No Halloween Party is Complete Without Graveyard Dirt Cups
If you're throwing a Halloween party, you want to provide your guests with spooky food that's creative and also delicious. Luckily, curating a Halloween-themed menu isn't all that hard, and you have lots of options. Here are 20 homemade dishes for your Halloween party.
1. Mummy Hot Dogs
This Halloween buffet staple is simply mini hot dogs wrapped in crescent roll dough with small gaps for "eyes". You bake until golden and then dot with mustard and ketchup to create spooky peppers. This is a crowd-pleaser for kids and adults.
2. Spooky Mini Pizzas
Transform boring mini pizzas into haunted delights by shaping the mozzarella into ghosts, using olives for eyes, and pepperoni for a jack-o'-lantern face. Bake until the cheese bubbles, and your guests will love casually snacking on them.
3. Monster Cupcakes
To make this Halloween twist on cupcakes, start with your favorite cupcake recipe and then decorate with frosting, candy eyes, and gummy "teeth". Use different icing tips to create a terrifying smile or textured fur.
4. Graveyard Dirt Cups
Layer chocolate pudding, crushed Oreos, and gummy worms in a transparent cup to make an edible graveyard. You can also add cookie tombstones and use icing to write macabre epitaphs. They are easy to make ahead of time and will go over well with your guests.
5. Severed Finger Hot Dogs
Slice the ends of hot dogs to look like fingernails and knuckle lines. You can boil or grill them and serve them with ketchup as "blood". It's a creepy little party trick that's simple to make.
6. Witch Finger Cookies
Take almond-flavored shortbread and shape it into fingers with the almond acting as nails. Use red jam for "blood" and serve on a dark platter to make it as frightening as possible. They're delicious, buttery, crispy, and wickedly good.
7. Pumpkin Chili
This hearty chili is both Halloween and fall-themed and will delight your guests. It's a seasonal and spooky twist on the classic American dish. Serve it in hollowed-out mini pumpkins. It's comforting, fun, warm, and will give the feel of fall to your Halloween party.
8. Jack-O'-Lantern Quesadillas
Start by cutting pumpkin faces into tortillas, and then fill them with cheese, and grill until its golden brown and melty. The face crisps up nicely, and the gooey cheese will be in every bite. Serve with salsa for dipping.
9. Spider Web Taco Dip
Layer refried beans, sour cream, salsa, cheese, and guacamole in a clear bowl. Then pipe some more sour cream on top in a spider-web pattern and place a plastic spider in the center. Serve with tortilla chips for dipping.
10. Vampire Bite Cupcakes
Make red velvet cupcakes with a raspberry jam center. The jam acts as the blood, and you can add two small fang marks on top and use red syrup for some additional dripping blood.
11. Brainy Mac and Cheese
Bake a batch of mac and cheese and dye it pink or grey with food coloring. Then swirl it into a gelatin brain mold. After it's cooled, unmold it onto a platter. It actually jiggles like a brain.
12. Pretzel Spider Webs
Arrange pretzel sticks in a web shape and drizzle melted chocolate on top to form the appearance of spider-webs. This sweet and salty treat is a fun thing to make with kids and perfect for any Halloween snack table.
13. Pumpkin Patch Brownies
To make a batch of these Halloween treats, top chocolate brownies with crushed Oreos, which act as the dirt, and then plant candy pumpkins on top. Add green frosting vines to make a realistic-looking and tasty dessert.
14. Bat Wing Chicken Wings
This homemade Halloween dish is a total treat. Toss baked chicken wings in dark soy sauce for a creepy black sheen that will make them look like bat wings.
15. Monster Munch Popcorn Mix
Mix popcorn with candy corn, pretzels, chocolate drizzle, and Halloween-colored M&Ms. Serve this mix to your guests in orange cups or a big cauldron, if you can get your hands on one. It's a great grab-and-go snack for any Halloween party.
16. Poison Toffee Apples
Cover apples in black candy coating or dark caramel to give them a creepy look straight out of a macabre fairy tale. They are evilly delicious and a fun twist on a fall classic treat.
17. Eyeball Spaghetti
This one is really gross and fun. Serve a bowl of spaghetti with meatballs topped with mozzarella slices and olives for "pupil." This effect is funny and weird, especially when paired with marinara "blood sauce". This also makes for a hearty dinner.
18. Stuffed "Jack'O'-Lantern" Peppers
Carve faces into hollowed-out orange bell peppers and fill them with beans, rice, and some taco stuffing. All that's left is to bake them until they're tender. They look like edible mini pumpkins and taste amazing. They also make a nice, healthy option for your Halloween party spread.
19. Ghost Meringues
Make a batch of simple meringue cookies shaped like ghosts and ghouls, using chocolate chips for the eyes. This dish is crispy, light, a bit sweet, and will melt in your guests' mouths. Don't be intimidated about making meringue cookies, as you can find an easy recipe.
20. Witches' Brew Punch
This is a Halloween party menu must. Combine lime sherbet, lemon-lime soda, and pineapple juice to make a bubbling and eerie green punch. Add a block of dry ice to create a smoky cauldron effect. This is a showstopping centerpiece for your buffet table.
Letícia Fracalossi on Unsplash
