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Sub Tray Catering & Party Planning
A sub tray is the easiest catering there is and the easiest to get wrong, because both mistakes are invisible until the event. Order too little and you run out in twenty minutes. Dress it too early and you serve wet bread.
This page is quantities and construction. If you are comparing what a tray costs against ordering individual subs, that maths lives in a separate piece on the blog — this one assumes you have already decided on trays.
Ingredients
Per 10 people, as a main meal
- 5 giant subs, cut into 4 pieces each — 20 pieces, 2 per person
- At least 3 different fillings, one of them meat-free
- 1.5kg of sides in total across 2–3 options
- 2 litres of drinks per 10 people if the event runs over an hour
Per 10 people, alongside other food
- 3 giant subs, cut into 4 — 12 pieces
- 2 filling types is enough at this volume
- 1kg of sides
Build kit
- Seasoned oil and red wine vinegar in separate squeeze bottles
- Greaseproof paper to line the tray
- Cocktail sticks for anything stacked
- Separate containers for lettuce, tomato and onion
Method
Count pieces, not subs
Everyone under-orders because they think in whole subs. Work in quarters: two quarters per person as a meal, one and a bit alongside other food. A giant sub gives four generous pieces or six small ones.
Split the tray by filling, not by mixing
Group each filling together in its own row rather than alternating. People with dietary restrictions can see what is safe from across the room, and you avoid the tray being picked over for one popular filling.
Oil the bread, hold the vinegar
Oil goes on at build time and acts as a barrier. Vinegar does not go on at all if the tray is being transported or sitting out — put it on the table in a bottle and let people add it. This is the single decision that determines whether the tray is good ninety minutes in.
Keep wet ingredients off the tray
Tomato, pickles and anything in brine go in separate bowls beside the tray, not inside the subs. Tomato in particular will soak through a roll in about forty minutes.
Cut at the last possible moment
A cut sub loses moisture from every exposed face. If you can transport whole and cut on arrival, the difference at the two-hour mark is obvious.
Line and cover
Greaseproof paper under the subs, cling film over the top, and keep it covered until people are actually eating. Air is what dries the cut faces.
Notes & troubleshooting
- Order one filling type more than you think you need. Variety runs out before volume does.
- Always include a meat-free option, and put it at the end of the tray rather than the middle so it does not get contaminated by tongs.
- Cold subs travel far better than hot ones. Hot subs on a tray are steamed subs by the time they arrive.
- If the event runs past two hours, hold half the tray back and put it out fresh rather than laying everything out at once.
- Label each row. It saves you being asked what is in everything for the whole event.
Questions
How far ahead can I build a tray?
Four hours refrigerated if you have kept vinegar and tomato off it, and roughly ninety minutes if you have not. Building the night before is not realistic for anything with bread.
How much should I order for a mixed group with children?
Count children as roughly half an adult for subs but the same for drinks and sides. A group of 20 with 6 children lands close to the 17-adult quantity.
What sides work best?
Anything that does not need a fork and does not leak. Chips, whole fruit and a dry pasta or potato salad in its own bowl. Avoid dressed leafy salads on a shared tray.
Cold subs or hot subs for catering?
Cold, almost always. Hot subs are excellent for about ten minutes and then become disappointing, and there is no practical way to hold them at their best across an event.
More recipes
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Sub Shop Tuna Salad
Drier and coarser than the tuna salad you would put in a bowl. That is deliberate.
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