Today is Elephant Appreciation Day so it seems like a perfect time to share elephant shaped food. Today I have 7 new food ideas with elephants and 3 previously published ones. Elephants were my sister’s favorite animal when we were growing up. Her favorite stuffed animal was Ellie the elephant. I used many different techniques in this compilation: sculpted mashed potatoes, cookie cutters (pizza, sandwich, vegetables, fruit, pancakes, tortilla chips), stencil, homemade bread, and rice ball.

I enjoy making bread and am always looking for new themes to try. I blogged about this elephant bread lunch here.

I made this elephant tortilla chips and hummus lunch for myself. I often make shaped tortilla chips but for this lunch with tortilla chips and hummus I was influenced by this from Eats Amazing.

Container: EasyLunchBoxes

Left Side: Elephant shaped tortilla chips, cherry tomatoes

Top Right: Hummus with hot paprika

Bottom Right: Elephant shaped apple slices with cinnamon

I made this for my nephew on a day we went to the zoo. This lunch was previously published here.

I made these pancake elephants for my 10 year old nephew for lunch at home. I used an elephant cookie cutter when pouring the pancake batter but it did not work out great so I also cut them with the cutter after cooking. I think that they ended up cute but it was not a quick and easy process.

Container: EasyLunchBoxes

Left Side: Elephant shaped pancakes, maple syrup in Mini Dipper

Top Right: Red bell pepper

Bottom Right: Green grapes with elephant pick

My husband ate this lunch on a day we went to the zoo. This lunch was previously published here.

We made this as part of various animal fruit kabobs for a Zoo themed Baby Shower (fruit kabob with elephant shaped melon, blueberry, watermelon, and pineapple)

My husband ate this pasta elephant bento for dinner. I did not have any fresh fruit in the house but had some cookies in the freezer.

Container: EasyLunchBoxes

Left Side: Elbow pasta with butter and Parmesan cheese. Red and green bell pepper elephant shapes.

Top Right: Red and green bell pepper elephant shapes.

Bottom Right: Snickerdoodle cookies

I was thrilled with how my mashed potato Babar turned out. He looks more informal than his suit from the books – maybe he is wearing pajamas. When I was a child I was not a fan of Babar but my friend had the books. I was inspired to make Babar as part of this collection after reading BentOnBetterLunches World Elephant Day post. Recently, I borrowed Bonjour, Babar! from the library (6 classics). I enjoyed reading them and so did my nephews when they visited.

Container: EasyLunchBoxes

Babar: Head – mashed potatoes with a little butter, shredded Cheddar cheese, and a tiny bit of Wilton black food coloring gel (I shaped the mashed potatoes after it chilled in the refrigerator for awhile), Tusks – white Cheddar, Crown – orange Cheddar cheese, Eyes – I dipped a toothpick into black food coloring gel, Body – mashed potatoes with a little butter, shredded Cheddar cheese and cooked broccoli.

Top Right: Roasted Soybeans

Bottom Right: Sliced strawberries and blueberries

I wanted to make an elephant onigiri so I made this meal for my husband. It did not turn out as cute as I had pictured it in my head.

Container: LunchBots Trio

Top Left: Elephant onigiri (rice ball), dried blueberry (eyes), lettuce

Top Right: Lettuce mix with Colby-jack cheese (cut up scraps from another lunch), sliced almonds

Bottom: Red grapes

I made this meal for myself. I found it delicious and satisfying.

Container: EasyLunchBoxes

Top: Quinoa with shredded Cheddar cheese (melted in the hot quinoa), hot paprika sprinkled on mama and baby elephant stencil that I printed onto card stock and cut-out with a craft knife.

Bottom Left: Roasted zucchini with pine nuts

Bottom Right: Raspberries (from freezer – they look a little frosty in this photo)

I hope that you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed preparing it for you. If you want to receive my blog updates, please subscribe by email.