The days are getting long, and the temperatures are starting to rise… time to fire up the grill and find something refreshing to eat!
This collection of easy Summer Appetizers has plenty of great dishes to bring to all of those cookouts, potlucks and pool parties.
From skewers to salads, dips to finger foods, and more, this list of summer appetizers will keep you covered all summer long.
Go through all of these amazing summer appetizers, and have fun this summer!
The Best Summer Appetizers:
1. Shish Kabob
Summer’s coming on fast, so fire up that grill. This easy Shish Kabob recipe is going to be the star of your cookout season!
Well marinated beef cubes get skewered up with veggies and then grilled to juicy perfection. Ideal potluck contender? You bet!
2. Cherry Tomato Confit
Bunches of cherry tomatoes, heavy glugs of olive oil, a handful of garlic cloves, a few herbs… That’s all you need for this beauty coming out of your oven… Cherry Tomato Confit!!
Luxuriously soft, melt-in-your mouth, juicy and bright flavor bombs. Welcome this summer delight into your life.
3. Mexican Street Corn Salad
This Mexican street corn salad is a great way to get the classic flavors of elote served salad-style.
It’s creamy, cheesy, and filled with corn, red onions, cilantro, mayonnaise, and more.
4. Chicken Souvlaki
Chicken Souvlaki is one of the popular street foods in Greece. Deliciously marinated chicken skewers are grilled to perfection.
They’re great on their own, and absolutely divine dipped in tzatziki sauce!
5. Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Peanut Sauce
This Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Peanut Sauce recipe is light, fresh tasting, juicy and brimming with so many great textures.
From the crisp lettuce to the flavorful chicken and the zingy peanut sauce, they’re a delicious appetizer which will definitely be a crowd pleaser.
6. Cowboy Caviar
Cowboy Caviar is a tasty and fun dip or salad full of fresh summer veggies and hearty beans. It’s a perfect party appetizer, or make ahead lunch.
7. Surf and Turf Nachos
Are you planning a get-together or game day appetizer menu? Then try these Surf and Turf Nachos and they will defiantly be the star dish of the night!
Perfectly marinated steaks, tender shrimp, and all your favorite toppings atop a bed of crispy tortilla chips make these nachos super delicious and addictive.
It’s an easy and great crowd-pleaser appetizer.
8. Shrimp Remoulade
Shrimp Remoulade recipe easy to make, and a fantastic way to enjoy spicy Louisiana style remoulade sauce!
Toss cooked shrimps with this creamy, spicy and tangy sauce and pile it on delicately crisp butter lettuce leaves. This is a very popular appetizer in New Orleans.
9. Steak Gorgonzola Flatbread
This Steak Gorgonzola Flatbread not only looks gorgeous, it’s super fast. It’s a fun take on pizza and is loaded with mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and arugula.
10. Pico de Gallo
Easy, fresh and delicious. This Pico de Gallo whips up in 10 minutes and is great with tortillas chips as an appetizer for endless dipping and scooping.
11. Antipasto Salad
This Italian Antipasto Salad recipe is packed with veggies, cured meats and cheese. It’s great as an appetizer, side or main course.
12. Garlic Parmesan Wings
Some garlic, some parm and loads of butter is all you need is to make these finger licking wings, which everyone can’t get enough of.
They’re oven roasted, or cooked in an air fryer, to golden crispy perfection outside and juicy and tender when you bite into them.
13. Guasacaca
Guasacaca! Meet guacamole’s tangier, herbier cousin. Venezuelans love this avocado based condiment and now you can too!
14. Layered Hummus Dip
If you want a quick and delicious appetizer, this Greek Layered Hummus Dip is perfect! With the help of premade hummus, this snack comes together quickly and is full of flavor.
This unstoppable tasty Greek Dip served with pita bread or chips, and veggies is a fresh, colorful addition to your party spread. This dip will disappear fast!
15. Greek Salad (Horiatiki)
This traditional Greek Salad recipe, known to the locals as Horiatiki, is one of our summertime favorites!
Crisp cucumbers, sweet cherry tomatoes, red onions, briny olives and capers, creamy feta, and a simple herb dressing. That’s all it takes. And the results are top notch.
16. Mediterranean Flatbread
There is plenty to love about flatbreads. They’re one of the quickest meals on planet Earth, they are super delish, and they come out good looking, too. They are perfect any time meals, and act as superb, easy summer appetizers for your company.
17. Gambas al Ajillo
If you love scampi, you just have to try this classic Spanish tapas. Plump shrimp drowning in a garlicky olive oil with loads of fresh parsley. Make sure you have some nice bread to sop this one up!
18. Chicken Tikkas
Chicken Tikka kebabs are a popular Indian appetizer, where marinated chicken is grilled to golden perfection.
This authentic recipe is great to make for parties. You can make them in the oven or on the grill and serve with mint chutney for extra deliciousness. This easy, healthy recipe is always a crowd pleaser at parties.
19. Fig and Prosciutto Flatbread
Flatbreads are Fantastic… Fancy… and Fun meals!! And this Fig and Prosciutto Flatbread is absolutely gorgeous, and would be a WOW-worthy center piece for get togethers and parties.
20. Tzatziki
Fresh and flavorful, this easy Tzatziki is so good you will want to dip, dunk and drizzle every meal.
A creamy cucumber yogurt sauce with olive oil, herbs, garlic and lemon juice. It’s a refreshing chilled sauce typically served with a meze, gyros or as a side dish to grilled meats.
21. Smoked Salmon Breakfast Flatbread
This smoked salmon flatbread is super quick, like 15 minutes quick, and makes a great lunch, light dinner or party appetizer. With cold smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers and dill, it’s a great flavor combo.
22. 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.
23. Spanish Summer Salad (Pipirrana)
Here to celebrate tomato season this summer is a tribute to all those luscious summer tomatoes, ripening on the vines in warm sunshine.
Mixed with just a few more cool crunchies, and you have yet another colorful popular traditional dish, pipirrana, all the way from the south of Spain.
24. Antipasto Pasta Salad
This easy and addictively delicious Antipasto Pasta Salad is the perfect contender for summer potluck appetizer or meal prepping.
25. Greek Meatballs (Keftedes)
Keftedes are beautifully flavored Greek meatballs that are slightly crispy, and totally delicious!
They’re often served as part of a mezze platter with pita bread, cucumbers, tomatoes, kalamata olives and tzatziki sauce.
26. Peach Salsa
This Peach Salsa is fresh, sweet and addictively delicious. It’s perfect for dipping, or as an accompaniment for your favorite mains.
27. Caprese Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
These big ol’ mushrooms are tender, fleshy goodness stuffed to the brim with everyone’s classic summer favorite… Caprese!!
Bring a platter of these to your appetizer spread and watch them dissappear!
28. Zaalouk
This zaalouk is an amazingly flavorful Moroccan eggplant and tomato dip. It has hints of smokiness and plenty of olive oil.
Perfect for scooping with pita bread, veggies or chips, this unique dip will draw a crowd!
29. Espinacas con Garbanzos (Spanish Spinach with Chick Peas)
This classic Spanish tapas is a great addition to your appetizer spread. Hearty chick peas and fresh spinach are cooked in a cozy sauce of tomatoes, onions and exotic spices. One of our very favorite tapas recipes!
30. Tostones (AKA Patacones)
Tostones are simply twice fried unripe plantains, and they make the most delicious crunchy snack.
Imagine biting into a warm, crispy, slightly sweet, fried disc of deliciousness. That’s what eating Tostones is like!
31. Sticky Asian Chicken Wings
Crispy, sticky, sweet, savory with the most perfect caramelized glaze. Basically, the best party food ever. They’re perfectly crisp with just the right amount of heat, sweetness and savoriness… SO FINGER-LICKING GOOD.
32. Portuguese Mussels
One of my favorite mussel recipes, this Portuguese dish is packed with flavor. It looks so fancy that it makes a great special occasion meal, but is so easy that it’s perfect for any weeknight!
33. Pinchos (Puerto Rican Chicken Skewers)
Nothing beats the aroma and the sight when it comes off the grill, sizzling with barbecue glaze. Grill bunches of pinchos, and feed your whole crew with these flavorful, simple Puerto Rican Chicken Skewers.
34. Pineapple Salsa
Ahh, summer. That time when fresh produce is at its peak. That means it’s time for some great salsa!
This Pineapple Salsa is sure to satisfy those cravings for something refreshing, sweet, and just a little bit spicy.
There’s really nothing to it… Just chop, mix, and enjoy!
35. Watermelon Feta Salad
Watermelon and feta make a wonderful summer combo, and this salad takes it up another notch with fresh mint.
This cool and refreshing salad is perfect for those cookouts and potlucks.
36. Baked Feta
Introducing: Heavenly Baked Feta Medley – cheese like you’ve never known before! Get ready for a game-changer appetizer for your next get together!
Have you ever wondered what pure joy tastes like? Look no further than this sensationally creamy, astonishingly flavorful, Baked Feta!
Get the Recipe: Baked Feta
We hope you enjoy these delicious Summer Appetizers as much as we do. There’s such a big variety, which will you make for your next cookout?
Check out these other great recipe collections!
Summer Dinner Ideas
Summer Desserts
Grilling Recipes
Cherry Tomato Recipes
Pineapple Recipes
Hamburger Recipes
Potluck Ideas
BBQ Side Dishes
The 35+ BEST Summer Appetizers
This collection of Summer Appetizers has plenty of great dishes to bring to all of those cookouts, potlucks and pool parties. We love this easy pico de gallo:
Ingredients
- 4 large ripe red tomatoes
- 1 small white onion
- 1 medium jalapeño or serrano, seeds and fibers removed.
- 1/2 cup cilantro
- 2 Tbsp lime juice
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Chop onions, tomatoes, cilantro and jalepeño. (The jalepeño should be finely chopped).Mix all ingredients in bowl.
- Let rest for 30 minutes (optional).
- Taste and adjust.
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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