50 Samhain Recipes to Enjoy This Fall

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Samhain is the pagan holiday on the Wheel of the Year that celebrates the final Fall harvest from October 31 to November 1. Pronounced “sow-win,” the holiday honors the end of the harvest season with bonfires and rituals that honor those who have passed.

Some ways you can celebrate the holiday include eating traditional recipes, decorating your altar with symbols of Samhain. Below, you’ll find a list of traditional foods of Samhain as well as modern and classic recipes for the holiday.

What Is Samhain?

Samhain is the Ancient Celtic and neo-pagan holiday that honors the final harvest of the year. It begins on October 31st, midway between the Fall Equinox and the Winter Solstice. To the Ancient Celts, it was the most important fire festival of the year, and participation in festivities was mandatory. Failure to participate meant punishment by the gods.

They also believed the Samhain was the time of the year when the veil between the fairy world and human world was at its thinnest, so they left offerings in an effort to protect themselves against those from the Otherworld.

In the Middle Ages, people started carving turnips and hosting Dumb Suppers, where their ancestors were invited to join. At these occasions, they also left out cakes for the dead.

Many of the traditions from Samhain — from carving harvest vegetables to putting on costumes and going-door-to-door — have become part of Halloween traditions as well.

What Are the Traditional Foods of Samhain?

Apples, pumpkins, and soul cakes are some of the most important foods for Samhain. Apples have been used for divination for hundreds of years and to the Celts were a symbol of fertility, immortality, and wisdom.

The final harvest is the time when the world is letting go and the leaves that were so green in the summer are now dying and releasing themselves from their branches. Plants are starting to go dormant for the winter and animals are preparing for hibernation.

If some of these foods below sound similar to those enjoyed at Mabon, some are. That’s because some of the same foods are in season and the holidays on the Wheel of the Year focuses on what is ripe at the time.

Some traditional foods of Samhain include:

Apples
Pumpkins
Hazelnuts
Barmbrack
Champ
Corn
Cranberry
Cider
Ale

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Samhain Recipes

Some of these Samhain recipes are more traditional, while others are inspired by the foods enjoyed during this time of the year.

1. Apples

Apples are a symbol of fertility, immortality, and wisdom. They were buried with their dead and were also used for divination. You may enjoy them in a variety of ways, from raw to baked into desserts or savory recipes. However, it should be noted that the only apples available in Ireland at that time were wild apples, also known as crab apples.

Samhain Recipes Foods - Apple Sausage Stuffing — Photo Credit: Chew Out Loud

2. Pumpkins

The Celts didn’t carve pumpkins at Samhain. Instead, they carved turnips and other similarly-shaped vegetables to frighten away evil spirits. But, as a symbol of the harvest, they represent abundance and prosperity.

Samhain Recipes Foods - Pumpkin Cake — Photo Credit: The Cookin’ Chicks

3. Hazelnuts

For the Celtics, the Hazel tree was very important as it stood at the heart of the Otherworld. Its fruit, the hazelnut, symbolized wisdom and inspiration.

Samhain Recipes Foods - Hazelnut Butter — Photo Credit: Milk Glass Home

4. Barmbrack

Barmbrack is an Irish yeast bread made with sultanas (grapes) and spices. In Gaelic, the bread is known as báirín breac or “speckled loaf.” And, for Halloween, a pea, a stick, a piece of cloth, a coin, and a ring are baked into the bread. The bread is also a divination tool, just be careful not to swallow the charms.

Finding a pea means you won’t be getting married that year. Finding a matchstick means you’ll have an unhappy marriage. Finding a cloth means you’ll end up in poverty. Finding the coin means you’ll become wealthy. And finding the ring means you’ll get married.

Here is a recipe for traditional Irish Barmbrack. And here is a vegan option.

Samhain Recipes Foods - Barmbrack — Photo Credit: Addicted to Dates

5. Champ

Champ is an Irish dish made with mashed potatoes, scallions, butter, and milk. It’s similar to Colcannon, but doesn’t use kale or cabbage. During Samhain, one custom was to place a spoonful of it at the base of a Hawthorn tree as an offering to the fairies. Sometimes cakes, milk, honey, cream, and other sweet treats were also left for the Sidhe on burial mounds and passage tombs.

Here is a recipe for Champ.

Samhain Recipes Foods - Champ — Photo Credit: Lee and Jay

6. Corn

Corn symbolizes life and abundance and also represents a successful harvest. It acknowledges the hard work of the season.

Samhain Recipes Foods - Pumpkin Soup — Photo Credit: Heavenly Spiced

7. Cranberry

The cranberry is an important food for Yule, but is also a part of Samhain for it symbolizes protection and abundance. These are two concepts that were likely front of mind at the end of the harvest and as one prepared for the winter.

Samhain Recipes Foods - Cranberry Jam — Photo Credit: Jam Jar Kitchen

8. Cider

Cider represents the final harvest, eternal life and was seen as a drink that connected the living and spirit world. As a result, it’s ideal for Samhain, when the veil between the two is thin.

50 Samhain Recipes to Enjoy This Fall

What Is Samhain?

What Are the Traditional Foods of Samhain?

Some traditional foods of Samhain include: