Baby Shower Food Ideas & Recipes

Make your party successful! One of the main parts of planning a successful baby shower is serving food that is tasty and convenient to eat. There are several options you could choose from. If you can afford it you can have the food catered or order deli trays from your local supermarket. If you like to cook and have the time you can plan to prepare the food yourself. We have put together a list of several food ideas and recipes to serve at your baby shower that are easy to prepare as well as tasty and easy to eat. Consider what type of baby shower you are planning. Is it casual at someone’s home? If so, then plan to serve food that is easy to handle and not too messy. If the guests will have to hold their plates in their laps then you do not want to serve food that is too messy to eat. If there will be tables set up for the guests to sit at then you can be a little more adventurous with the food. Chips & Dip - choose from tortilla chips with salsa, guacamole, bean dip, and sour cream or a variety of potato chips with onion dip and ranch dip. Black Bean Salsa Dip (Joy of Cooking Cookbook) - this is a great no-fat dip that is easy and quick to prepare. Serve with tortilla chips. Makes approx. 1 ¼ cups. 1-15 ½ oz can black beans, drained & rinsed 6 tbs mild salsa 1 ½ tbs fresh lime juice 1 small clove garlic, minced Puree in a food processor until smooth. Garnish with diced tomatoes, chopped cilantro, and/or diced red bell peppers Spinach Dip - serve with raw vegetables, crackers, toast rounds, and/or pita triangles 8 oz. Cream Cheese, softened 1 - 10 oz. pkg. Frozen Spinach, thawed and excess water squeezed out ¼ cup Mayonnaise ¼ cup Parmesan Cheese, grated or shredded 1 tsp Pesto 1 tsp Spike seasoning 1 tsp Lemon Juice Preheat oven to 350° and spray an oven safe casserole dish with cooking spray or coat with butter. Place cream cheese in a food processor and process until smooth & creamy. Mix in remaining ingredients. Put mixture in casserole dish. You can top it with dried plain bread crumbs or grated parmesan cheese if you want. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Variations - Spinach Artichoke Dip - add 1-14 oz. can of artichokes, drained & chopped. Seafood Dip - add ½ cup crabmeat (the imitation seafood legs work well too, make sure to shred them before adding to mixture). You can use either the spinach or artichokes or you can omit both. Hummus with pita chips, toast rounds, celery and carrot sticks is also another good dip to serve. Pita Chips - you could buy pre-made pita chips but it is so easy to make them and they taste 10 times better. You can make them a couple of days before the baby shower and store them in an airtight container. There are tons of seasoning varieties you could use, let your imagination go wild! 2 pkgs. of fresh pita rounds, cut into eights & separated (the pita is 2 layers, for a crisp chip you want to separate the layers). Olive Oil - a spray bottle of oil works best but is not absolutely necessary. You can also toss them in small batches in a large bowel or large plastic storage bag. If you are using a bowel or plastic bag, make sure to add the seasoning mix in small amounts as necessary. 1 tbs. Kosher Salt 1 tbs. Black Pepper, fresh ground if possible 1 tbs. Garlic Powder Pinch of Cayenne Pepper Preheat oven to 350°. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Mix seasonings together in a small bowel. Lightly coat pitas with oil and sprinkle with seasoning mixture. Arrange pitas on cookie sheet and bake for approximately 10 minutes or until desired crispness. I usually check them after about 5 minutes and turn them. Remove from oven and place on cooling racks until completely cool. Place in airtight container to store. Toast Rounds - Get a couple of loaves of crusty bread such as Italian and slice into ¼ inch slices (baguettes work really well because they are the perfect diamater). Brush with olive oil or melted butter. You can season the oil or butter with a little bit of garlic and/or kosher salt or whatever seasonings you want to use. Bake, cool, and store as above for pita chips. Vegetable, Cheese, and Fruit Platters: You can order these from your local deli but they are so easy to make and can be simple or elegant depending on how you arrange the vegetables and what you use for the tray. I have arranged trays using decorative glass platters, bamboo wood cutting boards, and tiles. Floor tiles make beautiful displayntrays for platters and they are inexpensive. Your local hardware or floor store will have a great selection of tiles to choose from. Black marble, white tiles, or any decorative tile will work. Buy the 8x8 or 12x12 size, depending on how big your platters will be. Vegetable Platters - buy a variety of vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, celery, cherry tomatoes, button mushrooms, etc. Wash vegetables and cut into bite-size pieces. You can line the tray with large romaine lettuce leaves making sure to leave some edges of the tray showing. Arrange vegetables on tray in a cascading style starting with a large base of vegetables and working your way up like a pyramid. You can also place a bowl of vegetable dip in the center of the tray and arrange the vegetables around it. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve. This can be made a day in advance. Serve with ranch dressing, green goddess dip, onion dip, etc. Here is a great site for some easy and tasty vegetable dip recipes. Cheese Platters - buy a variety of cheeses such as cheddar, Colby, Swiss, havarti, gouda, etc. Cut into bite-size pieces and arrange as above on decorative trays. You can get really creative with this and cut the cheese into different shapes such as squares, triangles, etc. or use mini cookie cutter shapes. If you can find baby related cookie cutters that’s even better. Serve with a variety of crackers and toast rounds. Fruit Platters - Buy a variety of fruits such as melons, berries, grapes, oranges, kiwi, etc. (don’t use apples or bananas since they do not hold up well). Cut into chunks, slices, and/or decorative shapes and arrange as above. Serve alone or with a refreshing fruit dip. Yogurt Fruit Dip - 1 cup Plain or Vanilla Yogurt ¼ cup of Orange Juice ¼ cup Honey Mix orange juice & honey together then mix into yogurt. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. More fruit dip recipes. Salads - chicken or turkey salad, tuna salad, and/or egg salad can be served on a decorative tray lined with lettuce leaves and served with crackers, toast rounds, pita bread, and/or small rolls. Make sure to place these salads on ice or serve in small portions and refill as necessary. Pasta salads and antipasto salads are other tasty and easy dishes to prepare. Appetizers - Stuffed Mushrooms Deviled Eggs Spinach & Feta Triangles Pigs in a Blanket Cocktail Meatballs Chicken Fingers Wraps & Finger Sandwiches - You can make a variety of wraps and sandwiches or make a cold cut and cheese platter with small rolls, breads, and condiments on the side. Wraps - 2 pkgs. of wraps - you could choose a plain wrap or one of the many varieties such as tomato basil, spinach, etc. 1-8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened 1-5 oz. pkg. Boursin or Alotte cheese Variety of cold cuts (such as ham, turkey, roast beef), cheeses (such as american, swiss, cheddar), and/or salads such as chicken or tuna 1-2 heads Romaine Lettuce Using a food processor, combine the 2 cheeses until smooth. Spread each wrap with mixture. Lay a couple of lettuce leaves on the wraps. Place cold cuts and cheeses or salads on lettuce. Roll up jelly roll fashion making sure to roll tightly. Cut off ends and cut wraps into 2 inch slices. Arrange on decorative tray. Finger Sandwiches - Buy small rolls and/or breads and a variety of cold cuts and cheeses. Make up mini sandwiches and arrange on decorative trays. Serve condiments on the side. Tea Sandwiches such as cucumber and curry chicken salad. More tea sandwich ideas. Hopefully these ideas will help you throw a successful baby shower with food that is not only tasty but convenient for your guests to eat. Your guests as well as the guest of honor will be so impressed by the effort you made to make her baby shower a tasty experience! Do you have any food ideas and recipes you would like to share? Send us an email and we will add it to our site.