April Fools Food Pranks

Here are some fun April Fools Food Pranks that are so easy to replicate and sure to fool!

April Fools Food Pranks

Below we’re sharing how to make eight different and easy food pranks: mashed potatoes, chicken nuggets, onion rings, grilled cheese sandwiches, taco bowl, steak, chicken pot pie, and eggs. These dinner pranks will have your family convinced they’re getting a savory delicious meal when actually you’re serving up a treat (that is actually delicious)!

To be honest, I’m not really into the terrible food pranks like filling up an Oreo with toothpaste. I personally don’t love wasting food to create inedible tricks, which is why I’m so excited to share these ideas with you all. Not only are each of these tricks edible, but they are also actually quite delicious too and make for such funny food pranks on friends or family. My little ones love these!

April Fools Food Pranks Video Overview: 

Dinner April Fools Food Pranks

1. “Mashed Potatoes”

Nothing beats these Mashed Potatoes (or the ease of these Crockpot Mashed Potatoes) But, what about a dessert that looks like mashed potatoes?! This is our favorite easy April Fools Prank Food!

Quick Video Overview: Instagram

Ingredients: vanilla cheesecake, caramel syrup, sea salt flakes, dark chocolate

Here’s how we do it: Use a store-bought plain vanilla cheesecake (or prepare these Cheesecake Bars without the crust). Remove the crust if needed and add the cheesecake to a plate. Mash down the cheesecake with a fork and/or spoon to resemble mashed potatoes. Right before serving, drizzle on this caramel syrup (or a homemade Caramel Sauce) and sprinkle with Maldon® sea salt flakes. Use the fine holes of a cheese grater to grate a piece of dark chocolate to look like pepper.

2. “Chicken Nuggets”

I mean these Air Fryer Chicken Tenders are something else, but today we’re swapping for a sweet April Fools food prank!

Quick Video Overview: Instagram

Ingredients: pound cake, vanilla frosting, Cinnamon Toast Crunch®cereal, strawberry or raspberry jam

Tools: totally optional, but fun: crinkle cutter

Here’s how we do it: Get a store-bought vanilla pound cake (bakery-fresh, frozen, or make your own) and thinly slice. Reserve some thin slices for fries later and then cut thin slices into nugget shapes — no need to be perfect here nuggets have tons of variations! Add the nuggets to a wire cooling rack and place the rack on top of a sheet pan. Warm 1/2 cup of vanilla frosting in a microwave-safe container in the microwave until melted. Pour the melted frosting evenly over as many cakes as you can cover. Repeat the steps (microwave frosting & pouring it over cakes) until all the cakes are evenly covered.

Meanwhile, grab a few cups of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal and add them to a large bag. Crush down with the bottom of a frying pan or meat mallet to get coarse crumbs. Transfer crumbs to a bowl. Carefully pick up one cake at a time and dredge in the crushed cereal. Return to the wire cooling rack to harden. Serve with strawberry or raspberry jam. Cut reserved slices with a crinkle cutter to make fries.

Optional: go to any fast food restaurant and ask for an extra chicken nugget case/fry bag to fill with your creations!

3. “Onion Rings”

These make for such a fun April Fools Food Prank and look quite believable — especially when served on some checkered paper.

Quick Video Overview: Instagram

Ingredients: Twizzlers® Pull ‘n’ Peels, white chocolate chips or melts, oil, graham crackers

Tools: totally optional, but fun: red and white checkered paper

Here’s how we do it: Line a tray with parchment paper and set aside. Crumble six graham crackers into a blender and blend into crumbs. Transfer crumbs to a bowl.

Ensure the Twizzlers are very fresh and soft or they won’t stick together! Pull apart 3 strands from Twizzlers Pull ‘n’ Peel candy. Press the 3 strands together into a circle. This takes some a little muscle and patience! 

Combine 1 cup of white chocolate chips or white chocolate melts with 2 teaspoons of coconut oil. Microwave in bursts of 25 seconds, stirring in between each burst for 15 seconds until smooth. Carefully dip Twizzler rings in white chocolate, using a spoon to drizzle chocolate on top and a fork to help pick it up. Gently shake off excess chocolate and transfer chocolate-coated Twizzler to the bowl of graham cracker crumbs. Dredge in crumbs then carefully transfer to a lined pan and allow to harden. (If white chocolate starts to harden, return to microwave.)

Optional: Add hardened onion rings to a checkered red and white paper before serving!

4. “Grilled Cheese Sandwich”

This April Fools Food Prank always fools my kiddos — even year after year they seem to somehow forget, ha!

Quick Video Overview: Instagram

Ingredients: pound cake, vanilla frosting, yellow and red food coloring, butter

Here’s how we do it: Soften butter to a spreadable consistency. Add vanilla frosting to a small bowl. Add yellow and red food coloring mixing until you achieve an orange color that looks similar to melted cheese.

Grab a store-bought vanilla pound cake (bakery-fresh, frozen, or make your own) and slice it into 1-inch pieces. Gently butter each side of each piece of pound cake (pound cake can be crumbly so work slowly here!). Place a skillet over medium heat and as many slices as you can fit in a single layer. Lightly brown until golden brown, flip and brown the other side. Return until the bread is finished browning. Let cool and then frost the inside. Press together into a sandwich!

5. “Taco Bowl”

This Taco Bowl or Navajo Tacos are both frequently requested at my home so naturally, I needed to create a dinner prank to convince my kiddos it’s taco night when in reality they’re getting an ice cream sundae!

Quick Video Overview: Instagram

Ingredients: waffle bowls, chocolate ice cream, pecans, maraschino cherries, black licorice, whipped cream, sweetened coconut flakes, yellow, red, and green food coloring

Here’s how we do it: Add a handful of sweetened coconut flakes to a small plastic bag. Drop in yellow and red food coloring. Seal bag without air and knead with your hands to achieve an orange color that looks similar to cheese. Add more coconut to a separate bag with green food coloring. Knead to look like lettuce. Cut out black licorice and roll it to make “olives.” Drain some maraschino cherries, setting them aside to dry a little.

Coarsely chop (or pulse in a blender) a handful of pecans to coarse crumbs, add a few scoops of chocolate ice cream to a large freezer bag and drop in the pecans. Seal the bag without air in it and knead with your hands until the ice cream looks similar to ground beef. Place in the freezer to firm up again.

Set out store-bought waffle bowls. Fill up the base of waffle bowls with chocolate ice cream. Top the chocolate ice cream with a layer of the pecan-coated chocolate ice cream. Add on a dollop of whipped cream, smoothing the top with the back of a spoon to look like sour cream. Add your prepared toppings — dyed coconut, cherries, and olives. Serve/enjoy promptly!

6. “Steak”

Okay, so this one is a little bit of stretch if you’re used to this really tasty Steak Marinade, but it’s fun and the kiddos love it!

Quick Video Overview: Instagram

Ingredients: chocolate ice cream (need ice cream in a container like this!), Oreo® crumbs, green fruit chews

Here’s how we do it: Place as many plates as steaks you’ll be making in the freezer to get very cold. Take the entire container of chocolate ice cream out of the freezer. Use a very sharp serrated knife to slice down the container (including cutting through the cardboard) into 1-1/2 inch thick slices. Peel off the packaging and place slices on frozen plates. Return plates to the freezer to get cold again up. Meanwhile, add 3-4 full Oreos to a blender and blend to crumbs.

Make some “peas.” Open a few green fruit chews and thinly slice. Cut the thin slices in half and then roll them into rounds to look like peas.

Pull out one chocolate “steak” at a time. Use a butter knife to make “grill marks.” If the ice cream starts melting, return it to the freezer. Sprinkle Oreo crumbs into serrated grill marks. Return to freezer until ready to serve, adding peas to the side of the plate right before serving.

7. “Veggie Pot Pie”

For when you want to trick your family into thinking they’re getting this best ever Chicken Pot Pie!

Quick Video Overview: Instagram

Ingredients: pie crust, colored fruit chews, vanilla pudding, milk, egg

Here’s how we do it: Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Unroll pie crust onto a work surface. Use miniature ramekins as a guide and cut out circles of dough. Re-roll scraps if needed to cut out more. Crumple a piece of foil into a ball and set it in the ramekin. Cover it with a layer of foil to create a smooth mound, then lay the circle of dough on top.

Use a knife to gently cut an “X” in the center of each crust. Beat the egg with a fork until smooth, and then brush the mixture over the dough. Gently pull the pie tin off the ramekin and onto a lined baking sheet. Bake the crusts for about 10-15 minutes. Let crusts cool completely.

Meanwhile, make some “veggies.” Open a few fruit chews and thinly slice. Cut the thin slices in half and then roll them into rounds to look like peas and corn (using green for peas and yellow for corn). Thinly slice the orange fruit chews and shape them to look like square carrots. Set aside.

Prepare pudding according to package directions using milk. Add pudding to a ramekin and strategically place the “veggies.” Add a prepared pie crust topping on top.

8. “Eggs”

For an April Fools Breakfast prank, nothing beats these “eggs” and they might even be easier to make than actual eggs!

Ingredients: canned apricot halves, vanilla yogurt, poppy seeds

Here’s how we do it: Thoroughly drain a can of apricot halves. Using the back of a spoon, smooth vanilla yogurt on plates to look like egg whites. Gently place two apricot halves right on top of the yogurt. Sprinkle a few poppyseeds to look like pepper. Refrigerate until ready to eat and enjoy!

April Fools Food Pranks

For a fun savory April Fools recipe, try this miniature Turkey Meatloaf recipe. Once meatloaves are baked, transfer to cute cupcake liners then “pipe” mashed potatoes on top.

We hope you love these April Fools Food Pranks! Let us know which ones are your favorites and who you fooled!

More April Fools Food Pranks

• April Fools Mini Hamburgers
• April Fools Cake
• Meatloaf Cupcakes
• Meat and Potato Sundae
• April Fools Day Tacos