Why let the costumes have all the fun?
Choose your Halloween party style, then fill the table with familiar favorites in spooky disguises.
Four Ways to Set the Scene
-
Gothic Dinner Party — For adults: eggplant, plum, burgundy, black, candles, dark flowers, and vintage accents. Serve cheese boards, baked brie, and little desserts.
-
Costume Party — Young adults can gather around a themed backdrop, a costume contest, or Halloween films. Serve mini burgers, skewered bites, and dips.
-
Cute & Cozy Halloween — Ceramic ghosts, glass pumpkins, and little haunted houses welcome adults and kids. Add a candy bar, customizable drinks, and a family movie.
-
Natural Fall Gathering — Real pumpkins, bare branches, flowers, and natural textures suit friends and family. Serve pumpkin soup, warm bread, and pie.
Build your menu with these favorites:
1. CharBOOterie Boards
A familiar cheese board with a spooky personality:
-
Ghost Brie — brie with black olive eyes
-
Spooky Grazing — cured meats, grapes, and crackers
-
Prosciutto Fingers — breadsticks wrapped in prosciutto
Stack 4-inch palm leaf plates beside the board so guests can collect bites and mingle. Add palm leaf bowls with jams and dips, and small wooden serving spoons.
2. Small Bites in Costume
Give party favorites a Halloween makeover:
-
Mummy Hot Dogs — sausages wrapped in pastry strips
-
Spider Deviled Eggs — deviled eggs topped with olive spiders
-
Caprese Eyeballs — prosciutto-wrapped mozzarella, tomatoes, and olive pupils
-
Monster Sliders — mini burgers with olive eyes and cheese teeth
Use bamboo picks to hold mozzarella “eyeballs” and prosciutto together or secure sliders’ eyes. Offer 4-inch disposable plates for sampling.
3. Dips That Double as Decor
Let the dip bowl join the party:
-
Cauldron Dip — warm spinach and artichoke dip
-
Pumpkin Guacamole — guacamole beside a carved pumpkin
-
Spiderweb Tex-Mex — layered bean dip with a sour cream web
Use larger palm leaf bowls for sharing and mini bowls for individual dip portions. Add tortilla chips, crackers, and vegetables for scooping.
4. Warm Autumn Cheese
-
Fig & Pecan — fig jam and chopped pecans
-
Apple & Cranberry — apple preserves and dried cranberries
Serve with crackers, apple slices, and small party plates.
5. Pumpkins on the Menu
Bring the season to the table:
-
Pumpkin Soup — creamy soup with toasted pumpkin seeds
-
Pumpkin Bread Rolls — little rolls shaped like pumpkins
-
Pumpkin Pie — classic slices or individual mini pies
Serve soup in palm leaf bowls with wooden spoons. Set rolls and mini pies on 6-inch disposable plates, with wooden disposable forks for the pie.
6. Little Halloween Desserts
Small portions leave room to try another treat:
-
Dirt Cups — chocolate pudding, cookie crumbs, and gummy worms
-
Ghost Strawberries — white chocolate with little chocolate faces
-
Mini Cheesecakes — topped with chocolate spiderwebs
Offer mini bowls for pudding, disposable dessert plates for cakes and berries, and wooden spoons and forks alongside.
Pizza Belongs at the Party, Too
Convenience is part of the celebration. Circana reports that quick-service pizza chains average 6% more transactions during Halloween week than the previous week. Consumers are 23% more likely to order restaurant delivery on Halloween than on a regular day.
A cheese skull and a delivery pizza can happily share the same table.
Use 6-inch plates for small pizza slices; choose 8–10-inch plates for larger slices or extra sides.
Choose palm leaf plates for catering or casual gatherings, and pair them with bamboo picks and wooden disposable cutlery for easy serving and cleanup.
Ready to fill the Halloween table?
