As anyone who's ever thrown a baby shower knows, these festive gatherings are especially fun to plan. Between the decorations and party games, pretty much everything about baby showers falls into the category of "Awww, how cute!" Still, they're also a lot of work, especially when it comes to the food. Naturally, the menu has to be just as adorable as everything else — but nobody wants to spend days stressing over what to serve at their shindig. Luckily, there are lots of darling and delightful baby shower food ideas that don't take tons of time or special skills to make.
Of course, "mini" versions of almost anything are always a hit at baby showers. Foods that can be tinted pink, blue, or both are essential, too — guests love colorful treats!
Since most baby showers tend to be daytime affairs, brunch favorites can serve as buffet inspiration. Who doesn't love brunch? Especially since brunch = mimosas! But breakfast-y foods aren't the only appropriate type of snack to serve. From sliders to parfaits to tiny tarts, there are so many options. (And yes, lots of them involve toothpicks!) Many baby shower foods can be made ahead of time, so the day of the event doesn't have to be crazy hectic. The most important thing? All of these baby shower-suitable dishes look and taste amazing. Flip through and see which are most enticing!
Mmm … is anyone else getting hungry, or is it just us?
Cotton Candy Ice Cream Cones
These carnival-inspired treats are ridiculously fun to look at, and they couldn't be easier to assemble. No cooking required; just put some pastel candy-covered chocolates in a shot glass, fill an ice cream cone with packaged cotton candy, and put it all together.
Pastel Chocolate-Dipped Marshmallows
Can't go wrong with marshmallows on a stick, especially when they're dipped in white chocolate (tinted pink, blue, or both) and rolled in sprinkles. Check out this easy-to-follow tutorial at Frog Prince Paperie.
Petit Fours
Sure, we could bake these classic baby shower treats from scratch, but know what else we could do? Buy a couple of pound cakes, slice them up, sandwich them together with jam and decorate.
Themed Sliders
The thing about sliders is, no matter how they're prepared (and there are about a zillion different ways to make sliders), they're always pretty cute. They get even cuter, though, with the addition of illustrated cards on a toothpick!
'It's a Boy' (or Girl) Snack Mix
There just aren't enough excuses to eat sweet snack mix in life (except, maybe waking up in the morning), especially the criminally delicious kind made from scratch. Customize this mix by melting candy that matches the colors of the baby shower (find directions here).
Drizzled Pretzel Sticks
Drizzled pretzel sticks might look super fancy, but odds are even the average preschooler could pull off these sweet/savory snacks in a pinch. Learn how to make them here.
Rice Krispie Treat Muffins
Are they muffins? Are they Rice Krispie Treats? In truth, they're neither — but they're delicious, and as cute as can be (thanks to the addition of novelty muffin tin liners). Check out the recipe here.
Star and Flower Fruit Skewers
No recipe required for these impressive-looking apps: Just fresh fruit, cookie cutters, and wooden skewers. (Pro-tip: They'll look great even if there's no time to cut the watermelon and pineapple into shapes!)
Baby Tomato, Mozzarella & Basil Skewers
So much color, so much flavor — and so few ingredients! Just baby mozzarella balls (sliced in half), a basil leaf, and a "baby" tomato (sliced in half). All things baby!
Yogurt & Granola Parfaits
Got parfait glasses? (Even the plastic ones?) Add granola, fresh fruit, and yogurt in a pleasing shade (pink or blue, probs) for a stunning brunch dish.
Mini Ice Cream Sundaes
As with the yogurt parfaits, these sundaes are mostly an excuse to extend a shower's theme color to the menu via sprinkles. (Also, everybody loves ice cream sundaes. Seriously.)
Strawberry & Vanilla Cream Parfaits
Can't decide between ice cream sundaes and yogurt parfaits? Settle on strawberry and cream parfaits, which can be easily approximated using vanilla pudding, sliced fresh strawberries, and graham cracker crumbs or chocolate shavings.
Dipped Oreos
Perfect for party favors, dipped Oreos (like dipped desserts in general, for some reason) look like they take way more effort to make than they really do! Find inspiration here.
Mini Tarts
Let's all take a moment to appreciate the wonder of frozen mini tart shells, shall we? Just bake the crusts for a little bit, fill them with vanilla or lemon pudding, and add some fresh berries on the top … voilà!
Chocolate Pudding Tarts
Speaking of frozen tart shells: Don't forget that these little treasures can just as easily be chocolate-ized with the help of a little chocolate mousse, pudding, or even Nutella. Top with sprinkles or cookie crumbs!
Raw Coconut Chocolate Bites
A surefire hit with vegan and/or raw guests, these no-bake chocolate coconut bites are bound to be just as popular with pals who have zero dietary restrictions. And did we mention they only take 10 minutes to make?
Rainbow S'mores Dip
Add tons of color (and tons of fun) to the baby shower with rainbow s'mores dip. No need to find rainbow-colored marshmallows — colored sugar will do the trick (as this recipe demonstrates).
Rainbow Popcorn
Rainbows aren't just for s'mores, of course — plenty of ways can be a way to "taste the rainbow," and popcorn is one of them. Bowls of this stuff practically double as a decoration for a baby shower! (Watch a tutorial here.)
Unicorn Toast Triangles
Since we're on the topic of rainbow-colored foods, we can't forget one of the trendiest brunch items in recent times: unicorn toast. Made with cream cheese, natural food colorings and a variety of other fruits and toppings, the presence of unicorn toast on a brunch buffet table will inspire many an Instagram post.
Cheeseboard Skewers
Skewers beat a platter of cheese and crackers any day: Just cube a bunch of cheese and stick it on some skewers, with olives (or cherry tomatoes, or pickles) for accents.
Tea Sandwiches
Classic and classy, too, tea sandwiches are just mini sandwiches with the crusts cut off (usually), and there are endless options when it comes to fillings. From timeless standards like cucumber and watercress to prosciutto and fig, there are so many combinations to choose from (check out 50 different ideas on the Food Network website!).
Mini Quiches
Making quiches in muffin tins isn't just easier than regular quiche (no crust!), it's fun — and the size of each individual quiche is perfect for a baby shower brunch buffet. Check out a great recipe here.
Chicken & Waffle Sliders
Here's some basic baby shower appetizer math that adds up to absolute yum: Mini frozen waffles + chicken nuggets + a drizzle of maple syrup = sliders that'll have them coming back for thirds!
Pancake Pops
Pancakes are basically perfect as is, but pancake pops are way easier to dip than the average silver dollar stack. And they're darling, making the perfect baby shower food. Find instructions here.
Watermelon Bassinet
A watermelon bassinet is a great excuse to get creative. The cutting and hollowing out of the watermelon is the hardest part of this project (and it's really not hard at all). Love that cantaloupe baby!
Salted Caramel Cheesecakes
Okay, so technically these mini salted caramel cheesecakes need to be refrigerated for a couple of hours, but the actual work only takes about 20 minutes … and the results are so worth that extra refrigeration time! Find the recipe and a video here.
Cucumber & Ham Roll-Ups
Just two ingredients — deli ham and thinly sliced cucumber — makes a surprisingly elegant offering. Wait, do toothpicks count as an ingredient?
Seven Layer Dip Cups
Everybody loves seven-layer dip, but it always ends up looking like a mess once people actually start eating it. Not so with these ingenious cups, which show off the beans, guac, sour cream, meat, cheese, salsa, and olives right through the plastic! (No recipe required — use packaged ingredients to save time!)
Dipped Rice Krispie Treats
With the help of pre-packaged Rice Krispie Treats, this recipe is almost more like an art project (one that kids can easily help with): Cut treats in half, put each on the end of a stick, and dip them in melted pink or blue pastilles.
Peanut Butter Parfaits
There are multiple (easy) recipes for peanut butter parfaits out there (like this one at Epicurious), and they're all quick and basically impossible to mess up. It's pretty tough to make peanut butter and chocolate taste bad!
Cake & Fruit Parfaits
Once again, no real recipe required for these (though the plastic cups are key). Just layer berries, pre-made pound cake sliced into circles with cookie cutters, pudding, and whipped cream. Yum!
Ricotta Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins
These mini chocolate chip muffins are exceptionally fluffy and light thanks to an unexpected ingredient: ricotta cheese! Find out how to make them here.
Prosecco Jam & Goat Cheese Crostini
Crostini is great because it's … well, it's toast. And anybody can make toast! Anybody can also put a little bit of goat cheese and prosecco jam on top. A brunch classic is born!
Babies in Blankets & Colored Eggs
The kitschy-at-heart will adore these "babies" in blankets and pink/blue-hued eggs (see how to dye the whites here, and learn how to devil them, too!).
Watermelon & Feta Squares
Refreshing and savory, too, these baby shower treats require just three ingredients: watermelon squares, a bit of feta, and a sprinkle of basil. (These can be put on toothpicks, too!)
Crudité Cups
An individualized take on the generic vegetable sticks-and-dip theme, these little cups mean no worries about double-dipping!
Potatoes & Prosciutto
Mini potatoes only take about 10 minutes to boil, and the rest of this one comes together in a cinch (a curl of prosciutto and a baby baby leaf with, yes, a toothpick!).
Pomegranate & Cream Cheese Crackers
Pomegranate seeds are just plain gorgeous, especially sprinkled on a cracker spread with cream cheese!
Brownie Bites
Brownie mix baked in a muffin tin gets much more interesting with the addition of candy, crushed cookies, nuts … almost anything sweet could work!
Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries
Chocolate-covered strawberries are a classic for a few reasons: They're easy to make, and they look beautiful. Not to mention, they're delicious! Add crushed nuts (or don't!). Find basic instructions here.
