Bree-Anna Burick Feb 8, 2024 9 min read

Heart-Shaped Foods That Aren't Valentine's Day Candy Hearts

If you're a lover of the love and any day celebrating, you may be counting down how many days until Valentine's Day.

Of course, the holiday is about celebrating with our spouses, partners, friends, family, or anyone else we love, but it's also a notorious day for gift giving. Candy hearts and heart-shaped chocolates are great, but maybe you're looking for something a little more unique but just as tasty.

If we put our minds to it, anything can become heart-shaped – our Valentine’s day cards, our gift boxes, and even our favorite dinners and desserts. Who doesn't love Valentine's Day food gifts?

Below, you’ll find unique heart-shaped foods (that aren’t candy) for your Valentine. We’ll start with something salty, then move onto sweet and savory delights.

Pretzels

If your partner falls for salty treats more than sweet, this could be your go-to gift, year after year. We’re talking about one of those big, soft, and fluffy pretzels that baseball and football stadiums are renowned for.

Believe it or not, the recipe is easier than it seems. Some of the ingredients include active dry yeast, sugar, water, flour, salt, and vegetable oil.

Making these tasty treats from scratch means you’re likely to create the softest, freshest, and warmest pretzel you’ve ever known.

Once you pull these out of the oven, you’ll never be able to go back to store-bought again. These pretzels can make for tasty Valentine's Day appetizers before your dinner.

Ravioli

It seems like the Italian culture really knows how to do love right: pizza, pasta, and wine. It’s a surefire recipe for success.

This recipe, however, takes this up another notch by turning your heart-shaped raviolis red with the addition of beets. It truly is a show-stopper for dinner on Valentine’s Day.

Granted, this is a little more complex than pizza or pretzels. But, if you’re up for the challenge, it’s well worth it. It might even turn into a joint effort if you and your partner like to cook together.

You’ll, of course, need some beets. Then, to make the pasta, you’ll need olive oil, eggs, all purpose flour, and salt. For the ravioli filling, you’ll need ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, thyme, salt and pepper.

From there, it’s a question of how creative you can be. The pasta will need to be sliced accordingly and filled with all that cheesy goodness. It’s a bit of an art project, getting the shape just right. But, this is where you and your partner might turn it into a kitchen adventure.

As for the sauce, you can go with a classic marinara sauce. Or, you might just want to keep it simple with an oil-based dressing because you won’t want to diminish the look of these gorgeous red hearts that you created together.

Pizza

When’s the last time you had a heart-shaped pizza? Never? It’s time to change that!

If you’ve made pizza from scratch, generally speaking, you’ll know it’s one of the most rewarding experiences under the sun. The ingredients for a heart-shaped recipe are much the same: pizza dough, olive oil, tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and grated parmesan.

This is where you get creative: you’ll lightly flour the surface and roll the dough into the shape of a heart. Then, you’ll fold the edges over to create the crust.

You can even take things a step further and shape little pepperoni slices into hearts. Simply fold them in half and cut out little heart shapes using kitchen shears.

Everything will come together beautifully in the oven. The end result will only require two more things: a great glass of cabernet and a kiss on the lips.

Chicken Enchiladas

Onto another culture that does love right. If you think you’d like some spicy enchiladas over saucy ravioli, this will quickly become one of your favorite suggestions for Valentine’s Day dinner.

As for supplies, you’ll need all the essentials: flour tortillas, enchilada sauce, beans, chicken or beef, and shredded cheese.

The trick to getting these right is using a four-inch cookie cutter. Once you’ve cut out a few heart-shaped tortillas, then you can begin layering in all that ooey gooey goodness.

After about 25 minutes in the oven, you’ll pull out a glorious entree that will set the stage for one of your most romantic Valentine’s Day dinner ideas.

Roasted Potatoes

Let’s move onto a side dish for this lovely list of Valentine’s Day dinner suggestions. Perhaps you just want to cook your favorite – a roast chicken or a grilled steak. In which case, you can beautify the side dish in the form of heart-shaped potatoes.

Your friend here will be the cookie cutter again. It’s best to slice and dice the potatoes until you get some thin, flat pieces. Then, you’ll cut the potatoes and boil them.

While the spuds are boiling, you can make a tasty marinade by following this recipe. From there, you can pop everything in the oven to seal the deal and serve up – quite possibly – the most savory spuds you’ve ever encountered.

Valentine's Day Charcuterie Board

Let’s back it up to Valentine's Day appetizers before we get too far down the road of heart-shaped foods. Perhaps you and your partner will turn on some music, light a fire, pour a glass of vino, and dive into that tricky beet ravioli recipe. Sounds wonderful!

But, you can still set the scene with a heart-shaped Valentine's Day charcuterie board. The best way to tackle this is to focus on your cheese selections and veggie slices. They’ll be the easiest elements to cut into shape with your trusty ol’ cookie cutter.

You can also get creative with apple slices, crackers, and dark chocolate bites. The key is to consider what will lend itself to a heart-shaped cookie cutter the best. You might even layer some ham and cheese slices and cookie-cutter away.

It’s a simple task that sets the stage before you roll up your sleeves and try something a little more fancy.

Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Onto the final – and most important – course, Valentine’s Day desserts! Sure, chocolate is a fan-favorite on this holiday. But, there’s a nice way to take that up a notch, when you bake chocolate sugar cookies in raspberry icing. It merges the best of all the dessert worlds.

For the heart-shaped cookies, you’ll need common ingredients like flour, cocoa powder, butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract. For the icing, you’ll need confectioner’s sugar, heavy cream, and some red food coloring if you’d like to stay in line with the holiday.

These Valentine’s Day cookie ideas are a quick and easy fix to seal the deal on an already perfect meal, from charcuterie board, to salad, to main course – all the way through to dessert. Wrap them in a Valentine's Day box for the sweetest surprise.

Raspberry Brownies

You don’t really have to reinvent the wheel for Valentine’s dessert. It lends itself so well to easy and delicious delights.

You can stay on trend with the chocolate train, but spice things up with a little raspberry flavoring.

The most important ingredients for these heart-shaped brownies are flour, fresh raspberries, butter, sugar, cocoa powder, and eggs. Mix everything together, pop in in the oven, set it, and forget it.

When the timer dings, you’ll have one of the most delicious chocolate sensations as you swirl your wine and your partner around the living room floor. Include these in your Valentine's Day basket for a unique and delicious gift.

Red Velvet Surprise Cupcakes

This is a fun one that can replace a typical heart-shaped cake. Everyone can spot a red velvet cupcake from a mile away. But, what if you bake what appears to be a “plain” vanilla cupcake and fill it with a dollop of red velvet?

Key ingredients include flour, cocoa powder, butter, sugar, buttermilk, and eggs. For the cream cheese frosting, you’ll need some more butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract.

The end result will be pleasant surprise after pleasant surprise. What appeared to be a classic vanilla cupcake was actually something a little more colorful – proof that we can always spice up our relationships from time to time.

Rice Krispies Treats

Instead of Valentine's Day chocolates, try something a little more unique. Rice Krispies Treats seem to be one of the childhood snacks that we never grow out of. And, with your trusty cookie cutter in hand, you can give them a twist, thanks to their heart-shapes.

For the recipe, you’ll need Rice Krispies, butter, marshmallows, and vanilla extract. For the Valentine’s Day twist, you’ll need white chocolate, candy melts, and coconut oil.

This is a wonderful way to keep things light and fluffy, but with a special addition to make them more memorable.

Heart-Shaped Foods for Your Valentine

How about it? You can take a twist on the classic Rice Krispies treat, vanilla cupcake, or brownie. Or, you can go wild with heart-shaped pepperoni pizza and ravioli.

Whether you prepare all this in advance to wow your loved one or prepare the meal together, these unique heart-shaped foods will set the stage for a most romantic evening at home.

Love this article? Read more at Your Life Buzz.

Explore by Topic