Coco Dinner

Coco is a delightful film that celebrates Mexican culture, music, and family. Our family had a fantastic time creating a festive Coco Disney dinner and family movie night. Read on to get our favorite recipes and fun activities the whole family will enjoy!

Coco Disney Dinner & Movie Night

About the Movie

Coco (2017) is a Disney-Pixar animated film that follows a 12 year old boy named Miguel who is accidentally transported to the land of the dead where he reunites with his ancestors and uncovers the mystery of why his family banned music.

The film was inspired by the Mexican holiday, Día de los Muertos, (Day of the Dead). Día de los Muertos is a celebration of life that focuses on families gathering together to remember those who have passed before them and invites them briefly back into their lives.

Coco offers an opportunity to learn about Día de los Muertos and Mexican culture & traditions. In addition, Coco celebrates the gift of family and carries themes of forgiveness and seizing the moment to live to the fullest.

Tablescape

Our Coco tablescape was inspired by marigolds, the flower most commonly used in Día de los Muertos celebrations. To echo the marigold, we chose a vibrant yellow tablecloth and spiced orange table runner for our table.

Marigolds are used on Día de los Muertos because it is believed that the flower’s scent and bright color will lure souls to their altars. Many people also use paper marigolds to ensure the colorful effect is as striking as possible. In addition, candles are used during Día de los Muertos to welcome spirits back to their altars.

We carried the marigold theme into our place settings with these cute DIY marigold napkin rings. They are simple to make and take just a few minutes. Get our tutorial here. We paired them with turquoise napkins, white dinnerware, and basic stemware.

For our decor we incorporated some fun Mexican traditions including a mini piñata and papel picado. Papel picado is a Mexican folk art created by cutting elaborate designs into sheets of tissue paper. They are displayed for a variety of Mexican holidays including Easter, Christmas and Día de los Muertos. Check out our Mexico unit study for a papel picado tutorial.

The Menu

We served our family’s favorite Mexican inspired recipes to celebrate Coco‘s setting. The dinner took us on our journey through Mexico with refreshing frozen strawberry lemonade, creamy queso blanco & chips, a vibrant Mexican caprese salad, delicious vegetable enchiladas, and a trio of decadent Mexican desserts. Our menu below includes links to the delicious recipes.

Frozen Strawberry Lemonade

This non-alcoholic blended strawberry lemonade is so refreshing. It is made with lemonade concentrate and offers the perfect balance of tart and sweet when combined with fresh or frozen strawberries. Garnish it with a plump strawberry, kick back, and enjoy this tropical delight. Get our recipe here.

Creamy Queso Blanco & Chips

We love Queso Blanco in this house! Our recipe is gooey, rich, and delicious with just a little kick. This recipe is perfect for parties, game nights, or Mexican fiestas and takes just 15 minutes and a few ingredients to make from scratch. Serve it with your favorite tortilla chips or fresh veggies. Get our recipe here.

Mexican Caprese Salad

I’m a huge fan of a traditional Italian Caprese salad. We created a delicious salad for this menu inspired by the traditional Caprese salad but with a southwestern twist. Fresh juicy sliced tomatoes are topped with fresh cilantro and Queso Fresco and are dressed with a zesty cilantro-lime dressing. Get our recipe here.

Vegetable Enchiladas

I’ve been making vegetable enchiladas for our family for years and am happy to finally share my recipe. The filling is made up of vibrant flavors from the garden: corn, zucchini, beans, chiles, tomatoes. They are topped with a delicious and very easy flavorful red enchilada sauce, sprinkled with Queso Fresco, and served with sour cream, pico de gallo, and guacamole. Yum! Get our recipe here.

Trio of Desserts

For our trio of desserts we selected traditional Mexican desserts with a twist: Tres leches cupcakes, churros with dulce de leche dipping sauce, and Mexican hot chocolate cookies. All the desserts are small in portion sizes so you can enjoy all three to get a wonderful sampling of three of Mexico’s most famous desserts.

Tres Leches Cupcakes

These cupcakes have quickly become a favorite in our house! Tres leches cake is such a treat and these cupcakes from Tastes Better from Scratch deliver! Tres leches (milk cake) is decadent yet simple and is fabulous topped with homemade whipped cream and berries. These are a must try in my opinion!

Churros with Vanilla Ice Cream & Dulce de Leche

There is nothing like warm, fresh churros! They are surprisingly easy to make. We used Martha Stewart’s recipe. The churros are delicious dipped in dulce de leche or with a side of vanilla ice cream. Or both!

Mexican Chocolate Cookies

These cookies incorporate the flavors of Mexican hot chocolate – dark rich chocolate, cinnamon, and cayenne – and are delicious! We love Martha Stewart’s recipe for these rich, moist cookies. They are truly a treat!

Fun Activities

Our family is in the process of traveling around the world through Disney movies. To see our other destinations click here.

Our family enjoys learning about the culture and geography of each destination in our Around the World with Disney Movies series and this was no exception. We are experiential learners and love immersing ourselves through listening, reading, and hands-on activities! Click on the image below to take a virtual trip to Mexico with us through music, art, videos, hands-on activities, books, and more!