Ghost Kitchen Menu Ideas

Whether you’re just starting a ghost kitchen or have operated one for a while, it’s always a good idea to optimize your menu. Having a menu that fits with the pickup and delivery scene is really important to ensure quality food is served. There is just nothing more disappointing than opening the take out box and biting into cold and soggy food. It can easily be avoided with the right menu and some simple tricks.

If you’re not sure what to serve, this guide on ghost kitchen menu ideas will outline what dishes work well with the ghost kitchen business model, as well as which dishes to avoid. By only offering products that give customers great experiences, you can set yourself up for success.

What Foods Work Well With Ghost Kitchens?

When determining what to serve in your ghost kitchen, there are a couple things to keep in mind. Try asking yourself the following when assessing ghost kitchen menu ideas:

• Can it be reheated?


• Can it be packaged in take out boxes to ensure it won’t spill in transit?


• Will it just get cold on a long commute or will this also get soggy?


• Does it need to be kept cold? Will this melt the second it leaves the facility?


• Can it handle a bumpy ride or will even light jostling turn the dish into a mess?

These are just some key things to keep in mind when selecting menu items for your ghost kitchen. So what food works then?

Good Ghost Kitchen Menu Items

There are some foods out there that are just almost always guaranteed to work out. They manage to fit all the criteria from being able to be packaged and travel to being able to be reheated and not get soggy. Some such foods include:

Asian Dishes

Luckily, pretty much any kind of Asian food works well with ghost kitchens. Rice-based dishes and stir frys package and travel well, as do dumplings and meat-based dishes. In addition, most Asian dishes taste great after being reheated in the microwave, so your customers can turn one great meal into at least two.

Pizza

Most pizza places deliver, so it should be no surprise that pizza is a good option for a delivery-based restaurant. Although it can withstand a bit of a bumpy ride, make sure the pizza is in an appropriately-sized box so that the movement doesn’t cause the cheese to slide off during transit.

BBQ 

The Styrofoam boxes used with takeout food are perfect for BBQ. A BBQ-focused ghost kitchen is a great concept since most of the meats reheat well or can be turned into sandwiches the following day. Once again, your customers can get several great experiences from just one purchase.

Poke Bowls

This actually sort of applies to most bowl dishes. They package super well in most takeout packaging and can handle sliding a bit in the car. They won’t spill out or leak.

Sandwiches

Unless you serve paninis, you do not have to sweat the reheat-ability of your sandwich. However with a toaster oven paninis can be reheated pretty well without letting the bread go soggy. They are also just way too easy to package with either a takeout box or a simple wrapping.

Casseroles

From actual casseroles to simple macaroni and cheese, these comfort food dishes lend themselves well to ghost kitchens. Casserole based dishes hold heat really well and do not run the risk of getting cold as quickly as other foods do. However, if your customers end up with leftovers, casseroles reheat quite well.

These foods and some others you can almost always rely on for delivery and take out menus. 

Proceed with Caution 

Some foods you can use for your ghost kitchen menu without issues. However, you may want some of these tricks to ensure they work.

Salads

Salads can package well and travel well. However they run the risk of getting soggy especially for the croutons. There’s a really simple trick to avoid this of course. You could just put the dressing on the side. Yes, not everyone may want that but it will keep your salad from getting soggy in transit. Smothering a salad in dressing sounds delicious, but there really is no harm in putting it in the plastic side cup for the customer to have the joy of smothering it themselves. 

Egg Dishes

Eggs are a breakfast food staple: You really can’t have a breakfast menu without them in some capacity. However, not all egg dishes are made for takeout or delivery. This does not mean your ghost kitchen has to completely scrap them though. Egg dishes come in such variety and you have options to choose from. Safe options include things like scrambles and omelets. They can be reheated and travel well without getting ruined or making a mess. 

But what about those runny yolk dishes like sunny-side-up and over-easy? It may be best to leave those off your menu since runny yolks don’t travel well. The worst part is the customer can’t reheat if it arrives a little cold. Reheating it just makes the egg a little more over hard and ruins the quality of what was ordered. 

Pasta

People love a good pasta dish and with all the combinations it is so easy to incorporate into any niche menu. Even your ghost kitchen can. The biggest thing to keep in mind with pasta dishes is the packaging. With enough jostling around, pasta dishes can easily spill out of their container. A sturdy container that seals is a good option for pasta dishes to work on your ghost kitchen menu. On the up side pasta reheats pretty well too if it gets a little cold on the way. 

Pies & Cheesecakes

Were you looking to include desserts on your ghost kitchen’s menu? You definitely can. It is all about picking the best desserts. Things like cakes and even pies can work well. There is a slight risk with pie crusts and cheesecake crust getting soggy, but for the most part they should be ok since you don’t typically have to worry about them getting cold. 

Burritos

Everyone loves burritos. Have you perhaps considered the burrito bowl instead? If you were thinking of burritos for your ghost kitchen’s menu you may want to reassess. Sadly the tortilla holding it together just gets soggy from all the add-ins and meat. Chances are by the time it gets to the customer the tortilla will just fall apart. With a burrito bowl you keep all the wonderful parts safely kept in a bowl and you can offer things like chips on the side to scoop it up. This way the burrito dish can arrive in good quality instead of a soggy mess.

What to Avoid on a Ghost Kitchen Menu

Some foods are just not made for the takeout and delivery scene. They just arrive in terrible quality or leave a huge mess since they don’t package well. So here are some ghost kitchen menu ideas that are just best to avoid:

Soups

They just do not package well at all. If the lid is even slightly off and the delivery driver makes one sharp turn, the soup is now suddenly all over the seat of the car. They do however reheat pretty well and stay warm for a long time. If you have maybe found the perfect packaging to seal the warm soup goodness go for it. If not it may just be best to leave it off the menu.

Fried Appetizers

Who doesn’t love getting breaded appetizers like mozzarella sticks and fried zucchinis. You also cannot go wrong with breaded chicken tenders except with takeout and delivery. Fried foods get cold and soggy. Customers can’t count on the ability to reheat since the microwave will only worsen the sogginess. They could throw them in a toaster oven to help crispin them up, but it’s more work than they probably want to do considering they are ordering out. 

Nachos

These are honestly just a soggy mess. Nachos are meant to be eaten right when they come out. If you pick at them even in a restaurant for too long you are left with soggy chips and cold meats and cheese. These absolutely won’t reheat either without also adding to the sogginess of the chips. Plus you almost have to reheat them in the microwave from the container they came in. No one wants to try and scoop out all of that into a toaster oven. 

Steaks

Steaks probably won’t stay warm enough on the trip to the customer’s home. Nobody likes a lukewarm steak and they will likely have to reheat it. Reheating a steak though ruins the degree of doneness for the steak that your customer originally ordered. Even if they wanted a well done steak, now they are left with most likely a rubbery mess after reheating. Sadly the steakhouse belongs in house.

Shakes & Smoothies

These will almost definitely melt. Just like the ice cream issue, these will start melting the second it leaves your doors. By the time it gets to the customer they just have a melted messy drink. A smoothie shop ghost kitchen just may not be the best route to take. 

Ice Creams

Speaking of cold foods though you probably should skip the ones that need to stay cold. Things like ice cream and ice cream cakes are just not made for delivery. It typically ends up a melted mess and is dripping out the container it is in. You might be better off just exploring the different pastries and cakes for your dessert menu.