35 Fall Appetizers You'll Want to Make Forever

Pomegranate, Cranberry & Brie Bruschetta

These small bites are so tasty, you'll want to snack around all day. Featuring delicious fall produce like cauliflower, sweet potatoes and mushrooms, these healthy appetizers are as good as they look. This mix of recipes, like our Pomegranate, Cranberry & Brie Bruschetta and Crab-Stuffed Mushrooms, has something to offer everyone.

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Pomegranate, Cranberry & Brie Bruschetta

Pomegranate, Cranberry & Brie Bruschetta

Make this simple festive appetizer for your holiday guests. Toasted baguette slices with creamy, melted brie are topped with an orange-cranberry-pomegranate mixture--each bite delivers an explosion of flavor and texture!

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Sriracha-Buffalo Cauliflower Bites

Sriracha-Buffalo Cauliflower Bites

This recipe for spicy Buffalo cauliflower bites is a great vegetarian alternative to Buffalo wings. Roasted cauliflower stands in for chicken and provides more fiber and fewer calories. Serve this easy appetizer with carrot sticks, celery and your favorite ranch or blue cheese dressing.

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Loaded Sweet Potato Nacho Fries

a cast iron skillet with sweet potatoes and various toppings

Bump up the vitamin A and fiber when you swap tortilla chips for sweet potatoes in this healthy recipe. Serve as an appetizer at your next party or turn it into dinner by adding chicken, tofu, shrimp or more beans for protein.

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Crab-Stuffed Mushrooms

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This crab-stuffed mushroom recipe is perfect for Christmas, New Year's Eve and other holiday parties or any other time you need a quick and easy appetizer. The filling is light and fresh thanks to hearts of palm, a tender vegetable with a mild flavor (similar to artichokes) that doesn't mask the rich, sweet flavor of fresh crabmeat.

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Loaded Cauliflower Bites

slices of cauliflower topped with bacon, sour cream and cheese

Crispy slices of roasted cauliflower topped with cheese, sour cream and bacon make a tasty low-carb alternative to classic loaded potato skins.

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3-Ingredient Cranberry-Brie Bites

3-Ingredient Cranberry-Brie Bites

Baked Brie is a perennially popular appetizer. Here, we complement the Brie with tart cranberry sauce and bake it in pretty individual tartlets using premade pie crust for an ultra-easy crowd-pleasing appetizer.

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Easy Stuffed Mushrooms

Stuffed mushrooms

This healthy stuffed mushroom appetizer is a nice balance of soft mushrooms, creamy filling and crunchy topping. This combination tastes downright decadent, but it's actually good for you. Be sure to get all of the moisture out of the chopped mushrooms before moving on to the next step; if not, the filling will be soggy and make the mushroom caps watery.

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Pear-Pecan Cheese Ball

Pear-Pecan Cheese Ball

Sweet pear, salty Cheddar cheese and crunchy nuts make this healthy cheese ball recipe an alluring holiday treat. Serve with an array of crudités and crisp party crackers.

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Vegan Cauliflower Buffalo Wings

Vegan Ranch Dressing
Jennifer Causey

Looking for a healthy appetizer for your Super Bowl party or another casual get-together? These vegan Buffalo cauliflower wings are sure to hit the spot. Coated in panko breadcrumbs and spices, these Buffalo cauliflower bites are tender on the inside and crispy on the outside--and don't forget the vegan ranch sauce! This is one of those healthy Super Bowl recipes you won't be able to resist.

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Baked Brie with Jam in Puff Pastry

brie and apples on a plate

Serve this decadent yet easy appetizer with apple wedges and crackers and watch it disappear in seconds! It's bound to be your new party go-to.

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Sweet Potato Skins with Guacamole

Sweet Potato Skins with Guacamole

Top crispy sweet potato skins with guacamole for a healthy take on classic potato skins in this easy crowd-pleasing recipe.

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3-Ingredient Cheddar & Apple Bites

3-ingredient Cheddar Apple Bites

Creamy apple butter and sharp Cheddar cheese are a perfect match in these easy party hors d'oeuvres. This recipe calls for prepared pie crust, which is pressed into mini muffin tins to make little tart shells, so it's super easy to make as well. Add slices of apple for extra crunch, if you'd like, or keep these bites simple. Either way, consider making a double batch--they'll go quickly.

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3-Ingredient Blue Cheese & Fig Bites

3-ingredient blue cheese & fig bites

Salty-tangy blue cheese pairs beautifully with sweet fig jam in these easy appetizers, which are perfect for a holiday party. The optional minced chives add a nice pop of color, but these are just as tasty without herbs. Keep the ingredients on hand and you can whip these up for impromptu holiday cocktail parties.

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Baked Spaghetti Squash Fritters

Baked Spaghetti Squash Fritters

These crispy loaded fritters are perfect for parties. Baking them instead of frying cuts down on labor (and oil splatters). Be sure to squeeze as much of the liquid out of the spaghetti squash and onion mixture as possible--moisture is the enemy of crispiness.

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Curried Butternut Squash Dip

Curried Butternut Squash Dip

This healthy squash dip recipe, spiced with curry and made creamy with the addition of coconut milk, is a delicious alternative to hummus. You can also use other types of winter squash, pumpkin or sweet potatoes in place of the butternut squash in this dip. Serve with crisp raw vegetables or toasted pitas for dipping.

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Empanadas with Chorizo & Potato

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A staple in South American cuisine, homemade empanadas can be served as a main dish or a side. We keep this simple by focusing on the empanada filling and instead of making the dough from scratch, we achieve flaky empanadas with the help of refrigerated pie crust.

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Beet Chips

Beet Chips

Make perfectly crunchy veggie chips at home with this healthy recipe. Use a mandoline to slice the beets extra-thin for the optimum crunch!

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Roasted Cauliflower & Walnut Dip

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This creamy roasted cauliflower dip has the texture of hummus but swaps chickpeas for roasted cauliflower and walnuts for tahini. A head of roasted garlic--which is cooked at the same time as the cauliflower--gives it great flavor.

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Rustic Mushroom Tart

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Don't let phyllo dough's fussy reputation put you off: our method of brushing olive oil and sprinkling breadcrumbs between the layers makes this tart actually quite simple to assemble, and helps keep it healthy. It can be served as a main course or cut into smaller pieces and enjoyed as an appetizer.

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Mini Brie & Apple Quiches

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We love the way Brie and apples taste together in these mini quiches. Mini phyllo cups make it swift and simple to create an elegant appetizer.

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Sweet Potato Hummus

Sweet Potato Hummus
Casey Barber

Roasted sweet potato adds earthy sweetness to hummus and gives it an even creamier, smoother texture. Use pimentón, or Spanish smoked paprika, for a hint of fire-grilled flavor, or use sweet paprika for a more subtle spice.

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Loaded Smashed Brussels Sprouts

Loaded Smashed Brussels Sprouts
Greg Dupree

The sprouts in this loaded smashed Brussels sprouts recipe are cooked to crisp-tender, then crushed and baked in the oven and smothered in melted Cheddar cheese, bacon and a dollop of sour cream. Serve them as a fun side dish or a party appetizer.

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Fig & Goat Cheese Puff Pastry Roll

3-ingredient goat cheese puff pastry
Photo by: Jamie Vespa, M.S., R.D.

Buttery puff pastry is a tasty shortcut ingredient that can be used in many delicious ways. Here we roll out a pastry sheet and cover it with fig jam and crumbled goat cheese, then roll it up into a log and bake it. The end result is a sweet-and-savory appetizer that looks and tastes impressive, especially considering it has just three ingredients.

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Smashed Artichokes with Lemon-Dill Aioli

Smashed Artichokes with Aioli
Photography / Caitlin Bensel, Food Styling / Emily Nabors Hall

These smashed artichoke hearts are crispy with a tender, almost flaky interior and are just firm enough to dip in the bright and fresh lemon-dill aioli.

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Air-Fryer Bacon-Wrapped Scallops

air fryer bacon wrapped scallops
Jacob Fox

These air-fryer bacon-wrapped scallops are the perfect last-minute appetizer to throw together for a gathering. Medium-size scallops and bacon cut on the thinner side work best here. You can enjoy these bacon-wrapped scallops on their own or jazz them up with a drizzle of maple syrup.

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Pecan Pie Dip with Crunchy Pie-Crust Dippers

Pecan Pie Dip with Crunchy Pie-Crust Dippers

This creamy and subtly sweet dessert is perfect for pecan pie lovers who don't want to go through the hassle of making an actual pie. Serve it with sliced apples and pears to complement the pie-dough dippers.

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Caramelized Onion & Brussels Sprout Galette

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Serve this vegetarian tart recipe as a main dish or in thinner slices for an appetizer or side dish. Since you'll be pleating the dough to create a rustic look, buy ready-to-roll pie crusts rather than prepared pie shells--you'll find them in the dairy section of your market with other ready-to-bake items or near the frozen desserts.

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Oysters au Gratin with Spinach & Breadcrumbs

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These succulent baked oysters thrill with spicy spinach and a crispy cheese topping.

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Goat Cheese Crostini with Mushrooms & Brown Butter

Goat Cheese Crostini with Mushrooms & Brown Butter

Serve these savory herbed crostini with a big green salad. Looking for a heartier meal? Top each toast with a poached or fried egg.

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Baked Feta Spinach-Artichoke Dip

Baked Feta Spinach-Artichoke Dip
Greg DuPree

This take on classic warm artichoke dip features tangy feta cheese. If you can find frozen artichokes, swap them in for the canned version to cut back on sodium. Serve with tortilla chips and crudités for dipping.

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Winter Charcuterie Board

Winter Charcuterie Board

A cheeseboard is an ideal stationary hors d'oeuvre for holiday entertaining. Select a variety of cheeses, making sure to include an aged variety, a creamy cheese, a blue cheese and perhaps a smoked cheese. Round out the platter with cold cuts, bread, an abundance of seasonal fruits, dried fruit, crudité, nuts and olives. We even included some dark chocolate to cap it off!

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Pumpkin Spice Cheese Ball

Pumpkin Spice Cheese Ball

All the fall spice flavor you crave but folded into creamy cheese and coated with cranberries. Serve with an array of crudités and crisp party crackers.

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Chile-Spiced Delicata Squash Crostini

Chile-Spiced Delicata Squash Crostini
Leigh Beisch

Vinegar and crispy bits of pancetta brighten up the caramelized squash topping on this healthy appetizer. It also has a generous sprinkle of dried chiles. Two to seek out include Urfa, a smoky, mildly hot Turkish chile pepper, and Aleppo, which has moderate heat and a fruity tang. Find them in specialty markets and from online spice purveyors.

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Apricot, Prosciutto & Parmesan Bites

Apricot, Prosciutto & Parmesan Bites
Jamie Vespa, M.S., R.D.

These 3-ingredient apricot, Parmesan and prosciutto bites are as simple to make as they look, and they taste even better. Simply layer each ingredient on top of the other and secure with a toothpick for an easy bite-size starter.

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Jojo's Party Mix

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Our more sophisticated version of crunchy party mix gets its irresistible, rich taste from olive oil and a bit of Parmesan cheese rather than the better part of a stick of butter, or worse, margarine. With two-thirds less fat (none of it saturated) you can forget about that other stuff.

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