60 Finger Food Party Appetizers

Fried calamari doesn't have to be reserved for beachfront restaurants. It's easy to make at home and comes out extra crispy and crunchy. A squeeze of lemon juice and fresh marinara and you're ready to go. After you master this, give fish and chips a go!

Get the Crispy Fried Calamari recipe.

Simply toss canned black-eyed peas with raw chopped collard greens, bell pepper, scallions, and garlic, and toss with an apple cider vinaigrette. Pile the mix onto toasted baguette slices and top with crispy, smoky pork to complete this summery, shareable appetizer.

Get the Black-Eyed Pea Bruschetta recipe.

If you’re a fan of our cranberry brie bites, we’ve got news for you: There’s a new app in town, and it’s inspired by another fan fave, baked feta pasta. This cheesy finger food features the flavors you know and love, all nestled into bite-sized cups of golden crescent dough.

Get the Baked Feta Bites recipe.

Tiny hot dogs before your regular-size hot dogs? Why not?! There's something very classic about the crescent roll dough flavor, so we tend to gravitate toward it, but puff pastry or even biscuit dough both should work here too.

Get the Pigs In A Blanket recipe.

These little guys are the perfect healthy appetizer. As the zucchini becomes tender, the spinach and artichoke topping gets nice and melty. If you want a little extra color on your bites, switch the oven to broil on medium and cook them a couple minutes more. (Just keep an eye on them.)

Get the Spinach-Artichoke Zucchini Bites recipe.

These easy bites are perfect for literally any occasion. We love their little pretzel handles, but feel free to leave them out or even make one huge cheeseball!

Get the Loaded Cheese Ball Bites recipe.

The Italian dish is prepared by forming cooled risotto into balls, filling them with some sort of filling (typically cheesy!), then breading and deep frying them into golden, crispy perfection. We've got three different flavor options here, but our fave for spring is pesto provolone!

Get the Arancini, 3 Ways recipe.

Air fryers are slowly winning us over. First with these amazing air-fryer pickles (obvs), and now with this amazing coconut shrimp. They get totally crispy, and the spicy mayo goes perfectly with the sweet coconut. Match made in heaven!

Get the Air-Fryer Coconut Shrimp recipe.

Nothing screams summer quite like bruschetta. We know it may sound skippable, but rubbing the toasted bread with garlic will help impart TONS of flavor into your tiny toasts, so we highly recommend it. Top them with simply marinated tomatoes for the ultimate summer snack.

Get the Bruschetta recipe.

If you're unfamiliar with dates, it's time to familiarize yourself! The date's sweetness is the perfect counterpoint to crisp, salty bacon and creamy goat cheese.

Get the Bacon-Wrapped Dates recipe.

The spice mix here is what sets this crispy popcorn chicken apart: five-spice heightened with some white pepper, Sichuan peppercorns, onion powder, and mildly spicy gochugaru.

Get the Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken recipe.

Mozzarella sticks are the quintessential party appetizer. They're hot, crunchy, and oozing with molten cheese—what's not to love?! Dipped in homemade marinara sauce, we think there's no better snack.

Get the Air-Fryer Mozzarella Sticks recipe.

Classic deviled eggs get a smoky kick from harissa (Tunisian chili pepper paste) in this simple but flavorful deviled eggs recipe. Topped with crispy fried shallots and fresh cilantro, it may stray pretty far from the original, but it’s just as delicious.

Get the Harissa Deviled Eggs recipe.

Crunchy, peppery red radishes are so underrated. Sure, they add a lovely kick of crisp heat to skillet migas or pineapple shrimp tacos. We thought it was time to give them the spotlight, front-and-center on this springy crostini with plenty of sweet, caramelized brown butter.

Get the Brown Butter Radish Crostini recipe.

Thought to have been created in China about a century ago, shrimp toast combines traditional Chinese shrimp paste with Western white bread to create one of the earliest fusion foods. Today it's a popular item on dim sum menus and as an appetizer throughout the US, UK, Australia, Japan, and parts of Southeast Asia. Once you have one, you'll understand why this cocktail hour staple has stood the test of time.

Get the Easy Shrimp Toast recipe.

We’re happy to report that esquites, the irresistible and less-messy salad version of everyone’s favorite cotija-coated snack, elote, were the perfect inspiration for these bite-sized fritters. Paired with a lime and garlic-spiked sour cream sauce, these crisp patties are guaranteed to disappear in a crowd in minutes.

Get the Esquites Fritters recipe.

Looking for a weekend project? We suggest these super-flavorful (and surprisingly easy) pot stickers! Don't miss the photo guide of our folding technique, though you don't need to fuss too much over them. They'll taste amazing no matter how they look.

Get the Ginger Pork Potstickers recipe.

If you want to make things easy on yourself, use store-bought guac to fill these adorable little cups, but we gotta warn you—homemade guacamole is ALWAYS better.

Get the Shrimp Tostada Bites recipe.

Pupusas are an easy flatbread made from masa harina that get stuffed with cheese or refried beans—or both! Traditionally they are served with a cabbage relish that brings a bit of an acidic punch, so you don't want to skip it.

Get the Best-Ever Pupusas recipe.

Crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, these falafel are baked, not fried, for less mess. Chickpea flour is your new best friend in this gluten-free treat.

Get the Baked Falafel Bites with Spicy Tahini Dip recipe.

Breaded and fried, it's so fun to eat ravioli with your hands and dipping it in plenty of marinara. Bonus! Toasted ravioli works in the air fryer too, meaning you can skip all of the oil for an even more perfect appetizer.

Get the Toasted Ravioli recipe.

We love fried pickles, but as much as we'd love to eat them all day, every day, we can't be bothered with the frying! These are the perfect crunchy foil to all your grilled meats.

Get the Oven-Fried Pickles recipe.

Scallion pancakes might be one of our favorite appetizers ever. Crispy, flaky, and with the *slightest* bit of chew, it's easy to polish off a whole plate in minutes.

Get the Scallion Pancakes recipe.

Umami-rich oyster mushrooms are lightly battered and fried for this squid-free take on fried calamari. You can use other mushroom varieties, but the delicate “petals” of the oyster mushrooms get addictively crispy, so we recommend seeking them out.

Get the Mushroom “Calamari” with Spicy Marinara recipe.

Grape jelly meatballs might not sound like an ideal combo, but trust us, it is! The sweet jelly mixed with smoky BBQ sauce is a match made in heaven. We added some sriracha to give it a bit of a kick that we found so addicting.

Get the Slow-Cooker Grape Jelly Meatballs recipe.

Crunchy, flaky, and cheesy. What's not to love? These cheese straws are studded with cheddar, green onions, and sesame seeds for the most flavor-packed cheese straws we've ever had. Using store-bought puff pastry makes them extremely easy to pull together for a party!

Get the Cheese Straws recipe.

Frying egg rolls can sound intimidating, but it’s definitely worth it here. The high heat keeps the wrapper crispy and prevents the whole thing from exploding. (Trust us, we've tested them in the oven, and the results are way messier and sadly soggy.) More of a cheeseburger person? Try our Big Mac egg rolls!

Get the Reuben Egg Rolls recipe.

We *bet* we had you at bacon. Topped with a spicy, buttery maple glaze, these shrimp give shrimp cocktail a run for its money.

Get the Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp recipe.

If you love baked spinach dip, you'll love these baked puff pastry puffs. They're filled with a mixture of sautéed onion, garlic, spinach, and cream cheese and baked inside little puff pastry cups in a muffin tin. Bet you can't eat just one!

Get the Spinach Puffs recipe.

A pizza lover's dream: creamy mac, pepperoni, and plenty of Parm. What's not to love? Want to skip the macaroni altogether? Try these pizza pepperoni bites!

Get the Mac & Cheese Pizza Bites recipe.