20 Thanksgiving Appetizers So Delicious, You'll Want to Eat Them for Lunch

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Updated on November 8, 2022

Chile-Spiced Delicata Squash Crostini — Photo: Leigh Beisch

As you gear up for Thanksgiving dinner, get your snack on with one of these tasty holiday appetizers that will keep you from getting hangry before the main event. These delicious recipes run the gamut from an easy cheese board to yummy stuffed veggies. Recipes like our 3-Ingredient Cheddar & Apple Bites and Chile-Spiced Delicata Squash Crostini are so good, you might just end up making them all holiday season long.

01 of 20

Easy Stuffed Mushrooms

Stuffed mushrooms

This healthy stuffed mushroom appetizer is a nice balance of soft mushrooms, creamy filling and crunchy topping. This combination tastes downright decadent, but it's actually good for you. Be sure to get all of the moisture out of the chopped mushrooms before moving on to the next step; if not, the filling will be soggy and make the mushroom caps watery.

02 of 20

Pomegranate, Cranberry & Brie Bruschetta

Pomegranate, Cranberry & Brie Bruschetta

Make this simple festive appetizer for your holiday guests. Toasted baguette slices with creamy, melted brie are topped with an orange-cranberry-pomegranate mixture--each bite delivers an explosion of flavor and texture!

03 of 20

3-Ingredient Cheddar & Apple Bites

3-ingredient Cheddar Apple Bites

Creamy apple butter and sharp Cheddar cheese are a perfect match in these easy party hors d'oeuvres. This recipe calls for prepared pie crust, which is pressed into mini muffin tins to make little tart shells, so it's super easy to make as well. Add slices of apple for extra crunch, if you'd like, or keep these bites simple. Either way, consider making a double batch--they'll go quickly.

04 of 20

Skillet Sun-Dried Tomato Dip

Skillet Sun-Dried Tomato Dip — Photography / Caitlin Bensel, Food Styling / Ruth Blackburn

This skillet sun-dried tomato dip is creamy, but also gets a hit of sweetness from roasted bell peppers to complement the sun-dried tomatoes. It's cooked and served all in the same skillet, cutting down on dishes. Serve it with crackers, toasted bread or fresh-cut veggies.

05 of 20

Chile-Spiced Delicata Squash Crostini

Chile-Spiced Delicata Squash Crostini — Leigh Beisch

Vinegar and crispy bits of pancetta brighten up the caramelized squash topping on this healthy appetizer. It also has a generous sprinkle of dried chiles. Two to seek out include Urfa, a smoky, mildly hot Turkish chile pepper, and Aleppo, which has moderate heat and a fruity tang. Find them in specialty markets and from online spice purveyors.

06 of 20

3-Ingredient Cranberry-Brie Bites

3-Ingredient Cranberry-Brie Bites

Baked Brie is a perennially popular appetizer. Here, we complement the Brie with tart cranberry sauce and bake it in pretty individual tartlets using premade pie crust for an ultra-easy crowd-pleasing appetizer.

07 of 20

Winter Charcuterie Board

Winter Charcuterie Board

A cheeseboard is an ideal stationary hors d'oeuvre for holiday entertaining. Select a variety of cheeses, making sure to include an aged variety, a creamy cheese, a blue cheese and perhaps a smoked cheese. Round out the platter with cold cuts, bread, an abundance of seasonal fruits, dried fruit, crudité, nuts and olives. We even included some dark chocolate to cap it off!

08 of 20

Pear-Pecan Cheese Ball

Pear-Pecan Cheese Ball

Sweet pear, salty Cheddar cheese and crunchy nuts make this healthy cheese ball recipe an alluring holiday treat. Serve with an array of crudités and crisp party crackers.

09 of 20

Collard Green Salad with Peanut Vinaigrette

Collard Green Salad with Peanut Vinaigrette — Photographer / Jacob Fox, Food styling / Sue Mitchell, Food Styling / Kelsey Bulat

A Top Chef finalist and James Beard Award nominee, Dawn Burrell is also an Olympian. She found her love of food while traveling the world with the USA Track & Field team. That journey is what inspired her signature global comfort cooking style, which explores the intersection of African and Asian foods. Here, raw collard greens are massaged with a tangy peanut vinaigrette—featuring lime juice, ginger and fish sauce—to tenderize the leaves, like you would do with kale.

10 of 20

Stuffed Brussels Sprouts

Stuffed Brussels Sprouts

This festive side dish is Thanksgiving in one bite! Brussels spouts are hollowed out, stuffed with a sausage-and-breadcrumb stuffing and baked until brown and crispy on top. Large Brussels sprouts work best here. Enjoy this as a side dish or on its own as an appetizer.

11 of 20

Fig & Goat Cheese Puff Pastry Roll

Fig & Goat Cheese Puff Pastry Roll — Jamie Vespa, M.S., R.D.

Buttery puff pastry is a tasty shortcut ingredient that can be used in many delicious ways. Here we roll out a pastry sheet and cover it with fig jam and crumbled goat cheese, then roll it up into a log and bake it. The end result is a sweet-and-savory appetizer that looks and tastes impressive, especially considering it has just three ingredients.

12 of 20

Crab-Stuffed Mushrooms

This crab-stuffed mushroom recipe is perfect for Christmas, New Year's Eve and other holiday parties or any other time you need a quick and easy appetizer. The filling is light and fresh thanks to hearts of palm, a tender vegetable with a mild flavor (similar to artichokes) that doesn't mask the rich, sweet flavor of fresh crabmeat.

13 of 20

Rustic Mushroom Tart

Don't let phyllo dough's fussy reputation put you off: our method of brushing olive oil and sprinkling breadcrumbs between the layers makes this tart actually quite simple to assemble, and helps keep it healthy. It can be served as a main course or cut into smaller pieces and enjoyed as an appetizer.

14 of 20

Apricot, Prosciutto & Parmesan Bites

Apricot, Prosciutto & Parmesan Bites — Jamie Vespa, M.S., R.D.

These 3-ingredient apricot, Parmesan and prosciutto bites are as simple to make as they look, and they taste even better. Simply layer each ingredient on top of the other and secure with a toothpick for an easy bite-size starter.

15 of 20

Mini Sandwiches with Fig & Brie

Turn the basics of a cheese board into adorable mini grilled cheese sandwiches for a satisfying appetizer.

16 of 20

Loaded Broccoli Salad

Loaded Broccoli Salad — Photographer / Brie Passano, Food Stylist / Annie Probst, Prop Stylist / Holly Raibikis

This is the broccoli salad you will get special requests for. The combination of bacon, sour cream, mayonnaise, scallions and Cheddar is hard to resist. And the addition of rice vinegar or cider vinegar sharpens all the flavors.

17 of 20

Goat Cheese Crostini with Mushrooms & Brown Butter

Goat Cheese Crostini with Mushrooms & Brown Butter

Serve these savory herbed crostini with a big green salad. Looking for a heartier meal? Top each toast with a poached or fried egg.

18 of 20

Loaded Smashed Brussels Sprouts

Loaded Smashed Brussels Sprouts — Greg Dupree

The sprouts in this loaded smashed Brussels sprouts recipe are cooked to crisp-tender, then crushed and baked in the oven and smothered in melted Cheddar cheese, bacon and a dollop of sour cream. Serve them as a fun side dish or a party appetizer.

19 of 20

Mini Brie & Apple Quiches

We love the way Brie and apples taste together in these mini quiches. Mini phyllo cups make it swift and simple to create an elegant appetizer.

20 of 20

Bruschetta Caprese

Bruschetta Caprese — Photographer / Jennifer Causey, Food Stylist / Karen Rankin, Prop Stylist / Christine Keely

This bruschetta caprese has tons of fresh flavor from tomatoes, basil and mozzarella, with a splash of balsamic vinegar pulling everything together. Don't skip the step of letting the tomatoes drain before mixing! The salt infuses flavor while drawing out moisture so the toasts won't get soggy before serving.

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