6 New Year's Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What are the 7 lucky new year's food traditions? ›

Greens, pork, and cornbread, as well as black-eyed peas, cowpeas, or beans, are some of the typical symbolic foods served on New Year's Day. When planning your dinner menu, add the Southern foods that some say bring good luck and avoid those that may do just the opposite in the new year.

Lobster, cows, and chicken are all considered unlucky animals to eat on New Year's because of how they move. Read on for more foods superstitious people try to avoid on the holiday.

Along with black-eyed peas, some cultures believe that grapes, noodles, pork, or pomegranates can be considered lucky when eaten on New Year's.

If you don't want your luck to fly away in the new year, it's best to avoid any animal that has wings and scratches in the dirt, like turkey or chicken. These birds scratch backward, which can imply dwelling in the past or—even worse—the need to scrape by for your living.

Pork. Pork for progress! Pigs root around with their snouts moving in a forward motion, which is why many cultures around the world eat pork on New Year's Day to symbolize progress for the coming year.

According to lore, the forward movement of pigs when they root around for food on the ground signifies a “moving forward” trajectory in life, and thus pork is a favorable meat to enjoy to start the year off on the right track.

White-Colored Foods are a no no on New Year's Day, foods that are all white in color, such as rice, bread, eggs, and tofu. According to ancient Chinese beliefs, white symbolizes death– so it is considered unlucky to eat white colored-food on New Year's Day.

Don't Clean the House on New Year's Day - You will wash away any good luck coming your way.

Why eat cabbage on New Years Day? ›

This eastern European tradition of eating cabbage on New Year's—either as a dish or as cabbage rolls—is meant to signify luck, particularly on the financial side of things. People who eat cabbage on New Year's believe that it'll help them make more money in the year ahead.

As a rule of thumb, you'll want to include a minimum of 1 hard cheese and 1 soft cheese. Along with that, be sure to include something savory and a minimum of 1-2 fruits. Grapes and strawberries are generally a good choice in this scenario. Dried fruits are also a great addition!

Greens, thought to resemble dollar bills, are common New Year foods. Others include lentils, which are round disks that are considered to resemble coins, and herring, which has a silver skin considered to symbolize silver coins.

Cake: From donuts to more traditional cakes, round or ring-shaped sweets are very popular on New Year's Day. Many people believe round foods symbolize a circle. They may bring good luck that the coming year will go well and come “full circle” around to this same point in time the following year.

This eastern European tradition of eating cabbage on New Year's—either as a dish or as cabbage rolls—is meant to signify luck, particularly on the financial side of things. People who eat cabbage on New Year's believe that it'll help them make more money in the year ahead.

If there was any corn left they made cornbread. So, theses three items have come to represent hope and prosperity for the New Year. The peas represent coins, the greens - paper money and the cornbread, gold.