Is there a high tea on the horizon or just a teddy-bear picnic? 🧸 Either way, pull up our list of the cutest, tastiest tea party foods on the interwebs and make it a special occasion!
Just the mention of a tea party brings to mind tea party foods that are cute, bite-sized, not TOO messy, and finger-friendly!
Perhaps it is a fancy affair complete with fancy attire for adults enjoying fancy tea party sandwiches in an elegant environment.
Or maybe it is a teddy bear picnic tea party in the backyard for the youngest set complete with stuffed animals in attendance and tea party desserts at the ready with lots and lots of sprinkles.
A special birthday could indeed be celebrated with an afternoon tea event with attendees in lovely dresses wearing tiaras made of flowers.
While the grownups may prefer the proverbial cup of hot tea, keep in mind, that the kiddos will equally enjoy iced tea in the dainty floral teacup.
No matter the occasion or location, tea party ideas flourish from the business side to the victoria era to anything in between!
It could be a simple verbal invitation of one or two close friends or an official party complete with printed invitations.
Early in the day or late in the afternoon, tea party finger foods should range from savory to sweet.
Tea party food recipes will more than likely include adorable mini sandwiches, scones, and cookies.
Tea for a tea party is of course obligatory, but the flavors and kind served are completely up to you and might include green teas, white teas, and dark teas.
The common English Breakfast or specialty like an oolong would be great choices.
Flavors of a particular season would also add a specialness to the tea party, making it even more memorable.
From proper English Scones to Lemon Lavender Shortbread Cookies to Mini Caprese Cups to the easy and crisp Cucumber Sandwiches, you’ll find something delectable and adorable from this list of tea party foods!
Decorations will provide continuity to the event following a theme or a color scheme.
The whole adventure can be whimsical or official as far as the table setup is concerned.
Place cards add intention and beautiful tea cups with saucers are a delight.
Quiet classical music might add to the enjoyment of everyone.
If wanting to give party favors, ideas could be teas or teaspoons, a jar of jam, or a scone mix.
Tea party food for kids will go over best if they are recognizable foods in a cute new presentation style.
Tea party food ideas for adults can be as simple or complex as time allows.
A three-tiered stand makes for a lovely presentation of goodies, so let’s explore some options of what could be on that stand at your tea party.
Tea party foods can be sweet or savory, and these delicious bites fit into the fresh and sweet category!
Fresh strawberries are cut in half, leaving the leaf.
The cream cheese mixture is made of cream cheese, strawberry jam, confection’s sugar, and almond extract, with food coloring or sprinkles optional.
Tea party ideas will most always include scones of some kind.
These Foolproof English Scones have a light and tender consistency that is not too sweet.
These are made of flour, sugar, buttermilk, milk, and baking powder.
Serve with butter or jam.
Tea party sandwiches offer the main substance among tea party foods.
They can be made of literally anything from light and fluffy ingredients to more substantial fare.
This recipe is for a turkey salad made with turkey, celery, cherries, green onions, mayo, vinegar, salt, and pepper.
Serve on crustless bread and with microgreens as the garnish.
Cut into long rectangles, squares, or triangles.
Tea party finger foods most certainly include cucumbers, quite possibly sandwiched between slices of white bread with a herb cream cheese spread.
This recipe is adamant that fresh lemon juice and herbs are used.
For a splash of flavor, red onion slices could be added and for a splash of color, a few could be made with radish slices.
They’re whimsical and delightful.
Tea party food for kids could include a fan favorite of mini quiches made with olive oil, bacon, onion, cheese, milk, eggs, and sheets of puff pastry.
If you have more daring eaters, other combinations like ham and pineapple or spinach and feta could be made as well.
Tea party food ideas for adults could include these open-faced baguettes or mini croissants creations.
The toppings include a variety of cheese, meat, and veggie slices like tomatoes, cucumbers, white cheddar, smoked gouda, salami, or ham.
Using a toothpick to secure it all together is probably best.
Tea party food recipes from the show Downton Abbey are sure to bring the essence of the time period into your event.
This bread uses fresh ground lavender, butter, milk, sugar, lemon zest, eggs, Greek yogurt, vanilla extract, flour, baking powder, and salt with a delightful glaze on top!
Easily served in full or half-sized slices.
Tea party easy food recipes are wonderful when other items may require more time.
These crescent rolls are simple to make and easy to personalize using whatever variation of turkey and cheese you prefer.
The magic is in the butter and mustard mix that is brushed on the rollups and sprinkled with poppy seeds before baking.
9. Lavender Tea
Tea for a tea party might be a unique creation not typically served.
This Lavender Tea fits the bill perfectly as it is an herbal drink made from dried lavender flower buds.
While not technically a tea since it has no tea leaves, it has a floral taste with a minty note and has no caffeine.
It can be made hot or cold and instructions are included for both.
10. Vegan Lemon Bars
When looking for tea party desserts that are vegan, these lemon bars oblige.
The crust depends on the unsweetened shredded coconut with toasted cashews being used in both the crust and the filling.
Fresh lemon juice and light maple syrup are a few of the ingredients in the filling that make it utterly delightful!
These can be made ahead and frozen.
Tea party foods are creative and tasty while being just a bit out of the ordinary.
Here these striking tea sandwiches are made with white bread, sliced strawberries, fresh basil, and a cream cheese mix.
Perfect really.
These little open-face tea party ideas for sandwiches are stunningly beautiful.
Using very thin slices of cucumbers, radishes and strawberries dried on paper towels and layered on top of a cream cheese spread on thin slices of bread.
The garish with edible flowers make these bites as gorgeous as they are edible!
Just like a patchwork quilt.
Tea party sandwiches of egg salad are a classic indeed.
This certainly is an option that pleases most folks using hard-boiled eggs, mayo, pepper, and parsley.
Butter spread on crustless white bread with the egg salad added makes it simple and quick to assemble.
For all those spinach artichoke dip lovers out there, this tea party finger food will hit the spot!
These Spinach Dip Bites are made with crescent dough rolled out and cut into squares.
The filling is made of spinach, artichoke hearts, garlic, parmesan, cream, and mozzarella cheeses!
Fun tea party food for kids is easy to identify since they will be the ones dotted with color!
Here the sweet treat is called a fairy bite and how very appropriate!
I’m pretty sure fairies enjoy a good tea party every now and again.
The cookies include butter, sugar, almond extract, flour, salt, and nonpareils.
Sometimes you need tea party food ideas for adults who are gluten-free and this recipe speaks to that need.
In addition to being delicious and eye-catching, these mixed Berry Crumble Bars are made on a sheet pan, easily cut into any size bars, and can be made the day ahead.
Tea party food recipes will always circle back to the ubiquitous scone.
This recipe is for orange cream scones since they incorporate orange juice or flower water, orange zest as well as a hint of orange in the glaze.
A lovely variation for a tea party!
Puff pastry is used in many appetizers and tea party easy food recipes.
This time it is for a sweet treat with a cream cheese filling and cranberries.
The cheese mixture of cream cheese, powdered sugar, and fresh cranberries is baked first.
Then the puff pastry is rolled and cut, filled, and baked. Delightful.
Tea for a tea party could indeed be chilled and served iced, especially for the kiddos.
This recipe is made the day before and has a definite summer vibe!
It uses tea bags, a sliced lemon, fresh strawberries, and time to brew in the sun.
Chill overnight and serve as is or with sweetener if you wish.
Lavender tends to be a flavor that comes up often when browsing through tea party desserts.
These Lemon Lavender Shortbread Cookies look like the perfect addition to a tea party spread.
The buttery shortbread cookies combined with lavender, a hint of lemon, and half-dipped in a delightful glaze, are just heavenly.
Tea party foods are typically considered delicate but they can also be equally filling.
Take, for example, these mini croissants that are made with slices of roast beef, leaves of arugula, and either a pimiento cheese spread or a blue cheese spread.
Recipes for both spreads are included.
When you want tea party ideas that pull out all the stops, these beautifully decorated sugar cookies with royal icing are definitely the item you are looking for.
Some decorated cookies seem so lavish that the average home chef will shy away from the intricacies.
But this recipe is totally doable, has a short video, provides the needed recipes in associated links, and gives specific info in the writeup.
Tea party sandwiches with a different take on cucumbers are these herb Mashed Avocado Sandwiches.
Each contains a cucumber slice, sprouts, and, wait for it, mashed avocado!
Of course, the avocados have lemon or lime juice, tahini, salt, and fresh herbs added.
I won’t tell anyone if you slip a slice of bacon on top too!
Another lovely and fruity scone recipe here to include in your tea party finger foods!
These have a bit of a rustic look and are made with whole wheat flour and fresh strawberries!
Speaking of strawberries, I would add a bit more to the recipe or serve with some on top.
Tea party food for kids that include chocolate chips will certainly be winners!
This recipe is not super sweet though, just enough.
The ingredient list is short, including only butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, flour, and semi-sweet chocolate chips.
The drizzle of chocolate on top of these mini-cookies is lovely.
Tea party food ideas for adults are endless really, but I do have a soft spot in my heart for chicken Waldorf salad!
Here, instead of having the apple in the salad, apple slices are used to serve the Waldorf salad!
Wonderful recipe and creative presentation!
Tea party food recipes do tend to come around to sandwiches more often than not.
These are made with white bread that has been cut into heart shapes with a cookie cutter.
This different take on a BLT sandwich calls for mixing together the diced tomato, bacon crumbles, salt, pepper, and mayo.
Then, after this mixture is spread on the bread, all that is added is a piece of lettuce.
The delightful Caprese appetizer has been made into a tea party easy food recipe too!
Mini phyllo shells are filled with diced tomatoes, fresh basil, and mini mozzarella balls tossed in olive oil, salt, and pepper.
The drizzle of balsamic glaze completes it perfectly!
These tea party desserts are cute, sweet, and colorful!
The crust is a sugar cookie, the filling is a cream cheese mixture and the topping is fresh fruit of various colors like blueberries, strawberries, kiwi, or mandarin orange slices.
Decadently delicious!
To close out this list of tea party foods, the cookie dessert often associated with tea parties would be the macaron.
If you are going to tackle these delights, may as well use a recipe that is labeled foolproof!
There is a full-length video to walk you through all the steps!
The bottom line
No matter what occasion calls for tea party foods, I do hope that this list has provided you with inspiration and ideas aplenty for tea party sandwiches as well as tea party desserts and a few delicious creations in between!
Whether it is a high tea at a tea room, afternoon tea with a child’s tea set, a home-served tea on silver, or a teddy bear picnic with an eclectic collection of tea cups, savor every moment!
If you’re like me and you’ll find any excuse to make cute food and set a table with cute stuff, check out some of these favorites I found online! (Affiliate links below)
- Dinosaur Tea Set for Kids (boys drink tea, too!)
- Hello Kitty Tea Play Set (not for food, just for fun)
- Hello Kitty Cup, Pot & Saucer (holds tea for realsies, but more for adults than kids)
- Clear Glass Teapot that holds a tea flower (safe for the microwave!)
- Portable Asian Tea Set with Carrying Case
- 4-Cup Tea Set with Pot and Tray (pretty color and compact footprint caught my eye; reviews are mostly good)
- Elaborate Tea Ceremony Set (eye-popping and $$)
- 3-Piece English Tea Set with Roses (highly rated on Amazon, from the Royal Albert Shop)
Okay, I’m done. I could shop for tea stuff all day.
Top 30 BEST Tea Party Foods!
Ingredients
- Strawberry Cheesecake Strawberry Bites
- Foolproof English Scones
- Turkey Salad Tea Sandwiches With Dried Cherries
- Cucumber Sandwiches
- Cheese & Bacon Mini Quiches
- Tea Club Sandwiches
- Downton Abbey Lavender Tea Bread
- Turkey Pepper Jack Roll-Ups
- Lavender Tea
- Vegan Lemon Bars
- Strawberry Tea Sandwiches
- Patchwork Tea Sandwiches
- Egg Salad Finger Sandwiches
- Spinach Dip Bites
- Fairy Bites-A Sweet Little Treat
- Berry Crumble Bars
- Orange Cream Scones
- Cranberry Cream Cheese Tartlets
- Strawberry Lemonade Sun Tea
- Lemon Lavender Shortbread Cookies
- Mini Roast Beef Croissants
- Spring Tea Party Cookies
- Mashed Avocado Finger Sandwiches
- Whole Wheat Strawberry Scones
- Chocolate Chip Tea Cookies
- Chicken Waldorf Salad Apple Bites
- BL-Tea Sandwiches
- Mini Caprese Cups
- Mini Sugar Cookie Fruit Tarts
- Foolproof French Macarons
Instructions
- Whether it’s high tea or a teddy-bear picnic, get ready for the best list of tea party foods right here!
- Find three or four of your favorite person’s favorite recipes from this list.
- Get out some cute tableware.
- Make it the best tea party ever!
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