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Chinese New Year (CNY)

70 or so Scrumptious Chinese New Year Recipes

A comprehensive list of scrumptious Chinese New Year Recipes: from savoury snacks to drinks, vegan to paleo to meat - we've got you covered!

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If it's just you in the kitchen and you're feeling overwhelmed, check out our CNY menu planning guide that 1 person can easily handle.

Savoury Snacks

Chinese New Year is infamous for its sweets. Every year, local newspapers and magazines publish infographics showing how many calories each sweet treat has! For those without a sweet tooth, try 1 of these savoury snacks or some of these sweet and savoury Asian nut recipes.

Bowl of homemade salted egg popcorn
Salted Egg Yolk Popcorn
Salted Eggs is 1 of the most popular flavours in Singapore- if you've never tried it, it's like an Asian parmesan but richer in taste- and this salted egg popcorn only takes 5 minutes to make!
Check out this recipe
Bowl of homemade salted egg popcorn

You can even make your own salted egg for this sauce!

Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken Bites
Taiwanese popcorn chicken is a very popular snack at Taiwan's famous night markets- the key to a good one is the crispy finish!
Check out this recipe
Small fried Taiwanese Chicken bites

For more Asian snack recipes, check out these 26 Asian party foods round-up that I created for Superbowl!

CNY speciality recipes

A colourful plate of yee sang, also known as yu sheng or CNY salad

Yee Sang or Yu Sheng, is many people's favourite CNY dish! The dish originated in China donkey years ago, but its current form is a Singaporean invention from the 60s. It's great fun as you have symbolic sayings to recite as you add the different components- so there's an element of showmanship in this dish- and everyone gets together to toss the salad- the higher one tosses, the higher one will climb in the next year so peopel can get quite competitive! The bit that you get in your serving also has meanings: for example, if you get the fried wonton skin, it looks like gold nuggets, so you'll have money coming your way soon!

What to say when serving yu sheng/ yee sang:

  1. as you squeeze the lime (or lemon) say da ji da li (大吉大利) (In English this means good luck(
  2. As you add the fish (usually salmon), say nian nian you yu (年年有余) - fish is pronounced as "yu" in Chinese as well so this is a play on words to symbolise excess in the next year
  3. As you pour the dressing oil (do it in a circular motion), say cai yuan guang jin (财源广进)
  4. As you add the plum sauce,  tian tian mi mi (甜甜蜜蜜) - because plum sauce is sweet (tian) your life will be sweet!
  5. As you add seeds and sesame nuts, aay wu gu feng shou (五谷丰收)
  6. As you sprinkle the fried bits- many people's favourite- say jin yu man tang (金玉满堂) (the golden dough looks like gold ingots)

And then you can toss like crazy, whilst saying any of this phrases:

HUAT AH! (i.e. you're gonna strike it rich!

 gong xi fa cai (恭喜发财), shen ti jian kang (身体健康), wan shi ru yi (万事如意) (Happy New Year, May you Get Rich and be healthy and hope everything goes your way)

Chinese New Year Yu Sheng (Yee sang) salad
This is a special dish that's only served during Chinese New Year and very popular in Singapore and Malaysia! Each element of the dish has a symbolic meaning- for eg, you add sweet sauce to bring sweetness to your life- and there are some phrases to say to match each ingredient that you pour onto the salad! It's quite long so I've included the saying in the text of the post and not here. Note: jellyfish is optional so don't worry if you can't get it- a lot of yee sang served locally don't include that.
Check out this recipe
A colourful plate of yee sang, also known as yu sheng or CNY salad
Shanghai Stir Fried rice cakes (Chao nian gao)
Nian Gao (New Year Cake) is a special new year dish but there are so many ways of cooking it: steaming it and having it sweet, pan-fried as a dessert or stir-fried as a savoury dish Shanghai style. Try this 78 5-star review niangao recipe if you like savoury more than sweet!
Check out this recipe
A close-up of Shanghai rice cakes stir fry

And if you're part of the air fryer craze, try making the egg rolls in the air fryer instead!

A basket of golden egg rolls with dipping sauce
Golden Egg Rolls for Chinese New Year
Golden Egg Rolls are popular at all times but even more so during Chinese New Year. They're very versatile as you can always switch to a veggie filling for vegetarians. IN Singapore, we make smaller versions of these and fill them with spicy dried shrimp called hae bee hiam.
Check out this recipe
A basket of golden egg rolls with dipping sauce
Paleo Egg Roll
Dietary restrictions shouldn't get in the way of delicious food! If you're on a paleo diet, try these egg rolls. One of Chih-yu's recipes uses thinly sliced radish as a dumpling wrapper which I thought was super innovative!
Check out this recipe

For 12 more lucky golden food suggestions for your lunar new year table, click here.

Fish & Prawn dishes = Prosperity & Laughter

Typically, Chinese people love to serve a whole fish- the head is actually considered a delicacy as the cheeks of the fish are very tender. If you eat the head of the fish, you must also eat the tail to represent wholeness- there's a beginning (head) and end (tail) for everything!

Nonetheless, many non-Asians find the sight of a whole fish on the table a little unappetising, so if you have non-Asian guests, try this sweet and sour fish instead!

Sweet and Sour fish
Sweet and sour is 1 of the most popular Chinese sauces, and is so good with fried fish!
Check out this recipe
A chinese new year feast on the table with fish and rice and greens

Another popular lunar new year ingredient is shrimp!

Honey Walnut Shrimp
Can't figure out what to do with that can of condensed milk? Try this 4.88-star Honey Walnut Shrimp!
Check out this recipe
Red sweet and sour shrimp with pineapple
The tangy acidity of the pineapple really lifts the dish, and there's even an option to make it gluten-free! (It can be tough eating GF with Chinese food because of the gluten in soy sauce)
Check out this recipe
2 bowls of sweet and sour shrimp with pineapple

Dumplings = Gold Ingots

6 crystal chive dumplings on a platter
Chinese Crystal Chive Dumplings
Not the typical dumpling you see, these crystal chive dumplings (jiu cai gao) are crisp, chewy and altogether delicious!
Check out this recipe
6 crystal chive dumplings on a platter
South Asian Chicken MoMo Dumplings
Similar to Chinese dumplings, these momos combine the best of 2 worlds as they're bursting with flavour from Indian spices!
Check out this recipe
2 steamed bamboo baskets with chicken momo dumplings
Golden steam fried potstickers on a plate
Potsticker dumplings
There are so many types of dumplings in the world, so I've included a 3rd recipe! These are steam-fried to get a great crispy finish! Easy to batch make and toss in the freezer!
Check out this recipe
Golden steam fried potstickers on a plate
Pearl meatballs
Pearl meatballs are similar to dumplings but, instead of wrapping with a wrapper, you use sticky rice to coat the meat. On steaming, the meat juices seep into the rice making for delicious dumplings! It's not a very common dish in Chinese restaurants so learn to make them yourself so you don't miss out!
Check out this recipe
Bamboo basket filled with pearl meatballs

A whole chicken = a good year

It's important to serve chicken as a whole on the CNY table as this represents wholeness and prosperity. Save the cut up chicken stir-fry pieces for other days of the year! Some whole chicken ideas include:

  • roast chicken
  • soya sauce chicken
  • poached in chicken stock with ginger and garlic (basically Singaporean Hainanese Chicken)
Cantonese or Hong Kong style soy sauce chicken
Poached in soya sauce, Chinese wine and aromatics, this is a very tender and fragrant chicken.
Check out this recipe
Close-up of chicken poached in dark soy sauce


Pork

It's fine to cut the pork though!

Cuts of BBQ Por
Chinese BBQ Pork (Char Siu)
I've never met a (non-vegan/vegetarian) person who doesn't like Char Siu so even though it's not a traditional Chinese New Year dish, have added it to the CNY round-up! The fave cut for Char Siu in Singapore is the underarm of the pork (pork shoulder?). Some people go for pork belly but I find it too fatty! If you can't get the underarm, the collar works well too.
Check out this recipe
Cuts of BBQ Pork
Instant Pot Multi Cooker Sweet & Sour Pork
Make your festive cooking stress free if you have an instant pot!
Check out this recipe
Red chunks of sweet and sour pork
Instant Pot Braised Ribs
Put these ribs in the instant pot so you can get busy making other dishes on this list!
Check out this recipe
2 plates of Chinese braised ribs with rice

Uncut Noodles = Long Life

Noodles are a key part of the Chinese New Year table, thanks to their association with long life in Chinese culture. For a lucky 8 CNY noodle recipes, click here. So far, I've never been to a Chinese New Year gathering with soup noodles- it's always been stir-fried/ dry noodles. If your family celebrates with soup noodles, I'd love to hear about it!

Update: my friend who is Hing Hwa does have mee suah soup for Chinese New Year. (My family is Hokkien so the traditions are different.)

Chicken Chow Mein Stir-fry
Another must-try 5-star recipe from Drivemehungry!
Check out this recipe
Big pan of stir fried chicken chow mein

Vegan Recipes

I've even done a round-up specifically for 23 vegan Chinese New Year dishes, so click this link to bring you there!

Sweets = a sweet year

Old School Chinese New Year Peanut Cookies
Try this recipe which was finalised after baking 2000ish peanut cookies and is good enough that someone ordered over 20 jars of it!
Check out this recipe
12 types of Chinese peanut cookies made from 12 different recipes on a plate
2 buttered slices of banana bread on a plate
Banana bread with a twist
Sweets are a must for Chinese New Year, but if you're tired of the traditional Asian ones, try this banana bread with a twist: there's 5 spice powder in it! For more 5-spice powder recipes, click here.
Check out this recipe
2 buttered slices of banana bread on a plate
Osmanthus jelly with goji berries
Osmanthus and goji berries are both TCM ingredients believed to be good for your health- goji berries, in particular, have been very popular in the West recently after research has been done on them but Chinese people have been eating them for centuries. Osmanthus was a very popular dessert amongst Chinese Royalty, as it is believed to result in better skin! If you're curious, try this delicious osmanthus jelly made from dried osmanthus flowers!
Check out this recipe
Flower Shaped Osmanthus Konnayku Jelly with Wolfberries on a plate
Steamed Chinese Bird's Nest dessert
Bird's nest is traditionally very popular with elders so make them happy with this super easy 3-ingredient recipe!
Check out this recipe
Bird's nest and wolfberries Chinese dessert served in a coconut bowl

For those on a diet, try these no sugar added sweet treats:

Japanese Jelly with Fruits
Make it a buffet and let people create their own fruit salad, mixed with this low-calories, high fiber (almost 97% water) jellies which will keep you full for a long time! Who says dessert has to be unhealthy?! Just remember it's not for the very young or old due to potential choking issues!
Check out this recipe
Japanese konnyaku jelly with cut fruits salad

After so much feasting, have some plum tea to help you digest!

Chinese iced plum tea (suan mei tang)
A drink that has remained popular with the Chinese for over 2000 years, this recipe pares Chinese plum tea down to its basic 3 ingredients for a refreshing and delicious yet easy to make drink!
Check out this recipe
A glass of Chinese preserved plum tea with its ingredients

23 vegan CNY recipes + 8 noodle dishes + 12 Golden foods for a lucky lunar new year + these 26 recipes = over 60 recipes! (Actually, it's 69 but I'm giving a conservative estimate in case I accidentally repeated myself! Well, 73 actually if you include the 4 CNY drink recipes below- not to mention the recipes in the CNY menu guide!)

You might also be interested in these CNY drink recipes:

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