The secret to enjoying your own party is making most of the food before anybody shows up! Nearly everything I set out for a gathering can be stirred together the night before or assembled that morning, so when guests arrive I am pouring drinks instead of hiding in the kitchen.
In this collection, you will find make-ahead dips, finger foods that hold up on a platter, and a few hot bites for when you feel like turning on the oven. I have grouped them that way so you can build a spread without a thing going cold or soggy!
⭢ Start with Something to Dip
Every spread needs something to dip into, and these are the ones I reach for first. Most take ten minutes or less, and several are better made ahead, which is exactly what you want when guests are due at six.
Homemade Pimento Cheese
If one thing belongs on every appetizer table, it is this. Three ingredients, ten minutes, and it’s always gone before anything else. {Reader Favorite}
Crab Dip (Hot or Cold)
Serve it cold from the refrigerator or bake it until the edges bubble. Either way the lump crabmeat shines, and it takes about ten minutes.
Shrimp Dip
A retro cocktail party classic that never went out of style. Make it a few hours ahead so the flavors have time to come together.
Pepper Jelly Cream Cheese Dip
Pour pepper jelly over a block of cream cheese, set out the crackers, and walk away. Two minutes of work for something people talk about! {5 Minutes or Less}
5-Minute Corn Dip
Cold, creamy, and built for a hot afternoon on the porch. I keep the ingredients on hand all summer because somebody always asks me to bring it.
4-Ingredient Sausage Dip with Corn
Browned sausage, sweet corn, and plenty of cream cheese. This is the one that disappears first at cold weather gatherings, so make a double batch!
Spicy Jalapeño Queso Dip
Three ingredients and one pot. The jalapeños bring enough heat to keep things interesting without running anybody off the chip bowl.
Million Dollar Dip
Bacon, sharp cheddar, almonds, and green onion folded into cream cheese. Rich enough to earn the name and easy enough to stir together the night before.
4-Ingredient Spinach Dip
The potluck standby, stripped down to four ingredients. Scoop it into a hollowed out bread bowl if you want it to look like you fussed.
Beer Cheese Dip
Beer cheese started in Kentucky, and it is sharp and tangy with a little horseradish bite. Serve it with pretzels, celery, or plain saltines.
⭢ Make Ahead and Pass Around
This is the group that saves you on the day of the party. Everything here can be made the night before or early that morning, then set out on a platter and refilled as it empties. If you are only making two things, make them from this section.
Southern Deviled Eggs
Sweet pickle relish and yellow mustard are what set these apart from a plain deviled egg. Fill them the morning of and they hold up beautifully.
Bisquick Sausage Balls
Three ingredients, and they turn up at every holiday party, shower, and church breakfast I have ever been to. Freeze a batch unbaked and stay ready.
Try it another way
If you like a softer, richer version, my Cream Cheese Sausage Balls use the same idea with cream cheese worked into the dough.
Country Ham Biscuits
Salty country ham tucked into a warm homemade biscuit. Nothing here is complicated, which is exactly why it belongs on the table at a gathering.
Pickled Shrimp
An old fashioned appetizer that only improves as it sits. Make it two days ahead, then set the bowl out with toothpicks and let folks graze.
Old-Fashioned Ham Salad
A good way to use up leftover ham, and honestly worth buying ham for. Spread it on crackers or little rolls and it goes fast.
Cucumber Sandwiches
Cool, crisp, and just right for a shower or a spring luncheon. The cream cheese spread is what keeps the bread from going soggy on you.
Try it another way
If you have good August tomatoes on the counter, my Southern Tomato Sandwich is worth cutting into quarters and setting out alongside these. Assemble those right before serving, since the tomatoes soften the bread as they sit.
Easy Candied Pecans
Mom made these every Christmas and I still do. Sweet, lightly spiced, and the kind of thing people stand beside the bowl quietly eating.
Old-Fashioned Bourbon Balls
No baking required, just a little bourbon and some time in the refrigerator. My grandmother made these every holiday and they just get better as they chill.
⭢ Hot from the Oven or the Skillet
These take a little more attention, but they are the ones people remember. My advice is to pick one, maybe two, and fry or bake them right before guests arrive so they hit the table at their best.
Hush Puppies
Crispy outside, tender in the middle, and best about thirty seconds out of the oil. Fry them last and carry the plate straight to the table.
Southern Fried Okra
Fresh okra, seasoned cornmeal, and a hot skillet. Set it out with something creamy for dipping and even the okra skeptics tend to come around.
Cheesy Spinach Squares
Aunt Bee’s recipe, and one of the most requested things on this whole site. Cut them small, serve them warm, and plan on handing out the recipe.
Crab Imperial
Rich, buttery, and the fanciest thing on this list by a mile. Bake it in a dish for scooping, or in shells when you want to make an occasion of it.
Candied Bacon
Brown sugar bakes right into the bacon until it turns glossy and crisp. Sweet, salty, and gone within five minutes of hitting the platter.
Corn Fritters
Sweet summer corn fried into little golden cakes. They are best straight from the skillet, so I fry them while everybody is still in the kitchen.
Maryland Crab Cakes
Plenty of lump crab and just enough filler to hold it together. Make them small for a party and serve with lemon wedges and tartar sauce.
⭢ Building Your Spread
If you are looking at this list wondering where to start, pick one recipe from each group and you have a spread. A few combinations that work well:
⇢ For a potluck or church supper: Homemade Pimento Cheese, Bisquick Sausage Balls, and Southern Deviled Eggs. All three travel well and none of them need to be served hot.
⇢ For a holiday open house: Crab Dip, Country Ham Biscuits, and Candied Bacon. This one feels like you went to some trouble, and only the bacon needs the oven.
⇢ For a spring shower or luncheon: Cucumber Sandwiches, Pickled Shrimp, and Cream Cheese and Pepper Jelly Dip. Light, pretty on a table, and every bit of it can be made the day before.
A few things that make the day itself easier:
⇢ Figure six to eight bites per person if appetizers are the whole event, and three or four if a meal is coming later. For a group of ten, two dips plus two or three other items usually covers it. Make extra of whatever is cheapest and let the fancier things be the ones that run out.
⇢ Do as much ahead as you can. Every dip in the first group can be made the night before, and most are better for it. Deviled eggs can be filled that morning, and the sausage balls, ham biscuits, and spinach squares can be assembled ahead and baked right before guests arrive.
⇢ Set out more than one thing to dip with. Saltines and Ritz for the creamy dips, tortilla chips for the corn dip and queso, and celery and carrot sticks for anybody who wants a break from crackers. If you are serving pimento cheese, put out soft white bread too, because somebody will want a sandwich.
⇢ Serve the hot ones hot. Fry the hush puppies, okra, and fritters right before you carry them out, and keep the baked dips warm in a small slow cooker if you have one.
Bookmark this for the next potluck, party, or Sunday afternoon when folks drop by. However you build your spread, I hope yours is the dish that comes home empty.
