Looking for new year's day food for luck to add to your table? Black-eyed peas, leafy greens and lentils are lovely places to start.
These pictures include traditional lucky foods alongside a few festive sweets and serving ideas, so you can pick what suits your celebration.
You can keep things simple with one dish or put together a whole spread. I especially love the peas and cornbread combination.
The luck is a tradition rather than a promise, but there’s plenty here to inspire your menu!
Lucky Foods and New Year’s Table Ideas
black-eyed peas with bacon
We’re starting off strong with this bowl of black-eyed peas. I love the browned bacon pieces and chopped green garnish over that pale, creamy-looking broth.
Black-eyed peas are a Southern New Year’s good-luck tradition. You could serve a bowl with cornbread if you want something to go alongside.
a pot of leafy greens
If you love a big pot of greens, this one is for you. Dark leaves and large pieces of meat sit in golden-brown broth, with steam rising above the pan.
Greens often represent money in Southern New Year’s meals. Add them beside your peas if you’d like to bring both traditions to the table.
black-eyed peas and rice
How pretty is this peas-and-rice bowl? The little red pieces and leafy garnish bring some color to a dish that could otherwise look quite plain.
A Hoppin’ John-style combination is a lovely option for your New Year’s meal. Keep the peas and rice together in one serving bowl like this.
cornbread and peas in a skillet
Don’t want a fancy table setting? No problem!
This little skillet holds black-eyed peas, greens and pieces of yellow cornbread, with a spoon resting across it.
I love the New Year’s greeting card beside the red checked cloth. You could add a little greeting at each place setting for a similar touch.
pork and sauerkraut balls
These pork and sauerkraut balls give a traditional pairing a different shape. The picture shows browned balls over shredded sauerkraut, with a pick lifting one from the plate.
Pork and sauerkraut are a New Year’s tradition in Pennsylvania Dutch households, among others. Try this serving idea if you prefer smaller bites to a sliced roast.
green grape skewers
I love this grape display. The green grapes are threaded onto long skewers and gathered in a clear vase like a little edible bouquet.
Spain’s twelve-grape tradition belongs to midnight on New Year’s Eve. If you’re carrying the celebration into the next day, this is a pretty serving idea to borrow. Slide the grapes off before eating.
noodles with green onions
If you’re looking for a dish without lots of decoration, go with a bowl of long noodles. The sliced green onions and scattered sesame seeds are such a pretty finishing touch.
Long noodles symbolize longevity in several East Asian celebration traditions. For your own menu, choose a noodle recipe you enjoy rather than guessing the sauce from the picture.
a bowl of lentil soup
This lentil soup looks lovely in that patterned bowl. There’s a pale crumbled topping over the brown soup, though the picture doesn’t tell us exactly what it is.
Lentils are associated with prosperity in Italian New Year’s traditions because their shape resembles coins. This is a nice direction to take if you’d rather serve soup than a big platter.
a colorful fruit basket
Don’t want to cook every part of your spread? Look no further than this gorgeous fruit basket.
Green and red grapes sit among melons, apples and other colorful fruit.
Round fruits are part of Filipino New Year’s prosperity traditions. You could build your own basket around that idea without needing to copy every fruit shown here.
ruby pomegranate halves
I am obsessed with the deep red pomegranate seeds against those pale flowers. The fruit is simply split open, so you can see all the little clusters inside.
Pomegranates symbolize abundance in several traditions. For an edible version of this display, leave off the decorative flowers unless they’re verified food-safe edible blooms.
a gold and silver ring cake
How cute is this ring-shaped cake? White frosting is covered with gold, silver and white sprinkles, with plenty of the icing still showing underneath.
This is more of a festive dessert idea than proof of a particular lucky-food tradition. Choose food-safe edible decorations if you want to recreate that sparkling finish.
whole fish with potatoes
If you want a centerpiece for the meal, this fish platter is a lovely one to save. Whole fish sit among browned potato halves and lemon wedges, with chopped herbs scattered over everything.
Whole fish symbolize abundance in Chinese New Year celebrations, which follow a different calendar. You can still take inspiration from the serving arrangement for your January table.
golden bread with sesame seeds
That golden top is my favorite part of this round loaf. The cut wedge shows a pale interior beneath the sesame-covered crust, with orange halves placed nearby.
For a Greek New Year’s tradition, you might choose a verified vasilopita recipe. This picture alone doesn’t establish the loaf’s name or whether it contains any citrus.
cheesy black-eyed pea dip
Who says your black-eyed peas have to come in a soup bowl? This skillet dip has visible peas, red and green pieces and melted cheese stretching from a loaded tortilla chip.
Try a black-eyed pea dip recipe if you want to serve the traditional ingredient as a snack. Put extra chips beside the skillet for scooping.
gold-sprinkled fortune cookies
These fortune cookies are just too cute. The dark-dipped ends and tiny gold-colored decorations make them look dressed up for the occasion.
They’re a playful fortune-themed extra rather than a traditional New Year’s luck dish. If you’re decorating your own, use edible gold sprinkles over a chocolate dip.
saucy cabbage rolls
This tray of cabbage rolls is another lovely way to put cabbage on the menu. I love how you can still see the folded leaves beneath the reddish sauce.
The filling isn’t visible, so choose a trusted recipe with the ingredients you want. A meat-and-rice or mushroom-based version could work for your own spread.
a cake and cupcake clock
How cute is this clock display? Numbered cupcakes surround a white cake, with black clock details and a gold-colored band around the bottom.
This one is about the celebration rather than a lucky ingredient. Borrow the cupcake arrangement if you want a countdown-themed dessert, then remove any non-edible toppers before serving.
stacked mochi and citrus
This is a kagami mochi-style New Year’s display, with two rounded white rice cakes and a small citrus fruit on top. The gold-colored cord is such a pretty detail.
Kagami mochi is a Japanese New Year’s offering, not simply a stacked dessert centerpiece. If you’d like to include it, follow the tradition’s display and later preparation practices.
peas greens and cornbread
If you want several Southern New Year’s favorites on one plate, this one is for you. Black-eyed peas, leafy greens and browned cornbread sit beside corn, potatoes and sliced tomatoes.
I especially love seeing the cornbread right beside the peas. Use this as inspiration for a full meal rather than feeling you need a separate course for every lucky food.
potatoes with a creamy topping
Last but definitely not least, we have split potatoes with a thick white topping. You can see pale strips and little green flecks, but the exact ingredients aren’t clear from the picture.
If you’re interested in a herring-based New Year’s tradition, a verified creamy herring recipe served with potatoes could be an option. Treat that as a menu suggestion, not an identification of this dish.
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