30 Thanksgiving Appetizer Recipes (2024)

FAQs

How many appetizers should you have at Thanksgiving? ›

Three or four bites of food per person should be plenty. For shrimp cocktail, oysters or larger crostini, plan about two pieces per person. If you're serving smaller, one-bite hors d'oeuvres, allot three per person total. For dip, 3 ounces per guest will be plenty.

So, you might not think to add Thanksgiving appetizers to your holiday menu. But, here's the reason why you should: everyone shows up to Thanksgiving dinner feeling hungry! And if you want to hold your guests over until the main event, these easy small bites are the way to go.

If you're hosing 25 -35 guests, plan 3-4 bites per person if a full dinner is to be served afterwards, or 5-7 bites per person if a lighter meal will be served. If you're hosting a party of 50, then you can offer 6 to 9 different items.

More than 6 appetizers per person are too many. You don't want to fill your guests' bellies before dinner. Generally, you will need enough for each guest to eat 2 of each type of appetizer you serve. For very large parties, you can lower this to 1.5 servings per person per appetizer.

Time Eaten: Hors d'oeuvres are typically served before the meal even begins, while appetizers tend to indicate the beginning of the meal. An hors d'oeuvre isn't considered to be part of the meal, but appetizers are usually chosen specifically to complement the following courses.

If any night is the most critical, it's the night before, when many Americans will bake pies and prepare reheatable dishes, like casseroles and soups, so that Thursday morning doesn't dissolve into chaos.

The day before Thanksgiving means travel, traffic — and, for many families, takeout. Cooking another meal the night before the impending feast isn't high on many of our priority lists, which explains why the Wednesday before Thanksgiving is one of the biggest pizza nights of the year across the country.

You don't want to overwhelm your guests. To feature dishes, use table tents, menu boards, or chalk boards. Menu engineers suggest that each menu category should have no more than seven items: seven appetizers, seven mains, seven desserts, seven cocktails, etc.

How many sides should you serve for Thanksgiving? ›

For 4 people, choose 1-2 appetizers and 3 sides. For 8 people, choose 1-3 appetizers and 3 sides. For 16 people, choose 2-3 appetizers and 3 or more sides.

Prepare enough for your guests.

The standard rule is to serve four to six pieces for each person. Note, however, that if you are planning an evening event that does not provide a main course and only has an appetizer, you should prepare 10 to 15 pieces per person.

When planning your finger buffet we recommend about 8 finger food items per person, perhaps 5-6 savoury and 2-3 sweet items. You can opt for just cold finger buffet items, or you can have warm items too. Why not add a few canapés into the mix to delight your guests?