What to Feed the Kids Before Trick-or-Treating (So Candy Isn’t Dinner)

Here is the Halloween math. If candy is going to be dessert, dinner has to happen by five. After that the costumes go on, the doorbell starts ringing, and nobody is sitting down to anything. So every October you need an easy dinner before trick or treating that cooks mostly by itself while you are on your knees fighting a costume zipper.

Halloween lands on a Saturday this year, so there is no school night scramble. That helps. It does not change the basic problem, which is that trick or treating still starts around dusk and the kids are not going to eat a proper meal at 8:30 with a pillowcase full of chocolate on the counter.

The goal is simple. Real food, protein forward, on the table around 5pm. Candy after. No lectures about the candy, either. It is Halloween. The point of dinner is not to cancel out the candy. The point is that nobody hits the sidewalk running on empty.

The ground rules

Before the recipes, three rules that decide whether an easy dinner before trick or treating actually stays easy.

• Cook the thing that does not need you at 4:45. That is exactly when someone cannot find a shoe, the face paint is out, and the first doorbell rings.
• Protein and something warm. It is usually cold by the time you are out, and a kid with beans and beef in them walks a lot farther than a kid with a granola bar in them.
• Nothing that needs a knife and fork in costume. Bowls, bags and handhelds. If it can be eaten with one hand while the other holds a mask, it wins.

If you want to think about the plate at all, the USDA’s MyPlate is a fine sanity check: some protein, some vegetables, a grain, maybe fruit or dairy. That is the whole standard for tonight. Anything above that is extra credit.

Seven ideas for an easy dinner before trick or treating

1. Slow cooker chili (start it at lunch)

This is the one to make, because it asks nothing of you after noon. A 6-quart slow cooker holds this batch with room to spare.

Ingredients

• 2 lb ground beef
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cans (15 oz each) kidney or black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
• 1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes
• 3 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• Shredded cheddar, sour cream and crackers or bread for serving

Steps

1. Brown the beef and onion in a skillet over medium high heat, about 10 minutes. Ground beef should reach 160F per the federal safe minimum temperature chart. Drain the fat.
2. Add the garlic for the last minute, then scrape everything into the slow cooker.
3. Stir in the beans, both tomatoes, chili powder, cumin and salt.
4. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours or high 3 to 4 hours. Taste and adjust salt before serving.

Leftover chili doubles as a potato topping for idea number three, which is not an accident.

2. Sheet pan sausage, peppers and potatoes

One pan, oven does the work, about 40 minutes total.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lb baby potatoes, halved
• 2 bell peppers, cut in strips
• 1 red onion, cut in wedges
• 1 lb smoked sausage or kielbasa, sliced into coins
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp garlic powder

Steps

1. Heat the oven to 425F. Toss the potatoes with half the oil and seasoning and roast 15 minutes.
2. Add the peppers, onion and sausage with the rest of the oil. Roast another 20 to 25 minutes, until the potatoes are browned and tender.

Smoked sausage is already cooked, so you are just crisping it. If you use raw sausage instead, pork needs to reach 160F and chicken sausage 165F.

3. Baked potato bar

The most hands off meal on this list once the potatoes are in, and every kid builds their own.

Ingredients

• 6 russet potatoes, scrubbed and poked with a fork
• Olive oil and coarse salt
• Toppings: shredded cheddar, steamed broccoli, sour cream, cooked bacon, green onions, leftover chili

Steps

1. Rub the potatoes with oil and salt. Bake directly on the rack at 425F for 50 to 60 minutes, until a knife slides in easily.
2. Short on time? Microwave them 8 to 10 minutes first, then finish in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes to crisp the skin.
3. Split, fluff with a fork, and set out the toppings.

4. Walking tacos

The fastest option here, about 20 minutes, and the chip bag is the bowl. Fewer dishes on a night when nobody wants to do dishes.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lb ground beef or turkey
• 1 packet taco seasoning (or 2 tbsp homemade) plus 2/3 cup water
• 6 to 8 single serve bags of corn chips
• Toppings: shredded lettuce, diced tomato, shredded cheese, salsa, sour cream

Steps

1. Brown the meat, drain, add the seasoning and water, and simmer 5 minutes until thick. Ground turkey should reach 165F.
2. Crush the chips a little in the unopened bag, then cut the bag open along the long side.
3. Spoon in meat and toppings. Hand over a fork.

Honest note: this is the one that makes the biggest mess on a costume. Put the cape on after.

5. Mac and cheese with squash stirred in

Butternut squash disappears into the cheese sauce. It is orange, the sauce is orange, nobody asks questions.

Ingredients

• 1 lb elbow pasta
• 3 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp flour
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup butternut squash puree (canned, or a thawed frozen package)
• 3 cups shredded sharp cheddar
• 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp dry mustard

Steps

1. Cook the pasta in salted water, drain, and set aside.
2. In the same pot, melt the butter, whisk in the flour, and cook 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the milk and simmer until it thickens, about 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the squash, salt and mustard, then the cheese a handful at a time off the heat.
4. Fold the pasta back in. Serve it with something green if you can.

If you want more meals that need this little thinking, our five-ingredient dinners are the ones to lean on during the week.

6. Sloppy joes

Twenty five minutes, one skillet, and a kid can eat it with one hand.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lb ground beef
• 1 small onion and 1 green pepper, finely diced
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp yellow mustard
• 6 to 8 hamburger buns

Steps

1. Brown the beef with the onion and pepper until the beef is no longer pink and the vegetables are soft. Drain.
2. Stir in the ketchup, water, sugar, Worcestershire and mustard. Simmer 10 minutes.
3. Pile onto toasted buns. Serve with baby carrots or apple slices.

7. Breakfast for dinner

Scrambled eggs, bacon or sausage, toast, and fruit. It is quick, it is protein, and few kids turn it down.

Ingredients

• 12 large eggs, whisked with a splash of milk and a pinch of salt
• 1 lb bacon or breakfast sausage links
• Toast or a stack of frozen waffles
• Sliced fruit

Steps

1. Bake the bacon on a sheet pan at 400F for 15 to 20 minutes while you do everything else.
2. Scramble the eggs low and slow in butter until just set.
3. Toast, slice fruit, eat.

A quick safety beat before you head out

Dinner is done. Now the part that actually matters. NHTSA’s Halloween safety tips are short and worth reading with the kids before you go: use a buddy system so nobody walks alone, cross at crosswalks or intersections, and look for cars in every direction, including ones turning. Drivers are told to watch for kids in unexpected places, which tells you how often kids end up in unexpected places.

My own additions, which are common sense and not a government list:

• Reflective tape on the back of dark costumes and treat bags.
• A flashlight for every kid, or at least every group.
• An adult with the younger ones, always. Older kids get a route, a time, and a charged phone.

If costumes are still undecided, our family costume ideas lean toward the ones kids can actually see and walk in.

The honest bottom line

You do not need a themed menu or a mummy made of hot dogs. You need an easy dinner before trick or treating that is ready around 5pm, fills everyone up with something real, and does not need you standing at the stove while the doorbell rings.

If I had to pick one, it is the slow cooker chili, started at lunch and forgotten until dinner. If I had to pick a backup, it is walking tacos, because 20 minutes is always available. Either way, dinner comes first, candy comes after, and nobody gets a speech about it.

Sources: NHTSA Halloween safety tips, FoodSafety.gov safe minimum internal temperatures, USDA MyPlate

Common questions