Make Ahead Appetizer Recipes

Appetizers are small snack bites served before a meal or even as a midday snack. Many hosts spend a lot of their time getting the appetizers ready for the party, while the party is going on or just a couple of hours before it starts. And boy, do they look hassled, and God forbid, if one of your preparations goes bad, then you sure will be the sulkiest person and a sulky host is an absolute NO-NO. To save you all the dilemma of ensuring good, tasty and easy appetizers and help you in being the perfect host, try out a few make ahead appetizer recipes given below.

Appetizers to Make Ahead of Time

Pork Dumplings
Ingredients:

• Lean boneless pork loin chops, cut into chunks, 1½ pounds
• Pork sausages, 12 ounces
• Wonton skins, 2 packages
• Chicken broth, ½ cup
• Green onions, diced, 4
• Fresh minced ginger, 2 tbsp
• Water chestnuts, finely chopped, 15
• Salt, 1½ tsp
• Fresh chopped parsley, ¼ cup
• Teriyaki sauce, 1 tsp
• Cornstarch, ½ cup
• Lite soy sauce, 2tsp
• Sugar, 4 tbsp
• Sesame oil, 1 tbsp

In a food processor, process pork chops and combine with the sausages, onions, minced ginger, water chestnuts, salt, parsley, chicken broth, teriyaki sauce, cornstarch, lite soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil. Mix well and set aside. Cut corners from wonton skins to form circles, hold in the palm and shape it like a pouch. Drop 1 teaspoon mixture onto the middle of each pouch and squeeze the top of the skin together, to form dumplings. Steam the dumplings, covered over boiling water. Give it either a light steam or warm it in the microwave, before serving with Thai chili sauce or ginger dipping sauce .

Jalapeño Shrimp
Ingredients:

• large peeled shrimp, 1½ pounds
• Pickled whole jalapeños, 17 ounces
• Pickling liquid, ¼ cup
• Fresh minced cilantro
• Fresh lime juice, ¼ cup
• Salt, 1 tsp

In a large pan, boil water, add salt and drop the shrimp in it. Bring it to a boil, cover and immediately remove from heat. Drain and rinse shrimp in normal temperature running water. Set aside in a large salad bowl. Cut the jalapeños in half, lengthwise and add it to the salad bowl. Toss with the lime juice, pickling liquid, cilantro and salt. The appetizer is ready. Serve this appetizer either chilled or at room temperature. This is one of the make ahead appetizers that can be made a whole day ahead and served straight from the refrigerator.

Lemon, Pepper and Goat Cheese-Stuffed Tomatoes
Ingredients:

• Cherry tomatoes, 32
• Softened plain goat cheese, 8 ounces
• Extra-virgin olive oil, 1½ tbsp
• Freshly grated lemon zest
• Fresh lemon juice, 1tsp
• Black pepper powder, 1 tsp
• Chives or basil for garnishing

Cut off tops and bottoms of tomatoes but make sure what you cut are very thin slices. Scoop out the soft flesh from the tomatoes and cut the top and bottom enough to make them stand straight. In a small bowl, mix together cheese, olive oil, zest, juice and pepper. Spoon this mix and add cheese atop. This appetizer can be made half a day ahead.

The above make ahead appetizer recipes will definitely ensure compliments coming your way, not only for the food, but also for being the most non-hassled host ever.