If you’re short of time or inspiration, check out the Halloween food ideas below to create a memorable night.

Halloween night is just around the corner – are you planning on hosting a Halloween party for your family and friends?

Organising a Halloween dinner party can be stressful if you need to think of all the details involved in putting together a successful Halloween menu.

Where Does Halloween Come From?

More than 2,000 years ago, the Celts – the people living across Ireland, the UK and Northern France – believed that on the night before new year the worlds of the dead and the living became one and ghosts came back to earth.

The 31st of October was the Celtic New Year’s Eve and the 1st of November was their New Year.

They would celebrate the end of the summer and harvesting and the start of the dark winter days. It was also the time of the year associated with death and dying, both in the human and the natural world. 

The Halloween tradition originates with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts during the night before New Year (1).

The Most Important Halloween Traditions 

Nowadays, Halloween seems like an American tradition, but this celebration was popularised in America by new European immigrants, specially the Irish when they flooded to America during the Irish Potato Famine.

The American trick-or-treating tradition dates back to All Souls’ Day parades in England. 

During these festivities, poor people would pray for food and families would give them pastries called “soul cakes” in return for praying for their family’s dead relatives (2).

Americans adopted this custom and ended up dressing up and going from door to door asking for sweets and money.

Over time, this tradition grew to become a party to get together with friends and neighbours.

This more up-to-date custom has been now adopted back in the UK and the rest of the world. 

What is the Most Popular Halloween Food?

In keeping with Halloween traditions, sweets are the most popular food to incorporate in your Halloween party.

But if you want to host a Halloween dinner party, you will need to include some savoury options too.

Here I share a whole menu with easy Halloween food ideas to surprise and delight your friends and family.

This menu includes sweets in the cocktail and the dessert. 

I’ve also included savoury Halloween food options with tortilla chips and guacamole pumpkin starters and an easy-to-make scary pizza recipe for the main dish.

What Food Should You Buy for a Halloween Party?

Below is the shopping list to launch a Halloween party with 4 courses including cocktail, starter, main and dessert:

Halloween Food Shopping List:

Ingredients for the cocktail:

• Martini glasses: click here
• Ice
• Prosecco
• White martini
• Soda water
• Bloody eyeballs: click here

Ingredients for the starter:

• Halloween pumpkin
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Black pepper
• Salt
• Fresh basil 
• 2 avocados
• 1 large vine tomato
• 1 spring onion
• 1 lime
• Cholula: get it here
• Tortilla chips: get them here

Ingredients for the Main Dish:

• 8 mini pizza bases
• 8 mozzarella slices
• Marinara sauce
• Black olives
• Oregano

Ingredients for the Dessert:

• 250g 70% cocoa solid chocolate
• 250g good quality butter
• 4 eggs
• 250g golden caster sugar
• 2 heaped tbsp of self raising flour
• 2 heaped tbsp of quality cocoa powder
• Bloody eyeballs: click here

Recipes for Your Halloween Party

Get creative with these Halloween food ideas: welcome cocktail, spooky Halloween starter, scary main dish and creepy dessert.

Halloween Welcome Cocktail

This cocktail is a Halloween food idea for adults but the other recipes will work just as well for your Halloween kids party.

Bloody Eyeballs Martini Cocktail:

Ingredients:

• Ice
• Prosecco
• White martini
• Soda water
• Bloody eyeballs: click here 

Method:

1. Put the martini glasses in the fridge to chill.
2. Fill your mixing glass with  plenty of ice.
3. Add 3 parts prosecco & 2 parts white martini.
4. Add a dash of soda water.
5. Stir until the outside feels cold.
6. Strain the mix into the chilled glasses.
7. Thread the eyeballs onto cocktail sticks (I’ve used these ones from Amazon).
8. Garnish the cocktails with the eyeball skewers.

Spooky Halloween Starter

 Tortilla Chips and Guacamole Pumpkin 

Ingredients:

• Halloween pumpkin: watch this short video to learn how to make one
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Black pepper
• Fresh basil 
• 2 avocados
• 1 large vine tomato
• 1 spring onion
• 1 lime
• cholula: get it here
• tortilla chips: get them here

Method:

• To make the guacamole, cut the avocados in half lengthwise and twist them apart. Remove the pit with the knife and scoop everything into a dish. Smash it with a fork, then add salt, pepper, olive oil, and lime. Add diced tomato, diced spring onion and some chopped basil. Mix it all together.
• Put some tortilla chips into a serving dish and some guacamole on top, and serve with cholula. Make it look like the guacamole is coming out of the pumpkin’s mouth.

Scary Halloween Main Dish

Ghost Pizzas

Ingredients:

• 8 mini pizza bases
• 8 mozzarella slices
• Marinara sauce
• Black olives
• Oregano

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
2. Add some marinara sauce to the pizza bases.
3. Cut the mozzarella slices into small ghost shapes and add it into the pizza bases.
4. Bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
5. Cut the olives into eye shapes and add them to the ghosts.
6. Sprinkle some oregano.

Creepy Halloween Dessert

Bloody Eyeballs Brownie

Ingredients:

• 250g 70% cocoa solid chocolate
• 250g good quality butter
• 4 eggs
• 250g golden caster sugar
• 2 heaped tbsp of self raising flour
• 2 heaped tbsp of quality cocoa powder
• Bloody eyeballs: click here

Method:

1. Melt the cocoa with the butter on a low heat.
2. Combine the eggs with the caster sugar and whisk up all together until the sugar is dissolved.
3. Use a sieve to add the flour and the cocoa powder into the bowl with the eggs and sugar mixture.
4. Whisk it.
5. Once the cocoa and the butter are melted add a pinch of salt and add the mixture to the bowl with the eggs and sugar. Whisk it all together.
6. Spoon the mixture into a lined tin and spread it evenly. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until crisp but slightly wobbly. 
7. Cool down.
8. Make little holes in the surface of the brownie and place the bloody eyeballs on them.

GET YOUR Halloween Menu PDF HERE

What To Do Next

Grab the Halloween shopping list here and buy everything you need. 

You can do the shopping online a few days before Halloween to avoid any last-minute rush.

Try to make the dessert the day before so you have enough time to prepare the rest of the courses on the day of the party.

You can also prepare the Halloween pumpkin a couple of days before; it will last well for at least a week.

What are you waiting for? Get started organising your dinner party with these delicious and easy Halloween food ideas.

You can get more inspiration for your Halloween dinner party with some of the tapas or winter recipes from my book.

“The Little Mediterranean Cookbook: How to Cook Simple Mediterranean Dishes from Spain”.

Also, check out other posts:

Click here to check out “How to make a grocery list on a budget + batch cooking plan”

Click here to check out “FRUGAL LIVING TIPS TO ACHIEVE FINANCIAL FREEDOM”