5 tips on how to plate beautifully

If you have ever watched Masterchef, you will know that great food is eaten with the mouth and the eyes. A dish that doesn’t look appealing takes away from the dining experience. Want to make your meals look as good as they taste? Here are my top tips for plating like a pro at home.

Start with a blank canvas

Your plate will act as the foundation of your dish. Plating beautifully is all about showing off the individual elements of your dish, and this cannot be achieved with a busy, patterned plate. Using a slick, white background as a blank canvas for your meal makes the colours stand out and allows each element to shine. I used the Yuppiechef Sonnet Coupe Dinner Plates, a perfect starting point.

Au natural is best

I like to try and keep my meals as close to natural as possible, meaning, don’t overcook your ingredients. Keep it simple. Steam your greens and dunk them in an ice bath to keep them looking bright and vibrant. Colourful food creates contrast on the plate. Also, always buy the best produce you can afford, the better quality your produce, the better your meal will look inevitably.

It’s a numbers game

Have you ever wondered why the meals in fancy restaurants always seem so perfectly balanced? Try counting your food. Plating up in uneven numbers is more appealing to the eye and tends to make for a more interesting arrangement. This works especially well for the bigger items on your plate. Go for 3 or 5 portions, less is often more.

Keep it tidy

A very basic but vital tip in plating is to keep your plate looking tidy, neatness is important. Don’t overfill your plate, the negative space is equally important as the filled space. Pull it all together by mopping up the spills on the plates edges. Super simple, low fuss, big impact.

Play with your food

I know this goes against pretty much everything our moms taught us as kids, but don’t be afraid to play with your food. Does it look better in a bowl or on a plate? Should the food be in the middle of the plate or off-center? Try new things. I love “layering” my meals. For example, think of the mash as basecamp, layer your veggies on and around it and top it off with your protein. This gives the dish height and depth.

Don’t worry if it doesn’t work our perfectly every time. Luckily we get to eat three times a day and you can keep playing around until you get it looking fit for a king.