Vegetarian Appetizers?

December 8, 2021 5:48 AM

Vegetarian MeFites! Please hope me appetizer!

We are invited to a small gathering next week, and guests are requested to bring an appetizer. The host is a vegetarian, and I'd like to make something they can enjoy. Unfortunately, most of our own go-to appetizers have meat in some form. I suppose I could browse the web looking for recipes, but I would have no idea if what I found was actually tasty. So, I come to ask my fellow MeFites to please share their fave/go-to tasty vegetarian appetizer recipes.

• I would prefer something that doesn't need to be cooked or baked at the gathering, or anything that would require hauling a crockpot around. I do have a 9x12 glass pan and thermal carry bag that can keep things hot for transport.
• Sweet or savory are all good, though savory would probably be the better route to go.
• Spicy/hot is a-ok. We all loves our chilies.
• Vegetarian, not vegan. So, real cheese, butter, etc. are ok.
• Think finger foods, small plate, etc.

Many thanks!

posted by Thorzdad to Food & Drink (24 answers total)

Olive Cream Cheese Penguins can be fun, though they're a bit more about the presentation than the taste.
posted by needs more cowbell at 5:58 AM on December 8, 2021 [2 favorites]

Cheese and other stuff plate? Cheese, bread or crackers, olives, mustard, jam, apple slices, pickles, etc.

Stuffed mushrooms (such as these)

Little tomato/basil/cheese toothpick caprese dealios?

Deviled eggs?
posted by papayaninja at 5:59 AM on December 8, 2021

I made Figs in a Blanket for the first time over Thanksgiving and OMG were they GOOD. Everyone loved them.
posted by cooker girl at 6:07 AM on December 8, 2021 [5 favorites]

Little spanakopita, little quiches, and samosas are good at warm-to-room temp.
posted by tchemgrrl at 6:13 AM on December 8, 2021 [5 favorites]

Cream cheese stuffed dates with macron almonds. Here's a recipe but also insert a macron almond.Here
posted by tipsyBumblebee at 6:15 AM on December 8, 2021

I'm a huge fan of Broccoli Tots. They're a good finger food, easy to prepare, lots of brands make frozen ones that are perfectly acceptable. I serve them with Sriracha Mayo, they are delicious. Sriracha Ketchup will comport with staying veg.
posted by sydnius at 6:16 AM on December 8, 2021

If they eat fish, I’ve done thin slices of a narrow baguette with smoked salmon, cream cheese and capers. Or bruschetta.
posted by gt2 at 6:32 AM on December 8, 2021

If they eat fish
Vegetarians don't eat fish. (As someone who was served fish by well-meaning hosts when I was a vegetarian because of this misunderstanding, I find it important to correct.)
posted by needs more cowbell at 6:39 AM on December 8, 2021 [22 favorites]

Pkhali sounds perfect for this occasion. It is a traditional Georgian appetizer made from a walnut paste base, with cooked greens or vegetables. I first had spinach pkhali, beet pkhali, and carrot pkhali at a Georgian restaurant in DC and fell in love. It’s easy to make, transport, and serve. Quickly googled and here is a link to an overview/recipe from Bon Appetit, but there are a lot of other sources you can reference.
posted by macska at 6:44 AM on December 8, 2021 [2 favorites]

Because you probably don't want to do a dip or spread that everybody is touching in the year of our universe 2021: Stuffed mushrooms, tiny twice-baked fingerling potatoes, the whole family of fruit/vegetable/cheese combinations on little skewers (herb marinated is nice), artichoke leaves or endive leaves with stuff in them, shooter glasses of a boldly-flavored soup if you have a collection of shot glasses on hand or have time to acquire shooters. I second tchemgrrl's suggestion of little spanakopita, little quiches, and samosas.
posted by jocelmeow at 6:52 AM on December 8, 2021 [3 favorites]

Caprese skewers are yummy, look festive, are good at room temperature and can be gussied up or down as desired. Classic crowd pleaser that goes with a lot of other foods. Best is if you can find cherry tomatoes and mini balls of fresh mozzarella that are the same size as the tomatoes. Second best is cubing big balls into tomato-sized pieces.

Drain the mozzarella for a while in a colander. Meanwhile, wash and pat dry the tomatoes and fresh basil, plucking whole basil leaves off the stem.

Skewer a tomato, a folded basil leaf, a piece of cheese, and then repeat that so you’ve got two of each on a skewer. Set them on a platter and then liberally dress with the nicest olive oil you’ve got. Sprinkle with coarse salt and black pepper. If the tomatoes are a little blah due to the season, sprinkle a bit of sugar too.

Fancy options include: increasing the specialness of the olive oil, including a single big pitted olive at the end of each skewer, adding some finely crushed smoked red chili flakes, fancy salts, decorative skewers, locally sourced fresh mozzarella.

I agree that a dip is maybe not the way to go this year and would err on the side of individual portions. If you want to make a dip or spread, get a skinny baguette and make pre-spread crostinis or bruschettas or whatever you want to call them. Mix it up with lettuce cups or bell pepper lobes if you want to.
posted by Mizu at 6:58 AM on December 8, 2021 [5 favorites]

In case you're going the cheese plate route - you may want to ask how strict they are in their vegetarianism. Many cheeses aren't really vegetarian as they use animal-rennet. A good cheesemonger can help you pick ones with vegetable rennet, or maybe the host is fine with it, but you may want to ask.
posted by Laura in Canada at 7:01 AM on December 8, 2021 [2 favorites]

My best-received appetizer this year was spinach wheels, adapted from this recipe. Very easy but a couple of adjustments make it easier. It's also a useful base technique that has turned me into one of those people who will always keep frozen puff pastry on hand. My final recipe was:

1 diced onion
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained
6 chopped green onions
8 ounces goat cheese log
1 egg
-------
Garlic powder, pepper, Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute & Mushroom Seasoning Blend to taste (or whatever spices you like)
------
1 box (2 sheets) puff pastry
1 egg for brushing

2h before baking, put puff pastry on counter to thaw.

90m before baking, saute onion, green onion, and spinach in a pan with a little oil until tender. Break up goat cheese log into pan, stir until melty. Add seasonings to taste*. Turn off heat and stir in egg. Put pan into fridge (or turn contents into shallow dish and put in fridge) until cooled.

1h before baking, unroll puff pastry sheets onto parchment paper or foil*. Using half the filling mixture for each sheet, spread out to the edges as evenly as possible. Start rolling into logs using the longest edge. Pat into tube shape as necessary. Put into fridge to chill.

10-15m before baking, oven to 400. Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper or foil. Using sharp, preferably serrated knife, slice chilled rolls 3/4" thick and place slices on baking sheet. They don't spread too much. Optional: brush slices with beaten egg for additional color.

Bake 15 minutes, then start checking for color. Remove when light golden brown. Transfer slices to wire rack or other cool surface (bottoms will burn otherwise). Tasty warm or cold.


* My goat cheese was very salty so I added no extra salt, but ymmv.
Can be made with cream cheese instead, or without green onions, or by swapping all/some of the spinach for another green or for mushrooms. I will probably add mushrooms next time I make it.
Foil may need a little flour to keep from sticking.
Filling or uncut rolls can be made in advance since they need to cool anyway.
posted by notquitemaryann at 7:23 AM on December 8, 2021 [2 favorites]

I've made goat cheese stuffed peppadews (recipe is just an example but they're all basically the same) for parties before & they've always been a hit. They're easy but people always find them a bit unexpected in a good way.
posted by edencosmic at 7:36 AM on December 8, 2021 [3 favorites]

Sunbread (or tarte soleil if you want to be fancy about it) is SO impressive and delicious. If the gathering is at all christmassy and the group likes a little cheesiness, you can cut it into a Christmas tree shape really easily too (but I would recommend the smitten kitchen recipe for the filling, the one I linked for the tree shape ymmv).
posted by Sweetchrysanthemum at 7:58 AM on December 8, 2021 [3 favorites]

How to make pastry pinwheels for a party – recipe Just up today!
Also one more vote for little spanakopita -- my children insist they are just as good made from store-bought puff pastry as when made the right way with layers of filo dough.
Gougères are delicious, even when they fail a bit, as they sometimes do for me.
For something entirely vegan, my first thought was stuffed vine leaves. Like others above, I have just found a random recipe that is similar to the one I use. Or Grilled Marinated Eggplant, this is excellent at room temperature as well as warm.
posted by mumimor at 8:09 AM on December 8, 2021

Little squares of puff pastry topped with feta cheese & a dollop of cranberry sauce are delicious
posted by belladonna at 8:28 AM on December 8, 2021 [3 favorites]

There are a lot of fairly yummy meat substitutes that would be fabulous in an appetizer, if your host isn't against things like fake hot dogs, fake sausage, fake ground beef, etc.

- Pigs in blankets? Just get some soy hot dogs.

- little biscuits with sausage? Get the "Gimme Lean" sausage because it's the best; shape it into the size patties you want - miniature for this, I think - and make mini biscuits to match.

- Charcuterie? Buy some soy-based ham or canadian bacon, some tofurkey slices, and add the usual crackers, cheese, celery, carrots, etc. Bonus if you make some tofu-based ranch dressing to go with.

- Don't want to cook but want to impress? Get some of that amazing fried tofu appetizer from a Thai restaurant. It's OK if it's not piping hot, but if you can keep it warm before the party, bonus.
posted by amtho at 9:01 AM on December 8, 2021 [1 favorite]

Samosas, yo.
posted by MiraK at 9:04 AM on December 8, 2021 [6 favorites]

Mine are mostly dips, so you can take them or leave them, but FWIW if I'm breathing with people right now, I'm not super worried about them touching things. YMMV. Also, easy to grab corn chips or GF crackers if you have a GF person among you.

This spinach and artichoke dip straight vanishes every time I make it. No crockpot necessary, take it in the glass pan and thermal bag.

Pepper jelly and cream cheese. Dead easy, so good.

It's not fancy, but there's nothing wrong with cut up vegetables and hummus, and sometimes a vegetable at these things is very welcome.

Cherry tomatoes stuffed with blue cheese (a little mayo or sour cream helps hold it together).

Individual antipasto cups, just leave out the meat.
posted by joycehealy at 9:07 AM on December 8, 2021 [2 favorites]

Feta cranberry pinwheels are one of my favourite things to make in these scenarios. So easy, so tasty. I use a fair bit of green onion because I like the flavour contrast.
posted by Paper rabies at 10:22 AM on December 8, 2021 [1 favorite]

Roasted tomato galette -find vegetarian puff pastry sheets. Get a pint or two of grape tomatoes. Roast the tomatoes on their own, with a little olive oil, some rosemary, and romano or other strong, grated vegetarian cheese, this will be about 30m at ~400 F. Or vegan cheese -I have done this with a vegan parmesan substitute. Lay out the defrosted puff pastry sheet. Dock the puff pastry in a diamond within the square -read the next step to understand what I am describing poorly here. You will arrange the roasted tomatoes in a diamond shape (over the docked area), so you basically have triangles of puff pastry to fold over the tomatoes, so it is square again. Then bake the puff pastry galette per the puff pastry instructions
posted by kellyblah at 6:52 PM on December 8, 2021 [2 favorites]

how has nobody said deviled eggs yet? old school, but they disappear like nobody's business. this time of year you can decorate them all holidayish with paprika and zaatar, or diced red pepper and fresh herbs... tons of different ways to go. Useful for the low carb / gluten free crowd too.
posted by fingersandtoes at 10:16 PM on December 8, 2021 [3 favorites]

I have a recipe I love from "Vegetarian Appetizers: Simply Delicious Recipes for Easy Entertaining" by Paulette Mitchell. It says to serve warm, but I have served cold and it is still delicious.

Apple Salsa and Brie Crostini
Apple Salsa:
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon honey
dash of salt and pepper to taste
1 granny smith apple,
2 tablespoons finely chopped red bell pepper(I used a whole pepper
finally chopped)
2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro

12 crostini( toasted french bread)
1/2 cup rindless brie

Preheat the broiler. To make the salsa: Stir together the vinegar,
oil, honey, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Add the apple, bell
pepper, onion and cilantro; toss. Taste and adjust seasoning.

To serve, mound each toast with 1 heaping tablespoon of the salsa.
Top with about 2 teaspoons of the cheese. Arrange on a baking sheet.
Broil 5 inches from the heat source for 1 minute, or until the cheese
is melted. Serve warm.

The other appetizer I make, and is always a hit is one I got from Martha Stewart Magazine years ago, and I memorized it. It is served hot, but you can do all the prep, put them on a pan, and heat at the party if your hosts will let you. You take zucchini, slice into inch rounds, use a melon baller scoop out a little bowl. Put some crumbled gorgonzola cheese or other good blue cheese in the little bowl in the zucchini. Then top the cheese with half a cherry tomato. Bake at a high temperature until the cheese is melted and the tomato is a little bit collapsed. So Yummy!
posted by momochan at 10:44 AM on December 9, 2021