Holiday Planning & Ideas Halloween Halloween Recipes Our Favorite Recipes for the Best Halloween Menu Ever From creepy appetizers and scary main dishes, your guests will love these Halloween recipes. By Peggy Kieran Peggy Kieran Peggy is a freelance writer for MarthaStewart.com. Editorial Guidelines Updated on August 20, 2024 Close Photo: Addie Juell If you're looking to scare up some serious fun on Halloween, the best way to any goblin or ghoul's heart is through his or her stomach. Buying Halloween candy is one way to do it. Still, a more satisfying option is to serve a curated menu of festive appetizers, finger foods, and entrées that can keep guests of all ages happily full all evening long. After you've decked the halls with the spooky touches that make your home feel like a ghostly retreat, prep a few fun activities for lively mortals to enjoy—it's a great preamble to any formal seated dinner you have in mind. And if you're looking to keep it as informal as possible, serve a handful of our favorite Halloween treats and watch as spirits near and far come back for more. Some of our very best Halloween recipes are extremely creative, and, when plated properly, can feel like they've been concocted in the depths of a mad scientist's lab. These appetizers, snacks, cocktails, and main courses will keep hungry party guests content this October 31st. Our selection of festively scary foods is anything but eerie—the perfect addition to the best Halloween menu ever. 18 Halloween Centerpiece and Table Décor Ideas That Are Mysterious and Elegant 01 of 21 Warm Black-and-Blue Cheese Dip Kate Sears Cream cheese, blue cheese, and heavy cream come together with garlic and Worcestershire sauce to make a rich dip that all the ghosts and ghouls will want to sample. View Recipe 02 of 21 Bat and Cobweb Cookies for Halloween These cookies aren't only visually striking but delicious as well. They start with a gingery spiced dough that bakes up crisp and meltingly good. The royal icing has a lemony flavor with just the right consistency for piping bat eyeballs and spider legs—all in all, a great baking project for the whole family! View Recipe 03 of 21 Crudites With Miso-Yogurt Dip Chelsea Cavanaugh This yogurt-based yogurt is healthy and easy to make, but let's be real—the stars of this dish are the selection of veggies that have crossed over to the dark side, from purple carrots and potatoes to red cabbage and black radishes. View Recipe 04 of 21 Devilish Deviled Eggs Putting a sinister touch on party food takes nothing more than some simple sleight of hand—and a bit of heat. These deviled eggs have a spicy pimento filling that creates a festive orange hue, perfect for upping the freak-out factor of your Halloween spread. View Recipe 05 of 21 Black Lagoon Cocktail Johnny Miller This lemony vodka libation, garnished with black ice cubes and a licorice stick, is spooky enough to be part of your Halloween cocktail roundup. And the flavor is incredible, thanks to the ice cubes made of anise seeds and black food coloring. View Recipe 06 of 21 Smoky Black-Bean Salsa Chelsea Cavanaugh Is that pebbly sludge dredged up from a nearby swamp or a spicy, tangy, and speedy black bean salsa? Only a bite—or two—will reveal the true tastiness of the bowl. View Recipe 07 of 21 Bacon-Wrapped Prunes Also known as Devils on Horseback, these sinful bacon-wrapped bites only need about 5-minutes of prep work. Pop them in the oven right before your guests arrive as they're best served warm. View Recipe 08 of 21 Jalapeño Popper Dip Johnny Miller The creamy, spicy flavors in this bubbly, cheese-based dip will make your guests come back for seconds. Serve with crudites, chips, or crostinis. View Recipe 09 of 21 Glazed Chocolate Cake Decadent, rich, and elegant but oh-so-easy! Delicate curls of semisweet chocolate dress up the whipped cream for the ultimate garnish—because a party wouldn't be a party without a majestic treat to share. View Recipe 10 of 21 Acorn Squash With Mixed-Grain Stuffing Louise Hagger Spooky-looking but filling and delicious. The best part is that each component of this satisfying plant-based dish can be made in advance—and you can't deny the end result is Halloween-worthy! View Recipe 11 of 21 Prosciutto-Wrapped Fig Hearts Addie Juell On Halloween, creative presentation turns prosciutto slices into delightfully eerie horror d'oeuvres. Swap out the traditional prunes and bacon we showed you before for dried figs and prosciutto and up the ante with goat cheese—you can even drizzle them with a tangy, sweet raspberry sauce to mimic blood. View Recipe 12 of 21 Spiderweb Eggs Kate Sears It may look like a swarm of spiders got into the henhouse, but these eggs are another Halloween hoax. View Recipe 13 of 21 Easy Red Sangria Fit for Dracula himself! This easy-to-make beverage is sure to please any crowd—it's made with brandy, orange and apple slices, orange juice, club soda, and of course red wine. For a kid-friendly punch, you can leave out the brandy and the red wine. View Recipe 14 of 21 Halloween Graveyard Ice Cream Pie If you've got some Halloween candy left, you're halfway to making this eerie—yet adorable—chocolate and vanilla ice cream pie. Use melted chocolate to affix candy skulls to cookie "tombstones" set in chocolate "dirt," then brace yourself for shrieks of delight. View Recipe 15 of 21 Black Candy Apples Nick & Chloe Clad in a sweet yet spooky black-sugar shell, these apples glow menacingly—and although impressive, they only take about 10 minutes to make and 15 to set. Perfect for a speedy Halloween treat. View Recipe 16 of 21 Roasted Kabocha Squash Soup Martyna Szczesna If you're planning to serve dinner for your Halloween menu, might as well make it hearty and healthy! The toasted ancho chiles in our recipe give it a mole-like smoky flavor—so in tune with the fall season. View Recipe 17 of 21 Shrunken Heads in Cider A one-of-a-kind Halloween drink, courtesy of a beloved reader. Here, Granny Smith apples receive a spooky carving, then baked until dehydrated to give them a "shrunken" appearance. To serve, simply make them float in a large bowl of punch View Recipe 18 of 21 No-Bake Spiderweb Cheesecake Set out a scrumptious cheesecake that doesn't require any oven! Innocents are snared easily by a ganache spiderweb and candy spiders—because a little bit of creep factor never hurts. View Recipe 19 of 21 Pumpkin-Seed Brittle Pumpkin seeds—season's bounty—get a sweet, sticky treatment in this brittle made with butter, sugar, and honey. The brittle can be enjoyed by itself or broken over ice cream. View Recipe 20 of 21 Popcorn on the Cob Aaron Dyer These "ears" of candied popcorn will be a hit, and it's the best excuse to celebrate the harvest season. For a Halloween-themed party, you can use black and orange parchment paper instead of unbleached. View Recipe 21 of 21 Halloween Brownies Give everyone's favorite chocolatey treat a frightening finish, and decorate them with royal icing webs and mummies with candy eyes. View Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit