Holiday Snacks to Feed Hungry Guests

The holidays are coming! Whether you’re hosting friends and family for occasions at your house, or you’re heading to someone else’s home, tasty snacks are a must-serve.

While you can pick up pre-packaged chips, dip, and veggie trays at the supermarket, we urge you to put a little more love and effort into your holiday snacks this year. We have several suggestions to offer that will really impress your guests or your hosts.

Holiday Snacks: Cheese Board

One of our most popular posts of all time features an array of cheese board ideas. This snack is both simple and impressive, especially if you choose the elements of your cheese board carefully.

It is most appealing to serve two or three varieties of high-quality cheese to keep your guests’ palates from getting overwhelmed. Complement your cheese selections with classic cheese board accompaniments. Three elegant options that will wow your guests are Champagne grapes (or Corinth grapes), honeycomb, and Marcona almonds. Be sure to have a baguette or two on hand. Store-bought is fine, or you can bake them yourself with the Emile Henry Baguette Baker.

Holiday Snacks: Dip in a Bread Bowl

Another snack that features a beautiful presentation is a bread bowl filled with your choice of hot dip. We wrote about making homemade bread bowls and how easy they are. While you could pick up a boule at the grocery store, why not make your own?

In fact, we suggest making several medium-sized bread bowls and filling each one with a different hot dip. There’s a huge variety of delicious dips out there to choose from, and most of them have a cheese base. You really can’t go wrong with a snack like this.

Holiday Snacks: Savory Monkey Bread

If you haven’t already tried making monkey bread after reading our post earlier this fall, perhaps you’d like to give it a shot now. It’s another snack that looks harder than it actually is, especially if you take the monkey bread shortcut and use refrigerated biscuits.

We definitely recommend using a Bundt pan or tube pan when making monkey bread for a crowd. You’ll want to pack as many balls of dough in there as possible before baking. The Nordic Ware Pound Cake Pan has an 18-cup capacity, which should feed a lot of hungry guests.

Holiday Snacks: Savory Tarts

Another option that’s more elegant than monkey bread is a savory tart. We featured several tart recipes made from seasonal fall ingredients, and we think each of them would be a perfect appetizer to bring along to a festive gathering.

Like all of the previous snack ideas, it’s simple to customize your tarts to fit your personal taste preferences. Make individual mini tarts, or a larger one to cut into smaller servings. Either way, we’re sure your hosts will be thrilled to have a homemade appetizer.

Holiday Snacks: Deviled Eggs

With all the carbs in the snacks we’ve suggested here, we wanted to change it up a bit for this final recommendation. Deviled eggs are in season any time of year, from spring brunches to summer picnics to holiday gatherings. They’re perfectly sized as an appetizer, and they’re instantly recognizable by guests.

In our post about deviled eggs, we highlighted a traditional recipe along with several variations. Some of them are more exotic than others, and some will take a little extra prep time. But all of them will be a welcome addition to a table filled with holiday appetizers.