We start looking for New Year’s recipes for a prosperous life when we’re down to the last few days of the old year, with a new year already knocking at your doorstep. Who doesn’t wish for a better year ahead? That’s why we still grace the New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day table with specific food to summon all the good luck and prosperity for the next 364 days.
Whether you’re superstitious or not, let’s take an international look at the typical New Year’s dishes for prosperity prepared around the world. They all have one purpose: to bring good luck, wealth, and happiness.
Traditional foods include pork (they root forward), black-eyed peas or lentils (shape of money), herring (silvery like coins), noodles and greens (long life), rice and red beans (Hoppin’ John), cornbread (gold color for wealth), grapes, oranges, pomegranates, and, of course, champagne. And we can’t forget dessert to sweeten up your New Year.
Foods to avoid include bottom feeders (catfish, cod, and crustaceans like lobster and crab), poultry (anything with wings to fly away or that scratches in the dirt), hollow bread (maybe skip the bread and have cornbread instead), tofu (in China, any white food is off the menu), beef, broken noodles, and bananas.
Also, don’t finish everything on your plate or pass a knife. Do the superstitions ever end? So let’s dive into the delicious recipes.
Main Courses for Prosperity
Southern Black-Eyed Peas
Black-eyed peas and Hoppin’ John are believed to attract more money because they symbolize coins. They’re delightfully smoky, spicy, and flavorful. The bacon adds more flavor and luck. Add rice for an extra touch of luck (brown rice if you’re in China).
Southern Black-Eyed Peas Recipe or Hoppin' John is a hearty and soul-warming delicacy. This black-eyed peas recipe is smokey, spicy, and pure satisfaction with a deep yet not overwhelming bacon flavor. And it's a traditional Southern dish served on New Year's Day to bring good luck!
Lentil Soup
In Brazil, Italy, and France, these coin-shaped lentils are a New Year’s staple. People appear to have enjoyed it for good fortune and prosperity since Roman times. Aside from that, it’s super easy, cozy, healthy, and pairs well with cornbread.
This super easy and healthy lentil soup is huge in flavor, loaded with earthy, aromatic spices and a bit of heat. It's great on its own but amazing with a warm slice of bread (or two). This oh-so-cozy dish will have you heading back to the kitchen for seconds or even thirds!
Slow Cooker Pork Loin
Pigs are said to be the luckiest of all foods to eat on New Year’s Day as they are round, representing prosperity, and they root forward, symbolizing progress. Any pork dish, be it glazed ham, bacon, or this super easy, tender pork loin stuffed with pineapples and garlic.
This pork loin is like no other you've ever tried in your life! It's stuffed with pineapples and garlic, cooked slowly to tender perfection on a bed of pineapples and onions, and topped with a balsamic brown sugar glaze. It's easy enough for a midweek meal yet fancy enough for the holidays.
Oven-Baked Salmon
Fish are said to be lucky in three ways: their scales resemble coins, they travel in schools (symbolizing prosperity), and they swim forward (representing progress). Plus, they’re a healthy low-carb dinner option.
These moist and flaky salmon filets are generously seasoned with a spicy kick and a lemony flourish. It's one of those easy, never-fail-you recipes that packs a real flavor punch.
Lucky Sides
Collard Greens
Dark leafy greens represent cold, hard, green cash. And who doesn’t need more money for next year? Plus, with ham hocks for extra luck, slowly simmered in a flavorful broth, you’ll have an indulging green dish. If you prefer a more international flair, try spicy Ethiopian collards.
Slow-cooked greens in a savory, spicy broth loaded with ham hocks and delectable seasonings is comfort in a bowl. Satisfying dark leafy greens in a delicious broth boasts health benefits. Win-win!
Skillet Cornbread
The Southern saying is, “Peas for pennies, greens for dollars, and cornbread for gold”. This skillet cornbread is a perfect side dish for your greens and peas, so if you want to complete that lucky trio, add this cornbread to your menu. Moist, buttery, and baked to perfection in a skillet gives you bread that definitely won’t turn out hollow.
Enjoy buttery goodness with a perfect crumb and crispy edges. The right balance of sweet and tang makes an excellent accompaniment to any main dish, soups, and stews. Adapt the recipe for a snack or even a dessert!
Pesto Pasta
Green basil for wealth and long, unbroken noodles for long life come in the form of this tasty pasta recipe. You’ll love the simplicity and how fast it cooks up for a stress-free New Year’s Eve dinner.
Simple yet elegant pesto pasta boasts bold ingredients and flavors that are as beautiful as they taste. Get ready to make a quick pasta meal that will have everyone raving.
New Year’s Appetizers
Hummus
Did you know you can also make hummus with lentils and black-eyed peas? Of course, the taste will be different but incredibly good. Serve it with veggie sticks or corn chips for a satisfying appetizer.
An irresistibly smooth, savory and easy to make hummus recipe! It has the simplest ingredients like roasted garlic, chickpeas, tahini, olive oil, lemon juice and cumin.
Homemade Tortilla Chips
Make your own corn chips the day before and serve them up with green guac for a deliciously healthy snack. Add even more good luck with a tropical guacamole, enjoying a touch of mango.
Perfectly crispy whether fried, baked, or air-fried. Enjoy fresh chips with guacamole or your favorite salsa using only 3 ingredients and 15 minutes. A super quick and easy guilt-free snack!
African Fish Rolls
Herring (in this case, sardines) is a lucky food for New Year’s. If you prefer a snack buffet instead of a huge meal, here’s your recipe.
Bagels
Grab yourself some smoked salmon and cream cheese and load up this lucky ring-shaped bagel for lox and bagels. If you’ve never tried it, now is your chance.
Desserts for a Sweet Life
Rice Pudding
Swedish and Norwegians make rice pudding to welcome the New Year. Often, they place a single almond in their rice pudding, and whoever finds it will be prosperous in the coming year. But hey, with or without the almond, you’ll feel the positive vibes with this deliciously creamy, quick, and easy dessert. Plus, it’s a cozy winter comfort food that the whole family would enjoy!
Ambrosia Salad
Grapes, oranges, and cherries are traditional ingredients that are also eaten for good luck. So throw this fruit salad together and enjoy.
Creamy, fruity, and easy Ambrosia Salad loaded with tangerines, pineapple, grapes, coconut, cherries, marshmallows, and chopped pecans. It’s the perfect dessert for any occasion. Sweet, tangy, and heavenly! Indeed, one of the easiest salads you’ll ever make in your whole life. All it takes is just 10 minutes or less prep time. Wow!
Rum Cake
Ring-shaped foods, like bagels, donuts, and bundt or tube cakes, represent the year coming full circle. It’s the perfect dessert to grace your New Year’s Eve dining table!
Rum Cake With Rum Butter Sauce baked from scratch without pudding mix and paired with rum butter sauce for that additional goodness.
Whatever you put on your dining table, I wish you a prosperous New Year. Happy New Year, everyone! 🙂