These New Year’s Eve traditional meals to bring ‘good fortune’ and ‘love’ in 2025

One New Year’s feast, which is affordable and common for many households, includes cornbread, ham, greens and black-eyed peas. But what do these foods represent? New Year’s Eve is a time for festivities of different types, including lavish dinners with caviar and champagne.

Here’s a list of top items that should be on your dinner table to bring good fortune in 2025!

Black-eyed peas in US: A common New Year’s Eve meal for many Americans in the Southern United States is black-eyed peas, which are believed to “bring in the New Year with hope, prosperity and good fortune,” Bobby Ford, who owns Bobby Q’s Jus Like Mama’s, told Fox News Digital.

Bobby Q’s Jus Like Mama’s is a Long Island soul food restaurant.

“These peas are also seen as a symbol of spiritual abundance — and with their nutritional value, as a way to promote health and well-being for the year ahead,” Ford stated.

According to Ford, enslaved Africans brought West African black-eyed peas to the United States. Women concealed the peas in their hair.

“This act ensured they could grow familiar food in a new land, preserving a piece of their culture and sustenance,” he said about the tradition that started during the Civil War.

It eventually became a New Year’s tradition, signifying optimism and the prospect of future success.

Also Read: Times Square revelers to face wet, warm night at New Year’s Eve ball drop; here’s how to watch celebrations for free

12 grapes in Spain: The custom of consuming twelve grapes on New Year’s Eve in Spain at midnight dates back to the 1800s. The tradition later spread to other Spanish-speaking nations.

Videos pertaining to the tradition have gained popularity on TikTok in recent years. In 2023, the grocery store chain Kroger posted a video that garnered over 6 million views.

The TikTok video on eating 12 grapes note, “If you can finish them before the chime ends, you will have good luck throughout the year.”

The tradition is followed in Peru, where it is said that if a person consumes twelve grapes under a table is lucky in love for the upcoming year.

Toshikoshi soba: Noodles are typically eaten on birthdays and other occasions throughout Asia as a symbol of hope for a long life.

Toshikoshi soba, a meal similar to noodles, consumed on New Year’s Eve in Japan. Buckwheat is used to prepare noodles as it is a representation of fortitude, tenacity, and good fortune.