Yacht Crew Training Quarterdeck
Yacht Crew Training Quarterdeck

Side Dishes

Provisioning-Friendly Side Dishes for Yacht Hosts

Side dishes on yachts must be storage-efficient, adaptable, and easy to scale for 6–10 guests. These recipes support 7-day charter provisioning strategies.

GREEK SALAD

Ingredients
  • ½ small red onion, thinly sliced
  • 2 large ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
  • ½ cucumber, deseeded and roughly chopped
  • 100g/3½oz feta cheese, drained and cut into cubes
  • 50g/1¾oz black olives, pitted and drained
  • small handful fresh mint leaves
  • ½ tsp dried oregano
  • 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 wholemeal pitta breads, warmed
Recipe
  1. Put the onion, tomatoes and cucumber in a bowl and season to taste.
  2. Scatter the feta, olives and mint leaves on top. Sprinkle over the oregano and toss lightly. Drizzle over the oil and lemon juice and serve with warmed pita bread.
Serving size: 2

Mediterranean chopped salad

Ingredients
  • 1 small head romaine lettuce, chopped
  • 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 1 tomato, diced
  • 1 small cucumber, diced
  • 1 small red pepper, diced
  • 1/2 small red onion, diced
  • 3/4 cup chopped kalamata olives
  • 3/4 cup feta crumbles
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
  • Pita bread, for serving
Dressing:
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Recipe
  1. Add dressing ingredients to a large bowl and whisk until combined.
  2. Next, add all remaining chopped salad ingredients to the bowl and stir until everything is mixed together.
Serving size: 4-6

Asian slaw

Ingredients
  • 1 lb shredded veggies (your choice of cabbage, carrots, bell pepper, snow peas, broccoli slaw, Brussel sprouts, etc) roughly 6-7 cups.
  • 3 scallions, sliced
  • 1 cup cilantro chopped
Asian Slaw Dressing:
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
  • ¼ cup rice wine vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons honey, brown rice syrup, maple, or agave
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 garlic clove, finely minced
  • 1 tablespoon ginger, finely chopped
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon chili flakes or chili paste ( optional)
Optional toppings:
  • Toasted sesame seeds
  • roasted, crushed peanuts or cashews
Recipe
  1. Toss slaw ingredients together in a large bowl. Add cilantro and scallions.
  2. Whisk Asian Slaw Dressing ingredients together in a small bowl.
  3. Pour dressing into slaw and toss well.
  4. Garnish with sesame seeds and/ or nuts.

Mediterranean Orzo Salad

Ingredients
  • 16 ounces orzo
  • 3 cups baby spinach leaves , gently torn into large pieces
  • 1 1/2 chopped red bell pepper
  • 1 cup cucumber , diced and seeded, about one medium
  • 3/4 cup red onion , diced
  • 5 ounces green olives pitted, drained and halved
  • 5 ounces black pitted olives , drained and halved
  • 7 ounces feta cheese
  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 lemon , juiced
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons oregano
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper Servings: 12
Recipe
  1. Bring a pot of water to a boil, season with salt, and cook the orzo for 10 minutes. Drain, rinse, and set aside to cool.
  2. Transfer the cooled orzo to a large mixing bowl. Add the spinach, chopped vegetables, and olives, then crumble half of the feta cheese over the pasta.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk the canola oil, olive oil, lemon juice, oregano and salt and pepper until mixed. Pour the vinaigrette over the pasta mixture and gently fold until the pasta and veggies are coated. Taste for seasoning and top with the remaining feta cheese.
  4. Refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight before serving. The pasta is best within 2-3 days, but will last in the refrigerator up to 1 week.
Servings: 12

Vietnamese Noodle Salad

Ingredients
  • 12 ounces thin Asian vermicelli noodles such as rice stick or mung bean
  • 2 carrots shredded
  • 2 cucumbers seeded and shredded
  • 4 green onion chopped
  • 1 1/2 cups fresh bean sprouts
  • 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1/2 cup fish sauce
  • 1/2 cup seasoned rice vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 cloves garlic pressed or minced
  • 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • Lime
Recipe
  1. Soften the vermicelli noodles in a large bowl by covering with boiling water and soaking for 3-4 minutes or until tender. Rinse under cold water, drain, and add to a large bowl. Add the shredded carrots, cucumbers, bean sprouts and chopped cilantro to the noodles.
  2. In a glass jar fitted with a lid or a bowl, mix together the fish sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, garlic and crushed red pepper. Pour 3/4 of the dressing over the noodles and toss to coat. Add more dressing if desired. Sprinkle with more cilantro and green onion and a squeeze of lime if desired. Salad can be made ahead and refrigerated overnight, however if making ahead, add the cilantro just before serving.

Fig Caprese Salad

Ingredients
  • 8 ounces buffalo mozzarella or fresh mozzarella
  • 8 ounces ripe fresh figs, cut into quarters
  • Torn basil leaves (for serving)
  • Coarsely ground black pepper
  • Flaky sea salt
  • Olive oil (for drizzling)
Recipe

Tear mozzarella into medium pieces and arrange on a platter. Tuck figs around cheese and scatter basil over top. Season with pepper and lots of salt. Drizzle generously with oil

Parmesan lemon zucchini

Ingredients
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 zucchinis, thinly sliced to 1/2-inch thick rounds
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, or more, to taste
Recipe
  1. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic to the skillet, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
  2. Working in batches, add zucchini, thyme and lemon zest. Cook, flipping once, until golden, about 1-2 minutes on each side; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
  3. Serve immediately, sprinkled with Parmesan and lemon juice.
Serves: 4

CHILI AND GARLIC TENDERSTEM BROCCOLI

Ingredients
  • 200g Tenderstem broccoli
  • 1 tbsp Olive oil
  • 2 Cloves minced garlic
  • 2cm Chopped ginger/ 2 tbsp Ginger paste
  • 1 tbsp Rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp Soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp Runny honey/Maple syrup
  • 1 Red chilli
Optional
  • Sesame seeds
Recipe
  1. Heat your pan on a high heat before adding 1 tbsp olive oil.
  2. Once the oil is hot, add 2-3 cloves of minced garlic and 1 chopped red chilli to the wok.If you are adding fresh ginger, then add this now, but if you are adding a ginger paste, please wait.
    When it comes to the chilli, chop it how you prefer but be careful not to touch your face and make sure to wash your hands after cutting!
    I just chopped it into small discs, you might prefer to cut in half and remove the seeds before chopping further.
  3. Stir fry for around 30-40 seconds before adding your tenderstem broccoli to the wok.Mix your ingredients around the wok and stir fry this for a couple of minutes.
    I always think it smells amazing at this point but it only gets better!
  4. Add your 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar, 1 tbsp soy sauce and 1 tbsp honey to the wok.If you are adding 2 tbsp ginger paste, do so now.
  5. Continue to stir fry and mix all of the ingredients together for another minute or so, or until the broccoli begins to become tender.Serve on your chosen dish and feel free to add some sesame seeds if you want to.
    Enjoy!

Tomato Salsa

Ingredients
  • 12 tomatoes
  • 1 red onion
  • 4 jalapenos
  • ½ tsp vinegar
  • 4-6 tsp salt
  • 4 tsp sugar
  • ½ tsp chili powder
  • Finely chopped cilantro
  • Juice of one lime
Recipe
  1. Finely dice tomatoes and onion and place in a medium glass mixing bowl. Add chopped cilantro.
  2. Slice jalapenos in half to remove the seeds and the membrane. Finely dice peppers and add to tomatoes and onion. (Note: The membrane is where the heat of the pepper comes from. How much of the membrane you leave in the pepper will determine the heat of your salsa).
  3. Add vinegar, garlic, chili powder and 2 tsp of salt and sugar. Toss well. Taste to determine if another tsp of salt and/or sugar is needed.
  4. Squeeze lime over salsa. Toss once more. Cover and refrigerate or serve immediately.

Guacamole

Ingredients
  • 4-6 avocados
  • 1-2 tomatoes
  • 1 red onion
  • 2 garlic
  • Cilantro
  • Juice of one lime
  • Salt & pepper
Recipe
  1. Pit 4-6 avocados (depending on size) and use a spoon to scoop them into a mixing bowl then coarsely mash with a fork.
  2. Squeeze lime juice directly over the top to prevent browning.
  3. Dice the tomatoes and onion and add them with the avocados. Add cilantro and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and stir just to combine.

Focaccia

Ingredients
  • 1 ⅓ cup of warm water
  • 2 teaspoons of sugar or honey
  • 1 pack of dry yeast
  • 3 ½ cups of flour
  • ¼ extra virgin olive oil - plus more for drizzling
  • 2 teaspoons of sea salt
  • 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
Recipe
  1. Proof the yeast. Add warm water (about 110°F, which you can measure with a thermometer if you want to be sure it’s the right temp) and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough attachment, and stir to combine. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water. Give the yeast a quick stir to mix it in with the water. Then let it sit for 5-10 minute until the yeast is foamy.
  2. Stir in flour, olive oil and salt into the large mixing bowl with the yeast, mix until a shaggy dough begins to form. Continue mixing for five minutes (If the dough is too sticky and isn’t pulling away from the sides of the bowl, add in an extra 1/4 cup flour while it is mixing.)
  3. First dough rise. Remove dough from the mixing bowl, and use your hands to shape it into a ball. Grease the mixing bowl (or a separate bowl) with olive oil or cooking spray, then place the dough ball back in the bowl and cover it with a damp towel. Place in a warm location (I set mine by a sunny window) and let the dough rise for 45-60 minutes, or until it has nearly doubled in size.
  4. Second dough rise. Turn the dough onto a floured surface, and roll it out into a large circle or rectangle until that the dough is about 1/2-inch thick*. Cover the dough again with the damp towel, and let the dough continue to rise for another 20 minutes.
  5. Transfer the dough to a large parchment-covered baking sheet (or press it into a 9 x 13-inch baking dish). Use your fingers to poke deep dents (seriously, poke all the way down to the baking sheet!) all over the surface of the dough. Drizzle a tablespoon or two of olive oil evenly all over the top of the dough, and sprinkle evenly with the fresh rosemary needles and sea salt.
  6. Bake. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the dough is slightly golden and cooked through.
  7. Serve. Remove from the oven, and drizzle with a little more olive oil if desired. Slice, and serve warm

Naan bread

Ingredients
  • 2 tsp Dried yeast
  • 2 tsp Caster sugar
  • 2 cups plain white flour + extra for rolling and kneading
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • 2 Tbsp melted butter
  • ¾c natural yogurt
  • 3 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/2c warm water
  • Olive oil
  • Any seasonings/flavourings (garlic powder, fresh herbs, etc.)
Recipe
  1. Measure out the water into a jug and add the yeast and sugar. Place in a warm spot for 5-10 minutes. You should start to see the mix turning frothy. This shows you that your yeast is alive.
  2. In a separate bowl place the flour, baking powder, oregano and salt. Mix together and make a well in the middle.
  3. Pour the melted butter and yogurt into the well and begin to mix with a wooden spoon.
  4. Create another well in the mix and add the yeast/water mix. Stir the mixture well and start to bring the mixture together using your hands.
  5. If your mix is very wet, add a spoonful of flour, if it is very dry, add a little warm water.
  6. Knead the mixture on your work surface for about 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic.
  7. Grease a mixing bowl with a little olive oil and place the dough inside. Rub a little olive oil onto the surface of the dough to stop it from drying out. Cover with a clean tea towel or cling wrap and leave the bowl in a warm place for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
  8. Divide the dough into 6 portions and roll on a floured surface until the dough is 1cm thick in a teardrop shape, repeat until all of the dough balls are shaped.
  9. Heat a non-stick frying pan. Dry fry each teardrop for 3 min on each side or until the bread is cooked through and char marks appear. Repeat until all naan breads are made. You can keep these warm in the oven or under a tea towel/tin foil.
Serving size: 6

Garlic bread

Ingredients
  • 1 16-ounce (450 g) loaf Italian bread or French bread
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick, 112 g) unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 large cloves garlic, smashed and minced
  • 1 heaping tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
  • 1/4 cup (25 g) freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
Recipe
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F
  2. Prepare the garlic bread:
    Cut the loaf in half, horizontally. Mix the butter, garlic, and parsley together in a small bowl. Spread butter mixture over the the two bread halves.
  3. Heat in oven for 10 min:
    Place on a sturdy baking pan (one that can handle high temperatures, not a cookie sheet) and heat in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 10 minutes.
  4. Sprinkle with Parmesan (optional) and broil:
    Remove pan from oven. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over bread if you want. Return to oven on the highest rack.
    Broil on high heat for 2-3 minutes until the edges of the bread begin to toast and the cheese (if you are using cheese) bubbles. Watch very carefully while broiling. The bread can easily go from un-toasted to burnt.
  5. Remove from oven, let cool a minute. Remove from pan and use a bread knife to cut into 1-inch thick slices. Serve immediately.

Pineapple shrimp fried rice

Ingredients
  • Rice
  • Chopped shrimp
  • 3 Cups fresh pineapple
  • 5 Chopped scallions
  • 3 Minced garlic cloves
  • 1 Chopped chili pepper
  • Sesame oil
  • Parsley
  • Soya sauce
Recipe
  1. Cook rice and put aside.
  2. Cut pineapple and set aside.
  3. Grill shrimp 3 to 5 min then put aside.
  4. Grill scallions, garlic and chili. Then add rice, shrimp and pineapple.

Potato salad

Ingredients
  • 800g small new potato
  • 3 shallots, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp small capers (optional)
  • 3 tbsp mayonnaise, or to taste
  • 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
  • small handful parsley leaves, roughly chopped
Recipe
  1. Boil the potatoes in salted water for 20 mins until just cooked, drain, then cool.
  2. Cut the potatoes into chunks, then throw into a bowl with the shallots and capers. Add enough mayonnaise to bind, then mix together the olive oil and vinegar and add just enough to give a little sharpness to the salad. Stir in the finely chopped parsley and serve.
Servings: 6
Breakfast
Lunch
Snacks
Dinner
Dessert

FAQ – Cooking on a Charter Yacht

What does a yacht host cook during a charter week?

Yacht hosts typically prepare breakfast, light lunches, and in some cases simple dinners, depending on charter structure and crew setup. Meals must be adaptable to guest preferences and dietary requirements.

How do you provision for 8 guests on a charter yacht?

Provisioning requires structured 7-day meal planning, awareness of galley storage limits, and flexibility for dietary needs. Efficient ingredient overlap and clear menu planning reduce waste and simplify service.

What meals work best in a compact yacht galley?

Meals that balance preparation time, ingredient reuse, and presentation efficiency work best in 40–60ft yacht environments. Simple structure and clear timing are key.

Can I use these recipes to prepare for Host Academy?

Yes. This cookbook reflects real charter meal structures and galley conditions. If you’re planning to apply to Host Academy, practicing structured breakfast service, light lunches, and 7-day menu planning using these recipes can help you prepare for onboard expectations.

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