22 Spooky Halloween Dinner Ideas

Plan a frightfully fun Halloween dinner with these recipes. From ghoulishly delightful appetizers and entrees to devilishly sweet desserts and wicked good cocktails, you'll find ideas here to help you create the ultimate Halloween menu. Whether you're hosting an adult Halloween get together or a costume party for kids, these Halloween recipes will keep everyone monster mashing on a full stomach all night long.

18 Spooky Snacks and Party Foods for Halloween

01 of 22

Jalapeno Peach Halloween Cheese Ball

The Spruce

Add this dark and creepy cheese ball to your Halloween party. Its appropriately forbidding outer crust of black sesame seeds hides a deliciously cheesy interior flavored with spicy jalapeños, sweet peaches, and zesty chives. Arrange it on a platter with rye crisps, black Kalamata olives, and dark cured meats for a frightfully grown-up spread.
02 of 22

Eyeball Deviled Eggs

The Spruce

Give Halloween dinner guests the evil eye—literally—with these startling deviled egg appetizers. Adding food coloring to the yolks-and-mayo filling turns the "eyeballs" a spooky green, while a sprinkle of paprika creates a bloodshot effect for olive pupils.
03 of 22

Garlic Miso Soup

The Spruce/Emily Hawkes

Want to know if you're hosting vampires at dinner? Serve this garlickly miso soup. It's a fang-tastically tasty vegetarian and vegan first course, with extra flavor from tofu and shiitake mushrooms. Prepare it in 15 minutes for a last-minute appetizer that will keep blood-suckers at bay.
04 of 22

Mummy Hot Dogs

The Spruce

If your Halloween dinner table includes kids, you can't go wrong with these mischievous mummy hot dog. Even grown-ups will smile at this spookier version of pigs-in-a-blanket, with cute little hot dogs wrapped in crescent roll dough strips to look like mummies risen from the tomb. Serve with "haunted" honey-mustard for dipping.

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05 of 22

Blood Red Halloween Sangria

The Spruce/Julia Hartbeck

Create a spooktacular impression with this "bloody" red sangria Halloween punch. Mix it up in a pitcher, using grenadine if you like to deepen the color of the red wine base. Chill overnight if possible, reserving soda and creepy candy decorations—such as gummy worms or edible candy spiders—to add just before the party starts.
06 of 22

Broiled Bat Wings With Barbecue Sauce

The Spruce/Julia Hartbeck

Add a few drops of black food coloring to the barbecue sauce for broiled chicken wings to turn them into Halloween-worthy "bat wings." They make a supernaturally sticky, sweet and savory Halloween appetizer for grown-up costume parties.
07 of 22

Bloody Rat Sliders

Diana Rattray

Kids and adults who enjoy meatloaf will love these wretchedly flavorful "ratburgers" made out of meatloaf. Form the meatloaf mixture into miniature burgers for baking and serving on slider buns slathered with "rat's blood" (aka barbecue sauce or ketchup). Use lean ground beef, versus extra-lean, for juicier sliders that don't dry out in the oven.
08 of 22

Vegetarian Witches Stew

The Spruce

Get your cauldron bubbling with this witchy green stew with an eerily enchanting aroma. A vegetarian coconut stew inspired by Thai cuisine, its ultra-flavorful green curry sauce looks right at home on your Halloween table. Feel free to add a few "witches fingers" (steamed asparagus tips) to bowls, for a fun and innovative presentation.

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09 of 22

Ghostbuster Cocktail

The Spruce/Julia Hartbeck

Who you gonna call when you throw a grown-up Halloween party? Dial up the glowing green Ghostbuster cocktail. It's a boo-tiful blend of fruity flavors, with peach and melon liqueurs creating an eerie green backdrop for a floating Irish cream "ghost."
10 of 22

Goblin Chops With Garlic and Herbs

The Spruce

What better way to prove you aren't afraid of goblins than serving them for dinner? Garlicky goblin chops (aka lamb loin chops) are tenderized with an easy overnight marinade, then grilled or broiled to perfection in minutes. Scatter the meat with fresh chopped herbs, and invite guests to pick up and gnaw on the bones.
11 of 22

Meaty Bloody Guts Pasta

Diana Rattray

This family-favorite pasta dish is a scary plate of "blood and guts." The easy tomato and ground beef sauce is nice and chunky and the perfect bloody-red color for Halloween feasts. Feel free to make it spicier, if you like, with red pepper flakes.
12 of 22

Mummy Pot Pies

The Spruce

Kids love food that's sized just for them. These individual chicken pot pies are monstrously cute and tasty to boot. Use any combination of fresh or frozen chopped vegetables in the savory pies, which include chicken chunks, hash brown potatoes, and a creamy Alfredo sauce. Topped with puffed pastry "bandages" and olive eyeballs, they're a surefire kid-pleaser.

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13 of 22

Roast Loin of Werewolf

The Spruce/Nita West

Roasted werewolf (beef tenderloin) never tasted so delectable. Mustard, dried herbs, and spices give the tender, roasted meat extra savory flavor that carnivorous guests will love. Cook it to the perfect medium-rare, and let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
14 of 22

Meatball Monster Sandwiches

The Spruce

Want to serve a scary-fun Halloween dinner for kids? Look no further than these terrifyingly tasty "monster" sandwiches that need only five ingredients and are easy to make with frozen pre-cooked meatballs, jarred spaghetti sauce, burger buns, and pimiento-stuffed olives for eyeballs.
15 of 22

Gremlin Chicken Enchiladas

The Spruce/Diana Chistruga

Gremlin green enchiladas loaded up with tender chicken, melty cheese, chewy corn tortillas, and a tangy chile verde sauce are just the thing to warm up guests on a chilly All Hallow's Eve. Make this dish ahead for your fridge, refrigerating up to two days before reheating and serving.
16 of 22

Skeleton Key Cocktail

The Spruce/Julia Hartbeck

Fun, spicy, and unique, the skeleton key is a perfect cocktail for adult Halloween parties. Build this scary-good sipper with fine Kentucky bourbon, spicy ginger beer, elderflower liqueur, and lemon juice, topping it with bitters for an extraordinary finish.

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17 of 22

Non-Alcoholic Sherbet Punch

Rita Maas/StockFood Creative/Getty Images

Sickly green, and deliciously sweet, this non-alcoholic sherbet party punch is a family favorite. Kids and adults will scream for this bubbly brew that includes lime sherbet, frozen citrus juice concentrates, and ginger ale. Add a few drops of green food coloring, if you like, to intensify the radioactive color.
18 of 22

Brain Jello Mold

BluIz60/Getty Images

Made of molded Jell-O, this jiggly brain makes a great, Halloween centerpiece. Make it with your choice of gelatin flavor, for a versatile dessert that is equal parts horrifying and delightful.
19 of 22

Sugar Skull Dessert Pizza

The Spruce

Transform a basic sugar cookie dough into a wickedly cool sugar skull dessert pizza. It is startlingly simple to create this Instagram-worthy Day of the Dead inspired dessert, by layering fruit and cream cheese frosting atop a giant cookie formed into a skull shape.
20 of 22

Chocolate Pumpkin Cake

Diana Rattray

Rich and sweet chocolate pumpkin cake is a frightfully tasty ending to any Halloween dinner. Cocoa and cinnamon combine with canned pumpkin puree for an ultra-moist, nicely-spiced cake. Bake it in a Bundt pan, decorating it with a ghostly dusting of powdered sugar, or orange-tinted frosting.

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21 of 22

Halloween Graveyard Cake

serts/Getty Images

Impress your family and friends with this Halloween graveyard cake that features spirits rising from the grave. Get kids involved in helping you decorate the chocolate pudding-topped sheet cake with all sorts of festively creepy candies and edible decorations.
22 of 22

Halloween Ghost Strawberries

The Spruce

Spooky-cute ghost strawberries are so simple to assemble, it's scary! All you need to do is dip fresh berries into melted white chocolate, then dab on dark chocolate "eyes" and "noses". Leave strawberry leaves intact, to serve as "hair."

Spooky Snacks and Party Foods for Halloween

22 Spooky Halloween Dinner Ideas

Non-Alcoholic Sherbet Punch