Halloween Food Ideas, Menus & Dinner Recipes (2024)

Credit: Tara Donne; Styling: Erin Swift

Whether you're hosting the neighborhood Halloween party or just having folks over before or after trick-or-treating, these Halloween menus will help you celebrate All Hallows Eve in great spirits. Before you send the kids out to eat tons of candy, fill their tummies with a fun and easy Halloween dinner. Quesadilla easily transform into DIY edible jack-o-lanterns, a hearty bowl of chili is an easily customizable option, and the costume swap party is just genius. Any excuse to make these Halloween menus work for us, so long as we're invited.

Death by Chocolate

Halloween Supper Menu Tout

Put a spooky twist on this seasonal meal with olives disguised as spiders and a creepy cobweb cake. To enjoy fall's best produce, serve recipes featuring pumpkin, parsnips, pears, and carrots.

Harvest Moon Lollipops

Fun with Friendly Ghosts Tout

What's not to love about a menu featuring Brew-Ha-Ha Punch, Weiner Worms, and candy-decorated moonpies on a stick? Dressing up in a costume is recommended but not required.

Jack-o'-lantern Quesadillas

Kids' Halloween Dinner Menu Tout

Friendly pumpkin-shaped quesadillas served alongside "bloody" soup and "bug-filled" salad will put the whole family in a festive, Halloween spirit.

Rocky Road Bark

Halloween Costume-Swap Party Tout

Simple sweets like fudge, caramel popcorn, and rocky road bars are easy pick-ups that pair well with chocolate spiced coffee. Place the treats around the house for guests to enjoy while the kids trick-or-treat.

Halloween Bake Shop

Halloween Bake Shop Tout

Serve all things sweet this Halloween with cookies shaped like jack-o'-lanterns, witches, and eyeballs, a cake disguised as a graveyard, and skeleton and ghost cupcakes.

Halloween Party Menu

Halloween Party Menu Tout

Revel in the Halloween fun by hosting a party featuring spooky foods like Bucket o' Bones (ribs), Voodoo Fondoo (cheese dip), Finger Food (green beans and carrot sticks) and Blood Bath Punch (cranberry juice co*cktail).

Halloween Open House

Halloween Open House Tout

The centerpiece of this block party is the food – delicious and just creepy enough to keep with the theme. White Chicken Stew Brew anchors the menu as a hearty main dish, while the Pumpkin Cheese Ball and Monster Eyes provide plenty for kids to snack on throughout the party.

Boil and Bubble Soup Cauldron

A Wicked Boo! Fete Tout

Although the recipes sound scary–Boil and Bubble Soup Cauldron, Spook Crisps, Bleach Bones and Bloodshot Eyes–we guarantee that they won't scare off your bunch of hungry goblins. Menu: A Wicked Boo! Fete

Halloween Green Bean Salad

A Spooky Halloween Menu Tout

Satisfy the kids' appetites with a wholesome supper before they go trick–or–treating. Once they fill up on Creamy Bacon Dip and Barbecue Pizza Bites, they might pace themselves a little on the candy. Or not.

Meringue Ghosts

Ghostly Gathering Tout

You don't even have to twitch your nose to create this bewitching menu featuring Roast Chickens with Vampireproof Garlic Garland, Green Salad with Dracula's Teeth, Broomstick Breadsticks, and Meringue Ghosts. It's easy, it's fun, and it it'll work magic on your hungry guests.

Mexican Ham and Bean Soup

Soup for Supper Tout

When you're headed out o the carnival or to trick-or-treat, a complicated menu is not what you need. This two-recipe supper featuring hearty bean soup and oatmeal bread is an ideal way to start your busy, fun-filled night.

Southwestern Chili

Casual Chili Party Tout

For a casual come-and-go gathering on Halloween night, consider a chili buffet that practically serves itself.

Pumpkin Mini Muffins

Wicked Good Fun Menu Menu

No tricks this year–just delicious treats to serve to spirited friends.

Vampire Dinner Menu

Vampire Dinner Menu Menu

With this collection of fang-tastic food, give 'em a thrill on the spookiest night of the year.

Spectacular Dinner Menu

Spectacular Dinner Menu Menu

Serve up some Halloween fun with this hauntingly tasty dinner for eight.

Coconut-Granola Rice Cereal Pops

Scare Up a Crowd Menu Menu

Decorate your table with vintage books and anatomical prints for an artful Halloween vibe. A pitcher of Blood Orange-Bourbon Coolers will add the perfect spot of orange to the setting.