Do you need an appetizer to make for a get-together? Here are some easy appetizers I make all the time!
When I entertain, I love to make a bunch of appetizers. Sometimes appetizers are all I serve, and sometimes I make a few easy appetizers to have out for people to nibble on as I finish making the actual meal. Either way, appetizers are a necessity when I have people over to feed them.
Because I lean so heavily on appetizers when I entertain, I’ve made a ton of them. Some have been good, some have been bad, and some have been so good that I make them all the time. These now comprise my stable of easy appetizers that you can expect at my house. I can 100% vouch for them and wholeheartedly recommend that you try these easy appetizers out the next time you need to feed a bunch of people.
Easy Appetizers
Easy but time-consuming
Just because an appetizer is easy to make doesn’t mean it takes no time to whip together. Some people equate easy with time spent to make (which is fine!). If you are some people, skip this section. Have a bit more time to make something delicious? Give these easy appetizers that are also a bit time-consuming a try!
Pretzel bites
I absolutely love soft pretzels and take every opportunity to eat them. And I don’t think I’m alone in my love for soft pretzels. Whenever I take the time to make and serve pretzel bites, I never have any leftovers. They’re good, y’all. Especially if you serve them alongside a good beer cheese dip.
You might be thinking that I’m nuts for including homemade pretzel bites on a list of easy appetizers, but I promise you they are easy to make! The dough requires only a handful of ingredients you probably keep in your cupboards (plus yeast) and doesn’t require much time to rise. If you’re intimidated to work with yeast, these pretzel bites are a great introduction!
As for the beer cheese, it takes only minutes to whip together on the stove. The hardest part is freshly grating the cheese, which is a must for a smooth consistency. It’s also worth noting that beer cheese works best with some sort of lager as the beer. I’ve tried lots of different beer bases for beer cheese, and lagers are far superior.
Jalapeno poppers
I was very skeptical of jalapeno poppers when my husband first suggested we try to make them. The idea of chomping into a jalapeno pepper just scared the heck out of me and my taste buds. But here’s the thing: they aren’t actually spicy. When they’re smoked, they mellow out into just a delicious vehicle for cheese and bacon.
Jalapeno poppers are so easy, I don’t even really use a recipe.
Grab about a dozen jalapeno peppers. Cut them in half lengthwise and remove the ribs and seeds (this is crucial and also why they take a bit of time to make). Wash your hands! Take an 8-ounce block of softened cream cheese, mix with a heaping cup of shredded cheddar cheese (measure with your heart), a few cloves of minced garlic, a few shakes of onion powder, and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Stuff the cheese mixture into each pepper half. Wrap each stuffed pepper half with a half slice of raw bacon (not thick cut). Stick the delicious bundles in the smoker until the peppers are tender. You can also cook these in the oven if you don’t have a smoker. If you really want to push them over the edge, baste with a little BBQ sauce and broil to crisp everything before serving.
Buffalo cauliflower
If you would have told me as a kid that I willingly eat cauliflower now and even recommend a cauliflower dish on my list of easy appetizers to make, I would have sworn you were lying. But alas, here we are. I love cauliflower, especially when it’s breaded and tossed in buffalo sauce.
To make buffalo cauliflower, just cut a head of cauliflower into florets, make a simple batter in which to toss your cauliflower, bake, and toss with buffalo sauce. That’s it – it’s easy! Cutting the cauliflower takes a bit of time and dipping the florets into the batter is a little messy, but these minor issues are worth the deliciousness that you get to dunk in ranch or blue cheese dressing at the end!
Stromboli
When I was a kid and I would go to the mall with my mom and sister, we would often get a stromboli from Villa Pizza at the food court for lunch. It was good, but when I grew up and got a stand mixer, I tried my hand at making homemade stromboli and never looked back. Homemade stromboli is so much better than the food court stromboli from my youth and it’s pretty easy to throw together.
Simply make an easy pizza dough (or buy a dough ball from the grocery store or your local pizza shop) and stuff to the gills with all sorts of deliciousness. If you’re making the dough from scratch, this takes a bit of time, but nothing is hard here.
Just plain easy
If the easy appetizers that are also time-consuming are a bit too much commitment for you, you can still have great nibbles at your next get-together. The appetizers in this next category take some time to throw together, but definitely less time than the time-consuming ones.
Pesto yogurt dip
A few months ago, my husband got into a rhythm of making an appetizer every Sunday. This phase has since passed, but it found us a real winner of an appetizer. Hands down the best appetizer he made was a pesto yogurt dip with burrata and roasted tomatoes. The first time he made it, my son ate basically the entire dip. It was that good! The burrata really shines in this one, so if you don’t like creamy, delicious cheese, take a pass on this one.
I’ve included this one in my middle tier of easy appetizers because it’s mostly just something you stir together, with a few extra steps. First, you need to roast cherry tomatoes. This doesn’t take much effort, but it does add some time. Second, you need to slice and grill bread, which also adds another step. Otherwise, just stir and layer and prepare to be transcended.
Two Tomato Bruschetta
I have made this two tomato bruschetta so many times I’ve lost count. And I don’t think I’ve ever come across a group of people who haven’t eaten the whole tray. This stuff is truly delicious. I mean, how could tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, feta cheese, and basil on grilled bread be bad?
I put this one in the middle tier mainly because of the grilled bread. Just as with the pesto yogurt dip, it does add an extra step (totally worth it!). But if you hate to cut tomatoes, this one is also a pain in the rear. So many tomatoes to chop!
Fruit salsa
If you have kids, you know that you need to have fruit as part of any spread. Sometimes the children at your gathering will eat nothing but fruit, so you want them to at least have one thing they can eat. Sure, you can opt for a regular fruit salad, but why not make it more fun and choose a fruit salsa instead? Serve with cinnamon chips and watch it disappear!
The only reason I’m including this fruit salsa in my middle tier of easy appetizers is because chopping fruit can be a pain. Especially when you’re chopping it into teeny tiny pieces for a fruit salsa. If you just don’t have it in you to stand at the counter and chop fruit for an eternity, skip this one.
Sliders
Sliders are some of my favorite foods to make. I make them as easy appetizers sure, but I also make them as quick dinners too. The great thing about them is that they’re easy to make and infinitely customizable. You can make a different variety every week for months and not feel like you’re stuck in a rut.
If you’re interested in trying out sliders for your next get-together, simply pick the flavor you’re interested in and search for a recipe. Some of our favorites include cheeseburger sliders, pizza sliders, and buffalo chicken sliders. They take a few minutes to assemble and bake, so these aren’t super quick, but they are super easy!
Pigs in a blanket
Ah, retro party food at its finest! Who doesn’t have memories growing up eating pigs in a blanket at parties? They were always there when we were kids, and they are still hanging around today. Why? They’re easy to make and everyone is happy to see them on the spread!
You certainly don’t need a recipe to make these. Simply take cocktail wieners and wrap a small strip of crescent roll around each one. Then bake at 375°F until the blanket is cooked through (about 10 minutes).
So easy a caveman could make it
All of the appetizers I’ve shared thus far have been easy, but the next few take easy to another level. These are the easy appetizers that you could make in your sleep with very little actual hands-on time. Pick these if you’re making appetizers as a lead up to the main meal and not the meal itself.
Pizza fries
A few years ago, I came across How Sweet Eats’ recipe for pizza fries and tried them out at a family gathering. They were so easy to throw together, and they got demolished approximately 4 minutes after I set them on the counter. I’ve learned my lesson and now I make two trays.
Pimento cheese
I am from the South and my husband is from the North. We don’t have many common food traditions. In fact, when we were stationed in North Carolina, my husband was deeply reluctant to try the local fare, and I couldn’t be happier. Luckily, over the four years we lived in North Carolina, I got my husband to come around to some southern delicacies. But none of them had the staying power for him that pimento cheese did. He loves the stuff!
Sure, you can buy a carton of store-bought pimento cheese, set it out with crackers, and call it a day. But if you want to spend five minutes, making a homemade version will really put this appetizer over the top. Simply grate some cheddar cheese, add a small amount of mayonnaise (not too much!), some chopped up pimentos, and seasonings (onion powder, garlic powder, and a dash of cayenne pepper). Mix it all together and you have heaven on a cracker!
Cocktail meatballs
Every time we had a party at my house growing up, my mom would make cocktail meatballs in the slow cooker. She would just dump frozen meatballs, grape jelly, and BBQ sauce in the slow cooker and let them cook for a few hours. What resulted was one of the best easy appetizers you can make. Some people swap the BBQ sauce for chili sauce, but I like the tang that BBQ sauce gives these meatballs.
Other posts
Need more entertaining ideas? I’ve got you!
I sure hope I’ve helped you fill your entertaining arsenal with easy appetizers that you can make all the time. What’s your favorite nibble to snack on at a party? Share down below or over on Instagram @sarainseason!