Canapés for a party, which are also known as hors d’oeuvres, are little snacks which are served with drinks, either by themselves or before the sit-down meal is ready. These canapés (pronounced KAH-nah-pays) for a party can be very simple and might be something spread on crackers or melba toast, or even a stuffed cherry tomato or deviled egg.
The best canapés for a party are those which can be eaten with the fingers, so people can just pick them up without making their fingers messy. Also, they should be able to be eaten in one or two bites, and you shouldn’t need cutlery. A canapé in one hand and a drink in the other is fine. Add cutlery and it becomes too much.
In the following canapés for a party recipe we are using crackers along with two different toppings. Although this might look like a very easy canapé recipe, and indeed it is, it might be the case that you are simply looking for canapé ideas, in which case why not consider these? Arranging them on a nice platter and finishing them off with some fresh herb sprigs will add sufficient elegance.
Canapés for a Party are Quick and Easy
Anyone can make easy party canapés, and even if you have to put some together in a rush, you should find at least a few things in the kitchen you can use. If you don’t have crackers, make toast triangles. If you don’t have strawberries use grapes. No cream cheese? Well how about pate instead, or another favorite spread?
These are incredibly easy canapés and just the thing if you wish to serve little bite-sized snacks to your dinner guests to impress them. In the photo you can see how colorful and cute these are, and the recipe could not be simpler.
Simple is often the way to go when making the best canapés for a party. For mine, I used strawberries and cream cheese on half and the smoked and cucumber on the rest, but you can mix and match or stick with one topping if you would rather.
These are best made right before serving since over time the cream cheese will soak through the crackers. This takes hours to happen though.
To keep them fresh if you cannot serve them right away, arrange the canapés on a platter and wrap plastic wrap over the top. Refrigerate them until required.
Canapés for a Party: Filling and Simple
Not only will these fill you up if dinner is going to be late but they are low in calories (well, depending on the toppings!) and easy enough to rustle up in 5 minutes or less in many cases.
They work out cheap too so are worth considering as an easy winter appetizer for a crowd.
PrintSimple Party Canapes
Melba toast or crackers are topped with cream cheese and sliced strawberries or smoked salmon and cucumber, for an easy-to-nibble treat. Feel free to try other toppings. This is tweakable!
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 20 1x
- Category: Appetizer
Ingredients
- 40 small crackers
- 2 packages cream cheese
- 20 thinly sliced strawberries
- 20 thin cucumber slices
- 1 package smoked salmon, chopped into pieces
- Black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Spread cream cheese over each cracker.
- Top half the crackers with strawberry slices, overlapping them attractively.
- Top the remaining half with smoked salmon pieces and garnish with cucumber.
- Grind a little black pepper over all the appetizers (yes, it’s good over the strawberry ones too!)
- Serve right away or keep chilled under plastic wrap until you can serve.
Notes
Experiment with different kinds of crackers or try melba toasts.
If you like, you can swap the cucumber for thin pickle slices or even capers.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 20
- Calories: 208
- Sugar: 7g
- Sodium: 267mg
- Fat: 12g
- Saturated Fat: 5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 18g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 11g
- Cholesterol: 43mg