How to Make Appetizers in Advance

Making appetizers in advance gives you more time for everything else.

You want your dinner party to be just perfect. Delicious appetizers can set the tone for the rest of the evening. It is nearly impossible to get appetizers, dinner, drinks and dessert ready simultaneously. Making appetizers in advance allows you to focus on the rest of the preparation without the stress of doing everything at once.

Things You'll Need

• Frozen spinach
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 16 ounces sour cream
• Packet of vegetable soup mix
• Crusty bread
• Three tomatoes
• Medium onion
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon basil
• Cubed cheese
• Sliced fruit
• Cooked frozen shrimp
• Cocktail sauce
• Box of frozen appetizers

Instructions

1. Mix one packet of vegetable soup mix, one cup of mayonnaise, one package of thawed spinach and 16 ounces of sour cream together to make a spinach dip. Make it the night before, put it in a covered container and store it in the refrigerator. Allowing it to sit helps the flavors blend together. When your guests arrive, cut off the top of a crusty loaf of bread and scoop out the middle. Spoon the dip inside the bread, and now you have a bread bowl. Open up a bag of peeled baby carrots, and serve the carrots next to the bread bowl for dipping.

2. Mix together three chopped tomatoes, one medium onion, two tablespoons of olive oil and one teaspoon of basil to make a bruschetta. Prepare this the day before, and put it in a covered container and store it in the refrigerator to chill. Right before your guests arrive, quickly slice a loaf of Italian bread and spoon some of the bruschetta on each piece.

3. Depending on how much time you have, cube up different types of cheese in advance. Cubed cheese will stay fresh in your refrigerator for about two days. If you are pressed for time, purchase cheese that has already been cubed for you. Serve with sliced fruit. You can buy fruit that has already been cut for you, or cut it up yourself. Try cantaloupe, watermelon and pineapple; they will stay fresh in your refrigerator for a day even after they have been cut.

4. Purchase frozen shrimp that has already been cooked, deveined and peeled. Take it out of the freezer two hours before your guests arrive. When your guests arrive, serve the shrimp on a platter with a bowl of cocktail sauce in the middle for dipping.

5. Frozen appetizers from the supermarket are always an option. They have already been made in advance for you, and pigs-in-a-blanket and baby quiches are always popular. Pop them in the oven about 45 minutes before your guests arrive and you will have warm appetizers to serve.

References

• Knorr Spinach Dip

Resources

• Southern Living: Make-Ahead Appetizers