495 appetizer recipes

Baked Indian-spiced mung bean paté with cauliflower, ginger, jalapeño, cumin, and turmeric. Vegan, gluten-free, and makes stunning little tarts or a sliceable loaf.

Plump shrimp simmered in beer with onion, garlic, bay leaf, peppercorns, celery, and lemon, then chilled for a cold appetizer that's pure low-country flavor.

You don’t need an ice cream maker to make this, but you do need a food processor. I use a banana and a small amount of honey to sweeten the yogurt. (See the banana-only variation on this recipe below.) You can serve it like soft-serve ice cream, or let it freeze solid so that it’s more like regular frozen yogurt.

Fresh corn in a shatteringly light tempura batter, deep-fried until golden and lacy. Served with tentsuyu dipping sauce and grated daikon for a crisp Japanese-style appetizer.

Swedish pickled herring with a sweet-sour vinegar brine layered with red onion, carrots, ginger, and horseradish. A classic Scandinavian smorgasbord appetizer that only gets better after 2-3 days in the jar.

Vegetarian party pate made from pinto beans, TVP, and shiitake mushrooms with mirin and mace, baked in a water bath and served cold on crackers.

Bean curd skin rolls wrap shredded mushrooms, dried tofu, celery, and carrot in fresh tofu sheets, then shallow-fry until crisp and golden. Drizzled with a chili-ginger dipping sauce.

Quick microwave pickled beets and cucumbers: canned beets, fresh cucumber, and onion in a sweet-tangy pickling spice brine. Refrigerator pickles ready for the table tomorrow.

A Tibetan style sauce for momos (Tibetan dumplings).

Crunchy deep-fried yellow split peas tossed in warm spices like chili, coriander, cinnamon, and cloves. A high-protein vegetarian snack inspired by Indian street food. Stores beautifully in an airtight jar.

Saganaki: Greek flaming kasseri cheese pan-fried in butter, deglazed with lemon juice and cognac, and lit at the table for an "Opa!" tableside appetizer.

Oysters Mosca: chopped fresh oysters cooked down with garlic, scallions, lemon, and Romano cheese, then spooned into puff pastry shells. The classic Italian-Creole New Orleans appetizer from the legendary Mosca's restaurant.

Broiled vegetable medley with zucchini, eggplant, red peppers, and onion brushed in garlic-rosemary olive oil. A simple Mediterranean-style appetizer or side ready under the broiler in 10 minutes.

Crispy Cuban-style fritters made from soaked black-eyed peas blended with garlic into a thick batter, fried golden, and finished with a squeeze of fresh lime. Vegetarian, gluten-free, and seriously addictive.

Vegetable momos are Tibetan steamed dumplings with mixed vegetables, tofu, ginger, garlic, and garam masala wrapped in thin dough. Vegetarian Himalayan street food, served with hot momo sauce.

Golden half-moon pastries stuffed with garlicky leeks and a hint of chili, crimped into little crescents and fried until they shatter. Afghan street food that's vegetarian, crunchy, and completely addictive.