14 Essential Foods You MUST Have at Your New Year’s Eve Party!

New Year’s Eve is a time to celebrate with friends and family, and what better way to do that than with delicious food? “No better way” is the answer! From appetizers to mains to desserts, there are so many essential foods that you must have at your New Year’s Eve party. The food you serve sets the tone for the party and the new year ahead.

What are our favorites? We’re so glad you’ve asked! In this blog post, we will share the most essential foods you must have at your New Year’s Eve party to ensure your celebration is unforgettable.

Ring in 2023 with These Crowd-Pleasing New Year’s Eve Party Foods

Snacks and Appetizers to Kick Off the Celebration

Deviled Eggs

Are deviled eggs a traditional food for New Year’s Eve? They’re a tradition for us! Now, we know what you’re thinking: Deviled eggs? Seriously? What about the midnight kiss?! This is why we serve them as appetizers: there’s plenty of time between now and when the ball drops to eat a handful of mints!

Toasted Ravioli

If you’ve somehow made it this far into your life without trying toasted ravioli, you owe it to yourself to fix that immediately—and then repeat the experience at your New Year’s Eve party! For an easy at-home version, boil some frozen ravioli, drain all the water, coat the ravioli in flour, egg, and breadcrumbs, and bake or air-fry them until the outsides are toasted. Serve with marinara sauce for dipping.

Cocktail Shrimp

As the fanciest party of the year, New Year’s demands the fanciest of shrimp. This is, of course, the cocktail shrimp, ideally served chilled with cocktail sauce. Serve them in a glass to keep them looking high class or as the centerpiece of your app buffet surrounded by the rest of the night’s nibbles.

Pizza

If pizza isn’t an appetizer, we don’t know where we’ve gone wrong with our lives! Make mini pizzas with English muffins or mini bagels, or choose a refreshing, thin-crust pizza like our Tomato Basil Garlic, made with red-ripened tomatoes, fragrant basil, and freshly minced garlic—serve it all dressed up in a party cut, obviously.

Charred Cauliflower

Looking for a delicious appetizer for your veggie friends, or just want one thing on your table to balance out the heavier fare? Roasting the cauliflower in the oven or air fryer until it begins to slightly char gives it a surprisingly complex flavor. It can be served simply with melted butter and seasoning or tossed in wing sauce. This method also works well for broccoli, brussels sprouts, carrots, and many other types of veg.

Hearty Main Dishes for a Satisfying Meal

Fondue

We heard a rumor that fondue is coming back in fashion again, and we could not be more excited! What could be better than an excuse to eat a giant bowl of molten cheese? Of course, you also have to include bread, veggies, and other dippable delights so everyone will have a mere shred of plausible deniability about whether or not the NYE meal was, in fact, a giant bowl of molten cheese.

Lasagna

You can’t do much better than lasagna when it comes to warm, ooey-gooey comfort food. For a standout dish, try your hand at making it from scratch. If you don’t have the time or baking skills for that, a frozen lasagna baked at home will do the trick!

Sliders

Are sliders an app? Are they a main? To both questions, we answer a resounding “Yes!” The way to tell the difference is what’s in the sliders and how many are being served. For a main dish, we recommend a more unexpected flavor profile: fill them with thin sliced steak or roast instead of ground beef or get even more luxe with lobster and butter.

Roast

Roast pork, rib roast, or a classic rump roast all make for a hearty and satisfying meal, and if you have one cooking when your guests arrive, they’ll know to look forward to a memorable night. Serve with mashed potatoes, roasted veg, a fresh salad, and warm buttered bread.

Pizza

You can never go wrong with pizza! Thick crust or thin crust, veggie-friendly or carnivore-approved, a main’s main or your favorite side, pizza can be all things to everyone. If there’s no pizza on your NYE menu, is it even a party?

Desserts to Sweeten Up the Party

Spiced Nuts

The holidays are the best time to stock up on spiced and candied nuts, and if you’re anything like us, you might still have some of them left on New Year’s Eve! Treat your friends and family to this delicious seasonal delight before they’re all gone again until next year.

Cheesecake

If you’re looking for a dessert that’s more rich than sweet, cheesecake is the way to go! Make it classic style and serve with fresh berries to add a bit of tartness, or make it a chocolate chip chocolate cheesecake with chocolate crust if you’d rather have too much of a good thing.

Mini Cupcakes

Cupcakes are fun and festive, but they can be a bit of a handful at a party. Scale them down into a one- or two-bite dessert, and your guests won’t have to debate whether to set down their champagne or skip the cupcake.

Choosing the right New Year’s Eve foods can enhance your evening and create a memorable night! Try some new recipes this year and create your own traditions to repeat for years to come. Our suggestion? We prefer a pizza party, of course, with everyone’s favorite Dogtown Pizza! Follow our lead and pick a few up in the freezer aisle of your local grocery store—we’ll see you there!