Homemade Eco-Friendly Halloween Treats: 10 Spooky Recipes
We are reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn affiliate commission.
The spooky season is upon us and it’s time to start eating like it. If you and your family are craving eco-friendly Halloween treats, you’ll find loads of delicious snacks on our list.
1. Spooky Fruit Salad
If you want to get your kids excited about eating fruit, you should make a spooky fruit salad. It’s healthy, simplistic, and tasty — what more could parents want? All you need to do is get some fruit and turn it into fun, festive shapes. Remember to remove pesticides from produce before you begin.
Once you peel a mandarin orange and stick an apple slice in its center, you get a miniature pumpkin. For the rest of the fruit, you use Halloween-themed cookie cutters to make tiny ghosts, witches, and cats. You can choose anything, but we think pineapple, watermelon, and cantaloupe are the easiest to work with.
2. Pumpkin Ice Cream
This vegan pumpkin pie ice cream recipe is one of the best eco-friendly Halloween treats on this list. It’s vegan and gluten-free, so it has a tiny impact on the environment. Plus, you only need 10 ingredients to put it together.
The person who came up with the recipe suggests you top it with roasted pecans once you’re finished and we can’t agree more — it’s sure to be a treat your family always asks for. Don’t forget, you can educate your children on eco-friendly ingredients while the ice cream thickens.
3. Halloween Trail Mix
The Halloween version of traditional trail mix is a fun twist on a classic snack. Although you can technically use just about anything, we have a tasty recipe in mind. You’ll need candy melts, mini pretzels, lightly toasted pumpkin seeds, salted pecans, and dried apple crisps.
First, you’ll melt the candy melts and coat some of the pretzels in them. Once they’re dry, you dump everything else in. It’ll look spooky and taste fantastic. Plus, you’ll make this Halloween treat even better for the environment if you get the pumpkin seeds and apples from your backyard or a local farmers’ market.
4. Whole Pumpkin Punch
This spiced pumpkin punch recipe is another one of our top eco-friendly Halloween treats because it’s waste-free. You start by scooping out a pumpkin. Then, you make a brittle garnish out of the seeds, a spiced puree out of roasted pumpkin guts, and the punch itself using juice.
It sounds involved, but it’s actually super simple and crazy fun for the kids. When you finish, you pour your punch into the pumpkin and ladle it out to fill everyone’s cups. Best of all, you can turn the pumpkin into a Jack-o-Lantern after your family finishes off the drink.
5. Monster Popcorn
Monster popcorn is salty, sweet, and spooky — the perfect combination for eco-friendly Halloween treats. To make it, you need candy melts, popcorn, and whatever toppings you like. If you want to be extra sustainable, use your own popcorn kernels. Kids love watching them pop, so you could even get a fun family bonding experience out of it.
To avoid using artificial dyes, you can color the melts with an all-natural food dye using spinach or turmeric. You simply boil your ingredients with water and run the finished product through a sieve. You end up with bright, bold colors perfect for a monster-inspired snack.
6. Halloween Lollipops
You should try out this four-ingredient lollipop recipe if your family is craving some eco-friendly Halloween candy. You only need honey, cane sugar, fruit juice, and frozen fruit.
However, you’ll also need to get a mold — preferably something with a spooky theme —- to shape them. The recipe’s creator used strawberries, but we recommend blackberries or cherries for more of a festive look.
7. Halloween Bark
Halloween bark is a long, thin sheet of chocolate covered in whatever decadent toppings you and your kids crave. We recommend adding things like nuts, dried fruits, and pretzels. If you want to make it look more festive, you can drizzle purple, green, and orange chocolate on top.
Although chocolate is famously non-eco-friendly, we’ve found a company you can trust. A 2023 study looked at an entire list of sustainability factors and found that Original Beans was the most environmentally conscious out of all other companies. It’s even planted over 3.5 million trees thanks to its “tree-tracker” program, so it offsets most of its leftover carbon footprint.
8. Caramel Apples
Caramel apples are a classic Halloween treat. If you want something slightly spookier than what you’d normally get, use green apples and give them monster faces. Alternatively, you could color the caramel red with the eco-friendly dye we mentioned earlier. Your kids will love making them and you’ll enjoy eating them, so it’s a win-win.
Although caramel isn’t necessarily bad for the environment, you’ll probably have a hard time finding something in-store that isn’t packed with additives, preservatives, and artificial colors. Fortunately, you can use this vegan recipe to make your own all-natural version.
9. Pumpkin Hummus
This tasty pumpkin hummus recipe is one of the few savory, eco-friendly Halloween treats on our list. It’s oil-free, vegan, and gluten-free, so it’s incredibly good for the environment.
You only need to blend chickpeas, pumpkin puree, and spices before you can dig in. If you want to make an even bigger positive impact, get a pumpkin from a local farm to make your own puree.
10. Witch’s Brew
A Witch’s Brew is a fun, brightly-colored Halloween drink. You mix ginger ale, juice, and sherbert together to make it. Pineapple and lime juice are most people’s go-to choices, but you can substitute them for lemon-lime soda if you want some fizz.
You’ll Love These Eco-Friendly Halloween Treats
These eco-friendly Halloween treats can satisfy whatever craving your family has for spooky-inspired snacks. They’re also crazy fun to make, so you can spend the entire month them out one at a time.
Share on
Like what you read? Join other Environment.co readers!
Get the latest updates on our planet by subscribing to the Environment.co newsletter!
About the author
Maria Visser
Maria serves as the Assistant Editor of Environment.co. A true foodie and activist at heart, she loves covering topics ranging from veganism to off grid living.