Appetizers & Snacks

You know puff pastry, phyllo, and pie dough as the backbone of many a sweet dessert, but these versatile doughs are good for so much more. In fact, one of my favorite ways to use them is for savory snacks and appetizers, from puff pastry cheese sticks to fresh corn galettes. Frozen dough is my secret to no-fuss, last-minute get-togethers with friends and family. But these doughs, while similar, are not created equal.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Who wants to live in a world — or go to a Super Bowl party — where the chips lack crunchy ridges?

Are you on team snack board yet? These budget-friendly dinners are a great tool to have on hand for a simple, stress-free meal at home shamelessly made of nothing but snacks. Building them isn’t hard, and there aren’t any rules, but there are a few mistakes to avoid to ensure success. Here’s what to always keep in mind when you’re assembling a snack board of your own. Once again, snack boards are supposed to be stress-free.

Let's investigate this curiously-named cracker, shall we?

You’ve got to love a freezer waffle — they’re convenient when you want to switch from the toast or bagel routine, and are neutral enough in flavor to host a variety of toppings. Once you’ve found the right brand for your tastes, it’s time to explore all the ways to enjoy them beyond the standard swipe of butter and jam or drizzle of maple syrup. These 10 ideas use frozen waffles as a blank canvas for breakfast (and beyond).

Sometimes a craving for a snack is very specific, like when you need salt and vinegar chips. Then there are times when only something sweet will do. What about the times when you just need to bite into something with serious crunch? Here are five out-of-the-box ways to nix that crunchy craving. Triscuits win the prize for the crunchiest cracker around. They’re also seriously sturdy, which means that even though they’re perfect on their own, they also shine when piled with toppings.

Are you team salty snack or sweet snack? I fall squarely on the latter. Sweet snacks are always my craving between meals, after meals, and at midnight. There are some obvious favorites (looking at you, dark chocolate bar) but here are five sweet snacks you should try next time your sweet tooth strikes. Crackers smeared with cream cheese and topped with sprinkles is one of my crunchy snacks. This sweeter version is perfect for a late-afternoon pick-me-up.

This summer I have three road trips on the calendar, and one thing I’m definitely not leaving home without is plenty of snacks. While I like to keep things varied, at the top of this summer’s pack list is fruit. Right now we have a bounty of fresh fruit at our fingertips, and when packed just right it’s a refreshing frozen treat that makes road tripping even sweeter. The key to making frozen fruit successful for snacking on the go is all about the prep and packing.

When it comes to snacking, your first stop is probably the pantry, or maybe the fridge if you’re after something fresh. One spot you may be skipping is the freezer, and it’s time to change that. When it’s stocked with these 10 easy items, your freezer is the go-to destination for emergency snacking. Frozen edamame is a protein-packed snack-time superstar. It’s equally satisfying whether your enjoy it on its own, or dress it up with a few extra flavors.

I’ve long had a love-hate relationship with steamed artichokes. I love the taste, but given the tedious preparation they require, I really hate cooking them at home … or at least I did, until I learned this speedy method. To be fair, there’s nothing particularly difficult or fussy about steaming artichokes on the stovetop. Although, if it’s your first time tackling these green globes, it might feel that way. Really, it just takes time and patience.

Fall means pumpkin spice lattes, decorative gourds, and my personal favorite, apples. Loads of apples that come in all sorts of colors and flavors. And whether you grab them from the store or an annual trip to the orchard, the next few months mean bushels of apples to play around with — from snacks to soups to scrumptious pie. So here are a few quick ideas, savory and sweet, to keep you snacking on apples.

Lasagna is my kitchen superhero. When faced with a busy Tuesday or an unexpected table of 20, this dish always saves the day. With simple staple items on hand (noodles, canned sauce, cheese), you can throw together a satisfying meal with very little time or effort. Keep it totally vegetarian or add meat, spice as desired, and then let the oven finish the job. But guess what?

Happy Labor Day! If you’re lucky enough to have today off, and if the sun is shining where you are, fire up the grill and invite your best friends over for a backyard barbecue. If you’re not sure what to serve, how about these grilled peaches? Oh, and did I mention they’re wrapped in bacon? This recipe is as simple as it gets; it requires minimal effort, but yields fantastic results — perfect for a summer party!

If your cast iron skillet hasn’t met a shishito pepper yet, it’s time to make an introduction. The small, mild Japanese peppers make the ultimate hands-on snack. Shishito peppers have been trendy long enough to earn mainstay, summer-staple status. (I think they are just as worthy of our affection as tomatoes and zucchini.) They come to us completely ready to cook — absolutely no prep required.

We all love cauliflower at this point, don’t we? It has certainly come a long way. We’ve tried it as rice, couscous, pizza crust, and cake. We regularly blend it into a mashed potato substitute and roast it until it becomes nutty and sweet — no longer over-steamed and scarred with an overwhelming cabbagey taste. We are eating it tossed with grains, featuring it in salads, and treating it like a steak.

Given my Chinese descent, the first dumplings I ever ate were Chinese ones — wontons, potstickers, and boiled dumplings. But I’ve also ordered gyoza at Japanese restaurants, which seem similar enough to potstickers. Are all these Asian dumplings essentially the same, especially since I’ve seen them labeled as “Gyoza Potstickers” at stores like Trader Joe’s?

Eating a plain bag of popcorn by itself is a great way to snack. It’s also incredibly easy to dress up popcorn with spices, salt, and the fat of your choosing (coconut oil, yum). But if you want to push the boundaries of what those small, yet mighty kernels are capable of, step right up. Have you tried popcorn in oatmeal? In cookies? On soup? Trust us — it may sound crazy, but popcorn goes way beyond the snack bowl, as these 10 fabulous ideas from food blogs can attest.

Even though I didn’t grow up in New England and only lived there for about two years, I’m immediately suspicious of any clam chowder doesn’t come with a little packet of oyster crackers on the side. Is it still authentic if there aren’t any oyster crackers? Also, these cute crackers got me thinking: What exactly IS an oyster cracker, and why does it have such a close connection with clam chowder?

Setting out appetizers before Thanksgiving dinner can seem almost perverse: Why nibble when you’re about to consume the heartiest, richest holiday meal of the year? But there are good reasons to consider the lead-up to turkey time as a proper happy hour. Here is how I think about the drinks-and-apps portion of the day, with a few tips for keeping it easy, fun, and — above all — light! Appetizers and drinks — happy hour!

Q: I am mystified that I have seen scores of videos of someone preparing homemade potato chips that appear to be light in color and crispy, but, I cannot seem to mimic the final result. I have tried different frying temps between 325 and 375; I have tried different oils: vegetable, canola, and peanut. I have tried different thicknesses of potato slices; I have even wasted my time blanching the slices in vinegar solution which does help give a lighter color end result, but saps the flavor.

Keeping my snack portions under control is a discipline I still have yet to master, especially when I feel the need to finish things like chips before they go stale. Kitchn reader Joy gave us a great solution for what to do if you have extra tortilla chips — freeze them! Joy says: Did you know that you can freeze tortilla chips? They come out perfect, especially if you eat them occasionally and don’t want them to go stale.

This week I’m showing you the big wedding reception I catered for friends earlier in the spring, and today I want to share the menu we finally landed on. The reception took place after dinnertime, and so the food was all small bites, with cake to follow. But I knew that a lot of people probably wouldn’t eat much dinner beforehand, so I leaned towards the heavy side of appetizers. Want to see what we served, and how we planned it out?

Yesterday I explained how I catered a friend’s wedding earlier this spring, and I offered up the five questions I think you should ask yourself before tackling a project like this. I should have added one more criteria: Are you good at math? Because catering takes a lot of it. Here’s the first piece of math required — estimating and calculating how many bites per person you are going to need.

I think we can all agree that it doesn’t take a lot to make a great guacamole. Just a simple blend of mashed avocado, plenty of chopped fresh cilantro, red onion, fresh lime juice, salt and pepper. Add the chips, and perhaps a cold beer or margarita and you’re all set. This summer, I propose breaking out of your purist shell and expanding your horizons to consider one of these 5 fun add-ins to jazz up your next batch of guac! If you love a good sweet-savory blend, this is for you!

In my quest to put the Internet’s most intriguing, promising and potentially mind-blowing tips to the test, I stumbled onto a tip I had never heard before: you can pop popcorn on the stove with a tablespoon of water instead of oil. A fat-free popcorn option for those of us without an air popper or a microwave? I was definitely intrigued, but would this technique actually work? I had to put it to the test.

I’ve been making a lot of caramel popcorn recently — talk about the perfect treat for everything from Teacher Appreciation Day to a birthday potluck! But the unpopped kernels always bug me. Nothing worse than munching a handful of caramel popcorn clusters and suddenly biting into a hard kernel. I finally figured out an easy way to eliminate nearly all those unpopped kernels before they ruin the batch.

Do you love toasty coconut? And granola? Then you’ll love this suggestion from Melissa Clark: make your granola with coconut oil! Virgin coconut oil not only has a number of health benefits, it also lends a warm, nutty flavor to granola.Clark shares her recipe for Double Coconut Granola in her newest cookbook, Cook This Now.

Q: I am lucky enough to work at a company that stocks a full kitchen for folks that have to work late to meet deadlines. We recently bought some beef jerky that is WAY salty.No one’s going to eat it by itself, but I hate to see it go to waste. What should I do with it?Sent by LanaEditor: Lana, sometimes cured meat has a salty coating that can be washed off; have you tried rinsing the jerky to make it more palatable?Readers, any thoughts or recipe ideas for this stuff?Next question?

Too hot or too tired to cook? Consider making an antipasto dish as your main meal. Long considered a “first course” in traditional Italian meals or as a shared appetizer plate in Italian-American restaurants, antipasto dishes are filling and satisfying, can be made ahead, and best of all, can be served cold!There is no hard and fast rule for what goes on an antipasto plate. I like to serve mine over a bed of arugula or other mixed greens, but this is not absolutely necessary.

Q: In effort to reduce fat, I recently purchased a hot air pop corn popper. It works wonderfully. However, it is impossible to get any seasoning to stick to the popped corn.Any suggestions?Sent by MikeEditor: Mike, we’ve found that even just a tablespoon of olive oil, tossed with popcorn, can help make seasonings and salt stick to the popcorn better.