When we entertain, we often find ourselves serving a mix of omnivores, vegetarians and vegans, and it always takes a little planning to come up with dishes that everyone will enjoy. When it comes to appetizers, we've found it's easiest to go with an almost all-vegan spread, and we follow one simple rule that ensures everyone's happy eating ...
Our trick? We stick with recipes that are traditionally made with no animal products instead of vegan versions of meat or cheese dishes. We'll swap out vegetable stock for chicken stock or olive oil for butter, but we steer clear of fake meat and faux cheese. Like it or not, these things have bad associations for a lot of people.
Instead, we let vegetables, grains and lentils shine. Serve falafel with tahini sauce or vegetable spring rolls with peanut sauce, and you won't get any raised eyebrows from anyone – they'll be too busy filling their plates. There are plenty of dishes that most guests will be familiar with that just happen to be vegan. Set out a real cheese plate for the non-vegans, and no one knows the difference.
We've rounded up a few favorite vegan appetizer recipes and recommendations from our archives.
Serve dips and spreads that everyone can love.
- Fresh Shell Bean and Sage Spread
- DIY Baba Ghanoush
- White Bean Spread with White Truffle Oil (substitute vegetable stock)
- Olive Tapenade
- Roasted Garlic
- Muhammara
- Ful Medammes
Never underestimate the appeal of homemade salsa and good tortilla chips.
Everyone loves finger food.
- Crab Apples Poached in Sweet Wine
- Peppadew Peppers (an ingredient that can stand alone)
- Spicy Oven-Roasted Chickpeas
- Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
- Rosemary Roasted Cashews
- Vegetable and Mint Summer Rolls with Spicy Peanut Sauce
When in doubt, do shots (of soup!)
- Let's Do Soup Shots
- Pumpkin Tortilla Soup
- Zucchini Garlic Soup (substitute for butter)
- Pomegranate Lentil Soup
- Cashew Tomato Soup
Do you have any vegan appetizer favorites?
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Thank you so much for this list!
What about hummus? I love roasted garlic hummus with baked pita chips. Also, olive platters are delish, especially if you're doing cocktails (my husband's big on martinis). Lastly, homemade (or store bought) pretzels with gourmet mustard for dipping are yummy, too.
Also, for tasty desserts, I love a dark chocolate fondue with fruit and marshmallows (for the non-veg crowd). I also like serving friends my family's traditional Filipino desserts, which are often made without animal products. The best is a "cake" my Grandma makes with sweet rice, brown sugar and coconut milk, baked in a pan lined with banana leaves.
Egads, I need a snack!
Oh my goodness, Lorena, that "cake" sounds amazing!
Chickpeas and Spinach with Toasted Baguette--the traditional Spanish tapas: saute fresh spinach or cook frozen and squeeze out extra moisture. Combine with drained and rinsed canned chickpeas, juice of a few lemons, nice olive oil, salt and pepper, and roasted red pepper if you like.
This CHOW recipe for Chile-Lime Peanuts (for Latin or SE Asian menus): http://www.chow.com/recipes/11169
Shots of Carrot Red-Lentil Soup with Asian Spices from the Union Square Restaurant cookbook (easy to Google--sub in olive oil for the butter to saute the onion and veggies).
Please note that the "Vegetable and Mint Summer Rolls with Spicy Peanut Sauce" are NOT vegan OR vegetarian because they fall for fish sauce. If serving these to vegans, please leave out the fish sauce!