Private & Luxury Events
Family Gathering Catering in Medellín
Medellin Elite Catering cooks for family gatherings across Medellín: reunions, Sunday lunches, big birthday dinners and the weekend when everyone finally flies home. We make the food Colombian grandmothers make, in quantities that feed thirty cousins without anyone spending three days at the stove.
Many of our family clients live abroad and come back to Antioquia for December, or have a parent turning 80 and relatives arriving from Miami, Madrid and Toronto. Others are local families who simply want a lunch where the host sits at the table too.
Since 2019 our kitchen has fed groups of every size, and family events teach the most about portions: the second helping of frijoles, the uncle who wants a third arepa. Our coordinators plan in English or Spanish, so relatives on both sides of the family can follow the plan.
- Itemized quotes available
- Bilingual English and Spanish coordinators
Plan your event
Our Family Gathering Catering
Our family gathering catering delivers or serves home-style Colombian meals for 10 to 150 relatives, at a home, a tower's salón social or a rented finca. You choose drop-off platters you serve yourselves or a staffed buffet with setup and cleanup. Drop-off platters reach homes across the valley, including the towers covered on our page on catering in Sabaneta.
Reunions often bring back relatives who have not tasted a proper sancocho in years, so we keep the recipes traditional and the portions generous. We also plan around the realities of family events: grandparents who eat early, kids who eat late, and the cousins who arrive two hours after the time on the invitation.
For a seated, more formal meal with courses, see our dinner party catering. December reunions often borrow from our Christmas dinner catering menus of lechona, natilla and buñuelos.
Home-Style Colombian Menus
The dishes families ask for most are sancocho trifásico, bandeja paisa, frijoles antioqueños with chicharrón and a whole lechona for big crowds. Each one is cooked in our production kitchen that morning and arrives in insulated Cambro carriers above 60 °C.
| Dish | Serving per adult | What comes with it |
|---|---|---|
| Sancocho trifásico (beef, pork and chicken) | 450 ml bowl | Corn, yuca, potato, rice, avocado and lime |
| Bandeja paisa | Full plate or lighter half portion | Beans, rice, ground beef, chicharrón, chorizo, egg, arepa, ripe plantain |
| Frijoles antioqueños | 250 ml | Cargamanto beans slow-cooked with pork and hogao |
| Lechona | 300 to 350 g | Rice and pork filling, arepa, lime |
| Ajiaco | 400 ml bowl | Chicken, three potatoes, guascas, cream and capers |
| Arroz con leche or natilla | 150 g | Buñuelos in December |
For crowds we plan by weight: about 200 g of protein, 150 g of rice or potato and two sides per adult at lunch. Leftovers are packed for the host in labeled containers when food safety allows, which families tend to appreciate the next day.
Menus for Every Generation
We plan every family menu in three layers: the main Colombian meal, a kids' menu, and soft or low-salt options for grandparents. That way nobody needs a separate plate cooked in the host's kitchen.
Kids' menus include chicken strips, mini arepas with cheese, pasta with tomato sauce, fruit cups and a small dessert. Portions are about two thirds of an adult serving, with no ají and no bones.
For older relatives we prepare tender options: a smooth crema de ahuyama (squash soup), deboned chicken, mashed criolla potatoes, soft arepas and stewed fruit, with salt and sugar kept low on request. Relatives with diabetes get labeled dishes from our diabetic-friendly catering range.
Family Reunions at a Finca
A finca reunion works best as a weekend package: dinner on arrival, breakfast and a big lunch the next day, and a lighter farewell meal before everyone drives home. Fincas in Llanogrande, Rionegro and the hills above Envigado and Sabaneta are the usual settings.
We travel to fincas up to about 2.5 hours from the kitchen, and a weekend package arrives as one itemized quote, with the final headcount due 7 days before the first meal. Where the finca kitchen is basic or missing, our team sets up chafing dishes, the barrel smoker for asado al barril and a covered serving area, as described on our outdoor event catering page.
Fincas higher up, around La Ceja, get cold at night, often near 12 °C, so we add hot drinks such as aguapanela with cheese and hot chocolate. In the October to November rainy season, we confirm that the dining area is covered before we finalize the menu.
Questions and answers
Family Gathering FAQs
Can you cook for a weekend-long reunion?
Yes, we offer multi-meal packages that run from a Friday dinner to a Sunday lunch at a finca or villa. Each meal is planned separately, so you can drop one, and staff shifts are scheduled per meal so servers only come for the meals that need them.
Do you deliver family-style platters only?
No, delivery is one option, and we also run staffed buffets with servers, tableware and cleanup. Drop-off platters arrive in compostable packaging with serving utensils and need 48 hours' notice.
Reserve your date
Feed the Whole Family
Tell us how many relatives are coming, how many are children and where you are gathering, and we will send an itemized quote within 24 hours. You can also reach us at info@medellincatering.com.
- Itemized quotes available
- Menus, staff, tableware, setup and cleanup in one quote
- Food-handler certified team and labeled allergens on every tray
- Monday to Saturday
- 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
- Sunday
- Closed (events still run)