Dietary
Medellin Elite Catering prepares fully plant-based menus for weddings, wellness retreats, office events and dinner parties around Medellín. Every vegan dish leaves our kitchen with a complete ingredient list, so guests can check for themselves instead of trusting a single word on a card.
The city draws a large community of plant-based travelers and remote workers, and many groups we cook for include several vegans. We feed them with the same care as the main menu: real protein, proper sauces and desserts worth saving room for.
Since 2019 our kitchen has learned where animal products hide in Colombian recipes, from the butter brushed on arepas to the lard folded into tamales, and how to cook those dishes without them.
Plan your event
Vegan catering means no meat, fish, dairy, eggs, honey, gelatin or other animal product in a dish, its stock, its cooking fat or its garnish. We offer it two ways: whole events that are plant-based from the welcome drink to dessert, and vegan dishes for some guests within a larger menu.
Whole vegan events are common for yoga and wellness retreats at fincas in the hills, and for couples who want their wedding to reflect how they eat. For a retreat we bring everything from our kitchen, while a rooftop dinner booked through catering in El Poblado is a 20 to 35 minute drive away.
Inside a mixed menu, we usually make two or three of the buffet dishes vegan by design, so plant-based guests have real choice. Our vegetarian catering page covers events where eggs and dairy are welcome.
A vegan main course should bring 15 to 20 g of protein, roughly what 200 g of cooked lentils (about 18 g) or 130 g of firm tofu (about 17 g) provides. We build each plate around one of the proteins below, and serve a second one on the buffet so guests are not eating chickpeas three ways.
| Protein | How we cook it | Note for the menu card |
|---|---|---|
| Lentils | Mushroom and lentil bolognese, spiced lentil stew | None |
| Red cargamanto and black beans | Frijoles with hogao, bean patties, arepa fillings | None |
| Chickpeas | Hummus, baked falafel, coconut curry | Sesame in tahini |
| Tofu | Grilled with achiote and lime, breakfast scramble | Contains soy |
| Tempeh | Glazed with panela and ají | Contains soy |
| Seitan | Shredded "desmechada" style with hogao | Made from wheat gluten |
| Oyster and white mushrooms | Grilled skewers, mushroom ceviche, crispy "chicharrón" | None |
| Quinoa | Salads, stuffed peppers and ahuyama | None |
Seitan is pure wheat gluten, so it never goes on a plate for a guest who is also gluten-free. Tofu and tempeh carry a soy tag, and tahini a sesame tag, so vegan guests with allergies can still choose safely.
Much of Colombian home cooking is one swap away from vegan, because it already rests on beans, plantain, corn, yuca and fruit. These are the dishes that win over guests who expected salad.
Yuca, green plantain, corn on the cob, potato and ahuyama simmer in a homemade vegetable broth with cilantro and cimarrón (a stronger wild coriander). It comes with white rice, avocado and ají, exactly as it would at a Sunday family lunch.
Our arepa dough is white corn, water and salt, with no butter or cheese worked in. We split the arepas and fill them with refried red beans, guacamole and pickled red onion.
Patacones come with hogao or guacamole, and sweet maduros are baked with cinnamon until they caramelize. For a bigger plate, ripe plantain halves are stuffed with beans and hogao, a vegan take on the cheese-filled aborrajado.
Cocadas from the Caribbean coast are made here with grated coconut and panela instead of condensed milk. In December we make natilla with coconut milk, cornstarch, panela and cinnamon, and arroz con coco works as a sweet or savory side all year.
Most slips in vegan catering come from ingredients nobody thinks of as animal products. These are the ones we check for in Colombian recipes and in every packaged item we buy.
| Ingredient | Where it hides | What we use instead |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | Arepas, arepas de chócolo, rice, pastry | Sunflower or coconut oil |
| Lard (manteca de cerdo) | Tamales, traditional frijoles, some breads | Vegetable fat |
| Chicken bouillon cubes | Rice, soups, sauces | Homemade vegetable stock |
| Gelatin | Gelatina, mousse, gummies, cheesecakes | Agar-agar |
| Honey | Dressings, granola, cocktails | Panela syrup |
| Fresh cheese | Buñuelos, pandebono, aborrajados | Recipes without cheese |
| Egg wash | Baked empanadas, pastries | Brushed plant milk |
| Whey or milk powder | Packaged bread, crackers, chocolate | Label-checked brands |
| Anchovy or fish sauce | Caesar and Asian dressings | Capers, miso, seaweed |
Every packaged ingredient is checked against its Spanish ingredient list for words such as suero de leche (whey), caseína, manteca, gelatina, miel and grasa animal. When a supplier changes a product, the new label is read before that product goes near a vegan dish.
At the bar, we ask before assuming a wine is vegan, since some are clarified with egg white or casein. Cocktails use panela syrup or plain sugar syrup, and nothing is shaken with egg white for vegan guests.
Weddings and retreats ask different things of a vegan menu: one is a single elegant dinner, the other is three satisfying meals a day for several days. Here is how each typically looks.
Plated service runs with 1 server for every 10 to 12 guests, so each course reaches a table at the same moment. Our wedding catering team handles the timeline, tasting and service for the full day.
Retreats at fincas in Llanogrande or Guatapé are staffed events with travel itemized on the quote, and we plan cold storage and reheating with the venue. Our outdoor event catering explains the power, water and rain planning that remote fincas need.
Questions and answers
Yes, vegan dishes are cooked at the start of the day on boards and pans washed just before use, with their own serving utensils. They travel in a separate labeled carrier and sit at one end of the buffet with green tags. Our kitchen also cooks meat, dairy and eggs, so we control contact closely but do not describe it as a vegan kitchen.
Yes, every vegan menu includes at least one dessert, and most have two. Favorites are coconut natilla, cocadas made with panela, maracuyá mousse set with agar-agar and a dark chocolate tart with a date and oat base. On a mixed dessert table we tag the vegan options in green so guests find them at a glance.
Reserve your date
Send your date, guest count and venue through the quote form, and say whether the whole event is plant-based or only some guests. You will have an itemized quote within 24 hours, or write to info@medellincatering.com.