Halloween food should make you laugh, gasp and then immediately reach for a cracker! These five Halloween dips range from gloriously gruesome slime and a haunted graveyard to bubbling cheese baked inside a pumpkin. They are easy to serve at a party, wonderfully creepy to look at and, most importantly, absolutely delicious to eat!
1 - Haunted Graveyard Dip with Tombstone Crackers & Ghosts
This haunted graveyard is a dip and a whole edible Halloween scene in one tray. The green base is a creamy blend of spinach, chickpeas, avocado, peanut butter or tahini, lemon and olive oil. Once that is spread out, the fun really begins with cracker tombstones, a pretzel fence, quail egg ghosts and broccoli and celery trees. It is creepy but also rather cute, and you can decorate it before guests arrive. Put it in the centre of the table and watch everyone decide which part of the cemetery to demolish first!
2 - Halloween Slime Dip Frijoles Negros
This black bean dip has its roots in Cuban and Mexican frijoles negros, but for Halloween it becomes a pool of wonderfully revolting slime! Black turtle beans are cooked with onion, garlic, capsicum, tomatoes and spices, then topped with green herb oil for a suitably gruesome finish. You can serve it warm or cold with red corn chips and prepare it ahead of time, which is always handy when you are getting a party ready. It looks alarming on the table but tastes smoky and delicious.
3 - Halloween Pumpkin Cheese Dip with Witches' Broomsticks
This is the cosy, oozy dip for cheese lovers. Small pumpkins are hollowed out and filled with cheddar, feta, cream cheese, sour cream and Worcestershire sauce and then baked until the pumpkin is tender and the filling is hot and bubbling. As everyone dips, they can scrape a little sweet roasted pumpkin from the sides too. The puff pastry witches' broomsticks are much easier to make than they look. The recipe makes two pumpkins for sharing, although it is very easy to halve for a smaller gathering.
4 - Halloween Coffin Dip recipe
I have such a soft spot for this coffin dip because it is spooky, funny and genuinely easy to make. A fresh pea, feta and herb dip is spooned into a hollowed loaf of bread shaped like a coffin, then topped with a tiny skeleton trying to escape. The creamy feta gives the sweet peas a savoury edge while chilli flakes add a little heat. It takes only around 10 minutes to put together and the bread lid and cut-out pieces become instant dippers, so there is very little waste!
5 - Pumpkin Toum Dip (VEGAN) Recipe
This pumpkin toum is the centrepiece of a spectacular Pennywise crudite platter, with vegetables arranged to create that unmistakably sinister clown face. The dip itself is a fluffy Lebanese-style garlic sauce made Halloween orange with pumpkin. It is punchy, creamy and completely vegan when made with aquafaba, and it is brilliant with all those crunchy raw vegetables. Best of all, the generous amount of garlic should keep any visiting vampires at a very safe distance!
So tell me Dear Reader, which Halloween dip would you make first? And do you prefer your spooky food to be cute or properly gruesome?
And if you want something sweet to bake this weekend, try my raspberry, white chocolate and tahini blondies. The recipe is on my Substack! x
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