New Year’s Eve Appetizers: Easy, Elegant Starters to Celebrate at Home
A tried and tested selection of New Year’s Eve Appetizers that are delicious, easy to make and sure to impress your guests.
New Year’s Eve at home is one of my favourite kinds of celebrations: festive, low-pressure, and full of good food!
After the busy pace of Christmas and the pressure that somehow inevitably comes with entertaining family, I love how much more stress free NYE and how the focus is really just on fun and being happy!
For me, nothing sets the tone better than a table full of delicious, easy New Year’s Eve appetizers so today I share a list about of fresh, elegant, at-home starters I love.
Before, I have shared potluck dishes that travel well, whiled for this post, I am focusing on but the kind of food that tastes best made right before the party and enjoyed in your own living room.
Many are Italian or Mediterranean inspired (I can’t help it!), all are doable, and every single one feels like a treat.
Whether you’re hosting a small gathering, celebrating with family, or planning a cosy night in with just a few bubbles and bites, I hope there New Year’s Eve appetizers will help you greet the new year with flavour and ease!Easy & Elegant New Year’s Eve Appetizers.
Festive charcuterie board
A list of New Year’s Eve apperizers could only start with a charcuteries board, maybe the easiest (and trendiest!) of all starters!
Despite what social media may have lead you to believe, you do not need fancy assembly for a successful charcuterie board, the variety of the meats and cheese on offer do the heavy lifting here!
For a nice presentation, I like to add white and red seedless grapes and a small pot of honey but truly, a nice platter with cheeses and meats of different types is all you need!
Caprese Skewers (With a Festive Twist)
The simplest NYE bite you can make: cherry tomatoes, mini mozzarella balls and fresh basil on skewers. Add a drizzle of pesto or balsamic glaze to make them look wonderfully party-ready.
Assorted crostini
A crowd-pleasing starter you can prepare in minutes, crostini are grilled bread with luscious toppings you eat as finger foo.
I like to offer an assortment with some with just fresh tomato (bruschetta), some with good quality black olive pate, others with herby cream cheese, salmon and capers, so there will be something for all tastes!
Smoked Salmon & Mascarpone on multi grain crackers
Smoked salmon is one of the most festive foods I can think of (elegant, expensive without being extravagant, easy as finger food) and there are many way to offer it.
One I love is serving it on good quality multi grain crackers or oat cakes, accompanies by a dollop of mascarpone or cream cheese.
A fun idea I discovered when looking for gluten free appetizer ideas was to replace the crackers with cucumber slices: very refreshing and fun! If you want to make it is also lactose free, you can swap the cheese for guacamole.
Herby roast baby potatoes
Herby baby potatoes are one of the simples appetizers you can make but also one of the most satisfying.
You prepare them with no effort, people can eat them with their hands ora skewer, they are filling but not heavy and they have that warming, homely feel baked potatoes embody so well!
To make them, you coat washed baby potatoes in good quality olive oil and herbs (rosemary works amazing) and bake in hot oil for about 45 minutes. Serve hot and with a sprinkle of coarse salt for a guaranteed amazing result.
Gorgonzola with walnuts and pear
The combination pear + cheese is a classic and a classic for a reason!
If you have no desire to cook at all and want a super tasty appetizer, all you need to impress your guests is serve gorzonzola (or similar blue cheese), pears washed and sliced and walnuts for crouch. Zero effort, immense flavor! When it comes to easy New Year’s Even appetizers, it truly doesn’t get easier than this!
Polenta Bites
In the north of Italy polenta is traditionally a main but it is very easy to repurpose this Italian classic as an appetizer. Make the polenta as always, then let it cool, cut it in cubes and fry it: then dress with topping of your choice – mushrooms and cheese are classic and work amazing!
Puff Pastry Spinach and Ricotta bites
Flaky, savoury, and excellent alongside drinks, this is my signature appetizer, literally one that my guests expect no matter the occasion! They are super easy to make since they use store bought puff pastry, they are soothing and delicious since they use the tried and tested combination of ricotta, spinach, nutmeg and parmesan cheese.
Sutzoukakia skewers
Soutzoukakia are classic Greek meatballs in tomato sauce traditionally served as a main, but that also work amazingly well as an appetizer. To serve them as finger food, you can serve them with toothpicks or, even better, in mini ramekins also with a slice of bread for that rich sauce not to go to waste! Find the Soutzoukakia recipe here.
Assorted olives
It may be because I am Italian but for me, no appetisers table is compete without bowls of olives! I like to get a variety: black olives, green olives, stuffed olives and scatter small bowls of them around the table so they are both something delicious to eat and something pretty to add color and depth to the table
Smokes salmon and ricotta rolls
Easy to make and eat, these mini rolls re simply assembled rolling smoked salmon around a dollop of ricotta, dressed with salt and lemon zest.
Baked frittata
I love frittata in all forms but I have a special love for baked frittata, which is delicious, satisfying and perfect as appetizer as it work beautifully cold.
You can make frittata with almost anything, but for an elegant NYE appetiser I love those with veggies, especially red peppers, tomatoes, spinach or asparagus. You can find here all my frittata recipes.
Spanish Omelette Bites
Spanish omelette has some elements in common with a frittata but it is different enough to deserve its own entry! Made in a pan with onions, potatoes and eggs, it is delicious and a perfect for non-messy eating. For fun, I like to cut it into festive shapes: if doing so, make sure you cut it once cold (or the shape won’t hold)
Mini suppli or arancini
Suppli and arancini are variations on the same idea: delicious balls of rice, deep fried. The work amazing as a starter as you can eat them with your hands, they are non messy and delicious.
Fresh Veggies with Dips
I like to always add something fresh to my appetizers table and I usually do this by adding platters of carrot sticks, celery sticks, and raw fennel slices people can eat alone or use for dipping in hummus or guacamole. Delicious and an absolute crowd pleaser!
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