A little reason to celebrate
National Fortune Cookie Day
Food · Fun · July 20
A day for the fortune cookie, the crisp folded cookie with a paper message inside that often arrives with the check at Chinese American restaurants.
National Fortune Cookie Day falls on Tuesday, July 20, 2027. That is 266 days away.
The fortune cookie is a thin, crisp wafer folded around a slip of paper. It tastes mostly of sugar, vanilla and a little butter or oil, and it snaps when you break it open, which is half the point.
The cookie starts as a soft, flat circle of batter baked until just set. While it is still warm and bendable, the fortune goes in, the circle is folded in half, and then it is bent over an edge into that familiar shape. It hardens as it cools, so the folding has to happen fast.
In the United States, the cookie usually shows up at the end of a meal at a Chinese American restaurant, often tucked in with the bill. People tend to read their fortunes aloud to the table. Some fortunes offer advice, some predict good things, and some are so vague they could apply to anyone, including the cookie. Many slips also carry lucky numbers or a short word in another language on the back.
There are a few small rituals people keep. Some insist you must eat the cookie before the fortune counts. Others add a phrase to the end of every fortune for laughs at the table. A few people save the slips they like best in a wallet or on the fridge.
Making them at home takes patience and quick fingers, since the cookies set within seconds of leaving the oven. Writing your own fortunes is the easy part, and it lets you decide what everyone at the table gets told.
Ways to celebrate
- Try baking fortune cookies at home and write the fortunes yourself.
- Share your favorite saved fortune with a friend.
- Read fortunes aloud at dinner and guess who each one fits.
- Pick up fortune cookies with takeout from a local restaurant.
Dates
| Year | Date |
|---|---|
| 2026 | Monday, July 20 |
| 2027 | Tuesday, July 20 |
| 2028 | Thursday, July 20 |
| 2029 | Friday, July 20 |
| 2030 | Saturday, July 20 |