Healthy Appetizers for the Holidays

Happy Appies to Make With Your Family for Comfort and Connection

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.

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.

 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.

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!

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!

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