Planning a Halloween party but don’t want it to bleed your food budget dry? We’ve got you covered tighter than a mummy’s wrappings! Here are ideas for snacks and beverages for both kids and adults, so no one leaves your celebration looking like a skeleton.
(For more Halloween party tips, including decorating, entertainment and more, check out our guides to hosting a Halloween movie night and throwing a haunting Halloween bash on a budget.)
Photo: Deposit photos
Halloween party food to die for
Even grownups like to have fun with their food. Here are some ideas for cheap and easy Halloween snacks that will please kids and adults alike.
Our recipe for Halloween fingers uses a simple and yummy shortbread recipe, while the nails are almond slices held on by icing or raspberry jam. They’re even better when they’ve been able to sit for a while, so you can make them in advance.
Photo: Kathy Mayers
Chips and dip are always a hit. Make it more gross interesting by using this serving idea for guacamole. Resemblance to the barf emoji is definitely not coincidental. For those with especially strong stomachs, check out these ideas for ways to turn hot dogs, lunchmeat and, yes, more guacamole into really disgusting Halloween food.
Apple teeth and apple monsters. Remember those wax lips and fake Dracula fangs that are a perennial Halloween hit? This snack creates fake lips and teeth with apple slices and mini-marshmallows. Or go all mythological with one-eyed Cyclops monsters (pictured below). Put a dot of chocolate frosting in the center of a halved large marshmallow for the eye; snip the other half of the marshmallow to make the jagged teeth.
Photo: Deposit photos
Mummies in blankets. These adorable appetizers are too cute to be scary. Pigs in a blanket are a classic party food that everyone loves; the same will be true of these mini hot dogs wrapped mummy-style in biscuit dough. (You can also use peppercorns for eyes.)
Photo: Deposit photos
Banana ghosts and pumpkin tangerines. More adorable and healthy snacks that couldn’t be simpler! Use halved bananas with chocolate chip eyes (and mouths, if you want). See the photo below. Or, put a thin sliver of celery in the center of a whole orange, clementine or tangerine to create a stem for a miniature “pumpkin.”
Photo: Deposit photos
Jack-o-lantern cake: Follow our easy instructions for this jack-o-lantern baked in a Bundt pan. (Note: The frosting on the illustration below is done with fondant, so don’t worry if yours doesn’t look as smooth — it’s not a Pinterest fail!)
Halloween popcorn: Think of it as Halloween trail mix: Popcorn with candy corn, gummy worms or whatever seasonal candy is on sale. (We tell you how to save on Halloween candy here.) Or try this budget Halloween snack mix.
Spider web cupcakes: Make it easy on yourself — bake or buy some cupcakes with plain white or orange frosting, then draw a spider web with a tube of black decorator icing and a toothpick. Add plastic spiders from the dollar store and you’re done!
Frankenstein, jack-o-lantern, and ghost pudding cups involve pudding, clear plastic cups and a black permanent marker to draw on the cups with. Can’t get too much easier!
If you don’t mind the mixed messaging of Halloween snowmen, these snacks made with marshmallows, candy corn and pretzel sticks are a hit with kids, who can even help make them. Another three-ingredient, kid-friendly snack is these witch’s broomsticks.
Finally, this 20-minute vanilla fudge is a swirl of neon green, orange and black, topped with Halloween-colored sprinkles. It’s irresistible to look at and is bound to disappear faster than a vampire at dawn.
Frighteningly fun drinks
Photo: Deposit photos
For the under-21 set, serve black punch with a surgical-glove hand floating in it. Any red-colored punch becomes blood…
And this eerie green witch’s wicked punch can be made as either an adult beverage or an alcohol-free one. The basic recipe has just two cheap ingredients — lime sherbet and lemon-lime soda. To make the adult version, just add inexpensive gin or vodka to taste. It’s best served in a clear glass punchbowl; if you don’t have one, they’re often found in thrift stores for cheap, or ask around to see if a friend has one you can borrow.
To get the party started, raise a glass with this Halloween toast:
Here’s to the Witches,
Here’s to their cats,
Here’s to the hoot owls
And Whirring bats;
Here’s to the ghosties,
In robes of white,
Here’s to the thrills of
Hallowe’en night.
Halloween cocktails and mocktails
Some adults may prefer an alcoholic beverage to sip. While beer and wine can be fine, why not serve up some sinister cocktails to help set the mood.
Also for grownups, Delish has instructions for 30 Halloween-themed Jell-O shots, including butterbeer shots for Harry Potter fans.
If you liked this article, you may also enjoy:
- Cheap and easy DIY Halloween costumes
- Cheap and easy pet Halloween costumes
- Make a scarecrow from items you have at home
- Build a haunted wedding Halloween display in your yard
- Free pumpkin stencils for creative carving
- 4 easy and cheap Halloween decorations
- Halloween movie night ideas
- Throw a Halloween party on a budget
