Chinese New Year Recipes: Menu Planning Guide

Welcome to The Woks of Life collection of Chinese New Year recipes! This collection grows every year, as we add more of our own family recipes and other popular celebration recipes to the list.

As we say goodbye to the year of the Rat and greet the upcoming year of the Ox (see our post on the Chinese Zodiac for a quick explanation), we turn to these time-honored food traditions.

Chinese New Year Recipes

The Lunar New Year, known in China as chūnjié (春节) or Spring Festival, is a festive time for many all over the world. The holiday features fireworks, new clothes, money-filled red envelopes (or hóngbāo – 红包) for kids, lots of red, and most importantly, tons of good food.

Chinese New Year food traditions are hugely symbolic. Traditions include serving two whole fish and saving one for leftovers to represent surplus in the new year, serving a whole chicken to represent wholeness and prosperity, and serving items like spring rolls, which resemble gold bars and symbolize wealth.

If it seems like a lot to navigate, don’t worry! We’ve put together this menu planning guide to help you figure out what to make for the holiday.

We’ve organized the Chinese New Year foods on our site into several categories. These include Appetizers, Meat & Poultry, Seafood, Side Dishes, and Desserts. The recipes are shown in a grid view, as well as a list view for quick reference!

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• Cantonese Cha Guo Savory Rice Cakes
• Cantonese Spring Rolls
• Chicken Dumplings with Shiitake Mushrooms
• Chinese Carrot Rice Cake (Hu Luo Bo Gao – 胡萝卜糕)
• Chinese Pearl Meatballs with Sticky Rice (珍珠丸子)
• Chinese Shrimp Cakes
• Chinese Vegetarian Duck (素鸭)
• Crispy Stuffed Lotus Root with Pork (炸藕盒)
• Fried Prawn Crackers for Chinese New Year & Tips on How to Celebrate!
• Hong Shao Kao Fu: Braised Wheat Gluten with Mushrooms
• Money Bag Dumplings
• Pork Chive Dumplings (and homemade dumpling wrappers!)
• Savory Tang Yuan
• Shandong Pork and Fish Dumplings (Jiaozi)
• Shanghai Smoked Fish, Xun Yu (上海熏鱼)
• Shanghai-Style Spring Rolls
• Sticky Rice Mushroom Shumai w/ Homemade Wrappers (Vegan)
• Taro Cake (Chinese Wu Tao Gou)
• The ONLY Dumpling Recipe You’ll Ever Need
• Turnip Cake (Chinese Lo Bak Go)
• Vegetable Dumplings

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Meat & Poultry Dishes

These show-stopping meat and poultry dishes, along with a seafood dish or two, serve as the centerpiece of a Chinese New Year feast.

Chinese Fried Pigeon (Squab), A Hong Kong FavoriteChinese Pearl Meatballs with Sticky Rice (珍珠丸子)
Lion’s Head Meatballs – Shīzitóu (狮子头)
Egg Dumplings, A Chinese New Year Must Have (蛋饺)
Cantonese Poached Chicken w/ Ginger Scallion Oil (Bai Qie Ji)
Sour Plum Duck
Steamed Pork with Rice Powder (Fen Zheng Rou – 粉蒸肉)
Shanghai-Style Braised Pork Belly (Hong Shao Rou)
Braised Pork Belly with ArrowRoot
Cantonese Roast Pork Belly
Tangerine Beef
Chinese Braised Ti Pang (Pork Shank)
Steak Stir-fry (Chow Steak Kow)
Chinese Stuffed Fried Gluten Balls
Steamed Ribs with Glutinous Rice (糯米蒸排骨)
Braised Pork Belly (Dong Po Rou)
Braised Pork Belly with Meigan Cai

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Seafood Dishes

Fish and shellfish are often a sign of celebration, and it’s no different at Chinese New Year. You’ll find some of our family favorites below!

• Cantonese-Style Ginger Scallion Lobster
• Chinese Boiled Shrimp with Ginger Scallion Dipping Sauce
• Chinese Braised Fish (Hong Shao Yu)
• Chinese Deep Fried Oysters with Dipping Sauce
• Chinese Seafood Bird Nest
• Chinese Shrimp Cakes
• Crispy Fried Flounder, Chinese-Style
• Dried Oyster and Black Moss (Ho See Fat Choy)
• Lobster Sticky Fried Rice
• Pan Fried Fish: Chinese Whole Fish Recipe
• Salt and Pepper Shrimp
• Scallion Ginger Shrimp Recipe (Redux!)
• Shandong Pork and Fish Dumplings (Jiaozi)
• Shanghai Shrimp Stir-fry – You Bao Xia (油爆虾)
• Shanghai Smoked Fish, Xun Yu (上海熏鱼)
• Steamed Whole Fish, Chinese Style
• Stir-Fried Clams in Black Bean Sauce

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Chinese New Year Side Dishes

Even some vegetable dishes are iconic Chinese New Year foods. Buddha’s Delight, consisting of at least 8 ingredients, is often eaten the morning of Chinese New Year after a ceremonial offering of food to honor family ancestors. You’ll also see stir-fried lettuce here, because in Chinese, the word for lettuce, “生菜” is a homonym for, “to grow money!”

Yan Du Xian (Shanghainese Salted Pork Soup with Bamboo Shoots and Tofu)
Buddha’s Delight (Lo Han Jai)
Ru Yi Cai (“As You Wish” Vegetables)
Stir Fried Lettuce
Pea Tips Stir-fry
A Basic Stir-Fried Bok Choy Recipe
Shanghai Rice Cake Stir-fry w/ Greens
Steak and Scallion Rice Cake Stir-Fry
Stir-fried Sticky Rice Cakes
Long Life Noodles – Yi Mein (伊面）
Shanghai Fried Noodles
Bian Dou Men Mian (Steamed Noodles and Green Beans)
Sticky Rice with Chinese Sausage
Young Chow Fried Rice
Chinese Vegetarian Duck – 素雅

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Chinese New Year Desserts

While dessert perhaps isn’t as significant to a Chinese celebration dinner as it might be to a Western dinner, a little something sweet to cap off the meal is always welcome.

Tang Yuan, or sweet rice balls, are traditionally eaten during the Lantern Festival, celebrated on the 15th day of the new year, marking the final day of Chinese New Year celebrations.

Tang Yuan Sweet Rice Balls with Sesame Filling
Nian Gao (Chinese New Year Sweet Rice Cake)
Sweet Fermented Rice (酒酿, Jiu Niang)
Coconut Tapioca Dessert with Sweet Rice Balls
Chinese Walnut Cookies
Chinese Sesame Peanut Brittle
Snow Fungus Soup with Pears
Chinese Sesame Balls
Old-Fashioned Chinese Almond Cookies

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Other Helpful Articles:

In addition to these Chinese New Year recipes, we have written articles and about our Chinese New year experiences throughout the years.

Peruse these past collections, and don’t hesitate to leave comments and/or questions. We’ll do our very best to answer each and every one of them, no matter how old the post is!

• A Big “Fat” Chinese New Year Menu for All Skill Levels
• Chinese New Year Dishes & Recipe Requests
• Prawn Crackers for Chinese New Year & Tips on How to Celebrate!
• Chinese New Year Menu
• The Chengdu Temple Fair
• Chinese New Year: Fireworks Up Close

Happy Lunar New Year, and happy menu planning!