Appetizers & Snacks

Did a bin of firm, underripe avocados dash your hopes for a piece of avocado toast once again? I don’t mean avocados that are still rock-hard — those specimens that seem like they require a chainsaw to cut open. I’m talking about the avocados that dash your plans because they’re just a little too firm for making your favorite batch of guacamole.

When it comes to egg preparation, you really can’t get more versatile than hard-boiled. Whether you peel and eat them as is, devil them, or make them into their own salad, this is one satisfying food, either for breakfast, lunch or dinner. But don’t stop there — it’s time to break out of your shell and explore all the other egg-cellent possibilities. We’ve come up with quick and easy ways to make even the simplest preparation better.

If you’re like me, you’re always looking for a quick but filling and nutritious meal on a busy day. One thing I’ve learned to do is to tuck a few sweet potatoes into the oven whenever I’m baking something. That way, I have a head start on a delicious, nutritious meal, ready to go whenever I’m hungry but pressed for time. Read on for several suggestions for how to use a baked sweet potato.

In case you haven’t heard, avocados taste great. And whether you use them to make guacamole or the ever-popular avocado toast, they also make a great snack. Which is why, today, I want to look deeper into avocado’s bag of tricks and show you what else this fruit can do — beyond getting smashed into a creamy spread. Almost all of these bites are raw and don’t require cooking or heat (hooray!

Popcorn is easily one of my favorite snacks — it’s high in fiber and I love that if I munch on it one piece at a time, it takes a while to eat so that I can stretch out snack time. Sweet or savory? Doesn’t matter to me since I love it all. Making popcorn doesn’t have to involve buying a box of microwave popcorn that has a lot of artificial flavorings and weird chemicals in it.

It has nothing to do with lime, the pit, or plastic wrap.

The easiest snack that's also totally feel-good.

Here are the strategies I'm using during this hectic time.

They're the ultimate nostalgic treat.

Popcorn is a fun, filling snack. We put 8 methods for popping it to the test to find the very best.

Up your knowledge on these baking basics.

They're so good, you may just have to buy more pumpkins.

Have you ever noticed how many recipes there are for banana muffins out there? The plethora of banana-flavored toddler snacks? Or how many banana songs there are for kids? (If you like to eat, eat, eat eeples and baneenies you’re not alone.) There’s a reason for that — it’s because bananas are heaven’s gifts to parents with hungry kids. Yes, they’re chock-full of potassium and a good source of vitamin C. Sure, they are self-contained.

This shape makes eating watermelon even more fun (and less messy).

Some nights, you need a break.

I have spent years perfecting this method.

Just toss your ingredients in a food processor and hit the purée button.

Step one: Take it out of the plastic tub.

The only problem will be when people ask for the recipe.

It's easier than whatever else you had planned for dinner.

The easiest, tastiest way to eat a bunch of snacks for lunch.

So long brown guac!

This simple tip is the key to achieving hummus bliss.

Is there anything more fun than s’mores? For me it brings back nostalgic childhood memories, the warmth of friendship around an open campfire. But there’s no reason you can’t enjoy them now, too! Try one of these eight takes on the classic and remind yourself why melted chocolate is oh-so-great.No one is quite sure about the origin of the s’more (contraction for “some more”).

Chances are, you’ve read about what foods to carry on the plane (it’s been quite a popular post for some time now). But in the summer, we find ourselves in a car even more than an airplane. So, what should we snack on?In the backseat of your own car, you don’t have to worry about TSA regulations or fitting your food in the side pocket of your carry-on bag. But other rules apply…. Here are our thoughts:No tiny pieces.

What: To Your Health Sprouted Flour Co. Read the series → Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four Love really good popcorn, but don’t want to take the time to make it the old-fashioned way? Use sprouted corn kernels in place of conventional popping corn, and you can achieve popcorn perfection with the convenience of your microwave. Here’s how to do it. The keys to great popcorn are the multiple mini-explosions created when heat turns the moisture in each kernel into steam.

Have you ever tried re-popping unpopped popcorn? (Also, try saying that three times fast!) Dumping those stubborn kernels in the trash has always bugged us, so we decided to start collecting them in a jar and see if we could get them to re-pop. And guess what? It worked!I didn’t do anything very special with my unpopped kernels.

While some people always have a loaf of bread in the fridge, I keep a package of tortillas on hand at all times. I have found them truly indispensable when it comes to staying full and satisfied throughout the day. And before you think tortillas are only good for quesadillas, think again; these floppy round disks of dough are destined for way more. Pleasing to the eye and mouth, pinwheels make a super easy snack, for kids and adults alike.

I don’t usually plan when I’m going to snack. Instead I reach for something to nibble on the moment my stomach starts grumbling. And as for what I reach for, it’s usually whatever is the most convenient and requires the least amount of work in the moment. Smarter snacking comes down to this: prep, packaging, and storage. Here are five helpful tips to make those things, and smarter snacking, a little bit easier.

There’s no question that tortilla chips are perfect for dipping in salsa and scooping up guacamole, but they’re way more than just a snack food. In fact, they have a well-deserved place on the dinner table — here are five types of meals that prove it. Were nachos the first thing that came to mind when you thought about tortilla chips for dinner? It was for me! This is one of the most obvious ways to turn tortilla chips into a meal, and certainly a delicious one.

After polling The Kitchn editors about their snacking habits, I’ve realized that snacking is a pretty personal experience. Turns out we run the gamut. So when an afternoon craving hits, this is what The Kitchn editors reach for. “Any kind of nuts, but especially almonds. I prefer them roasted and slightly salted, but I’ll also eat them raw, and for a special treat, I love Marcona almonds.

You chop them into guac, mash them on toast, and maybe drop a few pieces into your smoothie, but there are some amazing ways to use avocados that I bet you’ve yet to try. Ready to see if you’re using avocados in all the best ways? If you haven’t tried them yet, make sure avocados are next in line for a batch of baked veggies fries. They cook up super crispy and crunchy on the outside, and rich and creamy on the inside.

When my colleagues and I got to talking about all the ways we couldn’t wait to inhale tomatoes this summer, Hali called out her favorite snack from Spain. Pan con tomate, which quite literally translates to “bread with tomato,” is a classic tapa that originates from the northeastern region of Catalonia.

The 3 p.m. stomach rumble is something we’ve all experienced, but there’s a way to take control of it. Keeping a few items on hand in your desk drawer ensures that you’ll be able to fight it as soon as it hits, without resorting to lingering stale muffins in the break room or hitting the vending machine. Here are three keys for wholesome snacktime success.

You can’t beat homemade hummus, no matter what the shelves upon shelves of pre-made stuff at the grocery store lead you to believe. But there are a few keys to ensuring that your hummus is scrape-the-bowl worthy. Here are five mistakes to avoid the next time you make hummus that will guarantee success. Yes, in a pinch you can successfully make hummus with canned beans, but it just honestly won’t be as good.

Come December, we’d wager every lunch box has a clementine or two tucked inside of them. Alone they are a near-perfect snack, packaged by nature to require no extra containers, and thin-skinned and easy to peel for little hands. When you add an extra ingredient to the mix, clementines become a snack-time superstar. From chocolate to nuts, here’s how to turn your clementines into a winning snack.

A cheese ball gets props for being a party food that’s incredibly easy to assemble. It requires just a short list of ingredients and can quickly become the hit of the party when paired with crudité and more. It does, however, require a little time to make, since the cheese needs to come to room temperature before forming the ball and then needs to firm back up in the refrigerator before serving.

A cheese ball is only as good as what you serve it with. Crackers are classic, but that’s really just the tip of the cheese ball. All that flavorful goodness that’s rolled up inside has the potential to be spread onto and dipped into countless tasty snacks. Here are 7 to inspire your next party. Fruit and cheese make a wonderful match. Something firm, like pear or apple slices, allows for easy spreading and dipping.

The beauty of including cheese balls in your appetizer spread is their simplicity and ease of preparation. In fact, cheese balls don’t require a recipe so much as they do some good ingredient inspiration, while following a four-step assembly process. Even so, there are a few missteps that have the potential to stand in the way of making a cheese ball that’s a total win.

At the heart of a cheese ball is, of course, the cheese, so it’s important that the cheese used is a great one if you want stellar results. Almost any cheese can be transformed into a party-friendly ball, but we have a few favorites that we always turn to when building our creation. Here are our top five picks. First, it’s important to know that a cheese ball is a two-cheese (at a minimum) affair.

If you, like me, have a popcorn habit, you know that there’s really no bad time to dig in. Be it the mid-afternoon stomach rumble or post-dinner movie marathon, popcorn is always a satisfying interlude. A bag of the pre-popped stuff can be mildly gratifying, but in order to get the full effect you really do have to pop it yourself. And when you do, remember these five simple tips so you always pop up the best pot.

My main struggle with snacks is that when I’m bored, I want to snack. My daughter is the same way, but it was hard for her to accurately gauge (not to mention communicate) if she was bored or actually hungry — especially when she was a toddler. My husband and I would inevitably find that in the window of time before dinner, she would come clamoring up to us, asking for a snack. Out of this came our family’s most important snacking rule, and one I try to get everyone to follow.

When you think of chocolate and fruit, chocolate-covered strawberries are probably the very first thing that come to mind. It’s hard not to love the treat, whether you splurge at the Godiva store at the mall or you make them yourself for someone you love. That’s really just the beginning when it comes to enjoying chocolate and fruit together, though.

Toddler parents know this one thing to be true: A hungry toddler is a cranky toddler. And while we’re often in a rush to feed our littlest eaters before they melt down, we also want to make sure they are regularly trying new foods and getting balanced nutrition, too. Need fresh ideas? We got you. Some of my fellow editors (all parents!) and I brainstormed a massive list of our favorite easy and wholesome toddler food ideas — and below, you’ll find all of them.

I’ve never been great at the whole lunch thing. I rarely have the foresight to prep things in advance, and buying lunch every day can really add up. So more often than not, I snack. A little bit of this and little bit of that becomes my surprisingly satisfying midday meal, with bonus points that I can assemble everything quickly — with little-to-no actual cooking. Here’s how I build my snack-box lunch.

Fruit is like the hole-in-one of my children’s lunch boxes; it is one of the few things my kids are guaranteed to eat every day. (The same cannot be said for green vegetables or even baby carrots.) The pitfall of fruit is that some of its best specimens — summer strawberries, delicate fall pears — take a beating in transportation from backpack to bus stop to school cubby.

One of the biggest challenges of packing my kids’ school lunches is seeing — and cleaning up — the food that comes back home. Not only is it a major bummer to see the food go to waste, but it also leaves me wondering if my kids spent the afternoon hungry. Sliced apples — beloved by my kids at home — used to always come back in their lunch boxes uneaten.

The shelves at Sam’s Club started looking a little different around this time last year. See, that’s when execs decided to rethink their private-label products. “At one point, we had 21 private labels,” says Chandra Holt, vice president of private brands at Sam’s Club, in a press release. “So the first thing I set out to do was to simplify for our members. We now have one private brand: Member’s Mark.

It’s hard to beat Cheez-It crackers. They’re cheesy! They’re salty! They’re crunchy! They’re crowd-pleasers for kids and adults! There’s just one thing better than a Cheez-It cracker — and that’s a burnt Cheez-It cracker. You know what I speak of: The Cheez-It you find in every other handful that somehow got a little more well-done than the rest in the bunch.

While I am generally not a fan of my kids snacking, there are times — like right when they get home from school — when they just want a little something. Immediately. And they don’t care that I’m actively cooking dinner that will be ready in five minutes. So while I’d rather they not snack, I’m also a realist. As long as I can guide them toward something healthy, I know they can feed their growing bellies.

Every country has its own particular foods, and you can get as much of a local sampling by hitting the grocery store as you can from a street food vendor. I haven’t been to London in almost 10 years, but I remember the thrill of discovering that “crisps” were potato chips — and that they came in an array of flavors I’d never heard of before. These days, you obviously don’t even have to take a flight if you want to try out the fun snacks from any given country.

Wholesome ideas for tired parents & hangry kiddos.

Reminiscent of the childhood classic we all love, this creamy smoothie treats you to the fruity, nutty flavors that make the PB&J such an enduring favorite. Each smoothie pack is filled with cherries and strawberries for sweet, jammy flavor, plus sliced banana for extra creaminess. We’re adding the peanut butter to the bag to keep it classic, but why not go a little off course with almond or cashew butter for a cool smoothie that will not disappoint?

If you want to start your day with the sweet taste of summer all year long, these frozen peach-raspberry smoothie kits are always a good place to start. Sunny stone fruit and jewel-toned berries are partnered with a surprising ingredient (hint: it’s a vegetable) for a subtly sweet smoothie with an extra-creamy texture. This kit comes together with peaches, raspberries, and cauliflower, plus a liquid of your choice when it’s time to blend. Here’s what you’ll need.

Aside from using it to get dinner on the table on busy nights, I always lean on my slow cooker when I need to keep food or drinks warm for a crowd — it’s an invaluable tool at parties and potlucks. But sometimes I wish I had another slow cooker handy to keep a second dish warm, especially come Super Bowl time when I have multiple dips and apps laid out.

I had been in southeast Asia for three days when I hopped on a 16-hour overnight train out of Bangkok. Still jet-lagged and slightly overwhelmed, I didn’t have snacks too high on my to-do list. “Maybe I’ll stop at a grocery store in the morning,” had turned into “I’ll get lunch at the train station,” and then “I can probably buy food on the train.

I realize that hitting a drive-thru of any kind for an after-school snack seems ominous from the start, but there are days when I have to bounce between school pickup and errands or soccer practice and I’d rather not do it without caffeine and with hungry kids. This is definitely a survival-mode strategy, but I still don’t want to ruin my children’s diet with a sugary drink or snack, even if I’m doing a coffee drive-thru.

Working from home means that I do a lot more snacking throughout the day than I’d like to admit. Instead of preparing a proper lunch, I’m more likely to eat a little of this and a little of that all day long until dinnertime. Some of my go-to snacks include yogurt and granola, carrots and hummus, cheese and crackers, and fresh fruit. But I have a new favorite that’s been in heavy rotation. It only requires three ingredients, and sometimes it doubles as dessert.

Sticky, sweet dates have many wonderful uses. They can be chopped up for a salad, blended into a smoothie, or even made into caramels. They don’t, however, actually need that much fussing to be enjoyed. All on their own, they make for a pretty good snack. Add just one more ingredient to the equation and you’ve got a snack that’s truly great. Even better, you don’t need to go out of your way to buy anything special.

There seem to be weekly moments when you’re gathered with friends and need a good snack and a drink. Maybe it’s book club, game night, or just that 5 p.m. drop-by of a couple of your best buddies looking to catch up and laugh a little. Whatever the excuse, bites and sips are a must. It doesn’t have to be complicated to be fun — just a few good apps and a bottle of wine can win in these instances. That means these moments also don’t need to break the bank.