Best Finger Foods for Parties

Hors d'oeuvres serve as appetizers at parties. The best choices are nutritious and not too filling. A cocktail party is the perfect place to serve finger foods. The guests can choose which appetizers they want without worrying about the meal to come. If it is a dinner party, the host does not want the guests to fill up on snacks before the main meal is presented.

Appetizers can be divided into several categories. You can offer healthy appetizers or delicacies that would be desserts if they were served in larger helpings. You also can make an entire meal out of some of the best finger foods for parties. The host should consider the atmosphere and theme of the party when choosing the food.

Children's parties should feature fun snacks for little hands. This means factoring in the nutritional value, the mess the finger food creates, and how well the children will like the food. The best snacks for children's parties include pigs in a blanket, ants on a log, and apple smileys. Bake bite-size hot dogs, wrapped in half a refrigerator biscuit to make pigs in a blanket. Celery, filled with peanut butter and topped with raisins, makes the ants on a log. To create apple smileys, cut apple wedges and serve with fruit yogurt dip.

Older children may prefer pizza rolls or sandwich wraps. Create easy pizza rolls by rolling slices of pepperoni in refrigerated crescent rolls. Bake as directed on the crescent roll package. Tortilla shells make the perfect wrap for simple finger food sandwiches.

Finding the easiest hors d'oeuvre recipes for parties can be a great time saver. Worrying about the details of the party can be overwhelming enough without the added stress of putting together a menu. The finger foods can be as simple or as elegant as the host prefers. Cream cheese wontons with crab meat add variety as well as class to the food table.

One thing to remember when preparing appetizers for parties is that people love to snack. It is better to make too much food than not enough. The best rule of thumb for serving finger foods for parties is to prepare three or four appetizers per guest. Some guests will prefer one delicacy over another and won't eat some items. However, other guests will spend the entire time at the food table. Using saucer-sized plates for the hors d'oeuvres will help keep the guests from spending all their time eating and allow them to socialize more.