With cold days upon us, customers will be flocking to restaurants for something to warm them up. While keeping your traditional dishes center stage it may be a good idea to add a few winter favorites to heat up your menu. Constantly evolving your offerings to meet the ever developing American pallet is essential to restaurant success. Using seasonal menu items to test the waters and see what works for your customer base will help you to evolve while keeping costs lower. It also provides an opportunity for your chefs to get creative and develop new signature items. Here we’ve compiled a few of our favorite winter recipes to increase your restaurant revenue.
Creamy Chicken and Spinach Pasta
INGREDIENTS
3/4 pound gemelli, penne, or short pasta
1 cup frozen peas
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken (about half of a 2- to 2 1/2-pound bird)
5 ounces baby spinach (about 6 cups)
kosher salt and black pepper
grated Parmesan, for serving
DIRECTIONS
Cook the pasta according to the package directions, adding the peas during the last minute of cooking. Reserve ½ cup of the cooking water. Drain the pasta and peas and reserve the pot.
Melt the butter in the pasta pot over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add the cream, chicken, spinach, and ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper and cook until the chicken is warmed through and the spinach is wilted, 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the pasta and peas and toss to combine (adding a little of the reserved cooking water as needed to loosen the sauce). Serve with the Parmesan.
Slow Cooker Chili Mac n Cheese
INGREDIENTS
3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. chili powder
1 tbsp. ground cumin
1 tbsp. cayenne
2 lb. lean ground beef
2 28-oz. cans crushed tomatoes
15 oz. kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 lb. small pasta, such as macaroni or fusilli
2 c. shredded Cheddar
2 c. shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Scallions, jalapeño, avocado, cilantro, and sour cream, for garnish
DIRECTIONS
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, bell pepper, and garlic and cook until softened. Add chili, cumin, and cayenne until fragrant, 1 minute. Add ground beef and cook until browned.
Transfer beef mixture to slow cooker along with tomatoes and kidney beans and season generously with salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low, 6 hours.
When ready to serve, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
Add pasta and cheese to slow cooker and stir until melted. Serve with scallions, jalapeños, avocado, cilantro, sour cream and cheese.
Italian Sausage Soup
INGREDIENTS
1 pound Italian sausage
1 clove garlic, minced
2 (14 ounce) cans beef broth
1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian-style stewed tomatoes
1 cup sliced carrots
1 (14.5 ounce) can great Northern beans, undrained
2 small zucchini, cubed
2 cups spinach - packed, rinsed and torn
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt Add all ingredients to list
DIRECTIONS
In a stockpot or Dutch oven, brown sausage with garlic. Stir in broth, tomatoes and carrots, and season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 15 minutes.
Stir in beans with liquid and zucchini. Cover, and simmer another 15 minutes, or until zucchini is tender.
Remove from heat, and add spinach. Replace lid allowing the heat from the soup to cook the spinach leaves. Soup is ready to serve after 5 minutes.
Quikstone Capital Solutions specializes in helping small businesses grow. With the restaurant industry becoming increasingly competitive it’s important that you adapt your menu to fit evolving tastes. This could include finding new ingredient sources both local and overseas. A restaurant cash advance from Quikstone Capital Solutions can help your business respond to market shifts, growth and profit.
Download our free restaurant investment guide below to learn more ways your business can improve and increase restaurant revenue.
