6 Ideas for Delicious Quick Appetizers

Do you often come home from work with no desire to cook? Do you have friends and family who drop by unannounced for dinner? Does your family’s busy schedule leave you without time for elaborate meals?

If the answer to any of these question is yes, then don’t miss today’s read.

6 ideas for quick appetizers

1. Sandwiches

When we talk about quick appetizers, the first thing that often pops into our heads is sandwiches. Sandwiches can be a life-saver any time of day: A mid-morning brunch, a meal on the run, an afternoon snack, or a light dinner when you’re not feeling that hungry.

The fact that sandwiches are so easy to make is what makes them one of our ideas for a quick appetizer. All you need is sliced bread and something to put between two slices. The filling can be just about anything.

Some sandwiches are easier to make, like those with deli meats or paté. But they can also be more elaborate. Here are some suggestions of quick, easy and delicious options to try:

• Tomato and pesto.
• Leafy greens, egg and cheese.
• Salmon.
• Eggplant and cheese.
• Crab cheese.

As you can see, there are a number of options to choose from, and they take just a few minutes to prepare and serve.

2. Open-faced sandwiches

Another idea is to make open-faced sandwiches. Here, you just need a slice of bread and some sort of meat or fish to put on top. In addition, to add flavor and keep the meat or fish from being too dry, you can add salsa, salad dressing or mayonnaise.

If you have the right ingredients on hand, preparing an open-face sandwich should only take about 5 minutes. With a minimal investment of time and effort, you’ll be ready to serve an appetizing meal.

As an alternative, you can use a round piece of bread or bun with the center hollowed out. You can stuff the bread with the same ingredients mentioned above. This is another great way to put together a quick and simple meal.

Finally, a third option to traditional open-faced sandwiches is to set out the buns and different sauces and dressings on the table. That way, guests can put together their own open-faced sandwiches. From kitchen to table in 2 minutes!

3. Tomato and semi-soft cheese

To put together this appetizer, you’ll need:

• Thin tomato slices.
• Semi-soft cheese (such as mozzarella) cut in slices.
• French bread, cut into rounds.
• Extra virgin olive oil (optional).

If you have all of these ingredients on hand, all you need to do is place the cheese and tomato on the bread slices. Set the olive oil out on the table so that guests can opt to include it or not.

4. Dates and bacon

Another idea for quick appetizers is to put together kebabs with dates and bacon. No matter what method you choose to cook your kebabs, they’ll only take a few minutes to prepare.

All you need as far as ingredients are bacon and pitted dates. Roll up each date in a slice of bacon and then poke the roles with a toothpick to keep them from unraveling. 

Once your roles are ready, you can fry them in a pan or – to keep the bacon from being so greasy – place them in the oven or microwave.

5. Wraps

In this busy day and age, wraps are becoming a go-to food. Therefore, you can use this option as a quick appetizer at dinner time, or even serve them as dinner itself when you don’t feel like spending time in front of a hot stove.

You’ll need a stack of tortillas to wrap up your ingredients – these can be flour tortillas or corn. The rest of the ingredients are up to you, depending on your tastes, or whatever you’ve got in the kitchen. Bacon, cold cuts, chicken, sautéed veggies…

The options are endless when it comes to making wraps. If you can’t decide on just one option, you can prepare a variety of wraps and cut them into small portions for guests to mix and match.

6. Skewers

Bruschettas are another great idea when you need to prepare a quick appetizer. Once again, you can use whatever ingredients you prefer, including a variety of cheese, chicken with vegetable chunks, shrimp with zucchini, etc.

Choose and combine ingredients according to your own tastes and those of your guests. Pierce small portions of each ingredient with a long skewer and you’ll have your appetizer ready in no time.