These easy appetizer recipes are some of our favorites.

Now, For Your Easy Appetizer Recipes.

There are heaps of easy appetizer recipes... you'll find they are wonderful to have with drinks from the wine basket while you set up lunch. Have them near the top of the packing... ready for a great start, sip and nibble and relax... aaah!

But before that... if you find you really are pushed for time, then really simple appetizers are quicker and easier. We often use them for a last minute picnic... or just add any of these appetizers, together, on your platter.

Here are a few suggestions to get you started.

Prepare these recipes below, fun to do... and you'll find them really tasty... really delicious!

A bowl of Artisan olives, will go well with these simple easy appetizer recipes.

Enjoy putting these delicious, recipes together... they will fly off the plate!
So, let's make a platter from these easy appetizer recipes.

Here are a few favorite recipes.

Smoked salmon canapes.
Smoked salmon wraps, with avocado.
Basil, Bocconcini cheese and cherry tomato.
Tasty olive dip.
Puff pastry squares... with caviar, or pastrami.
Lu Lu's whole loaf of bread dip.
A dip of avocado with walnuts.
Nance's cheese toasties.

But first of all... a couple of basic, easy recipes to set you up.

These easy appetizer recipes do involve a little bit of preparation, but really they're not complicated and will make great bases and add flavor to so many other recipes.

Croutons
Pesto... basil, or rocket.

Use them to go with these great easy appetizer recipes. They are also very handy to have when making salads... even lunch ideas too.

Simple Croutons

Really they are pretty simple to make and you will be so pleased. Make big croutons, or small, or long, depending on what you are needing them for.

If this is too much of a fiddle when cooking the picnic recipes then just buy a packet, sometimes when you're in a hurry it's best.

What you need and what to do...

French bread stick sliced fairly thin... or pita bread, or sliced bread (not fresh and soft), cut into whichever shape you want.
Melt 60gm(2oz) of butter and mix with 1 table spoon of olive oil. More for larger amounts.
Brush this onto bread... or toss all together in a bowl
Bake in moderate/hot oven for about 5 min, or until golden and crisp.

Yay, its done, so easy!

Pesto… Basil or Rocket

Ingredients

2 cups tightly packed with fresh basil, or rocket… or half and half of each
4 cloves garlic
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup pine nuts, or walnuts
5-6 tablespoons olive oil

Then

Place basil, or rocket, garlic and nuts in blender. Pulse blender few times
Add cheese and continue to blend with olive oil pouring in slowly.
If you like a chunky pesto, don’t pulse, or blend, as long.

You will have a great tasty pesto which you can use as a dip with croutons.

TOP TIPS...

Other suggestions for Pesto…

Chop fresh vegetables sticks and dip into pesto at your picnic.

Also, a dessertspoon mixed into a 1/2 cup of olive oil, or French dressing, can make a yummy salad dressing… add more pesto for an even tastier dressing.

Smoked Salmon

Here are some of the appetizer recipes which our family and friends find most popular.

There are so many things… yummy things… you can do with smoked salmon as an appetizer, or main course.

Please make sure this easy appetizer is kept cool.

Salmon on French Stick Slices, or in pastry cases… an old favorite from our picnic recipes.

Note the milder tasting, large caper berries, too... don't they look great!

To make smoked salmon canapes

Ingredients

A small French stick... or a packet of pastry cases... or thick brown bread cut into rounds

250 gm (8oz) spreadable cream cheese

Prepared horseradish... approx 1 tablespoon… or more to taste

Packet sliced smoked salmon

Thinly sliced red onion rings

Caper berries

Finely sliced lemon cut into little triangles

To put together

Cut the French stick into rounds... or spread out the little pastry cases, or brown bread

Mix horseradish into cream cheese with a fork... Spread on base quite generously

Finely sliced lemon cut into little triangles pushed into the cream so they don't fall off.

Small slices of smoked salmon are placed on this… just as they come from the packet and with a little upward twist so they look appetizing… or flat if you prefer.

Top with an onion ring and a caper berry. If you have access to large capers with stems still on, they have quite a delicate flavor and look more exotic.

Finish with cracked pepper.

Makes about 10 pieces.

Smoked Salmon Wraps... and pesto, on this platter of easy appetizer recipes

Smoked Salmon, stuffed, then tied up with a long chive!

You should try this picnic recipe... smoked salmon wrapped around this filling... a really impressive looking appetizer recipe.

For one…

A teaspoon of cream cheese... just add a little horseradish to taste

Small wedge of finely sliced lemon

Thin slice of dill cucumber

Cut sliced smoked salmon into a long rectangular shape to carefully and gently, wrap around the filling

Tie together with a long blanched chive

To blanch chives…

Pour boiling water into a bowl or deep jug.
Dip chives into this for a few seconds.
Rinse under cold tap immediately. This makes them pliable for tying.

They look so good. Impress everyone!

Smoked salmon and avocado go together very well too, for appetizer recipes.

Just use avocado chunks instead of dill cucumbers and less cream cheese.

Tie it with a blanched chive, or use a tooth pick.

Top Tips...

Dill and chives also go well with smoked salmon and you can add a little sprig in with the ingredients in these picnic recipes… or sprinkle chopped chives, or dill, over them.

Make sure you squeeze lemon over avocado slices to stop oxidation and browning. This adds a lovely tang to the flavor too.

Basil, Bocconcini Cheese and Cherry Tomato for the Picnic Recipes

This is so easy and looks and tastes great, so do try it for one of your appetizer recipes.

They also go well with a bowl of pesto, just drizzle a small amount over them.

Ingredients

Pot of Bocconcini… those small mild cheese balls in brine... mozzarella cheese balls made from Buffalo milk.

Cherry tomatoes… similar number and size as Bocconcini... can be Heritage tomatoes if you have them.

Bunch of fresh basil.

Extra virgin olive oil... mixed with pesto preferably.

Method

Cut small Bocconcini in halves
Cut cherry tomatoes of similar size, also in halves
Place a small fresh basil leaf… or part of if they are too big (or fold over)... between the cheese and tomato and hold together with a toothpick.
Make sure toothpicks are long enough, or they will fall apart. I often use a skewer and cut them to size after putting cheese and tomatoes on. Leave enough skewer length beyond the ingredients, to hold these picks.
They should be a good bite size with basil leaf showing out between the two.
Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over these just as they are served... or olive oil and pesto... yum!

Try this Tasty Olive Dip from the easy appetizer recipes.

Ingredients

1/2 red onion

½ cup fresh Italian parsley

2 anchovy fillets

Approximately 2 teaspoons of capers

6 pitted green or black olives

Method

Chop fairly finely these ingredients, separately and then combine in a bowl

Combine ¼ cup of good olive oil and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and pour over chopped ingredients and mix carefully.

You can make this the day before with your picnic recipes…cover and store in fridge

This dip goes well with French bread, crackers, pita bread or croutons or vegetable sticks for picnic recipes.

Puff Pastry Squares

This is another of the easy appetizer recipes to add to the picnic recipes, simple but tasty… even very edible on their own... in fact hard not to just eat !

Ingredients and Method

Purchase a good brand of puff pastry and cut into little 2”-3” rectangles or squares… easy to handle size.

Follow instructions for cooking… but because they are such a small size they will only take a few minutes to cook... watch oven!
Just let them go a golden color and take one out and taste to see if it is cooked... not raw in the middle.

Split the pastry bits and fill with…

Caviar Filling Mix ingredients together…

250 gm (8oz) cream cheese
2 tablespoons thick cream
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 teaspoon lemon juice
4 tablespoons red or black caviar

Or… Horseradish and pastrami filling

Mix ingredients together…

250 gm ( 8oz ) cream cheese
1/4 pint thick cream
2 tablespoons sour cream
3 teaspoons Horseradish cream
6 slices Pastrami, chopped
2 small gherkins, or dill cucumbers, chopped

When taking these pastries to a picnic, you will find it best to cook them at home… but put the filling in just before eating... or let people fill their own.

This easy appetizer recipe you can have hot, or cold, but obviously easier cold when you are picnicking. Another of the really yum picnic recipes.

Lu Lu’s Bread Dip

This recipe from my sister, is another to add to the easy appetizer recipes… great for hungry picnickers. I have doubled this picnic recipe if a crowd of people was expected at the picnic.

Ingredients

1 Large round loaf of bread
250gm Philadelphia cheese (1 packet)
6 slices ham… chopped into small pieces
1 Clove crushed garlic
6 Spring onions chopped finely
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon of lemon juice… more to taste
Salt and pepper

To put together

Cut “lid” off bread and tear inner soft bread into bite size pieces… put to one side
Leave bread crust/shell whole... like a bowl
Mix all other ingredients together and then put into bread shell
Put “lid” back on bread and wrap bread in foil
Warm in oven 150⁰C (300⁰ F ) for 1hour 10 minutes
For the last 20 min take foil off bread and also put soft bread bits in oven to toast. If you just peel foil back, leaving the bread to sit on it, will help if you want to carry it in foil... just wrap back when cooked.

These crunchy bits are dipped into the bread bowl… Delicious! We like this picnic recipe either warm or cold.

Avocado Dip

Ingredients

2 ripe avocados

A good squeeze of lemon

½ cup sour cream

1 ripe tomato

1 small onion

3 cloves garlic

Chili sauce (optional) to taste, or a few sprinkles of dried chili... gives a bite.

Method

Cut avocado in half lengthwise and remove stone

Crush with a fork into creamy chunky bits

Add lemon juice

Roughly chop tomato and onion… fairly fine

Crush garlic

Combine avocado with roughly chopped tomato and onion and garlic and chili

This dip is tasty with just these ingredients, but is also tasty with… lime juice added, instead of lemon juice.

Serve these appetizer recipes with corn chips, or croutons, or pastry squares.

TOP TIPS...

To remove avocado flesh from the shell....

Cut the avocado in half and hold one half in the palm of your hand. With your other hand, scoop out all the flesh with a dessert spoon. Just keep as close as possible to the skin and it will pop out easily. Check the outside of the flesh for any brown bits... they taste awful if left... just dig them out. The seed will pop out easily too. Repeat with the other half unless you are saving it to use later.

If leaving for later, leave the seed in with the flesh and squeeze lemon juice on to prevent oxidation and browning and cover flesh tightly with a bio-degradable plastic wrap.

Nance’s Cheese Toasties

An old family favorite from my Mother’s easy appetizer recipes... always popular with the picnic recipes. This was always requested, from the family, for birthday gatherings too.

Ingredients

9 slices of bread

2 eggs

2 cups tasty cheese

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Few drop Tabasco sauce

Pepper and salt

Pinch mustard powder... or ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard cream

4-5 chopped rashers of bacon

Pinch Paprika

Method

Cut crusts off and butter bread (I usually only butter the side not having the topping)

Cut rind and excess fat from bacon and chop into small pieces

Beat eggs

Put bacon and Paprika to one side

Combine all other ingredients into egg mixture

Mix together until thick and creamy

Spread on the bread slices

Sprinkle chopped bacon on top

Sprinkle with a little paprika

Cook in oven 150°-160°C ( 300°-325° F ) on metal trays, until brown, approx 10-15 mins

Eat !

Now you have a good selection of easy appetizer recipes. This should help you when planning your picnic. They are easy appetizer recipes you can use any time... and I will be adding more suggestions.