7 foods that you can eat 'to bring you good luck in the new year'

People around the world are gearing up to celebrate the new year this coming weekend with parties, champagne, good company, and of course food.

But before you begin dishing out lobster or burgers to your family and friends, you may want to consider the foods most likely to bring you good fortune in 2023.

There are specific foods said to bring people good luck when they’re eaten on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day.

So, no you don’t need to sit underneath a table to bring luck into your life this year.

Instead, we’ve compiled a list of the X foods to eat on New Year’s in the hopes it brings you happiness, good health, and good fortune.

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1. Grapes

In Spain, the Twelve Grapes is an annual tradition where a person eats 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight to welcome the New Year.

Each grape represents the 12 coming months.

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2. Black-eyed peas

Whether they’re paired with collard greens or made in Hoppin’ John, black-eyed peas are a staple New Year’s dish in the Southern US.

The dish is thought to bring good luck in the new year because collard green represents money and the black-eyes peas represent prosperity.

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3. Mandarin oranges

Mandarin oranges are a symbol of abundance and good fortune which is why they’re often seen in Chinese New Year celebrations.

But the oranges have quickly been adopted into western culture being gifted on Christmas and New Year’s.

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4. Pretzels

In Germany, Grosse Neujahrs-Breze or New Year’s pretzels are braided, lightly-sweetened yeast pretzels eaten at midnight to bring good luck.

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5. Vasilopita

This bread/cake originates from Greece or Cyprus and has a small trinket inside of it that is supposed to bring good luck to the person who receives it, much like King’s Cake.

After midnight, the cake is cut and each person gets a slice from oldest to youngest.

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6. Buttered Bread

One traditional Irish custom is recognizing 1 January as the Day of Buttered Bread.

Buttered bread was seen as a luxury so at the start of the new year people would eat, throw, or display it to welcome good fortune and banish hunger in the new year.

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7. Toshikoshi Soba

This traditional Japanese noodle bowl is eaten on New Year’s Eve to symbolize letting go of hardships because soba noodles can be easily cut.

But it also symbolizes imagining a new peaceful and prosperous life with each slurp of a noodle.

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