Looking for some Cold Appetizers for an upcoming summer get together? You’ve come to the right place!
We’ve compiled this list of easy Cold Appetizer Recipes for you to make, and they are sure to be big hits at your next potluck.
You’ll find salads and dips, fancy platters and a huge variety of finger foods on this cold appetizers list.
Go through all of these cold appetizers, there’s enough here to last you all summer long!
The Best Cold Appetizers:
1. Olive Tapenade
Tapenade – An ode to Olives… à la Provençal, coming to you all the way from the south of France. Earthy, robust olives, capers, garlic and a few other flavorings just chopped or pureed with plenty of olive oil… Simple, quick, delicious and addictive.
2. Tzatziki
Tzatziki… well, is it a dip? Or a sauce? Or perhaps spread? The correct answer is all of the above. Isn’t that cool? As cool as it sounds. Cool refreshing grated cucumbers folded in lusciously thick creamy yogurt, with a hint of zingy garlic and fresh lemon, along with fresh green herbs. It’s done in 15 minutes
This stands alone as a dip, or makes a great spread for other cold appetizers.
3. Hawaiian Macaroni Salad
Hawaiian Macaroni Salad, AKA Mac Salad, is a uniquely tangy and creamy twist on your classic cookout side dish.
It’s so easy, and great for all the potlucks and BBQs coming your way.
4. Rainbow Pasta Salad
Quick, easy, and very colorful. Take it to your next pot-luck for party appetizer, or make a big batch and have lunches for days! Great cold appetizer idea…
5. Smoked Salmon Flatbread
How about this gorgeous flatbread serving to your guest as cold appetizer? It has a great combination of flavors: cold smoked salmon, dill infused cream cheese, capers, fresh tomatoes, arugula and a nice squeeze of lemon juice. It’s like your bagels and lox taken to the next level!
6. Cowboy Caviar
This Cowboy Caviar can act as an salad or dip. It’s as simple as chopping all the veggies and mixing with beans all drizzled in a tasty, zingy chili lime dressing.
Made with simple, healthy ingredients like cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, avocado, sweet corn, and beans, it makes up a giant bowl, making it perfect for all the potlucks and BBQ parties. Serve it with plenty of nachos or corn chips and you are all done.
7. Baba Ganoush
Have you tried Baba Ganoush? If not, this rich, creamy dip is going to make you a huge eggplant fan. I bet you my friends, once Baba Ganoush comes into your life, you won’t be settling for a ready made grocery store dip for your get togethers.
So pretty, so elegant… Perfect for Valentines, New Years, bridal showers, Mother’s Day… or even potluck parties. One of our favorite cold appetizers.
8. Antipasto Pasta Salad
If you always hover over the antipasto bar in your grocery store, this salad is for you. It’s full of different flavors and textures from salami, tomatoes, artichokes, pepperoni, olives and cheeses with a delicious homemade Italian dressing.
Get some crusty bread to go with this salad along with your favorite wine and you are all set.
9. Mexican Street Corn Salad
This Mexican Street Corn Salad is going to be the new star at all of your cookouts and potlucks. When everyone else shows up with yet another pasta or potato salad, the crowd will gather around these amazing flavors that come from just a few simple ingredients.
Serve it as cold appetizer with tortilla chips or on top of nachos. ,
10. Loaded Layered Hummus Dip
Dress up your hummus like never before… Get that scooping going with this beautiful, bright and colorful Layered Hummus Dip. This luscious loaded hummus is perfect for your party or potluck appetizer.
11. Guasacaca (Venezuelan Guacamole)
Guasacaca! Meet guacamole’s tangier, herbier cousin. Venezuelans love this avocado based cold appetizer with chips, and now you can too!
12. Tortellini Pasta Salad with Prosciutto
This gorgeous Tortellini Pasta Salad is one dish that looks as great as it tastes. It’s so quick and easy, yet such a crowd pleaser. This will be the star of your cookout!
13. Shrimp Remoulade Lettuce Cups
Shrimp Remoulade is a New Orleans classic. Lettuce cups adorned with plump succulent shrimp, tossed generously with my favorite Louisiana style remoulade. Accompany it with some boiled eggs, olives and avocado and it could be your everyday salad or good looking easy cold appetizer for the holidays.
14. Moutabal (Easy Levantine Eggplant Dip)
Moutabal is a classic Middle Eastern eggplant dip. Creamy roasted eggplant enhanced with lemon juice, yogurt, tahini and a good dousing of olive oil. This one is a great addition to your cold appetizer spread!
15. Homemade Hummus
This smooth, creamy homemade hummus is the perfect dip for pita chips or veggies. It only takes a few minutes, and is so much better than store bought!
16. Balela Salad
Let me present you Balela deliciousness!! So colorful, so easy, so refreshing…
This hearty colorful salad comes from many Middle Eastern countries and is bursting with flavors and textures. Chickpeas, black beans, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, bell peppers, parsley, mint… what’s not to like!!
17. Mango Salsa
A summer delight! This light yet tasty salsa is great in your picnic basket. All you need is plenty of tortilla chips to munch on.
18. Quick and Easy Pico de Gallo
Easy, fresh and delicious. This Pico de Gallo whips up in 10 minutes and is great with chips as an appetizer or as a condiment to many of your favorite Mexican dishes.
19. Tyrokafteri (Spicy Greek Feta Dip)
Tyrokafteri – Greek Cheese? Yes, Please!! Time to get to know Tzatziki’s fiery and zingy cousin… This is the dip you want in your life. It’s tangy, salty, creamy and as said earlier, a tad bit fiery. It’s a dip made from everyone’s favorite feta cheese.
20. Cheese Board
Cheese boards are perfect party cold appetizers. To create a good looking cheese board, it doesn’t require any cooking or any culinary expertise. Just throw on whatever is already in your pantry and refrigerator. Chances are you’ll end up with a mighty good looking cheese board without going crazy buying too many things.
All you need in the end is to keep the wine flowing and see all this disappear in no time…
21. Devilled Eggs
This classic cold appetizer NEVER gets old. Devilled eggs are always add delicious elegance to any party table. A plateful of devilled eggs is something you will see at any kind of party, be it holidays, summer parties or bridal showers.
Give them the best tasting devilled eggs using this simple recipe.
22. Easy Bruschetta
Want to keep it simple? You can always turn to good old Bruschetta. Easy to make and always a crowd pleaser.
This Italian classic is made with fresh tomatoes, basil and onion over toasted baguette slices. You can also drizzle them with balsamic glaze to make them a little extra special.
23. Smoked Salmon Pinwheels
In search for a healthy and fancy cold appetizer? Then you will be glad you found this smoked salmon pinwheels.
They can be easily rolled up with a little bit of chive and dill cream cheese mix and a healthy dose of spinach, along with smoked salmon of course.
This healthy appetizer can be on your party table in about 10 minutes. How cool is that?
Get the Recipe @ ambitiouskitchen
24. Caprese Christmas Wreath
Now nothing looks as perfect as this appetizer for your Christmas party. This is healthy, great looking and eye catching.
Just a few easy ingredients and you can make this Caprese Wreath your center piece.
25. Mediterranean Mezze Platter
This marvelous Mediterranean mezze platter is sure to impress! The mezze platter contains a variety of snack options including salads, cheeses, olives, hummus, pita bread, and vegetables, all arranged beautifully on this appetizer plate.
Get the Recipe @ dinneratthezoo
26. Chicken Bacon Ranch Pinwheels
Looking for an easy wrap that you’re sure to love? Look no further than these chicken bacon ranch pinwheels! They work as a cold appetizer, lunch, dinner, or an after school/work snack. They’re also a great choice if you need to bring food to a potluck.
Get the Recipe @ therecipecritic
27. Sheet Pan Greek Nachos
It’s always nice to have a recipe that’s made right on a sheet pan, and has little clean up, and that’s why we love these sheet pan Greek nachos. They use homemade pita chips that help make the nachos unique, and they’re a breeze to make.
Get the Recipe @ damndelicious
28. Taco Dip Recipe
If you need a dip for your tacos, or anything really, then check out this taco dip recipe!
It’s a creamy layer that’s topped with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, olives, cheese, and other popular taco toppings that you know and love. It’ll be one of your favorite cold appetizer recipes.
Get the Recipe @ dinneratthezoo
29. Fresh Spring Rolls
If you want to really impress, make these homemade fresh spring rolls. They’re easy to make, but no need to tell the other guests that!
Get the Recipe @ tastesbetterfromscratch
30. Antipasto Skewers
We love these antipasto skewers. They’re a great cold appetizer and can easily be made in advance, so they’re great for meal prep. You’ll fall in love with these mini appetizer skewers!
Get the Recipe @ spendwithpennies
There you go, thirty great cold appetizers for you to bring to your next potluck. Which will you try first?
Check out these other great recipe collections!
Pasta Salad Recipes
Potato Salad Recipes
Finger Food Recipes
BBQ Side Dishes
Picnic Foods
Fruit Salad Recipes
Lemonade Recipes
Potluck Recipes
30 BEST Cold Appetizers
This collection of easy Cold Appetizers will help you build the best spread ever at your next cookout or get together. We love this easy tapenade:
Ingredients
- 2 cups pitted olives, chopped (mix of black, green and kalamata)
- 1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes in a jar, chopped
- 2 Tbsp capers, chopped
- 1 garlic, minced
- 1/2 fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tsp red chili flakes
- 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
- 8-10 basil leaves, chopped
- Salt to taste (just a pinch as olives and capers are salty)
- Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Finely chop olives, capers, sun dried tomatoes and fresh herbs.
- Mix all together with minced garlic, lemon juice, salt, pepper, chili flakes.
- Drizzle in olive oil and stir.
- Taste and adjust for lemon juice and garlic.
Welcome to GypsyPlate! I'm Alpana, former wordwide tour manager and professional caterer, now full time blogger. I love exploring cuisines from around the world, and my recipes have been featured on sites such as MSN, Parade, Brit + Co, CNET and AOL. You can explore my entire collection of sortable recipes in my Recipe Index or learn more about me here.
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