10 Dishes Themed After Your Favorite Oscar-Nominated Film

Last week, after a brief delay due to the LA fires, SNL star Bowan Yang and indie-darling Rachel Sennet announced the 2025 batch of Oscar nominees a little over a month before the March 2nd ceremony. And while we're still shook over the Academy's lack of recognizing "Challengers'" immaculate score, we've also begun planning ahead for our annual Oscar party. Playing off of themes and scenes from the 10 movies singled out as contenders for 2025's best picture winner, we sifted through our recipe box and selected a dish representative of each nominated feature. Perfect for gently punning on the shortlist of motion picture contenders and crave-able dishes, desserts, and drinks, your guests will appreciate the effort of thematically pairing your Academy Awards party fare to the films they're rooting for.

As the Oscar nominees ready themselves for a campaign, gather their dresses and suits, and pick up swag bags for the super-elite, we civilians can root for our favorite films with dishes honoring the nominees of our choice. So, whether or not (like us) you're crossing your fingers for "Anora" to ilk out an unlikely victory or hope "The Brutalist's" big swing pays off, deck your cinematic celebration with these topical dishes as you let the acceptance speeches wash over you.

Our favorite of the nominated pictures, Sean Baker's "Anora," stars Mikey Madison as the story's titular lead. An exotic dancer with Russian roots, Ani (an abbreviation of her Russian surname) allows herself to get swept up by an immature, fun-loving son of an oligarch. What begins as a reimagining of a "Pygmallian"-tale a la "Pretty Woman," "My Fair Lady," or "Cinderella" quickly tailspins into a Safdie Brothers-esque, full-throated, up-all-night adventure where the heroine stands toe to toe with hired-henchmen, Russian royalty, and bitter fellow strippers.

Cheer "Anora" on with a batch of borscht, Russia's signature beet soup, to reference the character's own background and brush with Russia's upper crust. Ideal for the winter, the hearty, colorful, beet-laden stew mimics both the movie's seasonality and geographical reference point but also provides the eye-catching flash of reddish hues we see reflected in "Anora's" neon-lit workplace and on-point costuming. A relatively simple dish comprised of less than a dozen ingredients, make your borscht up to a day ahead of Hollywood's biggest day and save yourself some of the stress you can spend on re-watching Sean Baker's near-masterpiece.

Recipe: Short Rib Borscht

Match "The Brutalist's" lengthy runtime with an equally arduous kitchen assignment: a homemade gingerbread house. A callback to Adrian Brody's architect character (László Tóth), our classic gingerbread house consists of homemade gingerbread and a light, sticky frosting to seal your building's structure. We suggest crafting one into a "Brutalist"-equal masterpiece, with stoney flourishes by tinting your frosting a cement-gray or even (like the recipe suggests) toying with the gingerbread's core ingredients.

In any case, your Brady Corbet-inspired structure surely should sit in the center of your Oscar-night buffet table. Though the film's subject matter focuses on the grim nature of the Holocaust's aftermath, as László and his wife Erzsébet attempt to rebuild their lives stateside postwar, the set designs of Judy Becker breathe life and realism into the architecture featured in Corbet's ambitious three-and-a-half-hour historical drama. Whether you'd like the film to take home the biggest award of the evening, are pulling for Brody to take home his second golden statuette, or for Becker herself to reap the reward of constructing believably time-specific pieces, put a little extra care in your gingerbread house and maybe employ a handful of Sour Patch Kids to stand in as the film's stars.

Recipe: Christmas Gingerbread House

The scene where Boyd Holbrook's Johnny Cash offers Timothée Chalamet's Bob Dylan a Bugle while intoxicated and struggling to back out of a parking space was probably a fabrication to fit the film's plot points. However, the mention of the iconic instrument-shaped corn snack provides "A Complete Unknown" with one of its finest moments of levity. Cash, after gifting Dylan an entire pack of cigarettes after only asking for one, tells the polkadot-clad rising star that Bugles are "this new snack you can only find in certain places."

An invention emblematic of the '60s, General Mills first released the horn-motifed snack in 1964, and the brief mention of the consumable relic further anchors James Mangold's Bob Dylan biopic in the era of the folk star's rise to fame.

Nod at "A Complete Unknown's" reference to the mid-century snack food by baking a batch (or two) of our homemade snack mix, swapping out the Crispix bites for Johnny Cash's aforementioned road snack.

Recipe: Crispix Arare – Sweet and Savory Snack Mix

A rare PG-rated Oscar candidate centers on a group of cardinals tasked with voting who among them will assume the role of the pope after the passing of the former figurehead during the film's opening act. Dressed in dense, flowing robes and matching zucchettos (a kind of Catholic skullcap), "Conclave" at first glance doesn't resemble a stereotypical splashy Hollywood movie.

But as the story progresses, the cardinals, like teenagers in a cafeteria, fall victim to gossip, hearsay, and even backstabbing. The votes for the succeeding pope sway to and from a handful of the devoted clergy, who begin to flock to the film's reluctant hero, Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes). The film, besides attire and topic, begins to shade more to a workplace thriller we're accustomed to.

Though "Conclave" features an indelible scene of John Lithgow preparing a Nespresso, manning a mediocre coffee machine for the duration of the Oscars feels even more exhausting than the nun's daily chores in the Sistine Chapel. So, to tie in "Conclave's" Catholic backdrop, roll up your sleeves and knead your way to a homemade loaf of cocktail party rye bread to gesture to the church's tradition of consuming a communal wafer. Serve it alongside a pairing of red wine to really drive home your message.

Recipe: Cocktail Party Rye Bread

The latest installment of Denis Villeneuve's ambitious space epic is "Dune: Part 2." Set off the earth's bountiful surface, "Dune's" characters aren't depicted eating often, and, if anything, they fear becoming a consumable for the film's enormous, human-eating sandworms.

So, to sashay the sci-fi universe's own fictitious food pyramid, we nudge you to try using pecan sandies to tie in the second installments of the other Timothée Chalamet-nominated movie of the year. Mimicking the landscape of "Dune's" desolate, tawny sets, our pecan sandies will only eat up an hour of your time and provide your party with a sweet item an otherwise savory-leaning affair might miss.

Recipe: Pecan Sandies

Both beloved and criticized, "Emilia Pérez" leads the pack of nominees with a whopping 13 recognitions from the Academy. It's primed to take home an unparalleled amount of awards on March 2nd, including nods to both Zoe Saldana and Karla Sofía Gascón for best supporting actress and best actress, respectively, and, of course, best picture. Though set largely in Mexico, "Emilia Pérez" was helmed by the French filmmaker Jacques Audiard.

Signal to the multi-national origins of "Emilia Pérez" by re-creating our inventive chicken cordon bleu tacos, which hybridize Mexico's handheld meal with France's poultry classic. A cheese-stuffed chicken breast encased in a light breading, the origins of chicken cordon bleu date back to a nearly century-past cooking competition; thus, the cordon blue (translated into "blue ribbon" in French) was born and became a standard bearer of French cuisine. Marry the French dish with the appeal of a griddled taco and serve up "Emila Pérez"-themed, portable appetizers fit for mingling.

Recipe: Chicken Cordon Bleu-Style French Tacos

Perhaps the most obscure of the 10 nominated pictures, "I'm Still Here" is Walter Salle's harrowing tale of a wife in search of answers regarding the disappearance of her politician husband. The film won its lead actress a Golden Globe. Now, Fernanda Torres has a shot at a best actress Oscar, along with the film's nomination for best picture.

Based on a true story with a severe backdrop, riffing on an applicable edible to represent the Brazillian film needs to remain respectful. We urge you to prepare a big batch of Brazillian rice to honor the film's message. Simple and satisfying, this long-grain rice dish only asks for a few sparse ingredients and will handily soak up any of Oscar-night's imbibing.

Recipe: Easy Brazillian Rice

One of five of the best picture contenders paying homage to a book, "Nickel Boys" reimagines Coleson Whitehead's (Pulitzer-prize winning) novel of the same name into a first-person whirlwind. Set in the harsh environs of an all-black Southern reform school amidst the Jim Crow era, director RaMell Ross transforms Whitehead's masterwork into a dizzying, first-person narrative to tell his version of Elwood and Turner's friendship.

To quench your desire to pay homage to the period piece, simply stir up a batch of lemonade to point at the character's drink of relief after a long day of outdoor labor. Yes, Beyoncé more than successfully claimed the citrus beverage as her own when she released her album by borrowing the name of the iconic summer beverage. However, her insight into transforming something sour into a treat still rings true when applied to "Nickel Boys'" strongest scenes.

Recipe: Simple Classic Lemonade

A shocking body-horror consideration for best picture, "The Substance" just may be the most unlikely best picture nominee Hollywood has seen in decades. But, despite the graphic gore and intentionally disgusting visuals, "The Substance," at the end of the day, is a Hollywood fairy tale for Hollywood to both gawk at and applaud — starring one of its more enduring starlets, no less — Demi Moore.

Once the indelible images of Elisabeth Sparkle's physical rot wear off, the film becomes an updated "Sunset Boulevard" or "All About Eve" just as much as it waves at the works of David Cronenberg and David Lynch. The genre piece centers around an aging television workout beauty who seeks out a cure to reverse the signs of aging that got her unfairly canned from her daytime TV gig.

"The Substance's" titular substances arrive in Sparkle's hands housed in syringes filled with a neon chartreuse liquid. Mold pistachio Jell-O shots after the life-altering fluid by planning ahead of time and setting your shots at least a day prior. Earn extra points with your Oscar-party guests by tracking down food-safe syringes with large mouths so those wanting to try the substance can simply squirt a dose into their mouths.

Recipe: Pistachio-Amaretto Jell-O Shots

The most popular (and highest-grossing) movie of the bunch, "Wicked's" long-anticipated arrival into the pop culture hemisphere hued the landscape bright green and cotton-candy pink for the duration of the film's reign.

Though you may expect a confection to stand in as "Wicked's" culinary cipher on our Oscar night smorgasbord, we're reading deeper into the "Wizard of Oz" origin story and suggesting a party-size wasabi ginger guacamole bowl equipped with plenty of spicy, green wasabi and pickled, pink ginger to act as the Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande two-hander. Like the film's central witches, ginger (Grande/Galinda) and wasabi (Erivo/Elphaba) play well together by mellowing each's most distinct quality. However, overdo it on either of the two sushi companions, and be left with a dominating flavor not even the thickest chip's surface could combat. 

Recipe: Sinus-Clearing Ginger Wasabi Guacamole