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Baby Food Taste Test — baby shower game

✍️ Best Baby Shower Games Editorial Team · Updated May 2026

Baby Food Taste Test

Line up 6 to 8 jars of baby food with the labels hidden. Guests taste each one, write their flavor guess on a sheet, and the most correct identifications wins. The face every guest makes when they hit the prunes is half the entertainment.

  • 🍷 Coed-friendly
  • 🏃 Active
  • 🧒 Kid-friendly
⏱ Prep
15 min
👥 Best for
6–20 guests
🍷 Coed
Yes
📹 Virtual
In person

What you'll need

  • 6–8 jars of baby food covering a mix of flavors (Gerber, Beech-Nut, or Earth's Best — find them all at Target, Walmart, or any grocery store)
  • Painter's tape and a black sharpie to cover labels and number each jar
  • Plastic tasting spoons — at least 2 per guest
  • A small bowl for used spoons + a stack of paper napkins
  • Printed answer sheets (one per guest, numbered 1 through 8) and a pen for each guest
  • A small prize for the winner ($20 gift card, candle, or wine bottle)

Before the shower (setup)

  1. About a week before the shower, pick up 6–8 jars of baby food at Target, Walmart, or any grocery store. Mix vegetables, fruits, and a meat or two so the lineup isn't all sweet. Strong picks: sweet potato, peas, prunes, butternut squash, chicken-and-rice, mango, pear, banana. Skip apple and plain rice cereal — they're too easy and guests will sail through them.
  2. The night before the shower, cover every label with painter's tape and write a big number (1–8) on top with a black sharpie. On a separate master sheet only you can see, write down which numbered jar holds which flavor. Refrigerate the jars until thirty minutes before the game — room-temp baby food smells stronger and tastes worse.
  3. Set up a small "tasting station" on a covered table. Line up the jars in number order. Stack 30–40 plastic spoons in a cup beside them and place an empty bowl for used spoons right next to that. Print one answer sheet per guest (8 numbered blank lines), set out pens, and keep a stack of paper napkins handy. Have your prize visible — a wrapped $20 Trader Joe's or Target gift card works for any crowd.
Front-door setup for Baby Food Taste Test — basket of clothespins and a chalkboard rule sign by the entryway
Set up at the front door so the game starts the second guests walk in.

How to play

Once everyone's eaten and settled, invite guests up to the tasting station in groups of two or three so the line keeps moving. Each guest grabs a fresh plastic spoon for every jar, scoops a small bite, tastes it, writes their flavor guess on their sheet next to that number, and drops the used spoon in the bowl. Tell guests upfront: no sharing guesses out loud until everyone's tasted everything. Spit cup and napkins are right there if a flavor doesn't go down — nobody's judging.

Once every guest has worked through all 8 jars, gather everyone back to their seats and read out the numbered answers one at a time. After each one, pause for the inevitable groan or laugh — "jar four was prunes" usually gets the biggest reaction. Guests circle every correct guess on their own sheet as you read.

After all 8 reveals, ask everyone to add up their circles. Most correct wins. If two people tie, the tiebreaker is naming the brand of the most-correct jar — Gerber, Beech-Nut, or Earth's Best. Hand the prize over right there. Pack any unopened jars into a tote for the local food bank, and offer the opened ones to the mom-to-be as a starter stash for when the baby hits solids.

A hand lifting a clothespin off another guest's shirt — the steal moment in Baby Food Taste Test
The moment of the steal — someone slipped, someone caught it, pin changes hands.

Variations to try

  • Smell-only round. For guests who refuse to taste baby food, run a parallel "smell only" round. Same jars, same numbers, but they only sniff each one. Fewer correct guesses but no gagging. Perfect option for grandparents and pregnant guests with sensitive noses.
  • Blindfolded version. Blindfold each guest and feed them a spoonful while they guess. More dramatic reactions, more photo moments, more chance of spilled food on someone's shirt. Best for small groups (under twelve) where you have time to take turns.
  • Pair with [[guess-the-baby-food-jar]]. Run smell-only as round one and taste-test as round two using the same lineup. Double scoring, twenty minutes of content from one setup. The smell round is also a built-in warm-up — guests who hate it can opt out of the taste round without missing anything.
  • Mom-to-be judges. Skip individual scoring entirely. Each guest names what they think the flavor is and the mom-to-be picks who got closest for each jar. Faster, more social, and gives the mom-to-be a spotlight moment. Works well at smaller showers (under twelve).

Pro tips from hosts who've actually run this

  • Pick flavors adults wouldn't normally eat. Apple and banana are way too obvious; chicken-and-rice, sweet potato, and prunes are where the laughs come from.
  • Use a fresh spoon for every taste from every guest. One reused spoon and you've contaminated the whole jar for everyone after.
  • Refrigerate the jars right up until you set up the table. Cold baby food is easier to handle than room-temp — both for smell and texture.
  • Set out paper napkins and a small "spit cup" near the table. Some flavors are not staying down for some people, and trying to be polite about it ruins the fun.
  • Take photos of guests' faces mid-bite. The prune reaction is the photo every shower group ends up sharing in the group chat afterward.
  • Donate the unopened jars to a local food bank after the shower. Most accept baby food — call ahead to confirm hours and any restrictions.
  • Hand the mom-to-be the opened jars only if she wants them — many parents prefer to start solids with their own picks.

Common mistakes to avoid

  • Buying only sweet flavors. A lineup of apple, pear, banana, mango is too easy — every guest gets 7 out of 8 right and the game's over in five minutes.
  • Forgetting to cover the brand labels. The Gerber logo or sweet potato color on the lid is a dead giveaway for veteran parents.
  • Reusing spoons between guests. One double-dipped spoon and you've turned the game into a hygiene problem; nobody wants to taste after that.
  • Skipping the spit cup. You'll have one guest who can't get a flavor down and they'll start looking around panicking — make the spit option obvious from the start.
  • Tossing all the leftover jars in the trash. Unopened jars feed real families through food banks; throwing them away is the one part of this game that's actually wasteful.

Best prize for this game

Lean into the food theme — a $20 Trader Joe's or Whole Foods gift card, a basket of fancy snacks (popcorn, dark chocolate, fancy nuts), a candle in a kitchen-friendly scent (vanilla, lavender), or a small bottle of wine for over-21 crowds. Wrap it in a clear bag so it's visible on the prize table — guests competing for an unwrapped "surprise" never play as hard.

→ More baby shower prize ideas, by budget

Our verdict

The look on every guest's face when they hit the prunes carries the whole round — and the photos are gold. Donate the unopened jars to your local food bank afterward and nothing goes to waste.

Baby Food Taste Test — FAQ

Which baby food flavors should I buy for this game?

Pick a mix that's hard to identify by sight or taste. Solid picks: sweet potato, peas, prunes, butternut squash, chicken-and-rice, mango, pear, and banana. Skip apple and plain rice cereal — they're too easy. Most US grocery stores stock all of these in the baby aisle for under $2 each.

How many jars do I need?

Six to eight. Less than six and the round ends in five minutes. More than eight and guests stop wanting to taste anything by jar five. Eight is the absolute max.

What if some guests have allergies or are vegetarian?

Stick to vegetable and fruit jars and skip the meat ones. Announce the full lineup at the start so anyone with allergies (dairy, soy, citrus) can skip specific jars without feeling singled out.

Can pregnant guests play?

Yes — baby food is pasteurized and safe for pregnant people. The only thing to skip is any jar containing something they're personally avoiding (some pregnancies bring caffeine or citrus sensitivity).

What do I do with the leftover baby food afterward?

Donate unopened jars to a local food bank — most accept baby food and many actively want it. The opened jars either go home with the mom-to-be as a starter stash for solids, or in the compost. Either way, nothing has to be wasted.

Is this messy enough that I need to protect my furniture?

It can get a little splatter-y if guests are dramatic. Cover the tasting table with a wipeable tablecloth or kraft paper, keep napkins within reach, and don't put the station on top of a rug or carpet. Easy cleanup, no panic.

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About the author

Best Baby Shower Games Editorial Team — Party planners, parents & writers. We’re a small team of party planners and parents who’ve hosted — and been guests at — dozens of baby showers. Every game here is sorted by what actually lands in a real room, not by what just looks cute on a Pinterest board.