10 Thanksgiving Appetizers

Thanksgiving appetizers have one job, which is to keep people out of the kitchen until the turkey is carved.

So most of these are made ahead, and the rest go in the oven while the bird rests.

Each one below has a pin so you can see what you’re aiming for, and a link to a recipe that has actually been made.

Ten of them.

1. Baked Brie With Cranberry Sauce

A whole wheel with the rind on, because the rind is the only thing holding it together once it’s hot.

Score the top in a crosshatch so the cranberry sinks in instead of sliding off.

Whole berry cranberry sauce over the top, then chopped pecans, and a brie baker keeps it from running across the plate.

350 for fifteen minutes, until the sides give when pressed.

It has about ten minutes of being soft before it firms back up, so it goes in the oven when people are already standing around.

If anyone at the table is pregnant, check that the label says pasteurized, since not every brie is.

The pin is Berly’s Kitchen’s cranberry baked brie, which tops the wheel with cranberry sauce and pecans and serves it with crostini, and sturdy crackers do the same job.

2. Sweet Potato Bites With Marshmallows

Quarter-inch rounds, all the same thickness, or the thin ones burn while the thick ones are still raw.

Toss them in melted butter with maple syrup and cinnamon, and lay them out in one layer.

400 for twenty minutes, until a fork goes in without pushing.

Cut large marshmallows in half with kitchen shears, because a knife sticks and mini marshmallows roll off.

One half on each round, then under the broiler for one to two minutes, and you don’t walk away from a broiler with sugar under it.

A pecan pressed into each one while the marshmallow is still soft.

The pin is The Recipe Critic’s sweet potato bites, which are two sweet potatoes, butter, maple syrup, cinnamon, twelve large marshmallows halved, and twenty-four pecans, and that’s the whole list.

3. Maple Bacon Wrapped Brussels Sprouts

Halve the sprouts so they cook through in the time it takes the bacon to crisp, because a whole sprout is still raw in the middle when the bacon is done.

Half a strip of bacon per half sprout, wrapped once and held with a bamboo toothpick.

The glaze is maple syrup and balsamic, brushed on before they go in and again halfway.

400 on a rack over a sheet pan, so the bacon crisps on the bottom instead of sitting in its own fat.

Twenty-five to thirty minutes, and the bacon has to be fully cooked, not just browned on the outside.

Serve them warm, since cold bacon fat is nobody’s favorite texture.

The pin is Unbound Wellness’ maple balsamic glazed bacon wrapped Brussels sprouts, which glaze with maple, balsamic, coconut sugar and coconut aminos and come with a garlic lemon aioli for dipping.

4. Pumpkin Soup Shooters

Sauté onion and mushrooms in butter, stir in flour and a spoon of curry powder, then broth, a can of pumpkin puree, honey, and nutmeg.

Simmer ten minutes, add evaporated milk, and blend it smooth.

Blend hot soup in batches with the lid vented and a towel over it, because a full blender of hot liquid blows the lid off.

Two ounces per shot glass, which is a taste, not a course.

Toasted pumpkin seeds on top, added at the last second so they stay crunchy.

Soup is either kept hot or kept cold, and a shooter sitting lukewarm on a table for an hour is the one that gets someone sick.

The pin is Celebrations at Home’s pumpkin curry soup appetizer, which is exactly that soup blended silky and served in small cups, with stuffing balls on the side, and the stuffing balls are a good idea.

5. Spinach Artichoke Dip

This one’s on the site already, so the full recipe is the baked spinach artichoke dip and this is the short version.

Frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed in a clean towel until nothing else comes out, because a wet dip is a soupy dip.

Canned artichoke hearts, drained and chopped small enough to fit on a chip.

Cream cheese, sour cream, and mayo for the base, parmesan for the salt, and mozzarella for the pull.

375 for twenty to twenty-five minutes until it’s bubbling at the edges and brown on top.

It stays hot in its baking dish for twenty minutes, and after two hours out it goes in the fridge or in the bin.

Assemble it the day before, keep it covered in the fridge, and add ten minutes to the bake if it goes in cold.

6. Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms

Cremini, not white button, since they hold their shape and taste like something.

Wipe them with a damp towel instead of rinsing, because mushrooms soak up water and then leak it into the filling.

Pull the stems, chop them, and cook them into the filling with the sausage, because that’s a third of the mushroom you paid for.

Brown the sausage, add shallot and garlic, then cream cheese and asiago off the heat so it binds without going greasy.

A melon baller scoops the caps clean and mounds the filling in one motion.

400 on an oiled sheet pan for about twenty minutes, and a sheet pan beats a baking dish because the liquid the mushrooms release runs off instead of pooling.

The pin is Well Seasoned Studio’s sausage and cream cheese stuffed mushrooms, which use sweet Italian sausage, shallot, cream cheese, asiago, fresh sage and parsley, and finish with flaky salt.

7. Deviled Eggs With a Twist

Steam the eggs for twelve minutes instead of boiling them, and they peel clean every time.

Week-old eggs peel easier than fresh ones, which is the one time old eggs win.

The twist is a teaspoon of sriracha in the yolk mix and smoked paprika over the top, and both go on lighter than you think because the egg can’t fight back.

A piping bag with the tip cut off fills them in a minute, and a zip bag with the corner cut does the same.

Crumbled bacon on top at serving, not before, or it goes soft.

They stay in the fridge until the last minute and don’t sit out longer than two hours, since mayo and egg yolk is the classic way to send guests home early.

The pin is Casa de Crews’ spicy deviled eggs with bacon and sriracha, which stir the sriracha into a mayo and mustard yolk filling, top with crumbled bacon and chives, and drizzle more sriracha over the top.

8. Roasted Butternut Squash Crostini

Half-inch cubes of squash, oil, salt, and whole sage leaves roasted at 425 for about twenty minutes until the edges brown.

Slice the baguette thin and toast the slices dry, then brush oil on after, so they don’t go soft under the squash.

Ricotta on the toast first, since it’s what holds the squash on.

Squash on the ricotta, a fold of prosciutto, and a fried sage leaf.

Flaky salt and black pepper over the top, and a thin drizzle of balsamic if you want something sharp against the squash.

Assemble in the last half hour, because toast softens under warm squash.

The pin is Season and Serve’s butternut squash and prosciutto crostini, which builds them on ricotta with roasted squash, prosciutto and sage, and the prosciutto is the part that makes it a Thanksgiving appetizer instead of a fall one.

9. Cranberry Pecan Cheese Ball

Cream cheese at room temperature beaten with sharp white cheddar, chopped dried cranberries, toasted pecans, chives, and garlic powder.

Toast the pecans five minutes at 375 first, because raw pecans taste like nothing in cream cheese.

Scrape it onto plastic wrap, gather the wrap, and twist it into a ball, since shaping it with your hands is a mess.

Two hours in the fridge minimum so it holds, and it keeps three days.

Roll it in the rest of the cranberries and pecans right before it goes out, because the coating goes soft if it sits in the fridge on the ball.

Take it out twenty minutes before serving so it spreads instead of shattering the cracker.

The pin is Gimme Delicious’ cranberry pecan cheese ball, which holds back half the cranberries and pecans for the coating, and that’s the detail that makes it look like the photo.

10. Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus

Medium spears, not the pencil-thin ones, which turn to string in the oven.

Snap the woody ends off by bending each spear until it breaks on its own.

Thinly sliced prosciutto, spread with softened cream cheese mixed with green onion and a clove of garlic put through a garlic press.

Two or three spears per bundle, wrapped at an angle so the prosciutto covers the middle and the tips show.

400 for ten to twelve minutes on an oiled sheet pan, until the prosciutto crisps and the asparagus is bright green and still has bite.

No added salt anywhere, because prosciutto has already done that job.

The pin is Favorite Family Recipes’ prosciutto wrapped asparagus, which blanches the spears first and spreads a cream cheese, green onion and garlic filling on the prosciutto before wrapping, and the blanch is what keeps the asparagus tender under the short bake.

Half of these cross over to December, and the Christmas finger foods post picks up where this one leaves off.

And for the weeks before Thanksgiving, the savory fall snack ideas post has the spiced nuts and tartlets.