fbpx

Healthy Appetizers for the Holidays [VIDEO]
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Happy Appies to Make With Your Family for Comfort and Connection

Public health restrictions have dramatically shifted how we celebrate the holidays. Regardless of whether or not holiday parties, impromptu friend gatherings and large family celebrations are possible this year, I want to encourage you to create some new holiday traditions with your own household or small group cohort.

healthy holiday appetizers

This starts with thinking about simple healthy appetizers and other things you can cook together.

In this blog post, I share tips to get family involved in cooking together as well as 12 easy appetizers you can make this holiday season!

Cooking Together for Comfort and Connection

We eat for many reasons including nourishment, socializing, family traditions, emotions, environmental triggers, cravings and more. Perhaps what we need most right now is comfort and connection. While many families cook together regularly, in my work as a Dietitian I’ve also found this is not always the case. Sometimes food is consumed sporadically, without thought and cooking is thought of as a dreaded task.

This holiday season I’d love for you to consider creating some new family rituals and traditions for cooking together. While there is absolutely room for more traditional holiday food preparation such as baking gingerbread cookies and shortbread, think broader as well. Plan a tapas theme of healthy appetizers you can assemble together over good conversation. Make a handful of appetizers the entire meal or choose one item and then dive into a card game or board game instead of reaching for tech or television.

WATCH the Interview on Global Morning TV here:

Set the Mood

Pick an evening and tell your family you’ve got a fun finger food Friday or happy holiday appetizer night planned and that you’ll need their help to assemble things.

When you are ready to prepare your food items, turn off all technology and turn on some festive music or take turns playing a favorite song or album from the past.

Enjoy a cocktail or in a wine glass or martini glass, pour yourself a sparkling water with a splash of cranberry juice or a squeeze of fresh lemon with pomegranate seeds.

a bowl of red punch that has orange slices and cranberries floating in it

Divide and Conquer the Food Prep

Decide who will do what. Teach younger kids to use a knife, thread skewers, stir things together, arrange things on a plate or create a fun table setting with decorations and candles. Adults and older kids can divide and conquer the rest of the food preparation.

Looking for some ideas to get you started?

Healthy Appetizers for the Holidays

1. Christmas Tree Charcuterie Board

Get a large tray or cutting board and assemble your charcuterie board in the shape of a Christmas tree. Ideas to include: whole grain crackers with cream cheese and hot red pepper jelly, pickles, pickled green beans, veggies and dip (carrots, celery sticks, radishes, snap peas, broccoli, cauliflower and red peppers), green/red olives, fruit (green grapes, pomegranate wedges, kiwi fruit, strawberries, pineapple), dried cranberries/cherries, nuts (pistachios, cashews, almonds) and cubes or slices of cheese.

holiday appetizers - christmas tree charcuterie

 2. Roasted, Spiced Chick Peas/Lentils

 Try our recipe for Roasted Spicy Chick Peas or these Crunchy Sea Salt and Thyme Roasted Lentils for an aromatic and tasty crunchy taps idea.

 

3. Guac & Chips

 Make a traditional guacamole or try some of these 5 Guacamole Variations here and serve with green and red taco chips or make your own baked chips using red or green flour tortilla wraps and cutting into wedges with scissors and brushing with oil and baking in the oven until crisp.

 

4. Greek Salad Wreath

Thread cubes of feta cheese, red peppers, black olives, purple onion, and cucumbers on toothpicks and assemble them in the shape of a wreath on a plate or tray.

capresa salad skewers arranged in a circle around a bowl of balsamic reduction

5. Lettuce Wraps

Add grilled chicken, shrimp, tofu to a Romaine lettuce leaf or butter lettuce leaf and drizzle with balsamic crema and top with goat cheese (or alternatively go with your favorite Asian dipping sauce, try this recipe for Hoisin Turkey Lettuce Wraps or our homemade hoisin sauce here.

 

6. Cucumber Bites

 Top cucumber slices with whipped cream cheese and cooked shrimp, smoked salmon, roasted red pepper or sundried tomatoes packed in oil.

 

7. Skewers

Try this tasty recipe here using frozen mangos: Mango Shrimp Skewers or skewer meat, chicken, shrimp or tofu marinated in your favorite vinaigrette and grill or bake. Also try canned/jarred artichokes and sliced fresh red peppers and thin slices of zucchini as well.

 

8. Chicken Fingers

Try one of these 2 recipe variations from our blog. Pecan Parmesan Chicken Fingers or Classic Chicken Fingers

 

9. Strawberry Avocado Salsa

This festive colored dip is good anytime of the year you can find good avocados!

10. Zucchini Bites

 You are going to love this tasty recipe for 4 Ingredient Cheesy Zucchini Bites or try this tapas idea for Zucchini Wrapped Bocconcini Skewers.

4 ingredient cheesy zucchini bites easy recipe

11. Fun Dessert!

Make this yummy no-bake recipe for Nutty Chocoholic Balls or Nut-free Energy Balls and if you have kids ask them to do an internet search for “Grinch Fruit Kabobs” so they can see a visual of how assemble these fun skewers (take a toothpick and place a green grape lengthwise to create the head and on top create a Santa hat by placing a slice of banana and whole pointed strawberry with a mini marshmallow on top).

12. Christmas Wreath Salad

Use whatever greens you have on hand and cut beets, oranges, and apples into fun shapes. Assemble into a wreath shape, sprinkle pomegranate seeds and place honey mustard dressing in the middle!

Christmas salad wreath

We hope you’ve enjoyed some of these ideas for healthy appetizers for the holidays! Do you have a favorite healthy appetizer? Let us know in the comments!

Looking for more ideas for holiday appetizers? Check out these ideas on my previous blog: 13 Healthy Holiday Appetizer Ideas

Looking for healthy gift ideas you can make with your family? Check out some of these healthy gift certificate and custom gift basket ideas here Dietitian Approved Healthy Gift Ideas for the Holidays.

You might also want to check out this article on our Holiday Eating Guide: The ONE Healthy Eating Tip You Need to Know

Looking for more holiday nutrition tips, recipes, and videos?

Sound Bites is a weekly newsletter written by our university-trained Registered Dietitians. Get the latest nutrition tips, healthy recipes, videos, and more!

Join thousands of subscribers, and sign up for the newsletter, today! Receive a FREE copy of our ’52 Snack Attacks’ PDF by subscribing now.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

As seen in

  •  

Success stories

"I am a psychologist in private practice and it is very important to me that my clients have the best care with other health care professionals. For that reason Health Stand Nutrition is my only source for exceptional Dietitians. Andrea and her team provide highly knowledgeable, compassionate, and real world support to my clients who require assistance with food lifestyle. I trust my clients to them and you would be in excellent hands making them part of your health care team."
Adele Fox, Psychologist
“This is the first time I feel satisfied; my cravings have diminished dramatically and I have a whole new relationship with food. I am eating guilt-free for the first time in my life. My energy has also dramatically increased and I feel great!
Rhonda Jenkins, Nutrition Counseling Client
“The Dieticians at Health Stand Nutrition help you to take action on the science behind eating well by making it practical, understandable, and fun. Their office is cozy and not at all clinical or intimidating. I felt like I was sitting down with a really smart, caring friend who wanted to help me make the best choices for my lifestyle and food preferences. They really are the best in the business.”
Marty Avery, Nutrition Counseling Client
“I have come to think of the program as a one stop shopping excursion for everything one needs to know about creating a joyous relationship with food and our bodies. In a single word, the course has gifted me with freedom from the punishing rigidity of disordered eating, old stories that never were true, and body dysmorphia that did nothing but make me lose sight of a body that has done everything I've asked, despite my careless dismissal of her needs. Now when I look in the mirror I find myself shifting from harsh criticism to gentle gratitude.”
Lynn Haley, Pursuit of Healthiness Online Course Participant
“I spent 3 hours when first diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I learned more from my Dietitian about food in those 3 hours than I had learned in all the years of my life. I also love the newsletter, there is always something to learn.”
Peter Whitehead, Nutrition Counseling Client
“I didn’t realize how strong my “diet mentality” was, and all the rules I had in my head about food. I was in a cycle of reward/punish/binge/cringe. I booked with your business very reluctantly, on the repeated advice of my doctor, to get my slowly rising cholesterol levels in check. I thought I knew everything about food, and my behaviour with food, but I was definitely re-schooled. My weight is creeping down, I feel good about my diet, exercise, body image, and lifestyle.”
Amy Floyd, Nutrition Counseling Client
“Thanks Andrea for an amazing presentation, I have heard all positive remarks from attendees and the evaluations show the same sentiment. It is really gratifying when a speaker does their “homework” and weaves in our profession’s day to day challenges within their content, you did an awesome job of this! You truly took the “die” out of Dietician! Your information on healthy eating and simplifying how we can work towards this as we are all so busy really hit the mark. Andrea connects very well with her audience; she is energetic, funny, and very approachable.”
Carole Ann LaGrange, Transfusion Medicine Safety Officer

Event Planner for Laboratory Diagnostic Imaging Annual Event

I am a family physician who sees patients with a myriad of eating concerns – from wanting to know how to plan healthy meals for active families, to weight loss, to eating disorders, and so on. I cannot recommend the Health Stand team highly enough. I have worked with (and been to!) other Dieticians in the past and too often find that they just ask for food logs and make suggestions that are easily obtained online or in books. The Dieticians at Health Stand offer much more than just telling clients what they “should be eating.” In contrast, the team really does more of a counselling practice, and they work hard to help their clients learn more about why their eating habits may be off track and not optimal for them, as well as helping people to effect change at a deep level that, most importantly, is sustainable for lifetime health.”
Dr. Deb Putnam, Family Physician

Nutrition Counseling Client & Referring Physician

“I am a busy mom, with kids in high level sports, working full-time downtown, and running our home acreage outside the City. I now have the knowledge and tools I need to plan for and manage the chaos of meal planning.”
Gillian Gray, Pursuit of Healthiness Online Course Participant
“As a construction company, we select speakers who can relate to our industry and its employees. Andrea’s message was delivered with humor and empathy. She makes people feel as though they can make changes without leaving behind every favorite food. Andrea focused her presentation on healthy eating as a way to keep energy high throughout the day. This message and the way it was delivered resonated with our predominantly male, blue collar culture. I would highly recommend Andrea as a speaker for groups such as ours. She will get your message across without alienating anyone in your audience – which is a huge hurdle when trying to introduce a wellness program in the workplace!”
Stephanie Wood, HR and Safety Manager

Fisher Construction Group, Burlington, WA

I found my Dietitian warm, funny, and skilled at teaching nutrition concepts without the overwhelm. The general approach of each session was to mix science with emotion, which was exceedingly effective in helping me shift my perspective on food from one of anxiety to one of joy and curiosity.”
Erin Kronstedt, Nutrition Counseling Client
“Excellent presentation! What a refreshing change to have a speaker inspire rather than “lecture” about nutrition. Your captivating stories, tips and overall approach to healthy eating uplifts and puts people at ease. It was great to hear we don’t need to strive to be perfect eaters, and that small changes really can make a difference in how we feel and in our health. Thanks to Andrea, we have solutions to our everyday nutrition challenges that can actually work in real life!”
Tina Tamagi, Human Resources

ARC Resources Ltd.

“Had I not joined this course I would have struggled with no focus, low energy, and mindless eating. Excellent teaching and motivation. This is not just a course, it is a nutrition club with mentorship, support, and connections with other people with similar situations.”
Lorri Lawrence, Pursuit of Healthiness online course participant

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This