Trick-or-Tater: Why Homes Are Handing Out Potatoes This Halloween
Denver – October 15, 2026 -- Households across the U.S. are dropping whole potatoes into their Halloween candy bowls, and Potatoes USA is backing the trend with three new "spooky spud" recipes for October.
The trend is called Trick-or-Tater. Some families have handed out potatoes for more than a decade, and more join each year. The Wall Street Journal said it "started as a lark has gained steam in recent years," and NBC Nightly News called potatoes "the new star of spooky season."
Kids are asking for the potato house
Maren from Virginia offers trick-or-treaters a choice of a full-size candy bar, a small toy, or a potato. She ran out of potatoes in her second year after word spread. Last year she went through about 25 pounds, up from 16 the year before, and she is planning for a lot of "tater-or-treaters" with Halloween falling on a Saturday this year.