19 New Year's Foods For Good Luck In 2024
19 New Year's Foods For Good Luck In 2024
Get ready to eat 12 grapes at midnight...
Black-Eyed Peas
There are a variety of myths as to where the tradition of eating black-eyed peas comes from, but whichever you believe in, they all say the beans will bring good luck in the form of money in the New Year. As the saying goes, if you "eat poor on New Year's, [you'll] eat fat the rest of the year."
Check out our guide on how to cook black-eyed peas, then try our black-eyed pea salad, our black-eyed pea bruschetta, or our New Year's black-eyed peas (pictured here) to bring prosperity into your home this NYE.
Round Sweets
Round desserts, like bundts, donuts, layer cakes, cookies, and more are all believed to bring a full circle of luck in the New Year.
Try our chocolate bundt (pictured here), our mochi donuts, our citrus olive oil cake, or our caramel chocolate chip cookie tart to fill your life with continuous luck all year long.
Pork
Eating pork on the New Year is supposed to inspire progress throughout the year to come, both because of pig's girthy size (mmm, prosperity) and the fact that they root forward (rather than backward like chickens). On New Year's, pork is often paired with cabbage in the form of sauerkraut, but we say, anything goes.
Try our oven-roasted pulled pork, our sausages and sauerkraut (pictured here), our roast pork tenderloin, or our Instant Pot pork puttanesca to get yourself out of a rut in 2024.
Buttered Bread
In Ireland, it's said that there are a number of traditions involving bread on New Year's, so many that January 1 is known to some as the "Day Of Buttered Bread." One entails banging bread against a door frame to chase away bad luck, while another invites good luck in by sharing the baking bounty with friends, loved ones, and neighbors.
We know which one we'll be going with—join us in baking some Irish brown bread, sourdough, or brioche, all topped with our homemade garlic butter, Tuscan butter (pictured here), or red wine butter. Bonus: These are the perfect baking project for that limbo time between Christmas and NYE!
Greens
It's traditional to eat hearty greens like cabbage or kale to bring prosperity in the New Year. Traditionally, they're paired with dishes like black-eyed peas and cornbread, or alongside pork in the form of sauerkraut.We say get creative!
Kimchi, Jamaican callalloo, bacon fried cabbage, air-fried ale chips (pictured here), or even a delicious winter salad count in our book, and are sure to help you put more "green" in your pocket all year long.
Onions
In Greece, you'll find onions hanging from doorways over New Year's, a tradition that dates back to Ancient Greece when it was thought that onions increase fertility. Now they're a sign of rebirth and expansion (just think of all those layers!).
We're all about alliums, and know just what you should make with all those leftover onions in the days ahead—our French onion soup (pictured here), our sour cream & onion dip, our baked bloomin' onion, or our pickled red onions.
Doughnuts
Many Germans start the new year by eating lucky "Berliner" doughnuts, usually filled with jam or a Baileys cream filling. Watch out, though: Old tradition suggests filling one or two with mustard, and whoever gets those will have a year of bad luck (and no lovely jam flavor!).
If you're up for the challenge, our powdered donuts, our sufganiyot, or our Boston cream donuts are labors of love that are guaranteed to bring you luck in the New Year. Want something a little easier? Our pull-apart jelly donut (pictured here) is baked, not fried, and is perfect for sharing with loved ones.
Tamales
Mexican tamales aren’t just fun to eat, they’re a great solo or group project for anyone who loves to cook, and they'll guarantee strong bonds between family and loved ones in the upcoming year.
Make it a party by involving your friends, enlist your partner or spouse for a different kind of date night, or get the whole family involved. Tamale making is a joy, and tamales are a great canvas for different kinds of fillings.
Get the Tamales recipe.
Cornbread
Sweet or savory cornbread is said to bring prosperity in the New Year (its golden hue literally referring to gold and other riches). Want to take it even further? Add fresh kernels to represent gold nuggets.
Try our classic cornbread (pictured here), our skillet cornbread, our Southern cornbread, or our bacon-topped jalapeño cornbread... heck, a box of Jiffy would do ya if that's all you've got.
Galette De Rois
We bet you've heard of a Mardi Gras king cakes, but do you know about the French galette de rois? Similar treats are the more popular cakes among European countries, with many enjoying the flaky pastry (or similar ones) on New Year's Eve and Day.
Known as banitsa in Bulgaria, rosca de reyes in Spain, and vasilopita in Greece, there's one thing that connects them all: a tiny trinket (a bean, coin, or baby figurine are all popular) hidden in one of the slices. Whoever finds it is said to have good luck the rest of the year.
Lentils
Round like a coin, lentils represent good luck around the start of the New Year and beyond. They're also a symbol of abundance, since they increase so much in size when cooked.
Try our lentil salad, our vegan crunchwraps, our lentil dal, our coconut curried lentils, or our lentil soup (pictured here) to bring you luck (and TONS of fiber and protein, perfect for kick starting any resolutions).
Grapes
In Spain and Mexico, when the clock strikes midnight, people try to eat 12 grapes as quickly as possible because each grape will bring luck for the 12 months ahead.
Try our Sour Patch grapes (pictured here), our Prosecco grapes, or our sangria grapes to make yours extra festive.
Noodles
Super-long noodles are thought to bring long life in the New Year, especially if you can make them without breaking them in half. Any noodle will do, as long as it's long, so break out the rice noodles, the Italian pasta, the ramen noodles... sky's the limit.
Check out our Dan Dan noodles, our creamy steak fettuccine, our miso Bolognese, our dirty martini pasta (featured here), or our pasta al limone for ideas, then get creative with your favorites.
Pomegranate Seeds
Pomegranate seeds have always been affiliated with fertility and life. In Greece, the whole fruit is thrown across the floor releasing a sea of seeds that symbolize abundance in the New Year.
If you're not up for making quite that big of a mess, use our tutorial on how to cut a pomegranate, then use them to make our pomegranate martini, our fancy holiday cheese ball, our muhammara dip (pictured here), our Parmesan Brussels sprouts salad, or our pomegranate mimosa instead.
Fish
Fish symbolizes abundance around the world, but the way it's eaten is different depending on where you live. In Asian cultures, people feast on whole fishes around the Lunar New Year, and in Europe, people eat carp, herring, and cod.
We suggest you start a new tradition with one of our favorite fish recipes, like our firecracker salmon (pictured here), our mahi mahi tacos, our Arctic char with pistachio gremolata, or our spicy tuna rolls.
Oranges & Honey
Asian cultures believe that eating oranges and honey on New Year's will bring good fortune, wealth, and money.
Our recipes for fruit salad (pictured here), our jalapeño citrus salmon, or our sheet pan citrus glazed chicken couldn't be any more perfect. They've got slices of fresh orange throughout and are sweetened with orange juice and honey. Bring on the gold.
Champagne
Popping Champagne to usher in the New Year is a tradition dating back to the 1800s. It was a drink associated with wealth and nobility, so drinking it at midnight (and all night long) is a way to welcome prosperity into your own life for the upcoming year.
You could just drink it straight, but we're big fans of a Champagne cocktail, like our cranberry mimosas, our French 75, our holiday punch, or our Champagne margaritas (pictured here).
Pretzels
The breaking of a New Year's pretzel (or neujahrsbrezel) for luck and prosperity is a long-time German tradition. It can be eaten either at midnight or for breakfast on New Year's Day. Unlike regular savory pretzels, these are made of a sweet enriched dough, sort of like a babka or brioche.
If you're a pretzel purist, feel free to make our homemade soft pretzels, our cinnamon sugar crunch pretzels (pictured here), or even just go store-bought (maybe alongside some homemade pub cheese or funfetti dip?). What's really important is sharing and breaking them with loved ones (the pretzels also represent interconnectedness), so you do you.
Dumplings
Dumplings are an important part of New Year's traditions from around the world, from Chinese 餃子 (jiao zi) to Russian pelmeni (pictured here). They're shaped like little money pouches or the coins themselves, and are meant to represent prosperity, wealth, and health.
The homemade kind are truly a labor of love, so gather some family members and have everyone help with assembly. And don't worry about getting them perfect-looking—even the wonkiest of the bunch are sure to bring health and wealth in the New Year.
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