Thanksgiving Appetizer and Snack Recipes

Here pears are roasted to sweet perfection with butternut squash and pureed to create a creamy soup that gets a luxurious garnish of Stilton cheese. You can serve this as a first course or with a salad and crusty bread for a light autumn supper.

A riff on traditional spinach artichoke dip, this creamy, cheesy dip recipe is made healthier by replacing some of the cream cheese with yogurt. Serve as an easy appetizer with tortilla chips and carrot sticks.

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.

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.

Jazz up your mashed potatoes by rolling them into balls with bacon and cheese and giving them a crispy coating in the oven. You can enjoy these as a fun side dish or an appetizer for your next holiday dinner.

This festive side dish is Thanksgiving in one bite! Brussels spouts are hollowed out, stuffed with a sausage-and-breadcrumb stuffing and baked until brown and crispy on top. Large Brussels sprouts work best here. Enjoy this as a side dish or on its own as an appetizer.

Recipes like our 3-Ingredient Cheddar & Apple Bites and Chile-Spiced Delicata Squash Crostini are so good, you might just end up making them all holiday season long.

This healthy appetizer has a kick of heat thanks to dried chiles, while pancetta and vinegar brighten up the caramelized squash topping.

Try this sage-infused marshmallow recipe on top of sweet potato casserole and you'll seem like a cooking genius. Homemade marshmallows taste so much better than traditional store-bought marshmallows--and they're easy to make. Just be sure to use a stand mixer to make them, since hand mixers typically aren't powerful enough to get the job done.

Thanksgiving is the ultimate food holiday, and to make your day of cooking a little easier, we've pulled together these easy, make-ahead Thanksgiving appetizers. Whether it's a dip, spiced nuts or a cheese ball, these appetizers can be made a few days (or even weeks!) in advance. Recipes like Curried Butternut Squash Dip and Slow-Cooker Spinach Artichoke Dip are healthy, flavorful and will keep you full until the main meal.

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!

Saffron gives this cheese ball a bright yellow hue. Serve with a drizzle of honey and lots of crisp crudités.

Enjoy green bean casserole fritter-style in this new twist on a classic Thanksgiving favorite. The traditional ingredients are all there, but instead of baking in a casserole dish, these green beans are turned into fritters that bake in the oven and get topped with creamy yogurt and french-fried onions. Feel free to add a bit of crumbled bacon on top too if you'd like!

Festive for any holiday gathering, yet simple enough for a weeknight dinner party, these cranberry-Brie bites are the perfect appetizer. Made with just three ingredients, these bites come together quickly and present beautifully. If you have time, you can make your own cranberry sauce. We keep it simple here, but consider garnishing with fresh thyme or rosemary or fresh orange or grapefruit zest.