New Year’s Food Traditions Around the World

Everyone likes the excitement and anticipation of a new year. It’s a time to celebrate with family and friends with parties, and often these parties include time-honored traditions to say “goodbye” to the old year or “hello” to the new year. Though the traditions and foods vary from place to place, the desire for happiness, health, and wealth unites everyone around the globe. 

New Year’s Day food traditions in Asia and Oceania

Here are some of the exciting ways that New Year’s Day is celebrated in Asia and Oceania. 

1. Japan

A bowl of soba noodles is a must-have to welcome the new year in Japan. The long length of the noodle symbolizes long life, meaning that by eating it, you will enjoy a long life. 

2. Philipines

In the Philippines, they celebrate with piles of fresh fruit on the table, and people eat 12 round fruits such as oranges and grapes while avoiding fruits with sharp thorns like pineapple and durian. 

3. China

Chinese families celebrate the new year according to the lunar calendar, so the date varies from year to year but is always between late January and mid-February. One popular tradition is to make homemade dumplings, or potstickers, that are boiled, steamed, or fried. 

4. Russia

In Russia, some people write down their wishes for the coming year, write them on paper, and burn the paper. Then they put the ashes in a glass of champagne and drink it. 

5. Australia

Since it’s summer in the southern hemisphere, many Australians celebrate January 1 with a trip to the beach and a picnic lunch full of their favorite sandwiches, prepared deli salads, baked goods, and soft drinks. 

New Year’s Day food traditions in Europe

Europe boasts a number of fun New Year’s Day food traditions, with some dating back hundreds of years. 

6. Bulgaria 

Savory comfort foods are a New Year’s tradition in Bulgaria. Dinner is typically pork and cabbage or a baked turkey. A special cheese-stuffed pastry, called banitsa, is also enjoyed. You can make it by filling phyllo dough with a mixture of feta cheese and egg. 

7. Greece

Two traditions that Greek families often use to welcome in the new year are hanging onions and smashing pomegranates. Hanging onions is used to represent growth and promote prosperity. Smashing pomegranates is done to signify luck, prosperity, and fertility. The more seeds that fall out of the pomegranate, the better off your year will be. 

8. Scotland

In Scotland, there’s the tradition of the “first footing.” The first person to cross the threshold of your door in the new year is said to bring good fortune and wishes. This person typically brings gifts which may include whiskey and shortbread cookies. 

9. Turkey

To bring peace and prosperity into their homes, people in Turkey sprinkle salt on their doorsteps as the clock strikes midnight. 

10. Spain

In the last minute of the old year, Spanish citizens aim to eat 12 grapes for good luck and prosperity. It’s said that this New Year’s tradition originated in the 19th century by grape sellers who were looking to increase their sales. 

11. Georgia

In the country of Georgia, a special candy-like snack called gozinaki is enjoyed by young and old. It consists of carmelized walnuts (or another nut) that are cooked in honey and have a nougat-like texture. 

12. Ireland

Before the clock strikes 12, Irish folks bang bread against the walls of their homes to knock out the evil spirits and bad luck of the previous 12 months. 

13. France

The new year is celebrated in France with a huge feast with decadent foods, including oysters, lobster, and escargot. And, of course, there is sure to be plenty of bread and wine. 

14. Denmark

Boiled cod with a mustard sauce is a common dish that’s served at New Year’s dinner. A tower of marzipan donuts is served as a dessert. 

15. Estonia

Families in Estonia indulge in large meals comprising either seven, nine, or 12 foods since all three numbers are considered lucky in the culture. A little bit of each food should be left on the plates to feed additional guests who are there only in spirit. 

16. Italy

Dried lentils are cooked and consumed in Italy on New Year’s Day because of their coin-like shape. These are often cooked with pork or in soups. 

17. The Netherlands

Residents of the Netherlands eat deep-fried bits of dough, often filled with raisins or apples, called oliebollen.  

18. The Czech Republic

On New Year’s Day, families in the Czech Republic cut open a fresh apple to predict the year ahead. If the inside resembles a star, they will have a happy and healthy year. When the inside looks like a cross, it’s said that someone at the table will fall ill during the coming year. 

New Year’s Day food traditions in North America and South America 

Here’s a look at some neat New Year’s traditions that happen in the Western Hemisphere.  

19. Canada

The French Candian meat pie, tourtiere, is a holiday dish that’s often on the table on New Year’s Eve. Flaky pastry dough is filled with meat, potatoes, onions, and savory spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, for a warm, hearty meal.

20. Mexico

Families in Mexico welcome the new year with a large meal including tamales and Pan dulce, or small sweet cakes. For the new year, a coin is baked inside of one of the cakes. Whoever gets the coin in their cake will have good fortune in the coming year. 

21. Brazil

Seven is an auspicious number in Brazil. To be well-prepared for the new year, Braziallins eat seven grapes, seven pomegranate seeds, and making seven wishes while jumping over seven waves in the ocean.

22. Columbia

In Columbia, people prepare three potatoes to place under their beds: one is peeled, one is unpeeled, and one that’s half-peeled. In the morning, they reach under the bed and grab a potato. The one they choose is said to represent the kind of year they will have. An unpeeled potato represents a good year, the half-peeled one means your year will be okay, but the peeled one means it will be a bad year. 

Shop for your New Year’s Day food traditions

Whether you’re going to stick with your family’s favorite traditions to ring in the new year, or you want to try out some different traditions from around the globe, you’re going to need food. Give yourself the gift of time by ordering your groceries online with Instacart and letting a professional shopper do all the work. Choose home delivery to get your order delivered right to your door, or opt for in-store pick-up, and it will be ready in two hours. 

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