19 Easy Appetizers for Christmas

Christmas is one of the best holidays for food! We love easy bites, flavorful appetizers, and a variety of recipes to serve on Christmas for a little snack, an easy appetizer, or just a slow Christmas afternoon with family. These are our favorite bites to serve our friends and family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!

Easy Christmas Appetizers

I could very easily skip a Christmas main course for an entire spread of appetizers. Appetizers are my love language! Small, handcrafted bites, and you can load up a plate with a bunch of different appetizers to nosh on. I always love a good cheese board in general, but a big spread of appetizers mixed in amongst a grazing board is a beautiful way to serve holiday eats. 

A few tips to serving Christmas appetizers:

• Serve on various dishes. You don’t need cohesive platters. Various dishes give a super rustic, hearty feel. Consider checking out your local thrift store, even. 
• Don’t underestimate the power of a sheet pan with parchment paper! This makes for an easy way to serve most appetizers. It’s also a pretty genius way to transport food, including apps and cheeseboards. 
• Go low effort. You don’t need to cook for 6 hours to have an amazing spread of appetizers. Consider filling in gaps with store bought appetizers, too. Trader Joe’s is a great place for cheeses, dips, and frozen appetizers.

Crab Salad Cucumber Bites (AKA Sushi Bites)

These are one of my favorite appetizers for any season. I love them for Christmas because of the red chili sauce and the green cucumber, a festive nod to Christmas! You can use imitation crab, or use the real thing.

Twice Baked Potato Bites

Everybody in the history of ever (technical term) loves potatoes. The ultimate starch for comfort in appetizer form. These twice baked potato bites are decadent, super cute, and easy to make. You can drizzle the with hot honey for a little kick, if you like. 

Fancy Ham & Cheese Pinwheels

Pinwheels are a total classic appetizer and this recipe amplifies them for the holidays. Puff pastry, dijon mustard, and gruyere cheese elevate this take on an old classic. Did anybody else’s grandma make these for the holidays? Mine always did but with tortillas, we loved them.

Lasagna Cups

Lasagna in portable form? Dreams really do come true. This is a heartier appetizer but the effort is relatively minimal. A simple spinach and ricotta filling, with lasagna and mozzarella inside a wonton cup. This one could double as both an appetizer and a main course if you really wanted it too. One of my personal favorite all time recipes!

Marinated Cheese

This is a unique cheese recipe, it gets rave reviews and will become a tradition for the holidays once you make it. Marinated cheese has big, high end flavor with very minimal effort. Serve it on a cheese board, or by itself. I love it with a crostini and cracker board.

Salmon Dip

Serve salmon on Christmas Eve, use the leftovers to make salmon dip for Christmas Day! A little bit of liquid smoke makes this the best tasting salmon dip. We use Greek cream cheese to make it healthy, with a little Greek yogurt to thin it out. I make this one for my Dad often, and even he, an expert salmon purveyor, says it is out of this world.

Homemade Boursin Cheese

A simple combination of fresh herbs, butter, and cream cheese make for the best Boursin style cheese, made homemade for a fraction of the price. Serve this simply with a crudite platter, or add it to a cheese board as an accompaniment. Bonus? Keep the leftover cheese and stuff chicken with it! Leftovers are the Christmas gift that keeps on giving.

Cobb Salad Dip 

Your guests will go bonkers for this Cobb Salad Dip appetizer. All of the classic flavors of Cobb Salad, all in one appetizer. This is great with pita chips. Customize into your liking. We love it piled high with lots of toppings. Another idea? Serve it like nachos with drizzled ranch and toppings.

Chicken Lollipops 

Crisp skin, tender meat, a sweet and savory exterior all on a French-ed chicken drumstick. These are easy and super impressive, plus, full of protein. Garnish them with parsley, and serve on a giant platter with some extra sauce.

Fruit Dip 

You may not think of fruit dip when you are in need of Christmas appetizers, but this one really steals the show. A cream cheese based dip pairs wonderfully with strawberries,  blueberries and grapes. The perfect kid friendly appetizer. I eat it by the spoonful every time I make it!

Honey Roasted Nuts

If I had to pick one snack I love, more than even Christmas treats, it would be these honey roasted nuts. They are a great Christmas snack to nosh on throughout the day, and the rosemary make the house smell sssoooo good. I’ve given them away as Christmas hosting gifts and get rave reviews each time.

Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

Stuffed Mushrooms have become one of our favorite recipes; They’re simple, impressive, and take only about 20 minutes to make. We like this version because it does not require any sautéing! Just mix up a cream cheese and herbs, then stuff the mushrooms and dunk them in an olive oil panko crumb mixture.

Braised Artichokes

Braised Artichokes is an easy recipe that results in the most tender and flavorful artichokes we’ve ever had!  Simple to prepare and so fresh, these are the perfect recipe for any time of year, but we love them especially during the holidays.

Apple Cheddar Crostinis 

We are big lovers of anything sweet and savory, and these Apple Cheddar Crostinis are just that! A simple appetizer that can be made in a pinch, slices of savory cheddar cheese and tart green apple sit atop a toasted crostini, toped with a drizzle of honey and garnished with sea salt and thyme. 

Air Fryer Cream Cheese Wontons

We love anything made with wonton wrappers around here! They are healthy and make such portabale snacks. The perfect party food, and they’re only about 40 calories a piece. We like to serve them with sweet chili sauce but you could use any dipping sauce you like. Teriyaki and creamy sesame dressing works great, too!

Prosciutto Wrapped Apple Appetizer

This easy Prosciutto Wrapped Appetizer with Apple and Cheese comes together in a flash with just a few ingredients. This super easy and portable appetizer is great for any size party! Make 4 or 40 in just minutes.

Caprese Focaccia Bread

We love anything with fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and basil which is exactly why this dreamy, fluffy focaccia bread is one of our favorites!We use our classic focaccia bread recipe for an easy base, anybody can master. Focaccia bread is the perfect appetizer/side dish for any holiday or get together. It is beautifully rustic served in slices, on a platter, or even baked and turned into croutons!

Air Fryer Chicken Wings

These are some of the best chicken wings you’ll ever have, made right in your air fryer. The secret? Baking powder! You can make a huge batch for everybody to snack on. Christmas plus wings..there’s a saying there, somewhere. 

Southwest Baked Egg Rolls

These Easy Baked Southwest Egg Rolls make a great snack or appetizer.  Feed a crowd with these or freeze for easy healthy snacking! Egg roll wrappers stuffed with a healthy mixture of chicken, beans, spinach and peppers.  Baked…not fried and 100 calories each!

More Christmas Snack Recipes

Here’s a few more snacks for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day that we love.

• Quick Pickled Onions
• Wedge Salad Platter
• Crab Rangoon Pizza
• Ahi Poke Recipe
• Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Dip 
• Asparagus Tart
• Christmas Appetizer Bites
• Cheddar Cheese Ball with Chives

Let’s eat!- Kathi and Rachel

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