before draining the water out.
Add oil, lemon juice, and garlic to the pasta and mix in feta and chopped mint leaves.
10. Spring Pea Risotto
Fresh peas are the perfect springtime vegetable to elevate the flavor and texture of your rice and pasta dishes.
They're one of the highest-protein vegetables, too, with over 4 grams per half-cup serving.
This spring-inspired risotto can serve as a healthy side or entree. It's a quick prep for busy commercial kitchens, and it holds well on buffet steam tables.
Cook shallots and garlic in olive oil over medium-high heat.
Stir in the rice and slowly pour in white wine and chicken stock.
Add parmesan and mascarpone before folding in blanched peas.
Garnish with pea tendrils and lemon juice.
Vegetarian Spring Dinner Menu Ideas
11. Spring Vegetable Rigatoni
You can never go wrong with pasta and fresh seasonal vegetables.
Add vegetarian-friendly spring flavors to your menu by pairing rigatoni with your favorite in-season veggies, like asparagus, peas, broccoli, or spinach.
Pair the dish with a vegetarian Caesar salad, roasted bell peppers, or garlic bread.
Cook rigatoni to al dente in salted water.
Cook leeks, fava beans, and peas in butter over medium heat.
Add pasta, lemon juice, and pasta water to the vegetables and stir until the noodles are well coated.
Garnish with fresh mint leaves.
12. Spring Vegetarian Stew
This hearty dish is a delicious take on traditional meat stews.
It's a healthy comfort food made even better with locally sourced produce.
The dinner entree can also be reworked to incorporate summer, fall, and winter vegetables as you rotate your menu for each season.
Cook onion, carrots, artichokes, and thyme in olive oil over medium-high heat.
Reduce the heat, add broth, and continue cooking until the vegetables are slightly soft.
Add turnips and leeks and cook for a few more minutes before adding fava beans, peas, and asparagus.
Fine Dining Menu Ideas for Spring
13. Garlic Pork Shoulder and Vegetables
Slow-roasted pork shoulder offers a unique take on the spring classic, made even better with garlic and herbs.
Oregano, cilantro, orange juice, and thyme complete the garlic rub and create a crusty exterior that seals in juicy tenderness.
Side with a medley of peas, carrots, and fava beans, and serve as a signature spring fine dining dish.
Combine cilantro, orange juice, lime juice, garlic, oregano, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a plastic bag with the pork shoulder, turning until the pork shoulder is fully coated.
Refrigerate the pork overnight in the bag.
Remove the marinade, season the pork with salt and pepper, and roast it in a cast iron until tender.
Shred the pork and cut the fat cap into small pieces.
14. Poached Wild Salmon
When we think of spring menu ideas for fine dining, we picture a simple, elegant plate of poached wild salmon.
This recipe satisfies appetites for the seafood favorite and adds a springtime touch with peas and morels.
Serve with a side of mixed greens, steamed vegetables, or roasted potatoes.
Cook salmon on medium heat in a skillet with wine and salted water until barely cooked through.
Transfer the salmon to a plate and tent with foil.
Cook mushrooms and peas in melted butter, add cream, and cook the sauce until slightly thickened.
Peel off the salmon skin, place it on a serving plate, and spoon the mushroom sauce over it.
Spring’s freshest bounty deserves its own menu, but vegetarian dishes aren’t just for vegetarians.
Develop these spring veggie dinner ideas into entrees that please all health-conscious dining room guests.
Supplying Our Very Best Year-Round
It's our pleasure to offer restaurant menu ideas that complement the season and keep your tables full year-round.
As one of California's oldest and largest produce growers, Hitchcock Farms proudly supplies products that define premium quality in your foodservice operations.
Our fresh, sustainably grown produce is featured on the spring menus of numerous restaurants across the country.
Reach out to us today to learn more about how we can support your commercial kitchen.
FAQ
What are the most popular spring vegetables for restaurant menus?
Some of the most popular spring vegetables include asparagus, artichokes, spinach, and peas.
How do I source reliable spring produce for my kitchen?
To get the best and freshest produce, we recommend working with a trusted distributor who sources their items from reputable, sustainable farms.
How can I promote my spring menu?
Featuring your new menu items on your website and social media is a great way to generate interest among new and returning diners. Take high-quality photos of the dishes to show them off.
Offering daily or weekly specials can also encourage your diners to keep coming back and trying new items.
