Your baby shower menu will depend almost entirely on what time of day you are having the baby shower. Next, you will need to consider your budget, your location, and of course, the mom-to-be. (If mommy-to-be cannot stand the smell of fish during her pregnancy, you’ll have to scrap that off the baby shower menu.)

While this article offers you baby shower menu ideas for various times of the day, there are also lots of very important things to consider as you create your menu.

Helpful Tips For Creating A Baby Shower Menu

• The types of food you serve at your baby shower will depend on the time of day of your baby shower. Here is a helpful guide.
• As the host, keep things simple for yourself. If you are cooking, choose easy and/or make-ahead recipes. The last thing you should do is to turn yourself into a short-order cook.
• Consider dishes that can be baked and frozen ahead, or at least prepared the night before.
• DO NOT try a new recipe for the first time, on the day of the baby shower. It may not come out the way you had hoped.
• To avoid bottlenecks, set up self-serve stations in different areas. For example, create your coffee or mimosa bar away from the food.
• To keep things warm, your prepared meals can be kept in an oven set to 200 degrees until the guests arrive.  If you prefer the food to be already set as your guests arrive,  place your warm dishes on the table and tent it with foil. You can easily pull off the foil tents once the doorbell rings. You can also keep foods warm in a crockpot and/or food warmer.

• Offer a diverse spread of baby shower foods. Serve a combination of easy appetizers that satisfy a few of the following food categories:
  • Starches: Hearty, starchy finger foods like the ham and cheese rollups, pizza bombs and several more above.
  • Proteins: These are meat or fish dishes, like meatballs, chicken rollups, or sushi.
  • Vegetables: These are typically healthy appetizers made with fruit or vegetables. These can be raw, cooked, or stuffed.
  • Snacks: These are easy to prepare, like nuts, chips, pretzels, or popcorn (for a ready to pop baby shower theme).
  • Dips and Spreads: These can stand alone by themselves or offer a nice variety to your existing offerings. People can use dips with crackers, chips or on other foods too.
  • Desserts: People often look forward to the desserts because no party is complete without the baby shower dessert.

• If your baby shower guests have dietary restrictions, be sure to consider serving an assortment of foods to accommodate their dietary needs. For example, if there are vegetarians or people with gluten sensitivities, be sure to have a few vegetable dishes.

  

• Pregnant women do not eat unpasteurized cheeses, deep-sea fish that are high in mercury, soft cheeses, unpasteurized milk, pate, caffeine, smoked seafood, fish exposed to industrial pollutants, raw shellfish, raw eggs,  raw fish sushi, unwashed fruits and vegetables, undercooked meats, and of course – alcohol. However, the mom-to-be may have additional dietary restrictions due to her pregnancy. Find out what it is and accommodate her accordingly.
• Don’t forget the baby shower punch and refreshments. People may expect it because it is a tradition.

• If you are serving appetizers, how many do you serve? The number of appetizers you serve depends on the number of guests you invite. As your guest list grows, so should your appetizers. Here is an easy and helpful guide:
  • 10-12 guests = 5 appetizers
  • 25 guests = 9 appetizers
  • 50 guests = 13 appetizers
• Don’t be afraid to allow your baby shower theme to dictate the kinds of food you serve. For example, if you are having a woodland baby shower, you could serve nutter butter “acorns,” and/or birch tree twigs (chocolate covered pretzels) as dessert.

  

• If you’re worried about running out of food, keep a few easy appetizers in the refrigerator or pantry. These should be appetizers that don’t require much preparation, like cured meats, cheeses, chips and dips, or crackers.

What To Serve At A Baby Shower?

Baby Shower Breakfast or Brunch Menu

Baby showers are not traditionally held at the breakfast hour, unless you are having a small baby shower gathering at your workplace.

Typically, morning hour baby showers would be a baby shower brunch on the weekend. Brunch is usually a mix of savory and sweet items. You could serve:

• a hearty egg dish – this could be an egg dish or casserole, mini omelets, quiche, etc.
• something savory – consider a cheese and cold meat platter, savory baked goods, etc.
• something sweet – guests may enjoy sweet muffins, scones, bundt cake, etc.

  

• something fresh – you could do a fruit salad or another fresh salad. You could also offer a cute fruit bowl that matches your baby shower theme.

• something for dessert – your baby shower cake can serve as dessert. Some people consider the cake to be special and they prefer to have an additional baby shower dessert.
• some refreshments – a coffee and tea station is usually expected. In addition, you could do pink punch for a girl shower, blue punch for a boy shower, or set up a mimosa bar.

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Baby Shower Lunch Menu Ideas

You have a few options. You could serve:

• a sandwich tray
• soup (and sandwiches)
• fruit salad cups
• veggies cups with dips
• baby shower appetizers
• baby shower punch

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Baby Shower Dinner Menu Ideas

The sky is the limit!

If you are going for ease, choose baby shower finger foods. They’re easier to prepare and people can mingle while they eat. There are also tons of delicious options to choose from:

You could also do a baby shower barbeque! This theme is usually for a coed baby shower theme, and it’s very popular. Along with your choice of chicken, kebabs, sausage, hamburgers, etc, you could serve coleslaw, dinner rolls, potato salad, pasta salad, toss salad, corn on the cob, mac and cheese, watermelon, berries, and other summer fruits, veggies and dip, etc.

Once you have your foods figured out, you will need to consider baby shower dessert and baby shower refreshments.

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A Menu For Baby Showers When It’s Not Meal Time

We are all so busy and having a baby shower during non-meal times may become necessary.

If you are planning a baby shower a budget, you may even prefer choosing these hours because people may not expect full meals. That way, you can save money by offering light snacks or desserts and refreshments.

If you are going for light snacks, you could choose tea sandwiches, croissants, mini muffins, a veggie tray, or something similar. If you’re going with the sweeter option, you could serve baby shower desserts or baby shower cake.

In terms of refreshments, you can go with a coffee and tea bar, pink punch for a girl shower, or blue punch for a boy shower. Colored punch is often considered to be tradition but if you are having a gender reveal baby shower, you can serve any delicious baby shower refreshments.

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Helpful Tips For Setting Up The Table

• If you are setting up a buffet table, set up the table to allow traffic to flow from all sides, instead of just one side. This will allow for easier flow.
• Try to use a table that is at least 5-6 feet long. You will need enough room for the plates, napkins, utensils, and food.
• If you are covering your table(s), try to get floor-length linen – it makes for a better presentation.
• Carefully consider where you will be placing your table(s). Keep tables away from doorways and hallways where there is high traffic. Move chairs away from the buffet table – unless you want people to sit close to the buffet table.
• Place the plates, utensils, and napkins together at the start of the buffet line. This tells people where to start.
• Do not overpack your buffet table. As guests are serving themselves, they may need a spot to put their plates – if only for a second.
• If you have a large group of people, prepare two sets of everything, and place them on either side of the table. This will ease congestion.
• If there are more than 20 guests, consider having two buffet tables or setting up food stations around the room.
• Consider what you are serving, and on what are you serving it? Paper plates are easy and convenient but if you are serving bbq chicken on droopy paper plates, it may spill all over someone’s fancy outfit. If you are using paper plates, choose strong paper plates.
• If you are expecting guests to walk around and mingle, consider the food you are serving. Foods that need to be cut, food that is too saucy, sticky, crumbly, drippy, or spicy may be hard to eat.

If you enjoyed these resources, please check out our baby shower Pinterest board or our baby shower category page.

Feature Image Credit: Stockland.com.au