With these quick and easy holiday appetizer ideas, party hosts can keep their guests fed with little stress. These appetizers can be assembled in less than 10 minutes, and require few ingredients and little preparation.
A classic Italian offering, a bruschetta appetizer is an easy-to-make crowd pleaser. The ingredients include a baguette, five or six plum tomatoes, basil, olive oil and salt.
To begin, slice a baguette into thin slices and toast them in the oven. Cut the tomatoes into small pieces and place them in a bowl. Add the basil to taste, a tablespoon of olive oil, and a pinch of salt, and mix well.
Top each slice of the baguette with the tomato mixture and serve. Although the tomato mixture can be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated, the bruschetta should not be assembled too long before serving because the bread will become soggy.
Buy the hummus in advance and serve it with baby carrots, celery and cucumbers. If you prefer to make your own hummus, you can do so by combining the following ingredients in a food processor and mixing until silky smooth: a can of drained chickpeas, a clove of garlic, two tablespoons of olive oil, four tablespoons of water (or the liquid from the can of chickpeas), the juice from one lemon, 60 ml tahini and salt to taste. Top the hummus with paprika before serving for a better presentation. Serve the hummus with pita bread or pita chips as an alternative to the raw vegetables.
This easy appetizer is simple, yet has a great presentation. Buy a set of plastic or glass shooters or shot glasses and fill them halfway with your choice of dip, such as ranch, hummus or dill. If you don't have enough time to make homemade dip, buy a premade dip ahead of time. Top the shooters with sliced pieces of raw vegetables, such as bell peppers, carrots, celery and cherry tomatoes.
You can reduce the stress of entertaining guests over the holidays by choosing appetizers that require few ingredients and little preparation. Opt for a few crowd pleasers, instead of offering a large variety of appetizers, to reduce preparation time and stress.
