Thanksgiving is all about the food, but it’s not just the turkey or the side dishes we love – it’s the appetizers. If you’re hosting dinner this year or plan to bring a dish of your own, these Thanksgiving finger food ideas will satisfy even the pickiest of eaters.
Top 25+ Thanksgiving Finger Food Ideas We’re Crushing On
1. Smoked Salmon Crostini
How fancy is this finger food idea? If you want to serve something other than the usual Thanksgiving suspects, these crostini are perfect and refreshingly light.
You’ll need smoked salmon, cream cheese, dill, lemon juice, spices, green onions, capers, arugula, cucumber and – of course – a delicious baguette.
2. Honey Balsamic Bacon Goat Cheese & Pistachio Bites
Phyllo cups are the perfect finger food. They’re light and flaky, and you can fill them with just about anything you want. This recipe has a sweet and savory filling of bacon, goat cheese and pistachio with a balsamic glaze and fresh basil.
Best of all? These little bites are ready in about 10 minutes.
3. Caesar Salad Wonton Cups
Salad as a finger food? Yes! These wonton cups are filled with just a bite or two of Caesar salad. The salad is super simple – lettuce, chicken, bacon, breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese and fresh herbs. The recipe even shows you how to make your own tangy homemade dressing. You’ll need a muffin tin to shape and bake your wonton cups.
With a light and crispy shell, your guests will gobble these up.
4. Mushroom Vol-Au-Vents
These mushroom vol-au-vents sound and look fancy, but they’re really simple. It all starts with a puff pastry base that’s topped with a garlicky mushroom sauce. You’ll need just a few ingredients for the sauce – flour, milk, mushrooms, fresh parsley, salt and pepper. In total, these little bite-sized treats will be ready in less than an hour.
5. Pomegranate and Pear Crostini Appetizers
We love easy Thanksgiving finger food ideas that still have all the best fall flavors. These crostini definitely fit the bill. They’re super simple to make, but everyone is sure to love them. Great food doesn’t have to be complicated!
For this recipe, you’ll need a baguette, pears, pomegranate arils, maple syrup, cinnamon cream cheese, butter, cinnamon and balsamic vinegar.
6. French Onion Tartlets
These French onion tartlets are the perfect bite-sized appetizer for Thanksgiving. If you can get your hands on mini phyllo shells, they’ll be even easier to make. Otherwise, you can use regular phyllo dough and a muffin tin to make your tartlets.
To make the filling, you’ll need yellow onions, fresh thyme, butter, white wine, cream cheese, parsley and a few other pantry staples. They cook up in 15 minutes, so you won’t be spending hours in the kitchen.
7. Cranberry and Brie Phyllo Crackers
These little firecrackers are fitting for the holiday season, and they’re stuffed with a creamy cranberry and Brie filling. The presentation makes this finger food look like it took hours to make, but the ingredients are super simple. Along with phyllo dough, you’ll need Brie, cranberry sauce, black sesame seeds and almond flakes.
The trickiest part is shaping each one into a cracker shape.
8. Blue Cheese, Fig and Caramelized Onion Palmiers
These Palmiers are dangerously delicious, but you only need four ingredients to make them: puff pastry, caramelized onions, fig preserves and blue cheese.
Using pre-made puff pastry will save you so much time. Just roll out the dough (you’ll need a good rolling pin), add the preserves, onions and cheese, and bake.
These Palmiers are ready in just 15-20 minutes.
9. Sweet Cream Cheese Wontons
Stuffed wontons are irresistible, and these ones are so tasty. You can keep it simple and stick to plain cream cheese, or you can add other ingredients to your filling:
- Nutella
- Orange marmalade
- Garlic, onion and cheddar cheese
Along with cream cheese, you’ll need wonton wrappers, egg and some powdered sugar (you can skip this one if you’re making a savory version).
Related: 10 Surprising Nutella Recipes That Will Blow Your Mind
10. Cheesy Garlic Cruffin
A cruffin is a hybrid of a muffin and a croissant. This recipe puts a savory twist on classic recipes and uses sheets of crescent roll dough (no perforations). In between each layer is a rich cheddar cheese, chive and butter sauce.
These cruffins are super simple to make, ready in 25 minutes and sure to please even the pickiest of eaters.
11. Little Smokies Wrapped in Bacon and Brown Sugar
One of our favorite Thanksgiving finger food ideas is pigs in a blanket, and this recipe trades the flaky wrapping for bacon and brown sugar. You’ll need a pack of little smoked sausages (or cocktail sausages) along with a pound of bacon and a cup of brown sugar.
Just wrap each sausage in a slice of bacon, sprinkle with brown sugar and bake for 40-50 minutes.
12. Spinach Balls
Simple Joy shares their award-winning spinach balls, and they’re a great appetizer that has chopped spinach (so it’s good for you), Parmesan cheese, thyme, butter, breadcrumbs and a few other ingredients.
But the one odd item you’ll need to make these is a cookie scoop.
Related: Planning a Friendsgiving Party? Here Are 10+ Creative Ideas to Spice Up Your Gathering
13. Baked Crab Bites
If you’re a fan of crab meat, you’ll love these light bites. You’ll need crispy phyllo cups and just 30 minutes to make these bites. Add your crab meat with spices, mayo, lime juice, cream cheese, gruyere cheese and red bell peppers into a bowl and mix.
You’ll then fill your cups, place them on a baking sheet and wait 15 minutes while they bake to an amazing golden color.
14. Potato Poppers
Potato poppers are simply small, baked potatoes garnished with cheddar and brick cheese. You’ll want to add parsley, clove, salt and pepper. And if you like sour cream, you can add it for flavor.
15. Prosciutto-Wrapped Caprese Salad
Thanksgiving finger food ideas are often not as easy to put together as these salad bites. You’ll find that with just four ingredients and a few minutes, you’ll be ready to devour this appetizer. Ingredients that you’ll need are buffalo mozzarella, grape tomatoes, fresh basil and prosciutto (which will be your wrap).
And don’t forget that you’ll need toothpicks to hold everything together.
16. Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms
Tasting with Tina brings you delectable finger food, but you need to love mushrooms because you’ll be filling mushroom caps with cream cheese, parmesan, sage and rosemary. And in 20 minutes, you’ll be popping these mushroom bites in your mouth.
17. Peach and Honey Ricotta Crostini
Super simple yet delicious is a great way to describe this appetizer. You’ll need some crostini, ricotta, peach and honey. You can skip the prosciutto if you’re not a meat eater or swap it for another ingredient.
Related: 15 Insanely Fun and Healthy Edible Thanksgiving Centerpieces
18. Mini Croque Monsieur
Add a taste of France to your dinner table with these delicious puff pastries, filled with ham, mustard, gruyere cheese and just a handful of ingredients. Butter & Baggage does an amazing job explaining where you can get the perfect puff pastries (if you’re in the U.S.).
19. Mini Potato Korokke
In just a few minutes, you’ll be able to cook up these korokke and have more than enough to feed your guests. You’ll be making small potato balls with panko breadcrumbs, spices and a touch of micro herbs on top.
But the one ingredient that you may struggle to find is the Japanese mayonnaise.
You can find some sellers on Amazon that will ship this creamy mayo to you, such as Kewpie.
20. Jalapeño Avocado Cream Cheese Wontons
Wontons were always a delight when growing up, but I never imagined how easy they were to make. And with some jalapeno, and this recipe certainly has a kick of spice that your guests won’t expect. You’ll need an avocado, jalapeno, cheddar, mozzarella, cream cheese, cilantro and wonton wrappers.
If you want to make your own wonton wrappers, you can, but this recipe calls for premade ones to make it a little easier.
21. Porcini Truffle Arancini Balls
Here’s one of the most interesting Thanksgiving finger food ideas on this list: truffle arancini balls. You’ll need to be a fan of mushrooms if you’re trying this recipe because it will require porcini mushrooms, which are really the core of this idea.
You’ll also need to have:
- Eggs
- Chicken stock
- Marinara sauce
- Arborio rice
- Flour
- Spices
- Breadcrumbs
- Butter
- Mozzarella
22. Cheesy Crispy Baked Potato Bites
Baked potato bites will fill your entire kitchen with a wonderful aroma. And if you know how to make a baked potato, it’s really as easy as:
- Scooping out some of the potato
- Adding cheese, herbs and, if you like, a bit of bacon
- Baking the potatoes until the cheese is nice and melted
23. French Cheese Puffs
If you’ve never had homemade French cheese puffs before, you’ll be happy to hear that they’re so easy to make. You’ll love the abundance of mozzarella and parmesan cheese flavors mixed with the lightness of the puffs. And you’ll be making the puff yourself with eggs, flour, butter and a few spices.
The puff pastry that you’re making is truly delicious and only needs to cook for 30 – 35 minutes until they’re golden brown.
24. Meatball Parm Skewers
Meatball parm skewers are just like their larger counterparts (if you’ve ever had a meatball parm before), but they’re bite-sized. You’ll love this easy recipe. It teaches you how to make a basic marinara sauce, but you can spruce it up with more spices if you like.
If you like meatballs and mozzarella cheese, you’re going to love this appetizer.
25. Artichoke Dip Bites
Creamy. Cheesy. Wrapped in a puff pastry. What’s more to like? You’ll love this sinful finger food because it’s filled with flavor and you can make a dozen – or more – at a time. You’ll need a muffin baking pan and quite a few ingredients:
- Artichoke hearts
- Cream cheese
- Mayonnaise
- Sour cream
- Mozzarella
- Parmesan cheese
- Green chilis
- Bacon (optional)
- Parsley
- Other herbs
In less than an hour, you’ll be serving these delightful appetizers.
