3 Gluten-Free Recipes for Halloween!

Taco Hummus

It’s getting closer and closer to Halloween! If you’re hosting a Halloween party I have some good ideas for you today! When I’m planning a party I always think of the menu first. After all, isn’t that the most important part?! With Halloween there is inevitably going to be a ton of sugar so make sure to make something a little nutritious to off-set all the treats.

For example, the cute Jack O’ Lantern pictured above is actually a taco hummus dip. I like to serve this dip with corn tortilla chips or carrots and celery. This dip is also gluten free! I used the new McCormick Gluten Free Taco Seasoning to make it in no time. My daughter was literally eating this dip by the spoonful without a chip or veggie. She loved it. I have to say that it was super flavorful and I was extremely happy with the results.

You simply blend up chick peas with McCormick Gluten-Free Taco Seasoning Mix and a few other ingredients and then spread the dip in a circular pie tin. Then top with cheddar cheese and decorate with sliced olives and black tortilla chips.

I’m super excited about the new gluten-free product line from McCormick. For those of you who eat gluten-free or cook for those who eat gluten-free it’s nice to have these spice blends that take out the guesswork when cooking with multiple spices. The best part of these spices are that they are NOT more expensive than their non gluten-free counterparts!

A gluten-free snack idea for a Halloween party could be these delicious chili-spiced nuts with candy corn. There are only 4 ingredients: McCormick Gluten-Free Chili Spice Mix, unsalted mixed nuts, butter and candy corn. The spicy nuts pair well against the super sweet candy corn. These nuts are delicious and very festive! I made the nuts in the slow cooker which is always a big help when you’re getting everything ready for a party and you need some food that will basically prepare itself.

Chili-spiced Nuts with Candy Corn

In addition to the gluten-free taco and chili spice mixes McCormick is also offering a gluten-free brown gravy mix and turkey gravy mix. I used the gluten-free brown gravy mix to prepare a delicious dinner of beef broccoli. You can also easily prepare this for your Halloween party. This dinner is perfect for even the pickiest of kids (or ghosts). The recipe can easily be found here on allrecipes.com. The delicious gravy covers the beef and broccoli and rice with savory goodness.

Beef and Broccoli that’s Gluten-Free!

I like to serve mine with brown rice for added nutrition. If you wanted to you could easily add in more veggies to make it for healthy and colorful. Think bell peppers, mushrooms, snap peas, etc!

Now that we have the food out of the way let’s talk party ideas. Before your party starts you’ll want to send out some scary invitations to your guests. Make your own invites or make it easy on yourself and send out an e-invite.

One reason that I absolutely love Halloween is because it’s the one day of the year that you can justifiably be someone else. You can be Super Woman, a ninja, a princess…anything!! Take advantage of that by having a costume contest at your party. Buy a fun prize for the winner. This will get lots of creative costumes into your home. You will want to take lots of pictures of all your guests looking good in their costumes so make sure your camera battery is charged!
I always love a friendly competition so in addition to a costume contest, host a pumpkin carving contest. Buy some pumpkins and have at it. You may want to consider purchasing some of those pumpkin carving kits. If this is too messy, perhaps you could paint the pumpkins instead of carving them. Or you could remove the guts of the pumpkin before your guests arrive.

Of course, you’re going to need some spooky music in the background. Load up your iPod with lots of creepy music. Or you could search Pandora for a Halloween station.

If you’re up for it, bobbing for apples is also a Halloween tradition that can be super fun and funny. Or making your own caramel apples is a good substitution for those people that don’t want to get their head wet (and can easily be a gluten-free treat).

Whatever you decide to do at your Halloween party make sure to include some yummy food (recipes below) and it will be a success!

Recipe for Gluten-Free Jack O’ Lantern Taco Hummus
Makes 20 servings

• 2 (15 oz) cans garbanzo beans
• 1 (1.25 oz) McCormick Gluten-Free Taco Seasoning Mix
• 4 tsp olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
• Sliced black olives, for decoration
• Black corn tortilla chips, for decoration and for dipping

1. Drain the garbanzo beans of liquid but retain the liquid for later use.
2. Combine the beans, taco seasoning packet. olive oil, garlic and lemon juice in a blender or food processor.
3. Blend until smooth. Add in 1 Tbsp of retained liquid at a time to get to desired consistency (I added in about 5 Tbsp total).
4. Spread hummus evenly into a circular pie tin or cake pan. Top with shredded cheddar. Decorate into a jack o’ lantern using the olives and tortilla chips.


Recipe for Gluten-Free Chli Spiced Mixed Nuts
Makes 20 servings

• 2 (10.3) cans of unsalted mixed nuts
• 1 (1 oz) McCormick Gluten-Free Chili Seasoning Mix
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• Salt
• 1 (10 oz) package candy corn

1. In a gallon sized zipper plastic bag combine the nuts, melted butter, and seasoning mix. Seal and shake thoroughly until all nuts are evenly coated with seasonings.
2. Pour nuts into the bottom of a slow cooker. Turn to high and cook uncovered for 2 hours.
3. Salt to taste. Add in candy corn and stir. Place mixed nuts in a serving bowl and enjoy.

Get rid of the gluten, but not the flavor with McCormick Gluten-Free Recipe Mixes! Visit the Recipe Collection at allrecipes.com to discover more flavorful gluten free eating and meal ideas!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of McCormick Gluten-Free Recipe Mix. The opinions and text are all mine.