You don’t even need to be a special cook to make these most adorable Halloween Mashed Boo-tatoes. All you need is a pastry bag to pipe mashed potatoes into ghosts and sweet potatoes into pumpkins. It’s that simple! Make them for any Halloween-themed dinner and you’ll be pleased to see that everyone is going to love them, adults and kids. Easy and quick to make, these little guys are a total hit for any Halloween dinner plate!
Thanks to Martha Stewart for this wonderful recipe. Her original recipe page is no longer online, so below you’ll find the basic method in our own words, a written recipe from another cook that you can follow, and six more Halloween appetizers to fill out the table. Featured photo: Halloween caprese skull skewers by Sula, Ovenspiration.
On this page: The basic method · A written recipe to follow · 6 Halloween appetizers worth making
How to pipe mashed potato ghosts and pumpkins: the basic method
Any mashed potatoes can become ghosts. What matters is the texture of the mash and a steady squeeze.
- Make the mash stiffer than usual. Drain the potatoes very well, then add the butter and milk a little at a time and stop while the mash still holds a peak. Soft, runny mash spreads into puddles instead of standing up.
- Keep the sweet potatoes separate. Mashed sweet potatoes give you the orange pumpkins. Mash them as smooth as you can so they pass through the piping tip without clogging.
- Fill the piping bag while the mash is warm. A large round tip gives smooth ghosts. No tip? Snip a corner off a sturdy zip-top bag.
- Pipe the ghosts tall and the pumpkins round. For a ghost, squeeze while you slowly lift the bag, then stop squeezing and pull up to leave a little point on top. For a pumpkin, pipe a low, round mound.
- Add the faces last. Two dots make the eyes: black peppercorns, black sesame seeds or tiny pieces of black olive all work. A small herb leaf or a piece of chive makes a pumpkin stem.
- Serve them hot. Pipe just before dinner, or pipe onto a lined baking sheet and warm them through in the oven for a few minutes before serving.
Want a written recipe? Try this one
If you’d rather follow a full recipe, this version from Easy Peasy Meals is a good one to start with.
Halloween Mashed Potato Ghosts
Why it stands out: A small batch made with russet potatoes, cream, butter and Parmesan. The cook seasons with white pepper instead of black, so the ghosts stay pure white, and gives them peppercorn or black sesame eyes.
Good to know: It’s ghosts only. For the sweet potato pumpkins, follow the basic method above with a separate batch of mashed sweet potatoes.
You’ll need: black peppercorns or black sesame seeds, butter, egg, heavy cream, Parmesan cheese, potato cooking water, russet potatoes, salt, white pepper.
Get the full recipe from Easy Peasy Meals →
6 Halloween appetizers worth making
Setting a Halloween table? These party bites from other cooks sit happily next to the boo-tatoes. We’ve listed what goes into each one, but the full recipes belong to the cooks who created them, so follow the links for their method. And for the grown-ups, we have 8 scary-tasty Halloween cocktails.
Jump to: 1. Mummy hot dogs · 2. Spider deviled eggs · 3. Jack-o’-lantern cheese ball · 4. Witch finger breadsticks · 5. Spider web 7-layer dip · 6. String cheese broomsticks
1. Mummy Hot Dogs with Crescent Rolls
Why it stands out: Three ingredients and under half an hour: hot dogs wrapped in strips of crescent dough bake up like little bandaged mummies, with dots of mustard for eyes.
Good to know: You can wrap them ahead and keep them in the fridge, then bake them just before the party. Keep the dough cold.
You’ll need: crescent rolls, hot dogs, mustard.
Serves: 8 · Time: about 22 minutes
Get the full recipe from Trisha Haas at Salty Side Dish →
2. Halloween Deviled Eggs
Why it stands out: Classic deviled eggs, each topped with a little spider cut from black olives. It’s the easiest way to make a platter look creepy without changing the recipe you already love.
Good to know: The cook says you can assemble them ahead and keep them in the fridge until the party.
You’ll need: apple cider vinegar, black olives, black pepper, Dijon mustard, eggs, garlic powder, mayonnaise, paprika, sea salt.
Serves: 12 · Time: about 30 minutes
Get the full recipe from Maya Krampf at Wholesome Yum →
3. Halloween Cheese Ball
Why it stands out: A ranch-seasoned cream cheese and cheddar ball shaped like a pumpkin, with a bell pepper stem and a black olive jack-o’-lantern face. Serve it with crackers.
Good to know: Make the ball a day or two ahead and add the stem and face just before serving.
You’ll need: bell pepper, black olives, cream cheese, ranch seasoning, sharp cheddar cheese, vegetable cream cheese.
Serves: 8 · Time: about 30 minutes of prep
Get the full recipe from Julie Wunder at Running in a Skirt →
4. Witch Finger Breadsticks
Why it stands out: Store-bought pizza dough rolled into knobbly fingers, with a whole almond pressed in for each fingernail. They’re brushed with garlic-Parmesan butter and served with warm marinara for dipping.
Good to know: A savory break from all the Halloween candy, and store-bought dough keeps it simple.
You’ll need: almonds, egg, garlic powder, marinara sauce, Parmesan cheese, pizza dough, salt, unsalted butter.
Makes: 10 breadsticks · Time: about 45 minutes
Get the full recipe from Stephanie at Eat. Drink. Love. →
5. Spider Web 7 Layer Dip
Why it stands out: A seven-layer taco dip with seasoned beef, beans, cheese, guacamole and salsa, finished with a sour cream spider web and a little olive spider on top.
Good to know: It needs about 30 minutes in the fridge before serving, and the cook says it’s best served fresh.
You’ll need: black olives, ground beef, guacamole, Monterey Jack cheese, refried beans, Rotel (diced tomatoes with green chilies), salsa, sour cream, taco seasoning.
Makes: about 7 cups of dip · Time: about 45 minutes, including 30 minutes of chilling
Get the full recipe from Kelly Dixon at The Blogette →
6. String Cheese Pretzel Broomsticks
Why it stands out: Just two ingredients: string cheese snipped into bristles and pushed onto pretzel-stick handles. The cook has been bringing them to school parties for years.
Good to know: You can make them ahead and keep them airtight in the fridge, the cook says.
You’ll need: mozzarella string cheese, pretzel sticks.
Makes: 24 broomsticks · Time: about 15 minutes
Get the full recipe from Karen Troughton at Kitchen Treaty →
Kitchen Kit
- Disposable piping bags, for piping the ghosts
- A large round piping tip, for smooth, tall ghosts
- A potato ricer, for the smoothest mash, with no lumps to clog the tip
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