Argh, it’s time to talk about food for a pirate party. If you want to travel the seven seas and have a pirate-themed party, the food you serve will steal the show. After all, it’s the food that’s the real treasure during parties.
Below are over 20 ideas that will be sure to delight your guests and have people asking, “How did you make that?”
21+ Pirate Party Food Ideas for Adults that Will Steal the Show
1. Octopus Dip
Fill a bowl with your favorite dip – it’s 100% up to you – and then cut the top off of a pepper and place the open part down on the dip. Slice the other pepper parts to make the octopus legs and finally place eyes on the open part.
You can be as creative as you wish with this idea and serve with chips of your choice.
2. Pirate’s Booty Appetizer
Pretzel bites with gooey, golden cheese are always some of my favorites. You can buy most of this premade, so it’s super-simple to make and tastes delicious. But the author uses pizza dough to make the pretzels, which is great if you have the time.
Be sure to pour the cheese into a black, treasure chest of a bowl and add some fun props around it, such as:
3. Goat Cheese Seashell Bites
Seashell bites are a type of food for a pirate party that I would have never come up with on my own. Inspired by the Little Mermaid, you’ll make these with Phyllo shells, goat cheese and a teaspoon of Herbes de Provence.
Combine your cheese and Herbes de Provence in a mixing bowl before refrigerating.
You’ll then bake the phyllo shells, roll the goat cheese into balls and place them inside the open shells.
4. Buried Treasure Pudding Cups
You’ll want to use glass or plastic cups for this recipe, where you’ll fill the bottom of the cup with pudding, nuts, pudding again, whipped cream and then any topping that you like. Scatter fake gold coins on the table or opt for those chocolates that are wrapped in gold tin like a coin.
5. Caprese Tall Ships
What a cute idea for party foods. You’ll make a caprese with toast on the bottom, a slice of tomato, lettuce, balsamic vinegar and then make “cheese sails” that mimic a ship. Mozzarella is the perfect cheese for the sails, and you’ll need toothpicks to hold them up.
Be mindful to alert your guests that there are toothpicks in the cheese so that they don’t accidentally eat them.
Related: 19+ Fun And Creative 80s Party Food Ideas To Wow Your Guests
6. Treasure Map Pizza
No one complains when you serve pizza at a party. And with this idea, you’re still using pizza in the traditional sense of sauce and cheese, but you’ll:
- Add an X with peppers
- Use basil to make trails
- Use olives to show the foot path
- Cut pineapple slices to show little huts
7. Sword Kabobs
Sword kabobs are really no different than any other kabob, but with this option, you’ll use long kabob sticks that are sort of like swords. You can then put anything on the kabobs that you like, such as:
- White cheese
- Yellow cheese
- Salami or pepperoni
- Olives (optional)
8. Desert Island Veggie Tray
Pull out your veggie tray for this one because it’s one of the easiest to put together. You’ll then fill in each section of the tray with veggies, such as pepper slices, cucumber slices, cherry tomatoes, green peppers and broccoli florets.
I really like how they made palm trees in the dip container in the middle with carrots and greens’ tops for the canopy.
9. Pirate Ship Watermelon
What’s the star of the show on this list of food for a pirate party? An entire pirate ship made from a watermelon as the ship itself. You’ll make the sail posts out of blueberries on a stick and strings attached to them.
Be sure to add the black flags and sails.
On the side of the watermelon, you’ll want to add little shields with the help of kiwi slices and blueberries in the middle. Oranges are also used alongside kiwis.
10. Rice Krispies Pirate Treasure
Rice Krispies are one of my favorite ingredients for making treats like these. You’ll want to make a base cup out of the krispies and fill the middle with a delicious green frosting. On top, add some chocolate eggs and a pirate flag.
11. Crabwiches
A crabwich is a pastry, a cornetto really, with toothpicks and eyes on it. Of course, you’ll have plenty of crabwiches on the plate for people to pick up and eat. You can add some sort of dip on the side if you like, such as Nutella dip.
12. Deserted Island Mix
Deserted island mix is just like it sounds, a delish dip with your favorite chips on the sides for people to pick up and dip. You’ll use a similar trick as we saw in one of the past ideas, where you’ll use carrots as large trees.
On top, place the top of a pepper so that it looks like a tree hanging down.
Place pirate flags in the dip to add to the decorations.
13. Dead Man’s Fingers
Using the same pirate flags as above, you’ll make these small “pigs in a blanket” and just skewer them for people to pick up and serve. You don’t even need to add the normal bun that comes with pigs in a blanket because these are just meant to be dead man’s fingers.
14. Chicken Wings
Chicken wings are a go-to food for a pirate party, and you’ll once again use the pirate flags from before. You can follow any chicken wing recipe for this idea, so it’s one of the more versatile options on the list.
Related: 19+ Pizza Party Food Ideas That Are Perfect For Sharing
15. Scurvy Prevention
Scurvy was a real concern during the days of the pirates, and getting rid of it meant eating healthy portions of fruits. You can cut a watermelon in half and use it as a bowl of sorts, which you’ll then fill with all sorts of delicious goodies:
- Orange slices
- Grapes
- Melon slices
And you can scatter gold coins around the watermelon or opt to place those pirate flags that everyone seems to love. While a cute idea, this fruit boat is also filled with good-for-you fruits that your guests will appreciate.
16. Whiskey Peach BBQ Meatballs
Southern Discourse offers a delicious meatball recipe that you can follow to make this tasty recipe. You’ll make meatballs the traditional way with ground beef, eggs and seasonings. For flair, you’ll glaze the meatballs with a mixture of peaches and whiskey.
Rich flavors like these are a great reason for people to come to your pirate party.
If you don’t like whiskey, you can opt for bourbon.
17. Pirate Ships
What a cute idea. You’ll need hotdog buns and to cook hotdogs like you prefer, whether that means baking or boiling them. Use skewers or large toothpicks to make the “pole” that the ship’s sail will attach to.
Place the pirate ships on a wooden tray and serve with your favorite condiments, such as ketchup and mustard.
18. Undersea Party Tray
There’s so much going on in this pin that I’m not even sure where to start. One of the bowls has dolphins made from cut bananas and grapes, another uses a cut hotdog that resembles an octopus, another has a turtle, while another makes a whale out of a cucumber and there are even lobsters made from red peppers and olives for eyes.
If you like to serve lunch meats, you can just do as they do with the jellyfish that they’ve created with the top of a mushroom and some lunch meat strands.
19. Fish ‘n Chips
Grab large popcorn pails and fill them with fish and chips. But for this idea and the health of your guests, you’ll want to use fish crackers and the chips of your choosing. While not the most exciting idea on the list, the decorations are certainly going to grab the attention of your guests.
You can use fake diamonds like these and gold coins.
Be as creative as you like with this idea because you’ll find plenty of pirate-related options on Amazon.
20. Chips Ahoy Pirate Cookies
Pirate cookies are a food for a pirate party that requires no cooking, unless you want to bake them yourself. All you need to do is place all of your cookies in a circular pattern on the tray and stick a flag in the middle.
But if you want to go the extra mile, no one will complain if you do decide to bake these chocolate chip cookies from scratch.
21. Pirates Gold
Another simple idea is to place out cuts of yellow or cheddar cheese on a platter. Add a little sign on the platter that says, “Pirate’s gold,” and then add pirate flags on random cheese squares.
If you like, you can also put crackers or other goodies on the side.
Related: 21+ Hawaiian Party Food Ideas That Feel Like a Tropical Vacation
22. Sea Snails
Sea snails are just pigs in a blanket. You can buy these premade at most grocery stores and then just cook them and add them to a platter when you’re done.
23. ChARRcuterie Board
And for the final idea on the list, you’ll make a charcuterie board out of multiple crackers, meat slices, cheese and olives. Be sure to scatter some gold coins around the base of the tray to make all of the goodies on the tray stand out.
