15 Cheap Halloween Party Snacks Kids Will Love Most • Everyday Cheapskate

Halloween party food has a funny job description. It needs to look impressive enough to make kids squeal, taste good enough that they’ll actually eat it, and cost little enough that you don’t mind when some of it ends up on somebody’s costume.

And no, you don’t need to spend your evening sculpting fondant eyeballs.

The trick to great Halloween food isn’t complicated cooking. It’s presentation. Give ordinary food a spooky name, arrange it in a fun shape and add a couple of simple details. Suddenly, carrots are witch’s fingers, bananas are ghosts and hot dogs are mummies.

Magic? Pretty much.

These 15 cheap Halloween party snacks start with ordinary grocery-store ingredients and turn into something kids will remember. Most are simple enough to make while you’re juggling the rest of the party, too.

5-Minute Halloween Snacks

1. Ghost Bananas

Need a Halloween treat you can make before the doorbell starts ringing? Peel bananas, cut them in half crosswise and add two mini chocolate chips for eyes and one for the mouth. That’s it.

They’re cute, naturally sweet and inexpensive. Just make these shortly before serving so the bananas don’t have time to turn brown and sad-looking.

2. Witch’s Fingers With Warty Dip

Baby carrots already have the perfect finger shape. Arrange them on a platter with the narrow ends pointing outward and tuck a thin slice of green bell pepper onto the tip of each one for a “fingernail.”

Put ranch dressing in a bowl for dipping. If you really want to commit to the bit, tint the ranch a pale green with a tiny drop of food coloring. Call it “Witch’s Fingers with Warty Dip.”

3. Eyeball Mozzarella

Want your party guests to do a double take? These creepy little eyeballs are made with slices of ham wrapped around mozzarella, then finished with olives with red pimentos for the bloodshot details.

They look wonderfully complicated. They aren’t. Arrange them on a platter with toothpicks and watch them disappear.

4. Bloody Breadsticks

Warm soft breadsticks and dip one end into pizza sauce so it looks like a bloody fingertip.

Serve them standing upright in a glass or lined up on a platter. A little pizza sauce goes a long way here. It’s silly. It’s easy. It’s Halloween.

5. Pumpkin Patch Veggie Tray

A vegetable tray doesn’t have to look like a vegetable tray. Arrange orange vegetables such as baby carrots and orange bell pepper strips into a pumpkin shape on a large platter. Use celery for the stem and add a small bowl of ranch or hummus for dipping.

Want a jack-o’-lantern face? Cut a few pieces of cucumber, pepper or black olives into simple shapes and arrange them on top.

Quick Wins: 10 to 15 Minutes

6. Mummy Dogs

This one is an oldie because it works. Cut refrigerated crescent dough into thin strips and wrap them around hot dogs, leaving a little space near one end for the mummy’s face. Bake according to the dough package directions until golden brown.

Add two tiny dots of mustard for eyes after baking. Serve with ketchup or mustard for dipping.

They’re inexpensive, filling and considerably more exciting than a tray of plain hot dogs.

7. Spider Deviled Eggs

Make your favorite deviled eggs. Then turn each one into a spider.

Cut black olives into pieces. Use one larger piece for the body and thin strips for the legs. Arrange them on top of each egg.

If your spiders look a little wonky, congratulations. They’re homemade.

8. Witch’s Broomsticks

Cut string cheese sticks in half and gently pull or slice the bottom portion into thin strips to create the bristles. Insert a pretzel stick into the uncut end. That’s it. You’ve made a broomstick.

If you want extra color, tie a narrow strip of parsley around the top. Otherwise, don’t. These are cute without the craft project.

9. Pumpkin Cheese Ball

Start with a simple homemade cheese ball or use a store-bought one if that’s what keeps your sanity intact.

Shape it into a round pumpkin and press a few shallow vertical grooves into the outside with a butter knife. Cover the outside with shredded orange cheddar, crushed cheese crackers or another orange-colored topping.

Add a small piece of green bell pepper for the stem and serve with crackers. Nobody needs to know how little work went into it.

10. Boo-nana Pops

Cut bananas in half and insert popsicle sticks. Freeze until firm, then dip them in melted white chocolate or white candy coating.

Add edible candy eyeballs before the coating sets. Return them to the freezer until firm.

These take a little longer than ghost bananas, but they’re still wonderfully simple. And anything served on a stick automatically feels more festive.

Party Centerpieces That Get Attention

11. Jack-o’-Lantern Stuffed Peppers

Small orange bell peppers make adorable edible pumpkins.

Cut off the tops, remove the seeds and carefully cut simple jack-o’-lantern faces into the front. Fill them with a cooked mixture such as taco meat and rice, seasoned rice and beans, or macaroni and cheese. Place the tops back on and bake until the peppers are tender and the filling is hot.

The important word here is cooked. Don’t stuff these with raw meat and hope the oven sorts everything out.

12. Monster Sandwiches

Take ordinary sandwiches and make them party food.

Cut sandwiches into small triangles or use a cookie cutter to make simple shapes. Add an olive slice for an eye and a strip of red bell pepper for a mouth.

You can make one big platter of “monsters” using whatever sandwiches your guests already like.

That’s the beauty of this idea. You’re not making a special recipe. You’re making lunch wear a costume.

13. Graveyard Taco Dip

Layer your favorite taco dip in a rectangular dish: refried beans, sour cream, guacamole, salsa, cheese and olives all work beautifully.

For tombstones, cut sturdy tortilla chips into simple rectangles or use crackers that are large enough to decorate. Write “RIP” or silly names on them with an edible food marker and stand them upright in the dip.

Skip putting plastic decorations directly into the food. A spooky decoration beside the dish gives you the same effect without making anyone wonder whether that hand belongs in the appetizer.

14. Halloween Snack Board

You don’t need an expensive charcuterie board to make a Halloween snack board.

Use grocery-store favorites: cheese cubes, sliced salami, crackers, grapes, olives, nuts and fruit. Arrange the food in a pumpkin shape, a spiderweb pattern or simply in dramatic little groups.

Add a few candy corns around the edges if you like.

The secret is contrast. Put dark olives next to pale cheese, red fruit beside crackers and green grapes around orange cheese. Suddenly, your ordinary snack board has a Halloween costume.

15. Frozen Ice Hand Punch

Here’s one that’s worth the tiny bit of planning.

Fill a clean, food-safe, latex-free glove with water, tie it securely and freeze it flat or upright on a tray. Once frozen solid, carefully remove the glove and place the ice hand in a large bowl of punch or lemonade.

Add gummy worms or other edible decorations around the bowl.

A quick safety note: don’t use a random household or medical glove unless its packaging specifically says it’s appropriate for food contact. And skip dry ice in anything guests will be drinking. The spooky effect isn’t worth the safety headache.

Drinks Worth Naming

You don’t need a special Halloween punch recipe. Sometimes the name does most of the work.

Green lemonade or Kool-Aid: Swamp Juice
Red fruit punch: Vampire’s Delight
Lemon-lime soda with lime sherbet: Ghost Foam
Apple cider: Witch’s Brew
Chocolate milk: Werewolf Fuel
Orange soda: Pumpkin Potion

Put the names on little cards beside the drinks. Suddenly everybody’s having a Halloween party.

How Much Food Do You Really Need?

Here’s where I think we sometimes make parties harder than they need to be.

For 10 to 15 kids, you don’t need 15 different foods. Pick one or two filling foods, two or three easy snacks, a dip with something crunchy to dunk and one fun drink.

Then put out a bowl of candy. Because let’s be honest. It’s Halloween.

For example, you might serve mummy dogs, a pumpkin cheese ball, ghost bananas, a veggie tray, graveyard taco dip and Swamp Juice. That’s plenty of food without turning your kitchen into a Halloween-themed restaurant.

And don’t feel obligated to make every item from scratch. A store-bought cheese ball can become a pumpkin. A vegetable tray can become a jack-o’-lantern. Plain sandwiches can become monsters. The presentation is doing the heavy lifting.

The Real Halloween Trick

The best Halloween party food isn’t necessarily the cleverest recipe. It’s the food that makes kids stop, point and say, “Look!”

That’s why these ideas work. You’re starting with ordinary food you were probably going to buy anyway and giving it a little Halloween personality.

So don’t let Pinterest convince you that you need six hours, seventeen specialty ingredients and the steady hand of a professional cake decorator.

Grab the carrots. Cut the cheese. Put googly eyes on something edible. You’ve got this.

Question: What’s the party snack that always gets the biggest reaction from kids at your Halloween gathering? Share in the comments below.

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These Cheap Halloween Snacks Are Almost Too Easy to Make