If you are looking for lucky New Year’s Foods, healthy New Years Day Recipes, New Years Food Recipes, or New Year Appetizer cecipes, then you have come to the right place! Below is a great list for your New Year’s taste buds! There are various New Year’s Day traditions all around the world. Many of these traditions center around food, with certain foods bringing good luck the rest of the year. Whether one is superstitious or not, many of these foods are thought to bring good health, fortune, and even fertility! I thought I would share a list of some New Year’s lucky foods and a collection of recipes for each. Even if these foods don’t bring you the good luck you wished for, at least you will go into the New Year with a delicious meal and a full belly.
If you enjoyed this list of New Year’s lucky foods, check out these other articles: Super Bowl recipes, Almond Cow recipes.
New Year’s Lucky Foods
Black-Eyed Peas
The black eyed peas are a staple dish and a southern tradition in the United States, particularly in New Orleans. They are considered good luck and a traditional lucky food because of their round shape, or “penny-like” shape. Traditionally, the dish is served on New Year’s Day in a recipe called Hoppin John and served with collard greens and cornbread. When the dish is served as a leftover the day after New Year’s, it is called Skinny Jenny.
Healthy Slow Cooker Hoppin John Recipe
Cornbread
Another American south tradition for New Year’s Day “good luck food” is cornbread. Because of its yellow color, which resembles the color of gold and gold coins, cornbread is thought to bring extra luck and be a sign of prosperity, wealth, and good fortune. Extra kernels are usually added to the cornbread at this time to resemble golden nuggets.
Pumpkin Cornbread Muffin Recipe
Jalapeno Cheddar Parmesan Cornbread Muffin Recipe
Apple Cranberry Cornbread Muffin Recipe
Lentils
Italy and Hungary are big fans of the lentil, which brings good luck and fortune. A very popular New Year’s Day dish in Italy is green lentils and sausage; the green lentil symbolizes fortune. In Hungary, as the lentils soak in water and expand, it symbolizes the growth of wealth. Dating back to Ancient Rome and the Ancient Romans connecting them to wealth, they continue to be a popular food to eat on New Year’s for good luck and prosperity.
Slow Cooker Curried Lentils with Pistachios Recipe
Lentil & Sweet Potato Sheperd’s Pie Recipe
Greens
You can pretty much guess why leafy greens are known to bring good fortune and wealth—because of the color of money and their color green, of course. This lucky food extends not only to the southern United States but all over the world, from South America to Europe. Superstition has it that the more greens you eat, the more wealth you will gain. Even if you don’t believe that, they are super healthy, so eat away!
Southern-Style Collard Greens Recipe
Spicy Skillet Turnip Greens Recipe
Slow Cooker Quinoa, Chicken, and Kale Soup Recipe
Pork
In many countries, including Cuba, Spain, Hungary, and Austria, pigs symbolize progress. This “good luck” belief is probably due to the fact that pigs can’t walk backwards only going in a forward motion. Also, their feeding habits push food forward as they eat. Therefore, many people around the world include pork and/or pork-shaped foods on their New Year’s tables as a sign of good luck and a prosperous new year.
Crockpot Pork and Sauerkraut Recipe
Crockpot Brown Sugar Balsamic Glazed Pork Tenerloin Recipe
Pomegranate
The pomegranate is considered a good luck food for many reasons; its red color symbolizes the heart, denotes life and fertility, and represents a healthy life. It is considered a good luck food in Turkey and is often eaten on New Year’s Day. Its abundance of pomegranate seeds also represents prosperity.
Pomegranate Pumpkin Granola Bars Recipe
Dark Chocolate Pomegranate Truffles Recipe
Sweet and Sticky Pomegranate Chicken Recipe
Pomegranate Quinoa Salad Recipe
Grapes
The Twelve Grapes “Las doce uvas de la suerte,” or the twelve lucky grapes, is a Spanish tradition that consists of eating a grape at the chime of the clock, with each of the twelve clock bells when the clock strikes midnight on December 31 to welcome the upcoming year. Each grape and clock bell strike represents each of the coming twelve months. It is also bad luck to not finish all 12 grapes.
Tamales
Tamales have come to symbolize family and a New Year’s food tradition and is a staple in Mexican cuisines It often takes a whole family working together to make this labor-intensive dish. Generations gather to stuff flavorful fillings into bundles of masa wrapped in corn husks to be steamed and enjoyed throughout the holiday season.
Instant Pot Pork Tamales Recipe
Long Noodles
In many Asian cultures and Asian countries, different types of noodles are a traditional New Year’s good luck food. Soba noodles in particular are believed to symbolize a long life and resilience. The longer the noodle, the longer the life, especially if it can be slurped and eaten without breaking or chewing and shortening the length of the noodle.
Longevity Noodles with Soy Sauce Recipe
Whole Fish
In various cultures, fish symbolizes wealth, prosperity and abundance. In Scandinavian countries, herring is a common food to eat on New Year’s for good luck due to its role in the culture and to the economy. In Eastern Europe, fish scales are said to represent money along with their shimmering hues. In Japan, shrimp are eaten for long life, herring roe for fertility and dried sardines for a good harvest.
Cake
Round or ring-shaped cakes are especially relevant to New Year’s tradition as they represent the circle of life. Greek tradition has individuals enjoying vasilopita, a zesty citrus cake baked with a coin inside that is only eaten on New Year’s Day. The person who gets the slice with the coin is said to have good luck throughout the year ahead. Louisianans might know of a similar New Year’s Day food called a king cake.