The best Christmas appetizers are festive, made ahead and easy to eat with a glass in one hand: a wreath of skewers, a baked brie, shrimp cocktail, a cheese ball shaped like a pine cone, a few elegant bites on toast. Make most of them the day before, so on the day you only have to arrange and warm.
For the elegant bite, lay a coin of pickled king oyster mushroom on a crostini with goat cheese and a drop of honey. The coins are thick and meaty, with truffle oil in the jar, and the jar's own product page pairs it with "Champagne or aged white Burgundy", a natural fit for Christmas Eve.
Below: how to plan Christmas appetizers and how many to make, which pickled mushroom suits which bite, twenty-five easy Christmas appetizer ideas from make-ahead bites to festive trees and warm dips, what to freeze ahead, and the questions people ask.
How to plan Christmas appetizers
- Before a dinner, two or three appetizers and four to six bites per person are plenty.
- For a cocktail party with no dinner, plan more variety and more food: six to eight kinds, and ten to twelve bites per person over the evening. These are the usual caterer's rules of thumb.
- Mix hot and cold. One or two warm things, the rest cold or at room temperature, so the oven isn't a bottleneck.
- Make one thing festive. A wreath, a tree or a star does the decorating for you.
- Add something sharp. Holiday food is rich. A pickle, a briny olive or a pickled mushroom keeps people coming back.
Which pickled mushroom suits which bite
- King oyster: for crostini, seafood bites and anything served with Champagne.
- Crimini: whole caps with garlic and thyme, firm enough for skewers and the antipasto wreath.
- White shimeji: bright and delicate, for the cheese board and ricotta toasts.
- Shiitake: the most savory, with tamari in the brine. Chop it into a quick spread with olives and capers.
- Black shimeji: savory and tender, for pâté on toast and a zakuski-style spread.
"We got a 6-pack and picked a mix of everything. The mushrooms taste fresh and each jar is actually different, which I appreciated because I was expecting the flavors to be more or less the same. The king oyster is rich and the white shimeji is much lighter."
— Samantha L., Golden Grove customer
A jar holds 250 g (about 9 oz) of mushrooms once drained, enough for a big tray of crostini. A sealed jar keeps in a cool, dry place, so you can buy now for every party between now and New Year's Eve. Start with a 2-Pack of pickled king oyster: one jar for the Christmas Eve crostini, one for New Year's. For Christmas, order by the second week of December.
25 easy Christmas appetizer ideas
Make-ahead bites
1. King oyster crostini with goat cheese and honey
Toast thin baguette slices the day before. On the day, spread with goat cheese, top with a coin of pickled king oyster, a drop of honey and black pepper.
2. An antipasto wreath
Antipasto skewers of mozzarella, salami, olives and pickled crimini, arranged in a ring with rosemary tucked between them. The skewers come from our antipasto skewers recipe.
3. A caprese wreath
Mozzarella balls, cherry tomatoes and basil leaves in a ring, drizzled with olive oil and balsamic just before serving. Red, white and green without trying.
4. A pine cone cheese ball
Cream cheese, goat cheese and herbs shaped into an oval and covered in rows of whole almonds, with a rosemary sprig on top. Make it two days ahead.
5. Smoked salmon blinis
Small pancakes topped with crème fraîche, smoked salmon and dill. Buy the blinis, and it takes fifteen minutes.
6. Shrimp cocktail
Chilled shrimp around a bowl of cocktail sauce, on ice. A Christmas classic that needs no cooking if you buy the shrimp cooked.
7. Red and green deviled eggs
Classic deviled eggs dusted with paprika and topped with a sprig of dill.
8. Stuffed dates
Medjool dates filled with blue cheese or goat cheese, wrapped in bacon and baked, or left unwrapped with a toasted walnut on top.
Festive shapes
9. A Christmas tree cheese board
Cubes of cheddar and salami laid out in rows to make a tree, with rosemary branches and a cheese star. Ideas are in our Christmas charcuterie board guide.
10. A wreath board
A ring of cheese, salami, grapes and rosemary around a bowl of pickled white shimeji in the middle.
11. Pull-apart Christmas tree bread
Balls of pizza dough brushed with garlic butter, arranged in a tree shape and baked. Serve with warm marinara.
12. Puff pastry stars
Puff pastry cut into stars, brushed with pesto or sprinkled with Parmigiano, and baked until puffed.
Warm appetizers
13. Baked brie with cranberries
A wheel of brie wrapped in puff pastry with cranberry sauce and walnuts, baked until golden. Assemble it the day before and bake it as guests arrive.
14. Brie bites with fig jam
Puff pastry squares in a mini muffin tin, each filled with brie, fig jam and a little rosemary.
15. Stuffed mushrooms
Fresh mushroom caps filled with sausage and cream cheese, or spinach and Parmigiano, and baked. A few chopped pickled crimini in the filling make it brighter.
16. Cranberry meatballs
Cocktail meatballs in a cranberry and chili sauce, kept warm in a slow cooker.
17. Pigs in a blanket
Every party needs one thing children will eat. Serve with a grainy mustard for the adults.
18. Spinach artichoke dip
Hot, creamy and baked in a skillet, with crusty bread for scooping.
Elegant bites for Christmas Eve
19. Seafood cocktail cups
Small glasses layered with prawns, salmon roe and coins of pickled king oyster. Our king oyster seafood recipe shows the layers.
20. Prosciutto-wrapped breadsticks
Breadsticks with a ribbon of prosciutto wound around the top, standing in a glass.
21. Gougères
Little French cheese puffs. Pipe them, freeze them unbaked, and bake straight from the freezer when guests arrive.
22. A savory martini
Not a bite, but it belongs here: a martini garnished with pickled crimini instead of olives. See our pickled mushroom martini.
Dips and spreads
23. Cream cheese with pepper jelly
A block of cream cheese with red pepper jelly poured over it and crackers around it. Two minutes of work.
24. Whipped feta with hot honey
Feta and cream cheese whipped smooth, topped with hot honey and pistachios.
25. A pickled shiitake spread
Chop pickled shiitake with olives, capers, parsley and a little olive oil, and spoon it onto toast. Savory, salty and made in five minutes.
What to make ahead and freeze
- Weeks ahead (freezer): unbaked gougères, puff pastry stars and brie bites, and meatballs. Freeze them on a tray, then pack them into bags.
- Two or three days ahead: cheese balls, dips, and the crostini toasts in an airtight tin.
- The day before: skewers, deviled egg filling and the wrapped brie.
- On the day: arrange the wreaths and boards, bake the warm things, and top the crostini.
Keep cold food cold. Perishable appetizers shouldn't sit at room temperature for more than two hours, so put out smaller platters and refill them.
Christmas appetizer questions
What is the most popular Christmas appetizer?
Baked brie, shrimp cocktail, deviled eggs, meatballs and a cheese board show up at almost every Christmas party. A festive board in the shape of a tree or a wreath is the one people photograph.
What is a good finger food for a Christmas party?
Anything you can eat in one bite with a drink in your other hand: skewers, crostini, stuffed dates, gougères, pigs in a blanket and puff pastry stars.
What are good make-ahead Christmas appetizers?
Cheese balls, dips, skewers, crostini toasts and anything made from puff pastry that freezes unbaked. Most of the list above can be finished a day ahead.
What appetizers go with Champagne?
Salty, rich and crisp things: gougères, smoked salmon blinis, shrimp, aged cheese, and crostini with pickled king oyster, whose product page pairs it with Champagne.
How many appetizers per person for a Christmas party?
Four to six bites each before a dinner, or ten to twelve when the appetizers are the meal. Make a few more kinds for a bigger crowd rather than more of one.
The short version
Make most Christmas appetizers a day ahead, mix one or two warm things with cold ones, make one festive, and add one sharp bite to cut through the richness. Crostini with pickled king oyster and goat cheese is the elegant one; a 2-Pack covers Christmas Eve and New Year's. Order by the second week of December, and see our Christmas charcuterie board ideas and antipasto skewers for more.