Scooby-Doo
Culinary Movie Night Guide
Difficulty Level: Medium
Table of Contents
Equipment
Here is a list (with links) of all the equipment and decorations I used for my Scooby-Doo Culinary Movie Night. I would be incredibly grateful if you used my links. I will make a little commission, and that would really help with the cost of the website and related expenses. You can find my full Amazon List here!
Cocktail picks- Link
Chamoy- Link
Tips
- Personalizing the Menu– When planning your menu for your movie night, don’t feel pressured to serve exactly what I chose to serve. Feel free to remove/add/replace dishes so it makes sense for you and your guests. I’ve included an editable menu in this guide to make it your own!
- Managing Your Time– These movie nights can take a lot of time to prepare, especially if you plan on doing everything yourself. If you are planning a culinary movie night with a group, I suggest doing a potluck style. Have each person contribute a dish or two, and it’ll be very manageable. If you are planning on preparing everything yourself, here are some things I’ve learned while doing these often:
- Make A To-Do List– I can’t stress this enough! It’s very easy to forget simple things like opening a bottle of prosecco before you start the movie so you aren’t fumbling with the seal before serving. I have done this so many times! Your to-do list should include absolutely everything you need to do leading up to pressing play.
- Start Early– I learned this after a few very long days of trying to cook, prepare, and host all on the same day. Anything that can be done in advance should be done during the days leading up to the movie night. Some examples include pre-mixing cocktails, making desserts and other foods like soup that hold up well in the refrigerator, and pre-making any handmade decorations. Hosting is stressful enough without having to make a multi-course meal in one day, so get as much done as possible before.
- No Pausing– The question I get asked the most is “Do you pause the movie to bring out the next dish?”. It’s important to me that I don’t disrupt the flow of the movie, so I do not pause. It’s also important to me to enjoy the movie with my guests. Setting up everything I need before the movie helps me bring out each dish efficiently. The setup usually includes plating each dish and storing it in the refrigerator, so all I have to do is quickly microwave it before serving. I set out any garnish or decoration on my kitchen counter so it’s easily accessible. I even pour the cocktails into their cups and store them in the refrigerator, so all I have to do is add ice and any finishing touches before serving. Always think about how you can do the bare minimum during the film. I always include the setup in my to-do list as well, so I don’t forget about any aspect of the preparation.
- Optional– If your budget permits, I recommend ordering food that you may not be confident in cooking or food that may take a lot of time to cook. I do this occasionally, and it helps cut down the preparation time and supports local businesses. Win Win!
- Decorations- Have fun and decorate your space and serving tray! Add elements from the theme of the movie, but make a budget and stick to it! I usually use things I already own because these movie nights are DIY, and I don’t need to spend a fortune to make it fun. If I do buy decorations for the movie night, I try to find cheap or reusable things. If you are curious about some of the things I’ve used during the movie nights, here is a link to my Amazon List. All these items are things I bought with my own money and enjoyed using.
- Manage Stress- Culinary Movie Nights are fun and a great way to show your friends and family you love them. Sometimes, things you envision in your head will not come out perfectly. When this happens to me, it can be discouraging and stressful, but the people I do these for have NEVER expressed anything but appreciation. Go easy on yourself and remember that your guests are just happy to be there and to experience something you put so much thought and time into making.
Menu
I have created a free, editable, and printable menu for all the dishes I served for this Culinary Movie Night! Feel free to change it to what will work for you and your guests.
Cues
These are the cues I used during the movie night so I knew when I had to get the next dish ready to serve.
Please note: Each cue describes a scene that happens a few minutes before I have to serve the dish. It does not describe the scene the dish is based on. Some people get confused with that, so I thought I should specify. Because the cues only give you a few minutes to prepare the dish, it’s very important to have everything cooked and set up before the film starts. Review the “Tips” section above for ways to make this seamless.
I often get asked why I don’t use time stamps to keep track of when to serve the next dish and the simple answer is, I don’t find those helpful. If I used timestamps, I would have to have a separate timer going or keep disrupting the movie to check the timestamp. It makes much more sense to have cues to indicate when the next scene is about to happen. This allows me to enjoy watching the film with my guests.
Below is the link to the cues I used. This document is editable, so you can make updates if you decide to take out or change dishes.
Recipes
Fred’s A-Peel
In this opening scene, Shaggy describes how the group works together like a beautiful banana split. You can serve an actual banana split for this scene, but this movie night features a lot of food, so I wanted to offset some of it with themed drinks instead. Here is the recipe I used to make the banana split cocktail.
This is the first thing you serve, so it can be made right before you start the movie.
Pass The Dutchie
Scooby and Shaggy have some interesting tastes, but this “burguette” wasn’t half bad! I made a breaded eggplant slider with spicy chocolate sauce. I decided to serve sliders instead of full-size burgers to save space for more food later.
Here’s what you’ll need:
Small brioche buns (you could also use Hawaiian rolls if you can’t find the small buns).
A small eggplant (you want it to have the circumference of the bun)
¼ cup of flour
¼ cup of breadcrumbs (Italian blend)
1 egg (whisked)
Vegetable oil for frying (I used avocado oil)
Spicy chocolate sauce (you can make this by mixing chocolate sauce with your favorite hot sauce or you can follow this recipe)
How to make:
To start, slice your pieces of eggplant and coat them in flour. Then dip them in the egg mixture. Next, coat them with your breadcrumbs. To fry them, add the vegetable oil to a deep pan. I add enough oil to cover ½ inch of the pan’s bottom. Bring the heat to medium-high, and after a few minutes, you can add your breaded eggplant. Let them fry for a few minutes on each side until they are crispy and golden brown. Remove from the pan and place on a plate with a napkin to soak up the extra oil.
To assemble the “burguette”, lightly toast the buns, then add your breaded eggplant and drizzle the spicy chocolate sauce on top. I suggest having all the individual parts of the dish made in advance, and then you just need to reheat and assemble before serving.
Don’t Be Suspicious
For the scene where Scooby steals Shaggy’s sandwich, I made a BTL on a baguette. This one is straightforward but super delicious! I wanted it to be super loaded, so I did two layers of crispy bacon, lettuce, tomato, and a generous amount of mustard and mayo.
I recommend having the sandwich made before you start the movie. The scene is early in the movie, so the sandwich won’t get soggy.
Respect You Elders
Rum Punch
Ingredients: Makes 2
½ cup of orange juice
½ cup of pineapple juice
2 oz of lime juice
2 oz of light rum
2 oz of dark rum
¼ cup grenadine
Cherry for garnish
Instructions:
Add all the liquids to a jar with a lid. Shake to mix and store in your refrigerator until you are ready to serve. I made this cocktail the day before so I could save time on prep the day of movie night. When you are ready to serve, shake well and evenly split the mixture between two glasses with ice. Top with a cherry and serve.
Doo it for a Scooby Snack
You can’t have a Scooby-Doo movie night without a Scooby snack! I decided to make cookie butter cookies, but a peanut butter cookie would do well at matching the color of a Scooby snack as well. Here is the recipe I used.
Scooby snacks are shaped like are square/diamond shape, so make sure you shape your dough like this. To make the S on top, take a small piece of cookie dough and roll it out with your hand to make it long and thin. Like a snake. Then lay it on the shaped cookie dough and mold it into an S shape. It’s basically like playing with playdough!
An important trick I used to make sure the cookie held its form during the baking process is freezing the shaped dough before baking. This is an important step to make sure they come out exactly like you want them to.
Two Trippy Peas in a Far Out Pod
In this scene, Shaggy and Scooby make another food analogy…. shocker! LMAO! They are “Two trippy peas in a far-out pod, man”.
I went with snap pea chips and a sour cream and onion dip, which was delicious, but other options for this scene could be a stir fried snap pea dish too!
Here is the recipe for the dip.
No one: … Toddlers:
I had to include this scene because it is a core memory for me as a child! So gross! I went with serving green Jello and drizzled edible green slime to reflect the snot that explodes from Scrappy. Make the Jello as directed on the packaging.
Here is a better recipe for the slime than the one I originally used. The recipe I originally followed did not taste good at all… My husband and I tried it and decided to stick with only eating the Jello… lol!
This recipe seems more promising.
Hot Ones
This scene is a part of the end credits, so it seems weird that I chose to serve something here, but as a kid, this scene was so funny to me. I was obsessed, and it’s now iconic cinema in my opinion. Shaggy and Scooby helped lock up the bad guy and can now truly enjoy the amenities of Spooky Island. And of course, that leads them to a feast and a hot pepper eating challenge. Shaggy paired a hot pepper with his pizza, so of course I had to serve a pizza with a pepper on top too.
Shaggy rolls out Scooby’s tongue to put ketchup to cool off his tongue, so I chose to serve a Bloody Mary as a tribute for the tomatoes from the ketchup and a fruit rollup as a tribute to Scooby’s tongue. I personally can’t stand Bloody Mary’s though, so I added Chamoy to help sweeten it up and diversify the flavor. Chamoy is a Mexican condiment that contains fruits, hibiscus, and other seasonings that make it sweet, savory, and a little spicy. It paired beautifully with a Bloody Mary and greatly improved it in my opinion.
For the pizza on top, because it is a garnish, I recommend buying a small single-serve pizza so the slices are small and fit on top of the glass.
Here is a recipe for Chamoy. It is a process to make, so keep that in mind. You can also buy it premade at your local Latin American grocery store or online, like Amazon. Add about a tablespoon of Chamoy to your Bloody Mary Mix and make sure to add some to the rim as well before serving. To save time, I recommend premixing the drink the day before and storing it in a jar in your refrigerator. Have your garnishes ready to go so when it’s time to serve, you just have to add the rim, add ice, pour your drink, and top with garnishes.
