Buffet food labels with allergen and diet icons
Make buffet food labels for a party, potluck or wedding: type one dish per line, add a category and a short description, then tag it GF, V, VG, DF, NF or “contains nuts” to print a matching icon. You get folded food tent cards or flat cards on US Letter or A4, plus an icon key card for the table. Free, no account, no watermark, and everything stays in your browser.
18 diet and allergen icons · 6 themes · Tent or flat cards · Letter and A4
See what to writeMake your buffet food labels
The editor opens with six sample dishes on 3.5 × 2 in food tent cards with allergen icons switched on. Replace the dishes, click icons to tag each one, pick a theme and print.
Template librarySelected template: Buffet food labels with allergen iconsOpen to apply a ready-to-print place card template. Templates stay in the same order across languages.
One label per line: Dish | Category | Description | Tags. Category and description can be blank. Tags such as GF, V, VG, DF, NF, contains nuts, contains dairy or spicy add icons; separate tags with commas.
Columns are found by header (Dish, Category, Description, Tags). Without a header, use that order; every column after Description is read as a tag.
Diet and allergen icons
Click an icon to add it to the dish your cursor is on. Filled icons say who a dish suits; outlined icons warn what it contains.
Suitable for
Contains
Layout settings
Printed size: 88.9 × 50.8 mm (3.5 × 2 in)
Prints at full size at 100% scale.
Before printing checklist
- Check every allergen tag with the cook before printing.
- Print at 100% scale and test one sheet on your cardstock.
- Fold tent cards on the dashed line and keep them away from sauces.
- Put the icon key card at the start of the buffet.
Full sheet print preview
Tent Place Cards · US Letter
Buffet food labels maker: quick facts
What you get, what it prints on and what it does not do.
- Price
- Free, with no paid tier or download fee
- Account
- Not required
- Watermark
- None
- Export formats
- PDF with every page, a PNG of the first page, and direct printing; the dish list downloads as CSV
- Paper sizes
- US Letter (8.5 × 11 in) and A4 (210 × 297 mm), portrait; 4 folded 3.5 × 2 in tent cards or 10 small flat cards per sheet
- Supported sizes
- Folded tent, double-sided tent and flat cards in 8 sizes, including 3.5 × 2 in (the Avery 5302 size), 4 × 2 in and 90 × 55 mm
- Privacy
- Your dishes stay in this browser tab; the draft is kept in this browser’s local storage and never uploaded
- Languages
- 8 languages: English, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Japanese, Korean
- Icons
- 18: vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, and contains wheat, dairy, egg, tree nuts, peanuts, fish, shellfish, soy, sesame, buckwheat, pork, alcohol, spicy
- Tag input
- Type GF, V, VG, DF, NF or words such as “contains nuts”, or click an icon; other tags print as a word in a dashed circle
- Themes
- 6 buffet themes: fresh green, chalkboard, picnic gingham, pastel dessert table, potluck linen and small flat cards
- Icon key
- An optional key card lists every icon used on your labels, so guests know what GF or VG means
- Last updated
- October 27, 2026
Best for
- Hosts of a party buffet, potluck, Friendsgiving or graduation party
- Dessert tables and candy bars that need a clear card per treat
- Weddings and showers where some guests are vegan, gluten-free or allergic
Not the best fit for
- Packaged food for sale: commercial labels need a full ingredient list under food law
- Nutrition facts panels or jar and freezer labels
- Guaranteeing a dish is allergen-safe; the labels only show what the cook tells you
How it compares
- Canva
- Has many decorative food label designs, but you add allergen symbols by hand, needs an account, and Pro elements watermark free downloads. Use it for one-off artwork; use this page to tag a whole menu quickly.
- Avery Design & Print
- Free and matched to pre-scored sheets such as Avery 5302 tent cards (2 × 3.5 in, 4 per sheet), but it has no diet or allergen icons. This page prints the same size on plain cardstock.
- Etsy templates
- Often prettier, but paid, edited in another app, and some cannot be edited at all. They suit a themed party with a fixed menu; this page suits a menu that changes.
Buffet food labels guests can read at a glance
Dish names, short descriptions and clear allergen icons in one tent card.
Add allergen icons to every buffet food label
Tag a dish GF, V, VG, DF or NF, or write “contains nuts”, and the card prints a small icon with a caption. Filled green icons show who a dish suits; outlined amber icons warn what it contains, from the 9 major US allergens to pork, alcohol and spicy food. Click an icon to tag the dish your cursor is on.
Write each dish once, label the whole buffet
Type one dish per line as Dish | Category | Description | Tags, or import a CSV from your party spreadsheet. The category prints small above the name, so guests see Appetizer, Main or Dessert, or who brought a potluck dish. Sort by category to print the cards in table order.
Print food tent cards with an icon key
Four 3.5 × 2 in tent cards fit on a Letter or A4 sheet at full size, with fold and crop lines. Add the icon key card so guests know what GF and VG mean, print at 100% on 65–80 lb cardstock, then fold. Pick a chalkboard, gingham, pastel or linen theme first.
What this buffet food labels maker includes
Everything to label a party table, without an account.
18 diet and allergen icons
Vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free and 13 “contains” warnings.
Icon key card
Lists the icons you used, so GF, VG and DF are never a guess.
6 buffet themes
Fresh green, chalkboard, gingham, pastel dessert, linen potluck and mini flat cards.
Type or import a menu
Paste dishes, or import a CSV with Dish, Category, Description and Tags columns.
PDF, PNG and print
Letter and A4, no watermark, with fold and crop lines.
Private by default
Your menu is processed in your browser and never uploaded.
How to make buffet food labels, step by step
From a menu to folded cards on the buffet in about ten minutes.
List your dishes
Type one dish per line as Dish | Category | Description | Tags, or import a CSV. Keep the description to the main ingredients a guest would ask about, such as “peanut sauce” or “walnuts”. At a potluck, put the cook’s name in the category, like “Side · from Alex”.
- Ask each cook for the ingredients before the party, not at the table.
- Name the dish the way guests will recognise it: “Thai Peanut Noodles”, not “Noodles”.
Tag diets and allergens
In the Tags column write GF, V, VG, DF or NF, or words like “contains nuts” or “contains shellfish”, separated by commas. Or put the cursor on a dish and click an icon. In the US, the 9 major allergens are milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame.
- GF on a US package means under 20 ppm gluten; at home, only use it if every ingredient is gluten-free.
- If a dish was made next to nuts, say so in the description: “made in a kitchen with nuts”.
Pick a theme and card type
Choose a buffet theme: fresh green, chalkboard, picnic gingham, pastel dessert table or potluck linen. Folded tent cards stand in front of a dish; flat cards suit a tray or a tiered dessert stand. 3.5 × 2 in is the common US tent size and 90 × 55 mm suits A4.
- Switch on the icon key card so the symbols explain themselves.
- Use the double-sided tent if guests walk round both sides of the table.
Print at 100% and fold
Download the PDF and print at 100% or actual size, not “fit to page”. Use 65–80 lb (about 176–216 gsm) cardstock if your printer takes it, cut along the crop lines and fold on the dashed line. Four tent cards fit on each sheet, so a 12-dish buffet takes 3 sheets plus the key.
- Print one test sheet to check the colors and the fold.
- Keep cards away from sauces, or slip them into small acrylic stands.
Buffet food labels FAQ
What to write, which allergens to list, sizes and printing.
Yes. Editing, PDF and PNG downloads and printing are free. There is no account, nothing is stamped on your labels, and your menu is processed in your browser instead of being uploaded.
The dish name, a short line with the key ingredients, and diet or allergen tags. For example: “Thai Peanut Noodles — rice noodles, peanut sauce — Vegan, Contains peanuts, Contains soy, Spicy”. A category such as Appetizer, Main or Dessert, or the cook’s name at a potluck, is optional.
In the US, start with the FDA’s 9 major allergens: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame (added in 2023). UK businesses must cover 14, adding celery, mustard, lupin, molluscs and sulphites. At a private party, list what your guests have told you about.
GF is gluten-free, V vegetarian, VG vegan, DF dairy-free and NF nut-free. The codes are common but not standard, so this maker prints an icon and a caption, and the optional key card explains each icon to guests.
3.5 × 2 in once folded is the common US size, the same as Avery 5302 (4 per Letter sheet). This page also offers 4 × 2 in, 90 × 55 mm for A4, and larger 100 × 65 mm cards. Small flat cards print 10 per sheet for trays and dessert stands.
Download the PDF, print at 100% or actual size on 65–80 lb cardstock, cut along the crop lines and fold tent cards on the dashed line. Four tent cards fit on one Letter or A4 sheet at full size, so 20 dishes take 5 sheets.
Yes. Pick the pastel dessert table theme for cupcakes and macarons, or the potluck linen theme and put “Side · from Alex” in the category to show who brought each dish. Every theme uses the same icons.
No. A label only repeats what the cook says is in the dish, and shared spoons or kitchens can cause cross-contact. For guests with serious allergies, tell them which dishes were made separately and let them ask the cook.
Yes, this page. Canva has more decorative designs, but you add allergen symbols one by one, it needs an account, and Pro elements add a watermark. Here you tag a whole menu with 18 icons and download without signing up.
Print your buffet food labels today
Type your dishes, tag the allergens and print a card for every dish on the table.
Download the PDF for Letter or A4. Free, no sign-up and no watermark.
Free · No sign-up · No watermark · Letter and A4