Our Ultimate Spread Of Snacks And Cocktails For Your Bachelorette Season 21 Watch Party
Get ready, Bachelor universe fans, because The Bachelorette Season 21 is back on July 8, 2024 with its first-ever Asian American Bachelorette. This year's leading lady is Jenn Tran, a 26-year-old former Bachelor contestant who was eliminated in week seven of Joey's season, just shy of bringing Joey home to meet her parents during hometowns. Following dramatic seasons with Bachelorettes Charity, Gabby and Rachel, and Michelle, Jenn Tran's season is set to be one of the most interesting yet, especially following the Bachelor fandom's expectation that Maria Georgas was going to be the star.
But many fans across the board are psyched for Jenn to come across their screens, which means Bachelorette watch parties are in the midst of planning (probably as you're reading this). If you're unfamiliar, a watch party is when a group of fans get together and watch the episode together, usually weekly, and they have fun themed drinks, snacks, and sometimes even matching pajamas. Plus, in the past Bachelor and Bachelorette seasons, the leads — anyone from Joey Graziadei to Nick Viall to Rachel Lindsay — have crashed some of the largest Bachelor watch parties, usually at sorority houses or colleges.
If you're intrigued, you're in the right place. This article is going to get you all set up to have the perfect drinks and snacks readily available for your Bachelorette season 21 premiere watch party.
Rosé-poached berries
Will you accept this rosé? A Bachelorette watch party is not a watch party without rosé making an appearance, so if you're not in the mood to sip it, try eating it. Rosé has a natural strawberry undertone, along with floral and citrus notes, making a fruity companion the best sidekick for this drink. I recommend starting with strawberries first, but you can also try poaching raspberries, blueberries, or whatever your favorite berry is.
The same way you'd poach an egg in water, you boil the rosé before putting in the berries, and you can add in a hint of vanilla for an added sweetness or even some thyme for some herbal notes to pair with the floral aromas rosé emanates. Usually you poach berries for up to five minutes, and you can serve these with whipped cream, ice cream, or even alongside a slice of cake.
These poached berries are a nice way to incorporate a sweet element into your night without missing any key parts of the dates. Poaching berries is quick and easy and won't put you into a food coma before the end of the episode.
Crispy rose-shaped potatoes
If you're planning to have french fries at your party, don't make them the standard shoestring cut. A fun way to style up your potatoes is by — you guessed it, Bachelorette fanatics — shaping it like a rose. This snack is on theme and delicious. And they're easy, too — if you have a muffin pan sitting in your cabinet, you can just slice your potatoes into rounds and shape the roses in the muffin tin, which will help them keep their floral shape. Your friends will be amused by just how cute these potatoes are, and they'll look great on a table spread.
For those who would prefer not to bring savory foods to the function, you can do this same rose-shaping technique with peaches, apples, pears, or any similar fruit that you can cut into round slices. Take it a sweet step forward by layering Nutella or nut butters between each slice before baking them off in the oven to get them caramelized.
Fish and chips
Bachelor franchise fanatics know that in every season (aside from past ones affected by the COVID-19 pandemic), the cast goes on an international trip to enjoy the scenery, some date nights, and a rose ceremony in a new country. In Jenn's season, the cast and crew will be traveling abroad to New Zealand, where one of the most popular dishes is fish and chips. The classic pairing is the perfect plate of finger foods to limit the need for any utensils, but still just hearty enough to satiate your hunger cravings through the end of the episode.
Prepping fish and chips doesn't have to take longer than an hour from prep to cook. All you have to do is slice and fry your potatoes — aka your chips, although you can also use actual potato chips if that's more your speed. The fish batter is classically made with flour, baking powder, milk, eggs, and seasonings, and the fish can fully cook in about five minutes. The result is a fried food platter that is mouth-watering and perfect for passing around the couch on commercial breaks.
A seafood pizza pie
While you're watching the Bachelorette this season, you'll be following the hopeless romantics on part of their voyage through Australia, where seafood pizza is quite popular. The country produces about 300,000 tons of seafood per year, and it imports just over 60% of the seafood that Australians eat per year. For your Bachelorette watch party premiere, be sure to include this elevated version of the classic New York slice on your menu.
Pizza is the perfect finger food for a watch party, and you can add whatever toppings sound good to you. Try the classic shrimp, crab meat, or scallops, and be sure to season generously. Don't be concerned about spending too much time cooking the seafood and the pizza — you can sprinkle your sauce, cheese, veggies, and seafood on the raw pizza dough and cook everything together in the oven. All you have to do is pick your toppings, and your oven will do the rest. Soon, you'll be eating a crispy slice of seafood pizza during Jenn's first rose ceremony.
Charcuterie board and red wine
In 2024, there is scarcely a party that doesn't have a charcuterie board, because people love to put their aesthetic on a plate in the form of cured meats and delicious funky cheeses. A charcuterie board is perfect for setting in the center of the coffee table and allowing people to pick at what they want throughout the episode. No stovetop necessary.
You can include anything from salted crackers to salami to edible flowers on your board, but most important is the cheese. Include your favorites, but always a variety of cheeses: hard cheeses, like Parmesan or cheddar bites; soft and semi-soft cheeses, like burrata and Havarti; and crumbly cheeses like goat cheese. This way, there's something for everyone at your watch party to dig in to. Plus, this is a great way to incorporate something rose-shaped into your watch party — salami rose, anyone?
Nothing pairs better with cheese than red wine (which you can even have chilled if you want), so be sure to grab a bottle or two to get you through the night. Red is the color of love, after all, so red wine is the most suitable for this Bachelorette premiere night. And chocolate is a decadent sweet treat that shouldn't be left out here — add a chocolate covered nut or raisin to the center of your charcuterie board to satisfy everyone's craving for dessert — at least until the end of the episode.
A plate of poutine
If you watched Joey Graziadei's season of the Bachelor — season 28 — you know why poutine is essential for the watch party of a Jenn Tran Bachelorette season. In episode six, the girls went on a group date in Canada, visiting one of host Jesse Palmer's favorite restaurants to make their very own version of poutine. Equipped with french fries and loads of toppings, the girls set out to steal Joey's heart by feeding his stomach.
Jenn's poutine was a standout — but not necessarily in a good way. The now Bachelorette faced backlash after creating a less-than-typical poutine; she used chocolate syrup, pineapples, and sriracha to top her fries, much to the shock of the girls on the date around her. Joey gave her plate of poutine a 4 out of 10, but Jenn did get the date rose, so there's something to be said about the luck of the french fry.
Your poutine can be a lot more laid back – the basic ingredients for a good poutine are french fries, cheese curds, and some sort of gravy, but you can of course add any toppings you like. Poutine is great for sharing, as you can make a huge plate of these and set them out on the table for everyone to enjoy. And who doesn't love a french fry?
Mini Cuban sandwiches
It's likely that you've seen small finger sandwiches passed around as hors d'oeuvres at parties, so your watch party should be no different. If you're going finger sandwiches, opt for the Cuban sandwich, which consists of pan Cubano (or Cuban bread), mustard, mayonnaise, ham, pork, Swiss cheese, and pickles. Cuban bread has a different texture and flavor than regular bread, so it is essential to making a great Cuban sandwich. Jenn Tran is from Miami, where the Cuban sandwich is a widely accessible and quite hot commodity — and the city has a wide Cuban popularity, too.
So, Cuban sandwiches are the way to go if you want to bring a piece of Jenn Tran's hometown into your own home. Although the Cuban bread is important, if you're pressed for time and can't find any at your nearby supermarkets, try opting for Hawaiian rolls, instead. Always use yellow mustard for a Cuban sandwich, and make sure to toast the sandwich, either in the oven, on a panini press, or by toasting the bread before assembling. To make the Cuban even more elevated, use a honey-glazed or spicy ham, choose between pork tenderloin, pulled pork, and roast pork — Cuban-style or Puerto Rican-style, and butter the bread before assembling your sandwiches.
Chocolate martini
Let's get to the drinks, shall we? To me, the Bachelorette and its franchise partners speak to the romance, elegance, and decadence we all seek in our lives, and what is more decadent than chocolate, more elegant than a martini? If you're not a fan of the classic drop of olive juice or twist of a lemon, spice up the classic martini and make a chocolate one instead.
This martini will take a bit of chocolate liqueur – you can find out which one I recommend in my recent roundup — some Irish cream, and vodka. You can make it fancy by adding chocolate syrup to the rim, similar to how you'd salt the rim of a margarita. Drink it neat for the most potent of flavors, on the rocks to keep it extra cold when those Bachelorette scenes start to build the heat, or frozen, which is all the fun of drinking a slushie with a little added booze. This sweet, rich drink is the best one to get your watch party started.
Mocktails
Alcohol doesn't have to be served at your watch party for it to be fun, so if you're sober, just not drinking, or if kids will be attending your living room premiere, fear not. There are a myriad of great tasting mocktails for you to try to whip up. You can keep your mocktails simple by mixing fruit juices, berries, and herbs, or you can elevate your mocktail by making them spicy, using probiotic soda for a health kick, or going all-out with your presentation.
For example, if you're making a virgin mojito, you can add lime and mint to your ice tray before freezing your ice cubes, so once your ice melts, the freshness and sharpness of the citrus and herbs permeate the drink, which can consist of sparkling water, simple syrup, mint, and lime juice. You can also keep your mocktails simple by using flavored sparkling water or fruit juices.
The Bachelor Nation website suggests combining orange juice, cranberry juice, peach nectar, and grenadine together for a Bachelor franchise-themed mocktail. You can try pairing any of your preferred flavors together, like lemon and fruit punch, or pineapple and peach, all common flavors in various sparkling drink brands. To add a little flare, garnish with a fruit slice of your choice, and your watch party is back in action — with no chance of a hangover tomorrow.
Sparkling cosmopolitan
Nothing screams girl power more than a cosmo, and if you don't know why, go stream "Sex and the City" and you'll have your answer. Carrie Bradshaw famously orders a cosmopolitan at a McDonald's, and after that, the drink was a popular bar order all over New York City. It helps that the drink is a pretty-in-pink color and perfect to order for a girls night out — or in, for your Bachelorette premiere watch party. Get the girls together, make a few cosmos, and watch the leading lady find her one true love.
A basic cosmo consists of vodka, orange liqueur, cranberry juice, lime juice, and an orange peel as a garnish. You can also make a sparkling cosmo and add bubbles to the drink to emulate Jenn's fun and bubbly personality. All you need is a bottle of Champagne on hand — you'll top the drink with Champagne the same way you'd top a drink with club soda. The result is a pink, bubbly, fruity, and sweet drink that is like girl power in liquid form.
Anything homemade
Probably an under-the-radar trait of Jenn's is that she loves to cook. Jenn has whipped up anything from spring rolls to cheeseburgers to crème brûlée; her cooking skills expand from appetizers to entrées, so it's best for your at-home Bachelorette premiere to include some homemade meals that require some effort to make. Jenn especially loves homemade Vietnamese food, as part of the cultural traditions she wants to pass on to her children.
To honor this part of Jenn, you can try making spring rolls or egg rolls at home — a perfect themed finger food to make a minimal mess at your watch party but also bring you and your guests closer to the Bachelorette. If you want to stay on a sweeter track, try making a Vietnamese pandan cake, which is shaped like a Bundt cake and flavored with coconut and pandan, which has an earthy, floral taste and hints of vanilla. Whatever you decide to make, channel your inner Jenn by spending some time in the kitchen prior to the premiere.