Whether you’re hosting a big holiday party for all of your friends, bringing an app to someone else’s party, or prepping for a cozy meal with your family, festive appetizers are a highlight of this time of year.
After all, these indulgent little bites — plus a nice cup of eggnog, of course — can put anyone on the fast track to feeling the holiday spirit!
But what exactly should you make? And what if you’re ready to look beyond pigs in a blanket and baked brie? Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.
In this article, you’ll find four of my favorite holiday appetizer recipes right now, my picks for a memorable charcuterie board, and recommendations for pre-made apps that sing.
Let’s get to it.
4 Holiday Appetizer Recipes I’m Making This YearThe easiest app: Bacon-wrapped, goat cheese-stuffed dates
Sometimes, the classics are classics for a reason. These really spark joy for me. They’re so easy to make, and can be flexible with your flavor palette and oven temperature! Simply remove the pits from your dates (or buy pitted dates), use a spoon to stuff with goat cheese – mixed with any flavorings of your choice, like chopped herbs, nuts, or spices, and wrap with bacon. Stick a toothpick through the bacon and date to hold everything together, or use skewers to keep the wrapped dates spaced apart. Then, bake, flipping once, until the bacon appears fully cooked but not so crispy that it shatters easily, roughly 17 minutes at 350° F.
These stuffed dates can be dressed up or down to match the rest of your menu – work in lemon zest, nuts, herbs, whatever floats your boat. And they really are quick and simple to throw together. Sometimes I buy herbed goat cheese as a shortcut, and even just goat cheese-stuffed dates alone (minus the effort of bacon and extra flavorings), baked for a few minutes until warm and drizzled with hot honey and olive oil, make a perfect and festive bite.
Holiday party favorite: Beef Wellington bites
This is a heavy hitter. These Beef Wellington bites are like pigs in a blanket, leveled way up. They take a little bit of time and effort to make, but by using pre-made puff pastry and buying sirloin (skip the filet for this!), you can cut your work time and budget down while still enjoying the luxury of a Beef Wellington, in miniature form. For what it’s worth, my husband hasn’t stopped talking about them since I first made them three years ago!
Prep time: 1 hour
Cook time: 20 minutes
Make approximately 24 bites.
Ingredients:
1 lb. Sirloin steak, cut into logs about an inch thick
3 cups mushrooms, finely chopped
1 thyme sprig or 1 tsp. dried thyme
1 sheet frozen puff pastry (thawed)
Egg wash (1 egg + splash of water)
Method:
There are no truly difficult steps here; it’s just a lot of hurry up and wait.
Season beef strips. Give strips a hard, quick sear in a cast iron with a small amount of olive oil, then place in fridge to chill.
In the same pan, cook mushrooms in olive oil with salt, pepper, and thyme over medium-high heat until they release all their water, then continue cooking another 10 minutes over medium-low heat, being careful not to burn.
Cut puff pastry into thirds (along the fold, for most frozen doughs). Use a rolling pin the roll each strip to be thinner and large enough to wrap a beef strip.
Using cling wrap, create a wrap of prosciutto by lining up four slices. Make a line of cooked mushrooms about two-thirds down the prosciutto wrap, then place a beef log on the mushrooms and wrap tightly, like a sushi roll. Twist the ends of the cling wrap and place in the fridge to chill.
In the meantime, mix mayo, mustard, and a pinch of fresh-cracked black pepper together to create a dijonnaise dip.
Wrap chilled prosciutto rolls with puff pastry, pinching the pastry together to form a seam and resting the log on the seam. Tuck the ends of the pastry underneath.
Brush all over with egg wash and poke each mini-Wellington in two or three places with a fork to vent.
Bake at 400° F for 15-20 minutes, looking for the pastry to be cooked through and turn a golden brown.
Slice and serve with dipping sauce.
If that all sounds a bit confusing, here’s an older video demonstrating the process. Note that the newer recipe above has some updates, but this version works just fine too!
Pro Tip: Broadly, frozen puff pastry can be very handy this time of year. I keep some in my freezer to pull out as needed.
You can fill it with just about anything, from leftover veggies and meat to cheese and fruit, or simply coat it in cinnamon and sugar and bake for a quick and easy sweet treat. Plus, some frozen brands are vegan, so having them in the freezer makes it easy to whip out something tasty for any surprise vegans stopping by (it happens!).
Hanukkah at our house: Jalapeño cilantro latkes
Hi, I’m Emily, by the way. I’m a home cook and writer best known for my appearances on Epicurious, but these days, I also make my own food content. I also recently wrote the script for this Lifetime Christmas rom-com. I thought I ought to introduce myself before we get personal!
So, I grew up Christian in Nova Scotia in Eastern Canada, and my husband Dan is Jewish and from New York, where we live. That means in our house, on a good year, we do Christmas, Easter, Passover, Rosh Hashanah, Hanukkah, Canadian Thanksgiving, and American Thanksgiving. We eat well!
With that out of the way, this is our favorite latke recipe with a little twist!
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4 people
Ingredients:
1 medium-sized yellow onion
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
approx. 4 Tbsp neutral oil
Dipping sauce: Mix equal parts mayo and hot sauce (We use Cholula!)
Method:
Grate 4 big starchy potatoes and 1 onion into cheesecloth (or paper towel) and squeeze out the liquid. Put potato and onion mix in a bowl and add flour, baking powder, eggs, jalapeños, cilantro, and a heavy pinch of salt and pepper, and mix to combine. Heat a pan over medium with enough oil to fry the potatoes. Fry in batches, 1 heaping tablespoon of batter at a time. Remove from the pan and sprinkle with flaky salt. Serve as they’re done or keep warm on a sheet pan in a low oven until all latkes are made.
Hanukkah is a celebration of one night’s worth of oil lasting for eight nights, so fried foods in general are the name of the game. And latkes? They’re the iconic food of Hanukkah and can really be an appetizer, a side, or a meal all their own.
Of course, for a standard latke, you’d just skip the jalapeños and cilantro and serve with sour cream and applesauce instead of our, uh, signature dip.
Dan’s mom, Farron, also notes that some traditional latke recipes call for matzo meal instead of flour. Not everyone has matzo meal on hand, but if you do, and are looking to use it up, add it to your latkes instead of flour.
Farron also recommends these frozen latkes, if making them from scratch isn’t in the cards for you this year.
Getting seasonal: Roasted fruit or veggie galette
Last but not least, one of my favorite shareable snacks to make this time of year is a galette packed with fruits or veggies. Use it as an excuse to visit your local farmer’s market or just to clear out any old fruit, veggies, or cheese scraps languishing at the back of your fridge! I find either grape (as pictured above) or winter squashes to be particularly festive and tasty.
Making it is simple: pre-roast any particularly hearty produce like squash by breaking it down into bite-sized pieces (or cute slices!), seasoning with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roasting at 400° F for about 15 minutes or until just browning and easily pierced with a fork.
From there, a galette is like a pie without the shape, so all you need to do is roll out pie dough, arrange your roasted veggies or fresh fruit on top, sprinkle with oil and season with salt and pepper, add any cheese or aromatics you desire, roughly fold the sides up to create a crust, egg wash the crust, and bake at 375° until the edges are browned and the crust looks cooked (and any cheese is melted), roughly 15-20 minutes.
Once the galette is cooked, dress it up as you see fit. I usually toss on a combo of whatever I have on hand that sounds good — chopped nuts, goat cheese, herbs, pomegranate seeds, honey, olive oil, good balsamic vinegar, flaky salt, chili flakes, and so on.
Use a pizza cutter to break it down into shareable slices and you have an easy and affordable vegetarian appetizer perfect for the holiday season!
Pro Tip: Use what you have on hand to keep costs low around the holidays.
This time of the year, our pocketbooks are pulled in a lot of different directions. Don’t be afraid to repurpose leftovers or do a fridge raid to make not just galettes, but mini-quiches, tarts, and so on! With the right dressing up, your leftovers and half-used veg can turn into something downright luxurious.
Alright, those are my top recipes for the 2024 holiday season, but — confession — I’m not cooking everything I’m serving.
Recommendations for pre-made holiday appetizer options
Another major lesson for hosting holiday gatherings? You don’t have to make everything from scratch!
It’s totally ok to purchase pre-made items or ask people to bring something. Don’t be a hero and attempt too many cooked appetizers that need to be managed, whether as a precursor to dinner or for passing around at a party. In the end, the holidays are about gathering, not vol-au-vents, and there are plenty of delicious options for off-the-shelf snacks.
With that in mind, here are my favorite charcuterie board stars and some frozen and pre-made snacks that make a splash.
My charcuterie board staples
As general guidance, when building a board for a big gathering, I tend to choose a soft cheese, a hard cheese, a harder cracker, a softer bread, a dried or preserved fruit (olives count!), a fresh fruit, and a couple of different meats or cured seafood. Something pickled is also always welcome, and of course, you can never go wrong with dips, from hummus to tapenade to French onion, homemade or store-bought.
What follows is a list of my go-to’s, a mix of specific favorites and general preferences. Use them as a jumping off point to inspire your own board or just go out and grab them!
Ready-made apps that are popular in our house:And that’s everything you need to know to have amazing holiday appetizers this year!
Now, all that’s left is to make a little eggnog or mull some wine, and you’ll be feeling the warm glow of the festive season before you know it.