Non Candy Halloween Treats for a Savory Spooky Season

We live in a world where candy, cookies, and sweets dominate Halloween. As someone who grew up preferring savory snacks over sweet ones, I’ve come to accept that this will never change. But you know what? Non candy Halloween treats deserve to be in your spooky season haul. If you aren’t convinced, consider this: Savory Halloween snacks are a surprising and exciting change of pace in a candy-filled bowl. They’re the perfect palate cleanser after all that sugar. And third, believe it or not, some kids don’t even like candy! I’m living proof.

Halloween has and always will be my favorite holiday. I feel right at home with the spookiness of it all. But this witchy holiday has a core element that I’ve never been able to experience with much enthusiasm: binge-eating candy. See, I’ve never been a sweets gal. French fries are my favorite dessert. Candy, chocolate, and sugary treats are nice now and then, but my taste buds typically get bored within two minutes of consuming sugar. I can’t help it! I was born this way. 

I always wished there were more salty snacks for Halloween, and you know what? It’s time I, a foodie writer, do something about it. To make sure every child with different taste buds can feel seen, here’s my proposition: Two trick-or-treat bowls. One for candy, one for non candy Halloween treats. If you don’t know what to put in it, well, keep reading for some deliciously eerie and undeniably salty ideas. In the meantime, call your local senators. October 31st is coming up, and this issue needs visibility. 

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Zapp’s Kettle Potato Chips Voodoo

Call me Susi-Pesto crazy, but I prefer the crunchy goodness of a well-seasoned potato chip to chocolate…well, anything. It’s simply who I am; I can’t change it. If someone gave me a bag of Zapp’s Voodoo Chips in my trick-or-treat bag growing up, I’d be over the witchy orange moon. Born from a happy accident of dropped spices in the Zapp’s flavor lab, these chips taste like a mad scientist took a salt and vinegar chip and combined it with smoky, tangy BBQ sauce. The Zapp’s brand comes to us from Louisiana and celebrates the most haunted city in the U.S.: New Orleans. Their flavor already has 9.5/10 Sporks (canonically speaking), and I have to award it 10/10 Spookies, too. 

Read our full ranking of Zapp’s Kettle Potato Chips

Zombie Takis

We’re huge fans of Zombie Takis at Sporked. The frightfully vivid green cucumber-lime Takis belong in a bowl (one with the skeleton hands wrapped around it, if you ask me) all to themselves. Their tangy, spicy seasoning is very similar to original Takis Fuego, but that cucumber adds a really bright, refreshing flavor that make these one of the best non candy Halloween treats. 

Read our full ranking of the best Takis

LesserEvil Halloween Himalayan Pink Salt Organic Popcorn

Popcorn, caramel corn, and popcorn balls are some of the best savory Halloween snacks. My parents would always grab one of those fancy variety buckets with different flavors (butter, cheddar, caramel) for me when October rolled around, and it’s still one of my favorite non candy Halloween treats. For trick-or-treaters, though, individual bags of popcorn are the way to go. Despite the name, LesserEvil isn’t a brand of scary snacks, but simply a popcorn manufacturer that uses simple ingredients, like coconut oil and Himalayan salt. Their spookified “Halloween” pink salt popcorn gives their classic taste a creepy-cute rebrand. (Seriously, those weird little ghosts on the packaging are so stupidly adorable.) If you want to incorporate a health-conscious salty Halloween snack into the candy and junk food binge, this is a good pick. 

Read our full ranking of the best bagged popcorn

Utz Halloween Cheese Balls

If a giant tub of bright orange cheese balls doesn’t scream Halloween, I don’t know what does. Eating cheese balls during October changed my brain chemistry as a child. Honestly, these alone could be responsible for my backwards taste buds. Utz, the most popular brand for savory Halloween treats, offers them at a decent price. But I also spotted a jack-o’-lantern cheese ball bucket at Target during this year’s Target Halloween candy haul for any Targhouls out there. Just sayin’. 

Kathy Kaye’s Halloween Sweet & Salty Popcorn Balls

For me, eating sweet and salty popcorn balls is as nostalgic as bobbing for apples. There’s just something inherently spooky about a small mass of sticky food that you aren’t quite sure how to fit in your mouth. You can make a tower out of them for a Halloween party snack centerpiece (and even drizzle a little caramel or melted chocolate on top). Kathy Kaye’s popcorn balls are gluten, peanut, and tree-nut free—safe for pretty much every little ghost knocking on your door. These are sweeter than they are savory, but they’re still one of the best non candy Halloween treats.

Utz Bats & Jacks Pretzels

For anyone trying to be the most popular house in the neighborhood, know this: Utz provides savory Halloween snacks in bulk. One box has 36 mini bags of pretzels shaped like bats and jack-o’-lanterns. And hey, if you really wanna go crazy, Utz also has a Halloween Witches Brew Party Mix that includes their spooky pretzels, tortilla chips, BBQ corn chips, nachos, and cheese crunchies. 

Read our full review of the best pretzels 

Trader Joe’s Ghosts & Bats Crispy Potato Snacks

Trader Joe’s spooky potato snacks are back! These crisp potato thins come in ghost and bat shapes, and while I can’t necessarily recommend them for kids—they aren’t the most flavorful salty Halloween snacks you can buy—they make a great party snack. You can add a little popcorn seasoning, nutritional yeast, or (as one Redditor suggested) some chili crunch. Check ‘em out at TJ’s while they’re still available!