Food Plating Ideas For Home Cooks

Chef Jay Fisher, the executive chef of Desiignbyfood, believes we all eat with our eyes before we even take a bite of our food. “If it looks beautiful, 99 percent of the time, it tastes as good as it looks,” affirms the Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based culinary talent.

From flower-garnished entrees (all edible, of course) to sauces drizzled and swirled to adorn delicious desserts, Fisher is a master when it comes to the art of plating food.

But creative food plating ideas aren’t just reserved for the pros. The South Florida chef believes home cooks can present wow-worthy culinary creations by simply utilizing a few basic food plating techniques.

Basic Food Plating Techniques

The first rule of plating: organization. “Everything has to be planned ahead of time,” says Fisher, who credits his travels and time spent earlier in his career working at Sandals All-Inclusive Resorts for honing his culinary skills.

“You have to plan what you’re going to cook, and you have to plan how you are going to plate the food—otherwise, you’ll find yourself at the end trying to figure out what goes with what. Think of it [plating] like an assembly line: You have to have it set up ahead of time,” notes the award-winning chef.

Once the menu is determined, consider whether food will be served as a communal dish or if courses will be presented individually. The culinary expert also reminds us to take into account the number of sauces on the menu and how they will be served (with the food or in individual servings), the plates to be used to display the food and any tools needed.

Must-Have Plating Tools

Some basic plating tools, like spatulas, you may already have. Otherwise, most things to complete a food plating kit can be found on Amazon, suggests Fisher. “I use a mini spatula if I have a heavy, pureed sauce, and I don’t want to just spread it on the plate,” says the 20-year culinary veteran.

“I can make a ‘streak’ or form a ‘base’ with the sauce using the spatula.”

Likewise, a set of small squeeze bottles is key for drawing on those fanciful sauce dots, swirls and swishes adorning the beautifully plated dishes you often see at restaurants. “I use a lot of mini squeeze bottles,” admits the Westmoreland, Jamaica native.

“I also use saucing spoons, sometimes called precision serving spoons. These are spoons that come in several sizes and have different edges or tips—it’s like a ‘pointed’ spoon. They help you put the right amount of sauce where you want to put it,” he describes.

“For example, if you want a teaspoon of sauce, the teaspoon-size plating spoon has a point [like a spout] on it so you can pour the right amount. Just like something out of a squeeze bottle, it’s spot on.”

Another must-have plating tool: “I use food tweezers, especially when working with micro greens,” says the chef. He enlists tweezers to position garnishes with pinpoint accuracy on the plate.

To round out the tool kit, he suggests picking up piping bags and tips (especially useful for presenting soft foods and desserts) and decorating brushes.

More Food Plating Ideas

Now that you’ve assembled your tools, there are some additional food plating ideas you’ll need to keep in mind to create a gorgeous presentation. “We should never plate above the rim [of the plate]. The food is supposed to go within the inner circular dimension of the plate,” points out Fisher.

He also tells us that 99% of the time, chefs will place food on a plate in a clockwise pattern to organize the serving portions better.

As for the amount of food on each plate, Fisher feels less is definitely more. “It’s better to have a beautiful plate of food with less on it, eat it, and then go back and get more versus having a big plate of food. You can’t eat it all and it just looks sloppy,” he shares. “Never overpack the plate with food. Smaller portions are better.”

An Added Element

There’s a reason why restaurants send out each course individually plated. “Separating the courses adds an ‘element’ to the presentation rather than having all the courses on one plate,” reveals the executive chef.

As a home cook, serving courses this way allows diners to appreciate the food from a new perspective. Fisher adds, “Everything is separated, and the elements look like a ‘dish.’ You can taste what you want to taste versus [putting] everything in your mouth.”

The Art of Plating Food

“I wanted to be an artist. I did basic painting; it wasn’t professional, but I enjoyed it for myself,” recalls the chef, who now channels his creativity from the canvas to the plate, sending out culinary treats that are edible works of art.

He attributes his love for cooking to his mother, a fabulous home cook who inspired Fisher to level up his plating game. Did he first learn how to plate food beautifully from her? “Not really—that’s one of the reasons why I became an artist,” he laughs.

Much like how the right frame enhances a piece of art, the same is true when selecting the correct plate to present your food.

“I prefer a simpler plate: white, charcoal or black,” shares the executive chef. “When your plate has a lot of patterns on it, it takes away from the creativeness of the food itself—because your eyes are going to get caught by the plate’s background. Whereas if you have a white plate or maybe a black plate, it’ll display the artistry of the food you’ve created.”

The shape of the plate also plays an important part. “There are ovals, squares, rectangles—[plate] shapes are good because they can give you diversity when plating the food,” says Fisher, who’s mastered serving up a variety of cuisines, emphasizing Caribbean food as a nod to his roots.

The Finishing Touches

Considered the finishing touch to an artfully presented plate, garnishes should never be overlooked, no matter how small. “I use a lot of micro greens like basil, cilantro—all those are like using the regular version herbs—and they’re packed with flavor,” attests Fisher.

“But it’s not just throwing stuff on a plate and saying, ‘OK, the food is garnished.’ The garnish should always enhance the flavor of the food.”

Edible flowers (like orchids) also help make Fisher’s platings even more of a visual feast—as well as a tasty treat.”

Anything that goes on a plate should be edible and tasty,” Fisher points out, referring to a non-negotiable rule as it applies to food plating ideas.

The culinary field is not immune to trends, and one taking over involves stacking the food, observes Fisher. “You have the carbohydrate at the bottom, veggie at the next level and you place the protein on top. Then, the sauce is drizzled to the side or drawn on the plate to create a nice circular effect,” describes the master chef.

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Ready to Serve

Prior to serving your guests, Fisher recommends using a clean, damp cloth to wipe off anything you don’t want on the plate—like your fingerprint and excess sauces.

“Because presentation is everything, you don’t want excess stuff on the plate before it heads out to your diners…A clean plate tells a lot about the person who prepared the dish,” details Fisher.

The chef also suggests taking a photo of your finished dish, something he does for himself when time permits. “I do take pictures of my dishes, and some of them I post [on social media]…Every plate of food I put forth, I make sure the next plate looks even better than before,” he shares.

As a home cook, taking photos of your dishes will also help you keep track of your plating progress coaches Fisher.

“Each time you make a dish, you’ll realize how you can improve on it, and you’ll see how far [your skills] have come.”

Visit Desiignbyfood to learn more about Chef Jay Fisher’s catering and personal chef experience services. Follow for the latest updates on Instagram.

This story originally appeared in Cuisine Noir Magazine