Edited by Isabel Ehlert
I am not a person who hosts well. I have always admired the women who can have eight people over with two days’ notice and a perfectly composed cheese board. I am not one of them. My version of hosting involves a slow cooker, paper plates, and an apology about the pile of shoes by the front door.
What I have figured out, though, is that you do not have to be a real hostess to put out a really good appetizer. You just need a handful of recipes that look like you tried much harder than you did. These are mine. Fifteen minutes or less, mostly. All of them get the kind of compliments that make me lie a little about how long they took.
Crack Chicken Appetizer▼
The warm dip appetizer that ruins everyone for every other dip at the party. Cream cheese, ranch, cheddar, bacon, shredded chicken, served warm in a baking dish surrounded by crackers. People hover near it. People go back four times. People do not leave their spot near the appetizer table.
This is the recipe I bring when I want to be remembered. It works. I have been the dip person at three different friend groups now.
Get the recipe: Crack Chicken Appetizer
Crab Rangoon▼
The little crispy wonton bites filled with sweet, creamy crab and cream cheese. They look impressive on a tray, taste exactly like the takeout version, and require nothing more complicated than a stack of wonton wrappers and a hot skillet.
I make these when I want to feel like I am hosting at a level above my usual game. They are the appetizer equivalent of getting dressed for dinner.
Get the recipe: Crab Rangoon
Sausage Cream Cheese Crescent Roll Appetizer▼
The crescent roll bites that always go first. Sausage and cream cheese rolled into crescent dough, baked until golden, served warm. Twenty minutes from refrigerator to platter.
These are the appetizer that even the picky eaters in the family circle for. Carol would approve of any appetizer that gets eaten without complaint by a teenager.
Get the recipe: Sausage Cream Cheese Crescent Roll Bites
Keto Cajun Shrimp Appetizer▼
Spicy, buttery, garlicky shrimp that come together in about 12 minutes on the stove. They look like the kind of appetizer you would order at a New Orleans restaurant, but the ingredient list is short and the prep is laughably simple.
Serve them with toothpicks and a stack of small plates. They will be gone in 20 minutes flat.
Get the recipe: Keto Cajun Shrimp Appetizer
Salmon Keto Appetizer▼
The little salmon bites that look like they came from a catering tray. A schmear of cream cheese, a piece of smoked salmon, a few capers, a little fresh dill. They take five minutes to assemble and they look like you hired someone.
This is the appetizer I make when I want to feel a little fancy without doing anything fancy. The look on people’s faces when they think you put real effort in is its own reward.
Get the recipe: Salmon Keto Appetizer
More party reads: cookout recipes | make-ahead party recipes | no-bake desserts