Are you hosting a party but on a tight budget? I have 21+ budget-friendly party appetizer ideas that your guests will be raving about. From spinach dip bites to pesto cheese bombs, there’s something for everyone on this list.
21+ Budget-Friendly Party Appetizer Ideas Your Guests Will Rave About
1. Fig Jam and Prosciutto Crostata
Crusty slices of garlicky French baguette topped with herbed goat cheese, honey and delicious fig jam. If you’re not a fan of goat cheese, you can use ricotta instead.
These tasty crostata bites are so easy to assemble. The ingredients are so simple, too, so it’s a great budget-friendly appetizer option.
Here’s a fun tutorial on how to make this appetizer:
2. Baked Honey and Goat Cheese Pears
Simple and delicious. Bake slices of pear in melted butter and minced rosemary. Top with goat cheese, a drizzle of honey and some pecans.
If you can buy the pears and cheese in bulk, you’ll save even more money. You’ll need one pear for each serving, so keep this in mind when shopping for your fruit.
3. Garlic Shrimp Crostini with Avocado
I would normally put a recipe with avocado on a list of budget-friendly party appetizer ideas, but this one is an exception. You’ll only need one avocado to make 12 servings of these crostini.
Simple baguette slices, 12 shrimp, spices, an avocado spread and a little olive oil are all you need to complete this dish.
Everyone will love this appetizer. It looks fancy, but it won’t cost you an arm and a leg.
4. Crispy Loaded Hasselback Potato Bites
Mini hasselback potatoes stuffed with cheese and topped with sour cream, bacon and green onions. What’s not to love? While they look complicated, these bites are really easy to make. You’ll need small potatoes (I prefer Yukon), a little olive oil, some salt and sliced cheese.
For the topping, you can use bacon bits instead of cooked bacon if you want.
Related: 21+ Bacon Wrapped Appetizers To Elevate Your Next Gathering
5. Cranberry Goat Cheese Crostini
Bite-sized crostini topped with cranberry goat cheese, a slice of salami and a drizzle of honey. With such simple ingredients, these crostini are easy to make and budget-friendly.
If you don’t like salami, you can use any kind of deli meat you want. For a little heat, you can use hot honey instead of regular honey.
No matter which option you choose, your guests are sure to be impressed and will love every single bite.
6. Tortellini Party Snacks
Fresh tortellini, bread crumbs and a few simple pantry ingredients are all you need to make this tasty appetizer. Breaded and spiced tortellini are baked to perfection and then served with your favorite marinara sauce.
I adore this recipe because of its simplicity, but it doesn’t disappoint when it comes to flavor. Don’t forget to add appetizer forks to the table for easy snacking.
7. Spinach Artichoke Bites
Spinach artichoke dip in bite-sized crescent dough cups. What’s not to love? The ingredients are simple and budget-friendly, so you can feed a crowd without spending a fortune.
Plus, this recipe makes 24 servings, which is more than enough for a party.
For the creamy dip filling, you’ll need frozen spinach, artichoke hearts, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. You’ll also need a muffin tin to shape your bites.
The rest is as easy as filling the crescent dough cups with the dip, baking and eating.
8. Oven Fried Feta Rolls with Chili Honey
This is one of my favorite budget-friendly party appetizer ideas because the flavors are so unique. Little bite-sized phyllo rolls are stuffed with crumbled feta, dill and garlic. Just fill, roll and bake, and you have a special appetizer that all of your guests will be raving about.
Plus, the recipe’s author shows you how to make an amazing honey dipping sauce that will pair perfectly with these rolls.
9. Bacon and Goat Cheese Pops
Goat cheese balls are always a crowd-pleaser, and this recipe adds crunchy bacon into the mix. Start with a base of cream cheese and goat cheese, roll each ball into the bacon/herb mix and thread onto a skewer.
Served with a drizzle of honey and baked apple chips, this appetizer won’t last long at your table.
You can use lollipop sticks as skewers for these, but I prefer to use pretzel rods.
10. Savory Apple Slice Appetizers
A simple but tasty and healthy budget-friendly appetizer. Two granny smith apples are all you need to make 12 servings of this recipe.
Top each slice with herbed cream cheese, pecans (or whatever type of nut you prefer), chopped celery and some pomegranate seeds. Drizzle with honey if desired and serve. You can make these ahead of time, but they’re best served immediately if you want to preserve the apple’s color.
11. BBQ Sausage Bites
These tasty bites only require four ingredients: smoked sausage, barbeque sauce, brown sugar and Dijon mustard.
Just mix all of the ingredients together, bake in a 9×13 baking dish and serve with toothpicks.
Related: 25 Easy Party Appetizers You Can Whip Up in No Time
12. Peach-Dijon Turkey Meatballs
Meatballs always top my list of budget-friendly party appetizer ideas because everyone loves them, and there are so many ways to prepare them.
This recipe adds peach jam, Dijon mustard and honey into the mix to create a sweet and slightly spicy glaze.
To get that perfect meatball shape, you can use an ice cream scooper to scoop out the ground turkey meat and brown in the skillet.
Once the meatballs are cooked, just toss them in the peach/honey sauce, thread them onto skewers and enjoy. I like to add a few arugula leaves to each skewer.
13. Cream Cheese Tortilla Bites
Four ingredients are all you need for these tortilla bites- that’s it. Of course, you’ll need tortillas, but you’ll also need cream cheese, everything seasoning and unsalted butter. It’s as simple as spreading the cream cheese on the tortillas, sprinkling on your everything seasoning, cutting into small bites and heating in a nonstick pan.
14. Baked Artichoke Hearts
Artichoke hearts are delish on their own, but this recipe adds melted butter, garlic powder, breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese to create a crispy outer layer. You’ll place these slices on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake until they’re golden.
Of course, there are a few steps involved, but this recipe is super simple and takes less than 30 minutes from start to finish.
15. Italian Pinwheels
Italian pinwheels are so easy to make because you combine cream cheese, sandwich spread and seasoning into a big bowl. Mash well to combine before spreading half of a cup of cream cheese onto your large tortillas, adding salami and two slices of cheese.
You’ll then roll and wrap it tightly to allow it to sit for an hour – or overnight if you have the time.
Slice into one-inch portions, put them on a serving platter, and serve!
16. Baked Taco Bites Recipe
Taco bites are the iconic budget-friendly party appetizer ideas, and they’re perfect for parties and get-togethers. Cheff Recipes breaks the recipe down into Taco filling and Taco bites, and the filling is made of:
- Ground beef
- Black beans
- Garlic
- Small onion
- Water
- Shredded cheese
- Corn
The bites call for phyllo pastry cups, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, Greek yogurt, black olives and cilantro. It’s as simple as cooking the taco filling over medium heat, placing the phyllo cups on a baking sheet, filling, topping with cheese and baking.
17. Baked Mac-and-Cheese Bites
If you have two mini-muffin pans, this is such an easy recipe to make. You’ll grease the pans and then start boiling some water for the elbow pasta. When the pasta is done, you’ll add it to a large pot with melted butter and onion, along with flour to thicken it.
Add in milk and combine well before seasoning and adding the mixture – plus some delicious cheddar – to the muffin pans.
18. Olive Cheese Bread
Ten ingredients are all you need for this appetizer. You’ll learn how to make an olive cheese bread out of easy ingredients: sour cream, butter, green and black olives, shredded Monterey Jack cheese, green onions, garlic powder, French bread and salt and pepper.
While you’ll bake for 20 – 25 minutes, it’s a recipe that’s so simple to follow and it tastes divine.
19. Bruschetta Dip
Bread, with all of its delicious carbs, is so hard for me to put down. You’ll need a container of Boursin cheese for this recipe, along with:
- Baguette
- Basil
- Balsamic vinegar
- Garlic
- Tomatoes
- Olive oil
And as a pro tip, be sure to let the cheese stay out of the refrigerator for 15 minutes or so to make it easier to spread in your small serving dish.
Related: 25 Mouthwatering Cheese Appetizers That Will Steal the Show
20. Easy Tater Tot Cups
Tater tots remind me of my childhood, so it’s always fun when I see them in the recipes I list. You’ll need a full bag of tater tots to create your “cups,” cheddar cheese, sour cream, turkey bacon and green onions.
And all you need is a muffin pan and a shot glass to help with tamping the tater tots into the desired cup shape.
21. Spinach Balls
Mini spinach balls made with spinach, spices, garlic and two cheeses are healthy and easy to make. You can use any cheese you like, but the author recommends white cheddar and Parmesan cheese.
The recipe is as easy as mixing the ingredients together, shaping them into balls and cooking them on a baking sheet for 20 – 25 minutes.
22. Bacon Cheeseburger Tater Tot Cups
You’ll need a mini muffin pan for this unique recipe, which uses the muffin shape to make tater tot cups. What you’ll do is preheat the oven and place two tater tots in each cup.
Bake for 15 minutes, and in the meantime, you’ll cook your ground beef and stir in the chopped bacon and cheese.
Tamp the tater tots when they’re done cooking to create a cup-like shape, add your mixture and bake.
