Do you know any good easy to fix appetizers?

Question

I'm having a little party, informal, and I'm mainly making finger foods and I'm having a hard time finding really easy but delicious appetizers. I'm looking for seafood, beef, and dip appetizers. Pictures would be nice to if you have some.Thanks for the help.

Wow you all have been so generous in helping me and they all sound so good I don't know how I'm going to pick just one best answer. Thanks to all of you and please keep the recipes flowing!

Hi everyone I really appreciate everyone's input and understand you can't read all 100 responses but please do not leave me anymore answers of pigs in a blanket (which I hate by the way) or cocktail shrimp, cheese and crackers, or meatballs thank you very much!

Answer 1

WOW! Looks like these answeres got you covered. I LOVE spinach artichoke dip with tortilla chips, veggies, or sourdough bread. You can hollow out the bread pour the dip in it and serve it with the bread pieces that came out of the bowl. Here is the spinach artichoke dip recipe I use http://www.recipezaar.com/1209

If you need a dessert I HIGHLY recommend fruit pizza. Its sugar cookie dough as your "pizza dough" then you top it with a cream cheese frosting, then topped with fresh fruit like kiwi, strawberries, grapes, oranges ect. Here's the link for that http://www.recipezaar.com/63357

I haven't tried them yet but they sounded yummy are mini tacos here's link http://www.recipezaar.com/74301

Pictures are included in the links. Good luck and I hope you find a yummy combination for your party!

Answer 2

Not sure what it is called but my mom had it at a party one time and then would fix it for dinner.

1 lb ground beef
1 lb pork sausage
1lb Velveeta cheese

Brown the beef and sausage together and drain well. Put in large mixing bowl and add the cheese and mix well. Then spoon mixture on top of small pieces of bread (like the party rye, etc you can find) or put it on top of cooked biscuits that are cut in half or anything like this that you would like to use. Heat in 350 oven about 5 to 10 min just until the mixture has melted together and slightly browned on top. Just make sure to not over cook or the bread will burn.

I did not look at all the answers so not sure what people have already suggested but you could also do:

Cocktail sausages that have been simmered in the BBQ sauce of your liking.

Or

Sausage and cheese biscuits.

1 lb pork sausage
1 lb Cheddar cheese (sharp or mild depending on your taste)

Put this in a bowl and add Bisquick as you mix. I start with a cup and go from there. You just want it to stick together but not be doughy. I also add a touch of milk for moisture and my aunt adds a little Cayenne pepper for spicy. Roll into small balls and bake 350 until brown.

Answer 3

This is a dip I get requests for all the time! It's gone in minutes!

Swiss Almond Spread:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup mayonnaise
8 ounces shredded Swiss cheese
3 green onions, chopped
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 pinch ground nutmeg
1/4 - 1/2 cup sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 350. Combine all ingredients except almonds. Spread mixture into a small oven-safe casserole. Sprinkle 1/2 the almonds on top.

Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven, stir and sprinkle remaining almonds on top. Bake an additional 7 minutes.

Serve hot with crackers (Triscuits are great with this!)

You can easily double this recipe, or mix a couple batches ahead of time to pop in the oven if you'd like....

Answer 4

Well I do all my entertaining the easy way if I can. One dip is a package of cream cheese and pour a jar of salsa over it...or some hot chili.

i watched "Paula" today on TV show seafood balls that were a combination of cooked rice, cooked shrimp blended into smaller pieces, a can of crab meat, and a small can of salmon, a small can of drained corn, either hot seasonings, or other kind....and rolled into balls and deep fried until browned.
(You can look this recipe up on Paula's site on the Food Network)...it was easy to make and looked good.

I have made cheese balls by mixing two or three kinds of cheeses with cream cheese (make one of them a very sharp cheese, or bleu cheese) and then rool the ball in chopped walnuts and put on serving plate.

Meatballs...easiest is to buy the ready made ones at the store and heat barbeque sauce and pour in a crockpot...then add the meat balls and serve with toothpicks.

Tiny sausages, or pieces of weiners wrapped with 1/2 slice of bacon, then broiled are really good.
Also skewers of fresh fruit that are colorful are easy and pretty...be sure a strawberry or bright color is part of it. Can do short ones for appetizers.

Or I saw a beautiful dipped strawberry tree....think they dipped them in chocolate...use strawberries all the same size so it would be uniform in looks....then used a cone and stuck the toothpick in the top end...then into the tree...and put greenery in between. It really looked special. ...leave them so the toothpick can be pulled out easily.

Answer 5

Get some tiny 1 1/2 inch toco shells (party shells) in the frozen section and you can put anything at all in them. They are good with seafood dip, salsa with lettuce and cheese mixed together, potato salad, cream cheese mixed with whatever you choose, the sky is the limit on those. There are 15 already made shells in a box that is about 6 x 8 inches and 1 inch thick.

Roll mini hotdogs or sausage links and cheese slices into a pastry shell and bake them. You can also add spices inside or brush them with butter and season the tops.

Decorate Ritz or any good sized snack cracker with toppings. Triskets are great. You can even use that cheese in a can and then stick pretzels in the top of the cheese mound. Lots of ideas there, be creative.

Peanut butter mixed with a bit of honey on Celery sticks

Egg salad made a bit pasty on celery sticks and sprinkled with paprika

Graham crackers with frosting centers to make sandwich crackers. Chocolate frosting is great. Try cold hot fudge too for a really good treat. Also, whipped marshmallow cream is good too.

Get some packaged thinly sliced sandwich meats. The really paper thin ones. Do 3 or 4 varieties in each rollup. Roll with different kinds of cheese slices or even spreadable cheese spread onto a burrito shell. Add some shredded lettuce and salsa and roll them and stick a deco toothpick into the center to hold them together.

Do a fondue dip with crackers, cornchips, pretzels or chips around the dip. A really good one is the spicy small velveta block of cheese mixed with half a can of pinto refried beans and 1/2 cup of salsa. Heat in microwave until melted and stirred together. Use a crock pot too to keep warm. I just put my pot incert into the micro until it melts the cheese stuff and then I keep it warm in the pot. You can double that recipe too for lots of guests.

You can also do a chocolate fondue and have fresh fruit or marshmallows to dip in it.

Answer 6

WOW! Looks like your pretty much covered in the recipe area but I thought I would offer you another website to check out before you make your decision! I'm a regular on this website I absolutely love it! The website is www.allrecipes.com and it features thousands of recipes. The great thing about it is you can search by ingredient! One of my favorite features about this website is all the feedback from everyone. Sometimes you can really use some feedback before attempting to make it yourself. Alot of times they mention substituting ingredients or quantity! I find it very helpful! I often browse this site for dinner ideas! Some of the appetizers I've found on there are: Artichoke Bruschetta, Blue Cheese*capers*and red onion dip, bacon jalapeno wraps, avocado feta salsa, stuffed mushrooms and sooooo many more. You get the idea. Regarding pictures most of the recipes have pictures included! Hope you log on and look around, I'm sure you'll find it very helpful!

Good Luck with your party!

Answer 7

I found this awesome recipe on allrecipes.com that is absolutely delicious and ridiculously easy to make (prep time and ready in 15 minutes!). I have made these a few times to take to cookouts and parties and they are always the first thing to go, no matter how many I make! I wish I could claim the recipe as my own! ha ha
They are called Creamy Dill Cucumber Toasties, and I always feel guilty when people ask what recipe I used because they are so darn simple to make! :) Here is the link:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Creamy-Dill-Cucumber-Toasties/Detail.aspx

If you want to try this recipe, I have just a couple of suggestions.
1) Make the spread the night before and refrigerate it in a bowl overnight. The flavors blend really well this way.
2) The bread is definitely better if you can put it on a cookie sheet and toast it for just a few minutes.
3) To avoid the bread getting soggy, hold off on putting the spread on until a few minutes before your guests are to arrive. The spread isn't really watery, so as long as it doesn't stay on the bread for hours you should be ok this way.
4) Adding a sprinkle of dill on top of the cucumbers makes it look like a caterer fixed them for you!

Answer 8

here's a little appitizer to spice conversation up at your party-- very simple and yummy !

3-4 jalapenos (small) per person at party
cream cheese
bacon strips well marbled
toothpicks

cook bacon where its still a little flexible (one strip of bacon will cover two jalepenos) set aside

Take small jalapeno peppers , fresh, make a slit down the side of each of them, take out the seeds wearing some gloves or using plastic wrap to keep the seeds from coming in contact with your skin

Preheat your oven to 375

Stuff the hollowed out peppers with cream cheese and put them on a baking sheet slit side up put them in the oven for 4-5 minutes
Take them out and wrap the bacon around each one and stick a toothpick to hold the bacon
Stick them back in the oven for 2 minutes if desired to brown bacon further, if not set on plate and serve.
You may have to perfect your own time on the oven as every oven is different.
To know that they are done the pepper should be soft and easy to bite into w/o any crunch, and cheese evenly melted.

Answer 9

Pigs in the blanket are always easy and tasty. Use all beef hot dogs, real cheddar cheese, and garlic croissant's to make it a little more than just a pig in a blanket.

Kahlua dip is excellent for fruit. Just get some sour cream, brown sugar and Kahlua, add a little Kahlua to the sour cream and add brown sugar to taste.

As for seafood, shrimp and cocktail sauce is always a standard appetizer.

You can always make finger sandwiches. Get some bread and buy a tub of chicken and tuna salad. Get a rubber spatula and spread some on the bread, cut off the crusts and cut them into fours. Serve them on a mirror with some parsley and it looks great. Takes no time at all.

Answer 10

Some of the best appetizers I've had were triscuits, take some smoked or shredded mozzarella and put it on the crackers then pop them in the microwave for about 15-25 seconds, and the cheese melts right over the crackers and makes them very tasty! For an extra touch, slice up a roma tomato and add tomato pieces on top.

Flavored triscuits, especially, work really well for this and add an extra bite!

Answer 11

One of my favorite things was "make your own pizza" night. Get some small pre-made pizza shells, some sauce, and cut up what-ever. Lots of veggies, cook up some different meats if you choose, and have a variety of cheeses. A few condiments like the olives and peppers make things even better.

The small shells keep things in hand and several can cook in an oven at the same time. It also reduces waste, should your "experiment" fail. Everyone gets exactly what they want on their pie, and can always share with others.

P.S. This works for a variety of themes also. You can make appitizer pizzas if you choose ahead of time. Besides the main course, you can also make dessert pizzas with a variety of things such as white and regular chocolate, different fruits and fruit spreads, etc. Or just let them do what they want and sit back and accept the praise.