Healthy Chicken Appetizer Recipes

Instead of batter-dipped, deep-fried nuggets, we coat chicken tenders in a seasoned almond and whole-wheat flour crust and then oven-fry them to perfection. With half the fat of standard breaded chicken tenders, you can enjoy to your (healthy) heart's content.

Tossing chicken tenders with cornmeal gives these chicken nuggets great crunch without deep-frying. Blackberries (or raspberries, if you prefer) combined with whole-grain mustard make for a sweet-and-savory dipping sauce. Serve with: Steamed broccoli and carrots.

Crispy, Parmesan-flecked chicken tenders dipped in marinara sauce is an easy dinner the whole family will love. Dipping them in a mixture of plain yogurt with chopped fresh basil would be tasty too. Serve with sautéed green beans and roasted sweet potato wedges.

Even though boneless Buffalo wings are made with healthy white-meat chicken, they're usually deep-fried and drenched in hot sauce laced with butter. The solution: chicken tenders are dredged in seasoned whole-wheat flour and cornmeal, pan-fried in only a small amount of oil and then drizzled with a tangy hot pepper sauce. With a fraction of the fat, calories and sodium, these boneless wings are reason enough to throw a party.

These crispy chicken “wings,” made with boneless, skinless chicken breast tenders, stay crispy with only a light coating of oil--no deep-frying needed. Serve as an appetizer or try them for dinner with crunchy vegetables and dip on the side.

Spicy peanut sauce is the perfect match for these Thai-marinated grilled chicken strips.

A quick fresh-made blender enchilada sauce makes all the difference in this slow-cooker recipe for Mexican cheese dip. Serve it straight from the crock pot, with tortilla chips, to keep it warm and gooey.

Chicken meatballs called tsukune are a Japanese-restaurant favorite--they're essentially a chicken sausage mixture flavored with garlic and ginger. Use flat sword-shaped skewers instead of traditional round bamboo skewers to keep the meatballs from slipping when you try to turn them. Serve with bowls of steamed rice on the side.

Sautéed mushrooms, celery and garlic add flavor and help keep calories in check and portions hearty in this easy Buffalo chicken meatball recipe. Serve these meatballs as an appetizer with carrot and celery sticks and blue cheese or ranch-style dressing for dipping, or make them into a Buffalo chicken sandwich.

Make this baked Buffalo chicken wing recipe at home to save 138 calories and a whopping 598 milligrams of sodium compared to the same number of deep-fried wings. If your market sells its chicken wings whole, you'll want to separate each into a "wingette" and a "drumette" so they cook evenly. They're easy to split apart with a sharp knife. Serve with carrot sticks, celery and ranch (or blue cheese) dressing.

This healthy copycat recipe for classic Buffalo dip cooks in your slow cooker for an easy, hands-off appetizer you can keep warm for the whole game, party or any casual gathering. Serve with carrot sticks, celery sticks and tortilla chips for dipping.

No breading and frying here! Layer on the cheese and tomatoes using leftover chicken (or turkey) in this healthy dip recipe. Pair with soft Italian bread and a salad for an easy dinner or serve it as an appetizer for your next party.

Cabbage is a tasty low-calorie stand-in for buns or bread in this healthy chicken lettuce wrap recipe. Don't limit yourself to cabbage for this Thai-inspired recipe--any fresh green that's sturdy enough to wrap around 1/2 cup of filling works.

Classic Indonesian fare, satays (or satés) are skewers of broiled or grilled marinated meat or fish. This flexible recipe works with tofu or chicken. If serving a group with some vegetarians and some meat eaters, prepare 12 ounces of chicken and 10 1/2 ounces of tofu and marinate separately.

What makes this chicken liver mousse so special is its coarse texture and use of very little fat. Most recipes for liver mousse made from cooked chicken livers contain copious amounts of butter or other fats for a moist and creamy texture. This version gets moisture, flavor and texture from onions, shallots and apple. For best results, do not overcook the chicken livers, which should be pink on the interior. Serve with mustard and crackers or toasted bread.

This chicken taco bowl recipe uses the underside of a muffin tin as a mold to bake cute little homemade “tortilla bowls.” The “tortilla bowls” are filled with a zesty chicken filling and topped like nachos. If you have 2 large muffin tins, you can make all 8 “bowls” at once. Bake them in the upper and lower thirds of the oven, rotating top to bottom about halfway through baking.

Smooth, lacinato kale (aka dinosaur kale) is topped with barbecue chicken, carrots and cabbage in this healthy, gluten-free lettuce wrap recipe. Try them for a low-carb dinner or light lunch.

Turn classic chicken parm into meatballs with this easy load-and-go appetizer recipe with a cheesy surprise inside. Making meatballs for a party? Switch your crock pot to "warm" for serving all party long.

Tuna, seafood or tofu salad would be a tasty filling for plum tomatoes as well.