Healthy Appetizer Recipes

A lime-juice marinade "cooks" the raw shrimp in this classic ceviche. For a refreshing update, this one is served with a salsa made from creamy avocado, juicy tomato and tangy cilantro.

Spicy wasabi-flavored peas are a great snack on their own but can sometimes be too hot. In this snack mix, the wasabi spice is tamed just a bit with the addition of a crispy cereal, pretzel sticks, almonds, a ginger-soy sauce, and sweet chewy dried fruit. Try it at your next party or tailgate!

With both sweet and spicy flavors to entice your taste buds, this slow-cooker-prepared snack mix is easy to make and great to have on hand for game days, parties, and after-school snacking. Remember to stir it every so often, as directed, to keep things from sticking together.

It's easy to pick up bags of pre-made snack mix at the grocery store, but why buy them when snack mix is so easy to make at home? This spicy snack mix recipe is simple and fun to make and costs less than what you'd pay to buy it pre-made.

Store-bought salsas are convenient and come in many varieties. However, this avocado and pumpkin salsa--one you won't find on any grocery shelf--is worth making from scratch. Creamy avocados, fresh tomato, and canned pumpkin are jazzed up with cilantro, lime juice, and a touch of hot pepper sauce, resulting in a salsa that's seriously delicious. Serve with baked tortilla chips or over grilled chicken breasts.

Mini pretzels, puffed corn cereal, and salty soy nuts provide taste and crunch in each handful of this 5-minute snack mix. The most difficult part of this recipe will be trying not to eat too much of it--it's that yummy!

Chicken wings are great for game night and a perfect appetizer for a party, but don't get stuck in the rut of always serving BBQ wings. Add variety to game nights with this easy slow-cooker recipe for Thai wings with peanut sauce--and BBQ wings may just become a thing of the past!

An acidic combination of citrus juices "cooks" fresh fish to make ceviche. Yuzu looks like a bumpy lemon and is prized in Japanese cuisine for its distinctly aromatic juice and rind. Buy yuzu juice in Asian markets and online, or substitute more lemon juice. Recipe adapted from Chef Greg Harrison, Pacific'O Restaurant.

We used shishito peppers in this recipe makeover of classic game-day jalapeño poppers. They're typically mild, but 5 to 10 percent of them pack some heat, which makes eating them like a game of spicy roulette. Manchego is a sheep's-milk cheese made in Spain that has a buttery texture. Look for it in your supermarket's specialty-cheese section.

This homemade snack mix is easy to prepare--crunchy crackers, cereal squares, and miniature pretzels are flavored with a zesty salsa-inspired seasoning mix that takes just minutes to throw together. Bake until crisp and then set it out at a party or offer it to your kids for a fun after-school snack.

Roasting vegetables really brings out their intense flavor. This homemade dip recipe is great to serve at last-minute parties. Simply seasoned vegetables roast in just 20 minutes and are then blended with a touch of earthy balsamic vinegar and fragrant fresh rosemary, resulting in a delicious dip your guests will love.

This sweet and savory popcorn mix is ready in just 10 minutes and is a bit of a magic trick--it's so good it disappears right before your eyes! Honey-nut cereal squares, lightly-salted popcorn, and chocolaty peanuts are drizzled with melted chocolate and provide amazing taste in each bite.

No pizza dough in the house? No worries. Sandwich thins to the rescue! Simply crisp them up in the oven, top with some seasoned tomato sauce, smoked turkey, chopped bell pepper, and mozzarella and serve them up. This recipe is perfect for a light lunch or for a healthy after-school snack.

Roasting the vegetables helps bring out their fantastic flavor for this healthy and versatile chunky veggie spread. Use it on toasted slices of bread and serve it as an appetizer, spread it on sandwiches in place of mayonnaise or mustard, or toss it with cooked pasta. It also makes a delicious pizza sauce!

Use cauliflower rice to turn classic cucumber-avocado sushi into a low-carb snack, lunch or appetizer. This roll is vegetarian-friendly and a no-egg mayo makes it great for vegans too. Make these rolls as you eat them, instead of letting them sit. The cauliflower rice can dry quickly, which makes rolling tricky.

Ratatouille is normally served as a main dish but here it's served with pita chips and enjoyed as an appetizer. It's made in the slow cooker so if you're serving it at a party just leave it in the cooker on warm while your guests dig in!

Kids don't think twice about eating their veggies when they're served alongside a delectable dipping sauce!

This sweet snack takes peanut butter and jelly to new heights and it's perfect for serving at your kids' next play date or party. Miniature sweetened rice cakes are topped with a peanut butter-cream cheese blend, sugar-free fruit preserves, and chocolate chips--the kids will love it!

Nutty, salty and incredibly crispy, this cheesy popcorn snack is simple to make and sure to be a favorite snack.

Make your own microwave popcorn--it's the simplest technique for making popcorn at home and only requires popcorn kernels and a single brown bag. You'll pop up a perfectly fluffy, light snack each time.