What is New Year's food? And what is traditional to eat on New Year's Eve? We've done some research and looked at recipes, and found a bunch of dishes that are common for New Year's Eve. Now we're curious to know - what will be on your New Year's Eve plate tonight?
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New Year's food in the past
Nowadays, New Year's Eve is a night when many people eat extra festive food, such as fillet of beef or lobster. However, it hasn't always been this exclusive. According to Nordic Museum well into the 20th century, the New Year's menu was a repetition of Christmas food. As late as 1970, Tore Wretman suggested the following Beef Stroganoff as a New Year's menu, which many people today would consider far too mundane a dish for New Year's Eve.
New Year's food today
New Year's Day food often aims to be as festive as possible. If there's any day of the year to treat yourself to something luxurious, it's that day.
New Year starters
When you google appetisers for the New Year's soup you get lots of different creative suggestions. Many starters, for example, are variations on:
- Prawn cocktail
- Slices of salmon or seafood
- Lobster au gratin
- Blinis with caviar/salmon roe
- Scallops
- oyster
- Toast Skagen
- Shrimp soup
- Crayfish or lobster soup
- Split pea or artichoke soup
Main courses on New Year
When looking for recipe suggestions for Main courses of the New Year's menu you often get festive suggestions, such as:
- Pork fillet
- Fillet of beef or veal
- Rack of lamb, roast lamb or fillet of lamb sirloin
- Roe deer steak or roe deer tenderloin
- Duck breast
- Lobster au gratin
- Cod back
- Halibut or sole
- Fish and seafood stew
New Year desserts
With regard to Desserts for New Year's Eve celebrations you can serve anything from classics to more creative creations. Here are some examples of desserts, which can be varied endlessly:
- Tiramisu
- Perfect
- Crème brûlée
- Chocolate mousse
- Pannacotta
- Chocolate fondant
- Cheesecake
New Year food for vegetarians
What if you are a vegetarian? Today, there are plenty of recipe ideas for those who don't want to eat meat. Here are some examples of vegetarian main courses for the New Year:
- Vegetarian lasagne
- Pasta or ravioli with mushrooms
- Risotto with truffles, mushrooms or asparagus
- Halloumi
- Oven baked/grilled portabello mushrooms.
- Vegetarian Wellington
- Oven baked cauliflower, beetroot or pumpkin
- Oumph Bourguignon
- Vegetarian steaks
Our 'traditions' for New Year's Eve food
Just as with Christmas, you can probably say that we have no tradition at all. Sometimes it is super luxurious New Year's food, like when you were invited to "New Year's Eve Dinner Deluxe" 2016. Other times it's extremely simple, like when we ate fast food and drank coca cola on New Year's Eve in Eilat, Israel in 2017.
This year we are invited to Peter's brother's table, and we will also contribute to the menu. We will tell you more about this later.
What do you usually eat on New Year's Eve?
Do you have any traditions when it comes to New Year's food? What do you usually cook or eat? What will be on your plate tonight?
Wishing all readers and friends a Happy New Year!
You might also like:
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Oysters - how to open them, tips and facts
Desserts for New Year - 3 simple desserts
New Year's celebrations - a New Year's menu with 8 small dishes
13 dishes on the Christmas table - the history of Christmas food
3 simple and delicious casseroles with stir-fries
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Lena - good for the soul says:
Well, no special traditions or requirements. But for the third year in a row we start with a picnic lunch in the park with Italian food and champagne. A little more festive / luxurious dinner food usually happens. This year it will be raw shrimp with skagen and rum, beef fillet with potato baskets and liquorice fluff with fresh raspberries.
Have a wonderful New Year's Eve.
Hug Lena
31 December 2019 - 8:42
Helena says:
Your picnic lunch sounds super cosy! And what a tasty menu you are planning, yummy!
31 December 2019 - 9:47
bmlarstravellingblog says:
We have been celebrating New Year here for many years with three other couples. Those we are with provide the main course and the rest of us share a drink with snacks, starter and dessert.
This year we are at a hunter's house, so deer will be served as the main course. Everything will have a game theme, so we'll have funnel chanterelle soup with noble cheese and cognac, while there will be Pavlova with forest berries for dessert....
Then there will be a paltry coma....
31 December 2019 - 14:24
Helena says:
Sounds super nice and delicious, and fun with a theme for the food! Wishing you a really happy new year!
31 December 2019 - 17:43
Snows says:
We are in a hotel tonight and there is a buffet that starts with lobster soup. Then there is seafood and then various grilled fillets with good accessories. We finish with a cheese tray and then some dessert. Buffets are not my thing, but this one is usually very well prepared with good ingredients. The only risk is that you eat too much 😉.
Good ending!
31 December 2019 - 9:41
Helena says:
But so nice!!! I'm not very fond of buffets either, but some buffets can be fantastic. Wishing you the same! Happy ending and Happy New Year!
31 December 2019 - 9:48
Ama de casa says:
Wow, so much good stuff!
Here we have no tradition whatsoever when it comes to New Year's Eve food, it is what it is, but it is usually good 🙂 .
And speaking of good: Happy New Year! 😀
31 December 2019 - 10:04
Helena says:
Thank you very much, Happy New Year!!!
31 December 2019 - 17:43
Mr Nils-Åke Hansson says:
HAPPY NEW YEAR
We have had a sunny day and we are being served with lots of goodies.
31 December 2019 - 14:49
Helena says:
That sounds wonderful! Wishing you a Happy New Year!
31 December 2019 - 17:43
Anonymous says:
I see.
28 December 2020 - 19:55
BP says:
Yeah, I remember that New Year's Eve meal from 2016. WOW!
I actually feel sorry for all the vegetarians who have to eat "boring food" tonight. Here it will start with oysters, then our "traditional" lobster au gratin, dessert Pannacotta. All done and ready, bought at the local deli. Okay, the lobster is gratinated in the oven, so there will be no work there either;-)
Wishing you and Peter a wonderful New Year's Eve and a very happy and travel-filled New Year.
31 December 2019 - 15:45
Helena says:
Your New Year's menu sounds both luxurious and delicious! Wishing you a Happy New Year!!! ?
31 December 2019 - 17:44
Across the board says:
Here we have shrimp in a few different flavours. Cava, of course. And chocolate fondant for dessert. Then we will try to put 12 grapes in us, at noon so we get a happy 2020 🙂 🙂.
31 December 2019 - 16:28
Helena says:
That sounds really good! And fun with the grapes, which I recently learnt about! Wishing you a very Happy New Year!
31 December 2019 - 17:45
Ruth in Virginia says:
Nothing in particular In the 1940s in Sweden, New Year's Eve was the
the day the lutefisk said goodbye.
My most memorable New Year's Eve was in 1949, when me and my
fiancé (in uniform) went to a ball at Rosenbad. Great! What
we ate, I don't remember. 🙂
Happy New Year to you two, who bring me so much joy!
31 December 2019 - 16:54
Helena says:
Oh how lovely it sounds with a ball and a fiancé in uniform! What a memory! Wishing you a Happy New Year Ruth!!!
31 December 2019 - 17:46
Maria/ Magnolia Magis says:
Good end of 2019!!! There will be nothing special tonight, tea and sandwich as usual... But tomorrow there will be a celebration! Dad turns 70! ???
31 December 2019 - 20:04