• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Urban Bliss Life logo

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • contact
  • shop
  • cookbooks
  • resources
  • Home
  • Recipes
    • 30-Minute Meals
    • Air Fryer
    • Dinner
    • Appetizers
    • Asian
    • Bread
    • Breakfast
    • Cookies
    • Dairy-free
    • Dessert
    • Filipino
    • Holiday
    • Instant Pot
    • Pasta
    • Salads
    • Side Dishes
    • Seafood
    • Vegan
    • Cocktails
    • Dog Treats
  • Wine
    • Food & Wine Pairing
    • Oregon Wine
    • Washington
    • California
  • Travel
    • Travel Gear
    • Travel Tips
    • Hotels
    • USA travel
    • Europe
    • Japan
    • Canada
    • Asia
  • Restaurants
  • About
    • Work With Us
    • Press
    • Contact
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • All Recipes
  • Wine
  • Travel
  • Cookbooks
  • About
  • Work With Us
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ร—
    Urban Bliss Life ยป All Recipes ยป Asian Recipes ยป Filipino Recipes ยป Filipino New Year's Eve Food and Traditions

    Published: December 25, 2023 / Updated: December 25, 2023 by Marlynn Jayme Schotland ยท This post may contain affiliate links.

    Filipino New Year's Eve Food and Traditions

    33 shares
    Several colorful round fruits with title text reading "Filipino New Year's Eve Food" overlay.

    Getting ready to celebrate the new year? We've got the top Filipino New Year's Eve Food and Traditions to help you enjoy a fun and festive transition into the new year!

    several colorful, round fruits and

    How do Filipinos celebrate New Year's Eve? With lots of delicious Filipino food and longstanding traditions and superstitions!

    Growing up in a Filipino-American household, I was keenly aware from a young age the importance of certain holiday traditions. And holiday feasts with endless platters of sweet and savory Filipino foods were always a part of every new year celebration dinner table.

    If you're curious about some of the more common Filipino New Year's Eve foods and traditions, keep reading!

    Jump to:
    • ๐Ÿ’ซ Media noche
    • ๐ŸŽŠ Popular New Year's Eve traditions
    • ๐Ÿฅณ Top Filipino New Year's Eve Food
    • ๐ŸŒŸ More Filipino recipes

    💫 Media noche

    Filipino holiday table set with lumpia, adobo, pancit.

    Perhaps the most common of family traditions is the New Year's celebration known as media noche. Family members come together for a lavish midnight feast on New Year's Eve to ring in the new year.

    This meal often includes a combination of traditional Filipino dishes. We always have adobo, lumpia, pancit, lechon, pandesal, biko, and leche flan.

    In the Filipino culture, it is popular practice to partake in Filipino traditions and lucky foods that symbolize prosperity, abundance, good health, and good fortune for the coming year.

    Be sure to check out our entire collection of Filipino recipes here!

    🎊 Popular New Year's Eve traditions

    several colorful, round fruits on display.

    As a kid, our family had so many different superstitions. And many of the traditions carried out through generations of Filipino families stem from superstitions.

    While every family and different parts of the Philippines has different New Year's traditions, here are a few common ones.

    • Round fruits - Many Filipino households display 12 round fruits to bring in wealth and prosperity, symbolizing good fortune for each month of the year. The fruits are often a centerpiece on the dining table during Media Noche.
    • Opening doors and windows - To let go of negative energy and welcome positive vibes, it is customary for households to open doors and windows at midnight. Some also believe that it allows the good spirits to enter.
    • Wearing circles - Wearing polka dots and incorporating circular patterns into clothing and decor is believed to bring good luck and wealth. The round shapes symbolize coins and are associated with prosperity.
    • Jumping at midnight - At the exact moment of midnight, it is a common tradition for people to jump up. This is done to ensure a growth spurt, signifying increased height and progress in the next year.
    • Making noise - In addition to jumping at the stroke of midnight, you're also supposed to make a lot of loud noises. We do this by banging pots and pans, blowing horns, pressing car horns, and using various noisemakers. This tradition rooted in the belief that the loud sounds scare away evil spirits or bad spirits, and bad luck.

    🥳 Top Filipino New Year's Eve Food

    two bowls of Instant Pot Filipino Chicken Adobo and rice, with a colorful floral napkin and forks.

    And of course, as the new year approaches, there is the Media Noche feast, featuring the best of Filipino cuisine!

    Here are some more common Filipino new year's food traditions. These are enjoyed at the New Year's Eve dinner table at midnight, and/or the first day of the new year.

    • Round fruits - Lucky fruits that have a generally round shape, such as oranges, apples, round grapes, lychee, pomegranate, mango, watermelon. These are typically arranged in a round basket or displayed decoratively on the dining table.
    • Lechon - Lechon is often the centerpiece of the feast. A whole pig is roasted until the skin is crispy, and the meat is tender. It's served with a liver-based sauce called "sarsa."
    • Pancit - Pancit is a traditional Filipino noodle dish incorporating a mix of meats and vegetables. The different types of Pancit are named based on the different long noodles you can use. It's often enjoyed to symbolize long life at the start of a new year. Pancit is often served on a large platter for communal sharing. Try our Pancit Canton recipe or our Pancit Bihon recipe.
    • Fish - The fish is often served whole, symbolizing unity and abundance. It can be accompanied by a side of atchara (pickled papaya). Try our Trout Meuniere recipe.
    • Adobo - Adobo is a savory stew made by marinating meat in a mixture of soy sauce and vinegar before simmering until tender. It's served with rice. Try our popular Instant Pot Chicken Adobo recipe!
    • Ham - Ham is typically baked and served sliced. It can be enjoyed hot or cold and is often accompanied by a sweet glaze. Try our Air Fryer Ham recipe.
    • Biko - Biko is a sweet rice cake traditionally molded into round or rectangular shapes and served on banana leaves. It is often a dessert or a sweet snack. Try our Biko recipe.
    • Cake - While a cassava cake is more traditional, we also like to serve a taisan cake. This is a Filipino chiffon cake loaf that's light and airy, and topped with a sugary cheese topping. Try our Taisan recipe.

    Growing up, I really enjoyed having so many traditions and feasts around New Year's Eve. I hope you found one or two traditions and a few recipes you can incorporate into your New Year's Eve traditions as well. May you all have a joyous and prosperous new year!

    🌟 More Filipino recipes

    You can view all of our Filipino recipes here. But here are a few to start:

    • ube ice cream, ube donuts, ube cookies, ube bars with title text overlay "Best Ube Dessert Recipes"
      Filipino Ube Desserts
    • shrimp lo mein, lumpia spring rolls, trout meuniere, shrimp lo mein and title text overlay.
      21+ Delicious Recipes to Celebrate Lunar New Year
    • mason jar with Filipino atchara condiment - papaya, carrots, red bell pepper, garlic, ginger.
      Filipino Atchara (Atsara recipe)
    • bowl of Filipino adobo chicken wings and fresh parsley.
      Filipino Adobo Chicken Wings

    Did you make any of these recipes? Don't forget to leave a 5-Star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating and comment below letting us know which one you made and how it turned out. Thank you!

    « Tiramisu Macarons
    Italian Sausage and Broccoli Pasta »
    33 shares

    Get recipes, travel tips, deals and more delivered to your inbox!

      Reader Interactions

      Comments

      1. Liza says

        January 01, 2024 at 12:43 am

        I made salmon and pancit for media noche. I also made biko. We have 12 grapes each to ring in the new year. Happy 2024

        Reply
        • Marlynn Jayme Schotland says

          January 01, 2024 at 12:41 pm

          Mas sarap! Happy New Year, Liza!

      Leave a Reply Cancel reply

      Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

      Recipe Rating





      This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

      Primary Sidebar

      Marlynn Jayme Schotland 2021 profile pic

      Hi! If you're looking for easy, fast, delicious family-friendly recipes, wine pairings, and travel tips, you've come to the right place! I'm Marlynn - a cookbook author, writer, photographer, and mom of two teenagers + a lovable lab retriever. I hold a WSET 2 with Distinction in wine, and am a member of Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) and the International Food, Wine, and Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA).

      More about me โ†’

      Sign up for free meal plans

      meal plans button

      Summer Recipes

      • meats, cheeses, crackers, summer fruits and vegetables, nuts, and dips to create a summer charcuterie board.
        Summer Charcuterie Board
      • glasses of tropical sangria and fruit
        Tropical Sangria
      • blueberry galette with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.
        Blueberry Galette: An Easy Summer Dessert
      • BBQ chicken and pineapples with herbs.
        Hawaiian BBQ Chicken

      More Summer Recipes โžก๏ธ

      Popular Recipes

      • flatlay single slice of Banana Crumb Coffee Cake
        Banana Crumb Coffee Cake
      • Dairy-Free-Mac-and-Cheese-close up with fork
        The Ultimate Creamy Dairy-Free Mac and Cheese
      • Jolibee spaghetti in a bowl with parsley, shredded cheese, and side of salt and pepper.
        Jollibee Spaghetti (Filipino-style Spaghetti)
      • instant pot moroccan chicken in a bowl.
        Healthy 30-Minute Instant Pot Moroccan Chicken

      New Travel Tips

      • gold buddha with title text overlay.
        Phuket Thailand
      • bar at Carlotto restaurant in NYC New York.
        Carlotto NYC
      • Sahara Desert camp and camel trek with title text overlay.
        Sahara Desert in Morocco Travel Guide
      • moroccan chicken skewers, moroccan pancakes, colorful plates of moroccan food, and chicken tagine with title text overlay.
        Traditional Moroccan Food

      Featured In

      Urban Bliss Life Press Featured In graphic

      Visit our Sister Sites

      Fifty cups of coffee logo
      • Twitter
      • Facebook
      • Pinterest
      • Instagram
      • YouTube

      Footer

      โ†‘ back to top

      logos of media outlets that have featured urban bliss life.

      Recipes

      • 30-Minute Meals
      • 5-Ingredients
      • Air Fryer
      • Asian
      • Dairy-Free
      • Pasta
      • Seafood

      About

      • About
      • FAQs
      • Privacy & Accessibility Policy
      • Terms & Conditions

      Contact

      • Contact
      • Work with me

      As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
      Copyright ยฉ 2025 Urban Bliss Life

      All rights reserved. You may not use any photos or recipes on this site for any personal or commercial use without my express written permission.