Harry Potter Family Dinner Ideas

I’ve always loved Harry Potter.

My teenage years were during the height of the Harry Potter craze.  The books were coming out every year or two and my siblings and I would have to take turns to read the next book.  We would sit and read ALL DAY.  I loved it, even if my eyes were exhausted by the end.

Now that I have my own family, I have tried to keep my love of Harry Potter alive! 

Of course you can read the books.  The audio version is especially fun to listen to.  You can watch the movies.  They are fun, but sometimes I get annoyed with the liberties taken and the differences from the books.  But of course, I still love them.

If you want to really go all out, you can go to Universal Studios in Florida or California and go to Harry Potter World.  I highly recommend Florida.  We took our young kids there several years ago and I still get the chills thinking about how awesome it was.  We spent the entire day exploring Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade.  We didn’t do a single other thing in in the theme park :).  But it was one of the best days of my life!

However, each of these things takes time and the theme park takes a lot of money.  So to keep the love of Harry Potter alive in my kids, we do a yearly Harry Potter dinner.  I usually do it around Halloween because it just seems to fit the season well.

I’ve experimented with several different foods over the years, but there are certain things that I always try to make.

Harry Potter Dinner Ideas:

Chocolate frogs:

These aren’t too hard.  I buy chocolate discs like these, melt them in the microwave and pour into a special frog mold.  This is the one I got and it has worked great!  The chocolate sets up pretty quickly if you put it in the fridge.  Pop out the chocolate once it is set and arrange them on a cute tray or stand.

Golden snitches:

These can be as simple as buying Ferraro Rochet chocolates in gold wrapping and putting in a bowl.  One year, I cut out little wings and glued them to the sides.  That was a bit more work, but they sure were cute!

Pasties:

I usually do a meat version as I serve this as the main dish.  I start with pre-made pie dough.  You’ll need 2-3 rolls of it.  Cut each pre-made circle into quarters and roll out thin and into a circle.  Cook up a mixture of 1 lb ground beef, 1 cup chopped onions, and 2 teaspoons of garlic.  Put a small amount (1/4 cup) inside the pie dough, fold over the top and seal the ends with a fork.  Place on a cookie sheet and cook at 350 for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.  I based my recipe off of one like this.

Corn on the cob:

Sometimes it’s hard to find fresh corn in October.  So I usually just buy the frozen cobs.  Cook according to the package directions and place on serving tray.

Sliced Potatoes:

We often do some kind of potato and I think these ones look really fancy! You peel and slice potatoes into thin rounds. Arrange them in a circular cooking dish. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, garlic powder, onion powder, and parsley. Parmesan cheese also works well on top. Bake in a 425 degree oven for around 30 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. You can find a recipe here!

European bread:

I love serving this bread as a side!  It feels so fancy and everyone always loves it!  You can find my recipe here.

Butterscotch Muddy Buddies:

I discovered this recipe a couple of years ago and thought the change of flavor really fit well with our Harry Potter theme.  We always love muddy buddies, but instead of the traditional peanut butter and chocolate flavor, this uses butterscotch chocolate chips!  You can find the recipe I used here!

Butterbeer:

This one doesn’t always happen.  I am sometimes funny about drinks, especially if they are really sugary.  But I know some people really like doing this and it seems like a very traditional Harry Potter thing to do.  You can use this recipe from Favorite Family Recipes found here.

Don’t Forget to Decorate!

And finally, after you’ve figured out your fun meal, I usually like to do a few fun decorations for the table and serving area.  We are all Gryffindors at heart so of course I go with gold and red, but do whatever is best for your family!  I also use witches hats, wands, pumpkins, gold tinsel, candles, owls, and any other Harry Potter stuff we have collected over the years.  Just make it fun!

Here’s one of my most favorite quotes from the book:

“But you know, happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” ~Albus Dumbledore

Make time for fun!  Make time for family!  Make time for traditions!  

Good luck with your own Harry Potter dinner!  

~ Rachel