Spooky Foods to Cook on the Grill This Halloween
Summer always gets all the praise as grilling season, but the autumn BBQ holds a special place in our hearts here at Kick Ash Basket. The air is chilly, the grill is warm, and the fall flavors make us want to scream (with joy). What’s more, we love the tradition of the Halloween BBQ: gathering everyone in their favorite costumes to enjoy some spooky foods on the grill. If you’re looking for a new way to party this October 31st, you have to check out these Halloween dinner ideas that you can cook up on the grill (costumes required!). An outdoor grill party is especially “in” during the COVID-19 Halloween season, so everyone can stay safe outside while socially-distanced.
Whether you’re celebrating with your immediate family or a few friends in creepy costumes, you’ll love what we’re grilling up this Halloween!
Halloween Food Recipes
Let’s get your Halloween BBQ party-ready. We’re giving you a list of Halloween main dishes, desserts, and drinks that will make your guests shriek with delight!
Photo by Colton Sturgeon on Unsplash
Halloween Dinner Ideas
Petrifying Pizza
Pizza is always a party favorite, and grilled pizza is 100x better! If you haven’t tried it yet, you’ll want to get on the grill-pizza trend ASAP. Our friends at Pizza Porta make grilling pizza in a kamado grill simple, easy, and delicious. Best yet, a Halloween pizza is an option that works great for adults and picky-eater kids alike!
Learn how to grill a pizza at the end of this article.To make it ready for our Halloween BBQ, create a pizza as you normally would, but shape the cheese to something scary—like a ghost or a spider web. The cheese is less likely to spread out on the grill than it is in the oven; plus, you’ll get even more flavor and crunch!
- To create a ghost or other spooky characters in cheese, use Halloween-shaped cookie cutters (or a ghost pan) to cut slices of mozzarella cheese. Throw some ghoulish slices on top of the pizza for a frightful treat.
- For a spider web, you can freehand it with three or four concentric circles connected by ”webs” in between. Make a spider out of cut olives (two halves for the body and cut in thirds for the legs).
Jack O’ Lantern Quesadilla
From the gooey, melty cheese to the crispiness of the tortilla, quesadillas were practically designed for the grill. You can make them with straight cheese, add some peppers and onions, or even throw in some leftover chicken or pulled pork.
Turn these easy-to-grill quesadillas into Halloween main dishes by cutting a Jack O’ Lantern face in the top tortilla using a paring knife. Two triangles for eyes, a smaller triangle for the nose, and a buck-tooth grin bring it all together for a fast and simple Halloween dinner the kids (and adults) will love.
Monster Burgers
This just might be one of the best Halloween food recipes we’ve ever seen. It takes all the fix-ins of a classic burger with just a little touch of elbow grease to create a scary monster that will frighten even the toughest grillers in your crew.
Oh, did we mention it’s easy to make, too? You grill your burger as usual.Then, cut the edges of the cheddar slices to look like teeth, lay a pickle over the side so it looks like a tongue, and push two cocktail sticks with olives on the end through the buns to look like eyes. This Halloween meal is easy, simple, and works wonders.
Find this monster burger recipe here.
Severed Finger Hot Dogs
Can’t have the burgers without the dogs, right? This recipe is easy: grill up your hot dogs like you usually do. Don’t forget to butter and grill the bun, too—nothing is better than a crispy bun hot-off-the-grill. Then, use a paring knife to put a few horizontal lines in your hot dog to make it look like a finger. Cut onions into “nail” shapes to place at the top. Finally, add a little ketchup at the bottom where the hot dog has been cut in half to make it look like a severed finger; disgusting, but oh-so-delicious!
Jalapeño Poppers
This recipe doesn’t look frightening, but it’ll scare your socks off with a burst of flavor! Check out how to grill bacon-wrapped jalapeño poppers here. These taste best on a charcoal grill because of the added crispiness and smoky flavor the charcoal gives to the bacon. We can’t resist it!
Psst… Make it a little more Halloween-y by cutting two little eyes at the top of the popper to make it look like a mummy!
Bat Wings
Batty chicken wings are one of our favorite Halloween dinner ideas. Just cook your chicken wings on the grill, but cover in a dark glaze, like a balsamic glaze, so they look black like bat wings! Try a glaze of ¾ cup balsamic vinegar, ¼ cup soy sauce, and two teaspoons sugar. Simmer in a heavy saucepan, stirring occasionally until the mixture is reduced to about 1/3 cup (about 12-15 minutes). Make more if you’ve got a bigger party, and slather the glaze on your wings.
Bloody Steak
Honestly, is there anything better than a well-cooked steak? We don’t think so. It’s a hit at every party, and it can be a great option if you’re celebrating Halloween with your family or a small group of friends. You can keep it bloody (rare) or make it well-done. However you like it, a frightfully-cooked steak is the best addition to any party.
There’s nothing scarier than an uneven steak! So, make sure you have the tools to make even, delicious cooking and cleanup a breeze. With our Kick Ash Basket, you can shake the ash out of old coals, so you can experience an even, ash-free cook each time. Want to make the task even easier? Use our Kick Ash Can to collect the ash, so cleanup is even faster and less scary.
Halloween Dessert Ideas
We’d rather spend our time grilling than baking, but it’s still fun having some cool Halloween food recipes specific for dessert! Here’s a list of our favorite Halloween desserts (that are also really easy to make and don’t require special baking tools or skills).
- Halloween dirt cups
- Spooky scary spiders
- Pumpkin chocolate brownies
- Ghost cups
- Ghost cookies (use the same cookie cutter for your pizza!)
- Frankenstein cookies
- Ogre eye cookies
- Green monster waffles
- Cinnamon sugar tortilla crisps (with Halloween cookie cutters)
- Chocolate covered strawberry ghosts
If you’re looking for a simple, classic option, one of our favorite desserts just so happens to be budget-friendly and health conscious: grilled fruit! Throw your favorite fruits on the grill for a few minutes, add some vanilla ice cream, and you have an easy dessert that’s always a crowd pleasure. Our favorite grilled fruits include strawberries, melons, bananas, and pineapple. Cover the fruit in cinnamon for an extra autumnal treat, too.
Halloween Drink Ideas
A Halloween BBQ isn’t complete without some festive drinks to go with your meal!
Bloody Mary Syringes: Bloody Mary drinks are a must-have with grilled food. Make ‘em a little bloodier by putting them in syringes.
Midnight Margaritas: Make your favorite margarita mix, add a few drops of red, green, and blue food coloring to give a dark greenish-black hue, then use black sanding sugar to coat the rims. Garnish with a lime wedge for a festively-eerie witch’s brew.
Jeckyll & Gin Cocktails: Did you know tonic water glows under a blacklight? If you want to take your bar table to the next level, try out these gin and tonics that will really light up the night. (Blacklight not included.)
Poison Apple Cocktails: This spicy fall drink is one of the easiest-but-coolest Halloween recipe ideas to serve on your bar table. With apple cider, cranberry juice, grenadine, fireball, and edible glitter, this poison apple concoction looks as stunning as it tastes.
Halloween Punch: Make the bartender’s life easy and throw a punch bowl together. Cherry juice will give that blood-red you’re looking for in a Halloween treat. Add chili, cinnamon, and ginger for a kick, and top off with vodka (or keep it as a non-alcoholic recipe for the kids). If you’re doing a punch bowl, offer a lid, ladle, and hand sanitizer to keep it COVID-19 friendly; even better, have one host portion out the punch for everyone.
Witch’s Brew Cocktail: If you’re looking to get super fancy with shimmering liqueurs and dry ice, you’ll love the creepily-divine look of this witch’s brew.
Turn any drink spooky with some Halloween ice cubes!
Also, check out another list of awesome Halloween drinks here.
Time for the Tricks and Treats
We’re so excited about all the Halloween parties coming up. What are your favorite Halloween food recipes? What will you be bringing to your next creepy-crawly party?
Whatever you’re grilling up, don’t forget the Kick Ash Basket and Can to make your grilling clean-up a whole lot less scary.