Seafood appetizer recipes, or seafood starter recipes with seafood, are becoming more popular, as people begin to experiment with different foods and flavors.
Even the simplest seafood dishes can be incredibly impressive, and your guests will be amazed at your culinary skills. However, you want to ensure that you select a starter that can be prepared and made easily.
Choose Your Ingredients Wisely
There is a vast array of seafood varieties, which can be rather daunting for some people looking for the right appetizer idea. You need to ensure that you understand the ingredients you want to use, and know how long the seafood needs to be cooked.
Undercooked seafood (or anything which has not been prepared properly) can be unsafe to consume, so bear this in mind. And if you’re making food for anyone very young, pregnant or with an iffy immune system, you might want to forget the seafood and pick something else.
Selecting a recipe carefully and taking your time to prepare the dish is essential to guarantee that it’s made safely and correctly, and can be enjoyed by everyone. You’ll be amazed at how spectacular your seafood starter plate may appear, even though it is prepared with basic and straightforward ingredients.
So, taking your time to research the different recipes is essential. Then you’ll be able to pick out something which will take your guests’ breath away.
Fresh Ingredients are Key in Seafood Appetizer Recipes
Shopping for the freshest seafood can seem like a chore but this will ensure that your food comes out delicious. Using the best ingredients can make all of the difference when trying to impress friends and family. Once you have found your favorite seafood starter recipe, you may want to experiment with different flavors to enhance the overall flavors involved.
When the weather is cool, you can still make delicious appetizer recipes with seafood, but you might not want to prep a light smoked salmon dish or something summery. Consider creamy seafood chowder as a hearty appetizer or, served in larger portions, a great lunch paired with thick slices of wholegrain bread.
There are no rules though and if you want to make a seafood appetizer, you can definitely find something for any season, occasion or preference.
Seafood isn’t always expensive either and although you can make tweaks to save money (for example using “crabsticks” in place of real crab or using small shrimp in place of large ones, as they tend to be more economical) or you can use top quality seafood and just not serve a whole bunch of it on every plate.
Some tasty recipes just need to be garnished with a piece of seafood, so if you’re on a budget, consider topping a salad with just 2 or 3 king prawns, or if you’re near the coast what about picking up some winkles (periwinkles) and making a simple, non-expensive winkles recipe?
PrintSmoked Salmon and Beetroot Salad with Sour Cream and Dill Dressing
This recipe sounds impressive and looks at tastes great, and your dinner guests will love the flavors. It’s deceptively straightforward to prepare though and you will agree the finished appetizer tastes truly delicious.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Appetizer
Ingredients
- 11 ounces (320g) smoked salmon
- 1 pound (500g) diced cooked beets (beetroot)
- 8 cooked baby potatoes
- 3½ ounces (100g) baby spinach
- 3½ ounces (100g) mixed salad leaves
- Lemon juice, to taste
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
For the Dressing:
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 5¼ ounces (150ml) sour cream
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill weed
Instructions
- Mix all of the ingredients for the dressing in a bowl and refrigerate until needed.
- Break the smoked salmon into large flakes taking care not to make them too small.
- Toss the salad leaves together and season.
- Place the salad on to plates, add the new potatoes, salmon and beetroot and drizzle with dressing.
Notes
- It’s best to put this smoked salmon appetizer together just before serving for maximum freshness rather than trying to make it ahead, although you can prepare the dressing ahead and just give it a good shake before using in case it’s separated a little.
Keywords: smoked salmon, appetizer, starter recipe, seafood
If you enjoy this seafood recipe then a traditional prawn cocktail might also tempt your taste buds, or perhaps you want to try a fruits de mer or even lobster tails. Smoked salmon makes a great entree too – try this smoked salmon pizza perhaps.