Planning a party, but don’t want to be trapped in the kitchen as your guests arrive? These 21+ make ahead Christmas appetizers will save you so much time and let you mingle with your guests as they settle in.
21+ Make Ahead Appetizers For Christmas
1. Festive Christmas Cranberry Roll Ups
Simple, delicious and easy to make the day before. These roll-ups will be devoured by your guests and will add some festive color to your table.
But here’s the best part: you only need five ingredients. The filling is a tasty mix of feta cheese, cream cheese, dried cranberries and chives.
Once you’ve mixed these ingredients together, you can start spreading the filling on tortillas. Roll up each tortilla, slice into bite-sized pieces and enjoy.
2. Italian Cheese Loaf
Who doesn’t love a good cheese loaf? This is the perfect appetizer and it tastes great even if you make it a few days ahead of time.
You’ll need a loaf pan to shape your log, which is made with a creamy mix of cream cheese, sour cream and cheddar cheese.
Herbs and spices like garlic, thyme, oregano, basil, rosemary and red pepper flakes add tons of flavor to your cheese. You’ll also add roasted peppers, salami, green onion and green olives into the mix.
Once set, add a tasty topping of sundried tomato strips, parsley and rosemary sprigs.
Serve with crackers or crusty bread.
Related: 15 Easy Cheese Appetizers for Every Party and Gathering
3. Pear and Brie Cheese Salad Skewers
Salad skewers like these are perfect make ahead Christmas appetizers. Just add slices of pears, cubed brie cheese and arugula leaves to a skewer. Top with balsamic glaze or honey, and you’re ready to serve.
If you don’t like arugula, you can use basil leaves instead. You can also use any type of cheese you want.
I like to serve these in pretty shooter cups.
4. Crispy Salami Bites
These little bite-sized appetizers are crispy, salty, cheesy and irresistible. They’re ready in just 20 minutes or less, so they’re perfect for that busy day before your party when you’re rushing around trying to get everything done.
Take slices of your favorite salami and press them into a mini muffin pan to form little bowls. Bake for 8-10 minutes to crisp up the edges. Then, add a delicious filling of feta, tomatoes, olives, capers and olive oil to the center.
5. Cold Spinach Artichoke Dip
Dips are always a great option for make ahead appetizers, and you’ll love this take on the famous spinach artichoke dip.
It blends chopped spinach with artichoke hearts, cream cheese, Greek yogurt, mayo, lemon juice, garlic, Parmesan cheese and spices.
The great thing about this dish is that it tastes even better the next day after all of the flavors have had a chance to meld together.
You don’t even need to worry about baking, so you can take it straight from the fridge to the table for serving.
6. Individual Antipasto Salad Cups
Antipasto salad is deliciously addictive. I love that this recipe serves the salad in individual cups, so everyone gets a fair portion.
The great thing about this type of salad is that it tastes better after sitting for at least a few hours.
The ingredients are flexible, too, so you can add or omit whatever you want. But the base recipe is perfect. It mixes cheesy mozzarella balls with tart cherry tomatoes, zesty pepperoncinis, artichoke halves, green and black olives, salami, pickled vegetables and fresh basil.
7. Crispy Jalapeno Popper Wonton Cups
These wonton cups are crispy, spicy and absolutely delicious. It’s the perfect addition to your holiday party.
The filling is a tasty mix of cream cheese, jalapenos, bacon and cheddar cheese.
To make the cups, just add wonton wrappers to the cups of a muffin tin. Bake until golden and crispy. Then, fill with the jalapeno stuffing, refrigerate and serve whenever you’re ready.
8. Antipasto Platter
Here’s a simple but tasty appetizer that you can easily make a few days ahead. And like charcuterie boards, antipasto platters can have just about anything you want on them.
Dinner at the Zoo offers some great recommendations:
- 1.5 pounds of assorted cured meats, like pepperoni, salami, coppa and prosciutto
- 1 pound of cheese (sliced or cubed)
- Mozzarella balls
- Olives
- Grilled or pickled vegetables
- Raw veggies like cherry tomatoes and baby carrots
- Assorted breads, crostini and breadsticks
- Herbs for garnish
- Some spreads like olive tapenade or bruschetta
9. Baked Bacon Cheese Onion Dip
A tasty party dip made with savory bacon, caramelized onions and cheese. Caramelizing the onions will take some time, but the flavor it adds is hard to beat.
Sour cream, mayo and Gruyere cheese add a wonderful creaminess to this dish, but feel free to use any type of cheese you want.
Serve with crackers.
10. Marinated Pickle Cheese
Make ahead Christmas appetizers don’t get much better than this recipe. It’s zesty, flavorful and perfect for snacking.
The best part is that it tastes even better the next day.
This dish alternates slices of Havarti and cheddar cheese with cream cheese and is topped with a delicious marinade of pickles, green onions, ranch seasoning, dill, red pepper, pickle brine and apple cider vinegar.
11. Mini Cheeseballs on Ritz Crackers
These mini cheeseballs are so easy to prepare ahead of time and they look so fancy served on Ritz crackers.
There are two flavors here: cranberry and chives. Together, they create a festive presentation.
The base of the cheeseballs is a mix of cream cheese, cheddar cheese and spices (onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, cayenne and black pepper).
Related: 21+ Easy Winter Appetizers to Warm Up Any Party
12. Fig and Prosciutto Crostini
A simple appetizer that’s big on flavor. Top slices of crusty bread with cream cheese, prosciutto, fig preserves, fresh figs and balsamic glaze.
Guests will love every bite, and you can easily make these ahead of time.
13. Sushi Wonton Cones
How creative is this appetizer? Crispy wonton cones stuffed with sushi rice, avocado, tuna steak and a delicious sauce. You can easily make this ahead of time and reheat quickly in the oven before serving.
14. Prosciutto Wrapped Pears with Manchego
Prosciutto, pears, rosemary, Manchego cheese and balsamic glaze come together perfectly in this recipe. Prep the baking sheet and pears, slice your cheese, stuff your pears with it, wrap the prosciutto, add rosemary and bake.
15. Festive Cream Cheese & Herb Stuffed Peppers
Slice the tops off of your red, green and yellow peppers before stuffing them with a mix of:
- Cream cheese
- Sour cream
- Chives
- Dill
Top with shredded cheese, bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 350℉ and then eat up. You can prefill these and just bake them when your guests arrive, too.
16. Beetroot and Goat’s Cheese Terrine Recipe
I was even surprised that this terrine is on the make ahead Christmas appetizers list this year, but it’s too good to not add it. Satiating and filling, you’ll need a terrine mold, cutting board, mixing bowls and a handful of other items to make these.
For the appetizer, you’ll want to stock up on raw beetroot, oregano, goat and soft cheese, thyme leaves, chives, caster sugar, walnut halves and sage.
It’s a fairly easy recipe to make, but I do recommend wearing gloves if you want to avoid the beetroot rubbing off on your skin.
17. Goat Cheese and Cranberry Pecan Balls
Super simple to make and utterly delicious, these goat cheese balls are perfect for Christmas. You’ll start by chopping up your cranberries and pecans and mixing them together in a bowl before forming balls with your goat cheese.
Finally, roll your cheese balls in the mix until they’re coated well and then serve with some crackers.
18. Cranberry Whipped Feta
Cranberry and feta just screams “Christmas,” mostly because of the red and white coloring that these two main ingredients offer. In a medium saucepan, you will want to add cranberries, orange juice and sugar together. Stir, bring to a boil and then let simmer for 10 minutes until your cranberries burst open.
Once they do, mash them with a spoon until your mixture thickens.
While it’s cooling, place the following ingredients into a food processor to make your whipped feta: feta cheese, cream cheese and oil. Make a swirl with your feta on a serving bowl then add your cranberry sauce on top. Sprinkle on pistachios for the green and red pepper flakes for the red.
19. Mini Cranberry Pecan Goat Cheese Balls
Cranberry and goat cheese flavors come together nicely in this recipe, which you can make two days ahead of time if you like so that there’s no last-minute rush. You’ll make your cheese mixture with:
- Goat cheese
- Cream cheese
- Cinnamon
- Honey
- Diced pecans
You’ll then make the coating with dried cranberries, minced fresh parsley and your remaining pecans.
20. Spinach Artichoke Dip Wonton Cups
Wonton cups are the perfect make ahead Christmas appetizers, and you’ll use premade wonton wrappers to speed things along. For the spinach filling, you’ll use artichoke hearts, mayonnaise, frozen spinach, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper, mozzarella, Parmesan and cream cheese.
Mix all of the spinach filling ingredients in a bowl until they’re incorporated well.
Press your wonton wrappers in a muffin tin, spray with cooking spray and bake for 6-8 minutes before filling with your mixture and placing back in the oven for 10 minutes or so until bubbly.
21. Candy Cane Caprese
If you like caprese and want a reason to use your large serving board, this recipe will take you all of two minutes. Simply alternate between placing tomato and mozzarella slices on the board into the shape of a candy cane.
Add olive oil on top along with salt, pepper and basil.
Serve with crostini.
Related: 21+ Delicious Christmas Pinwheel Appetizers I Make Every Season
22. Christmas Party Spinach Puff
Spinach puffs are easy to make ahead of time and filled with delicious ingredients. You’ll first prep a muffin tin with cooking spray and then add your phyllo dough in each insert. Fill with spinach and some cheese and then fold all four corners towards the middle like in the video.
Bake and enjoy.
You can make these ahead of time or simply prep them and bake when guests are on their way to your home.
