Super Easy Super Mario Themed Food

If you have someone who loves video games, then these super easy (mostly healthy) food ideas are perfect for a Super Mario themed birthday party.

My favorite thing to do when hosting a party is to find a way to make my food fit the theme. Honestly, I would be okay without any decorations, as long as the food is themed to the party. I get excited when we have a birthday party or get-together so that I can work the food into the “decorations”. Themed parties are the best!

This year, Ryan has really gotten into playing on the WiiU and wanted to have a Super Mario Brothers party for his fourth birthday. It was the first thing that popped into his head and he stuck with it. Of course, as it got closer he started playing Donkey Kong and Kirby more, but I wasn’t changing it a week before the party. Overall, he still loved his Super Mario birthday party and had a lot of fun with his friends. As you can see, he was one happy little boy!

We had a few decorations of streamers around the house, and the dishes were color-coordinated with the main Mario colors (red for Mario, green for Luigi and Yoshi, blue for Toad and Rosalina, and pink for Princess Peach). We also had yellow paper plates, red balloons, blue utensils, and everything you can think of based on the colors of the Nintendo characters. 

But, the theme was most obvious in the food. As you can see, themed snacks and food is such fun for me. I’ve always loved the Super Mario Brothers games, and Nintendo has always been my favorite console. My favorite Mario game was the original Paper Mario on the N64 (yes, I am showing my age!). So, I had a lot of fun coming up with Super Mario-themed food for Ryan’s birthday party. 

If you want to label the food, you can print some out on white cardstock and lay it around the dining room table near the food. 

When have you ever left Miss Stephanie’s house hungry?

My friend to her daughter who was getting “hangry” when they got to the party.

Now that Super Nintendo World will be opening up at Universal Studios Hollywood, these would be great food ideas to celebrate. Although we made these before Universal Studios Japan even opened, some of the food items resemble ideas from Toadstool Cafe. We have been to a few theme parks in Florida and Texas, but haven’t made it to any of the others yet. 

More recently, we took the boys to the movies for the first time to see the new Super Mario Brothers animated movie. We all had a great time at family movie night. 

Peanut Butter and Jelly Stars

Ryan’s birthday party was at 3 p.m., but I still wanted something that people could eat for something a bit more filling. Since almost all Mario games are based on collecting power stars in one way or another, I decided to go with star-shaped sandwiches. Once I started making them, I wished I had a cookie cutter in the shape of a star, but I will remember that next time. Of course, I saw one in the baking aisle the next time I went to the grocery store. These were perfect for little hands, too, since they were small portions of food. 

1. Place two slices of bread together, one on top of the other
2. Use a cookie cutter or knife to cut a star shape in the bread
3. Spread jelly on one piece of bread and peanut butter on the other
4. Put the bread together to make a sandwich

Alternatively, if you have an older crowd, you could make super star chicken salad sandwiches or another sandwich geared towards adults. 

Question Block Rice Krispies Treats

For dessert, we had the birthday cake. But I wanted something extra for those who don’t care for cake. And, I’ll admit, because I loved this easy idea and wanted to make it. In Mario, there are “? Blocks” that you can hit to give coins, power-ups, and other items in the game. I decided that we could make some Rice Krispie Treats, since they are already a yellow color, and add a question mark with icing. The hardest part was making the white circles have enough icing to be seen but not too much that they end up as blobs. 

Looking back, I wish I had added a little yellow food color gel to make the rice krispies really yellow and the question mark stand out, but everyone still understood what they represented. I used my new (to me) cupcake stand to hold the Rice Krispies so they would take up less space on the counter. These were a big hit with the kids!

• Prepare Rice Krispies Treats according to the directions on the side of the box
• Spread them out on a cookie sheet to cool and harden
• Use a knife or a dough cutter to cut the treats into squares
• Add a question mark to the center with white decorating icing

Flower Power Fruit and Veggies

At every party, there’s always junk food, but you have to balance it with some healthy foods. I like doing a fruit and veggie tray at parties because almost everyone will eat something off the tray. And for those with allergies, they are usually safe food. In the past, I’ve made them look like monster faces and Ninja Turtle faces, or put it all into a dump truck.

For the Super Mario party, I decided to make them look like the fire flowers that you can get in the video game to have the character throw fireballs at enemies. There is also ice power, but I couldn’t think of enough blue fruits that everyone would eat to do one of each. This was also made with Yoshi in mind since Yoshi’s favorite fruit and vegetables are seen throughout the games. 

1. Cut up the fruits and veggies as needed
2. Use a small bowl to fill with fruit dip and veggie dip each
3. Place the dip near the top center of your tray for each flower
   • I found a cream cheese fruit dip and a ranch vegetable dip
4. Surround the bowl with a yellow fruit or vegetable
   • I used pineapple for the fruit and yellow peppers for the vegetables
5. Add the red fruit and vegetables around the outside of the yellow
   • For ours, I used strawberries for the fruit and grape tomatoes for the veggie tray
6. Use a green fruit and vegetable to make the stem and leaves
   • For the fruit, I used green grapes, and for the vegetables, I used both broccoli and green pepper

The Cake

This was the first year that I didn’t make a cake for Ryan’s birthday party. I was going to attempt a two-piece cake in the shape of Mario’s head, but my father-in-law saw a Mario Kart cake at our local HEB and asked if he could get that for the party. Since it was a crazy week for us even before the party, I decided to give in this time and go with a store-bought cake. Although, Tyler says he may want a Mario birthday party this year, too, so I may get to make the cake still. Either way, cake is a must at birthday parties!

More Birthday Party Ideas

• Daniel Tiger’s Trolley Cake Stand
• Daniel Tiger Birthday Party
• How to Throw a No Waste Birthday Party
• 50 Rocks Birthday Party
• Let’s Go Bananas Birthday Party
• Construction Truck Birthday Party
• Monster Birthday Party
• Super Easy Super Mario Themed Food