Appetizer
3523 recipes found
Chicken Satay
Bursting with warming flavors and scents of spices like coriander, cumin, cinnamon and turmeric, this is a weeknight-friendly Thai chicken satay adapted from Canadian cookbook author and YouTube chef Pailin Chongchitnant. Satay, a popular street food of skewered marinated meats, made its way to Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries from Indonesia. Though it was originally prepared with beef, pork is now the most popular meat for satay in Thailand (and chicken is used more commonly outside of Thailand). In this version, adapted from Ms. Chongchitnant’s cookbook “Sabai” (Appetite by Random House, 2023), skewers of boneless marinated chicken breast are cooked on the grill or stovetop. A rich and sumptuous satay dipping sauce is prepared with roasted peanuts, coconut milk and red curry paste. Serve chicken satay with ajaad (tangy and crisp quick-pickled cucumbers) and a side of rice.
Creamy Cauliflower-Cashew Soup
Creamy and comforting, this cauliflower soup happens to be vegan, and takes its silky texture from being simmered and thickened with roasted cashews. The nuttiness of the cauliflower and the cashews is balanced by the addition of a tart apple. The preferred thickness of creamed soups varies, so if the soup feels too thick, just adjust it to your ideal level of creaminess, adding more stock or water — and an additional sprinkle of salt — as needed.
Gombaleves (Creamy Mushroom Soup)
This hearty, warming soup is a Hungarian version of creamy mushroom soup, with a good dose of Hungarian paprika and fragrant dried herbs imparting its unique, earthy hue and flavor. Although any mix of wild mushrooms can be used, common white button or cremini mushrooms are wonderful here (or use a combination); the key is to lightly caramelize them to maximize their complexity. A final swirl of tangy sour cream and lemon juice brightens the rich, creamy soup.
Brie and Mango Chutney Grilled Cheese
Grilled cheeses come in many flavors and shapes depending on the cheese, bread and condiments used. This version opts for relatively mellow, creamy Brie topped with tangy mango chutney and earthy spinach. Mayonnaise is slathered on the side of the bread slices that cook on a preheated pan for a guaranteed crunchy crust, and the two halves of the sandwich initially cook separately to ensure the Brie melts nicely. Feel free to adjust the amount of mayo, cheese and chutney depending on the size of your bread slices (and your taste). To make a simple, comforting appetizer or shareable snack instead of a sandwich, remove the grilled cheese halves from the pan after Step 3, cut into rectangles or triangles and serve.
Boneless Buffalo Wings
This potentially controversial recipe takes a few steps away from traditional Buffalo wings: It starts with boneless chicken breasts, pan-fries them, and then serves the Buffalo sauce on the side for dipping instead of coating the chicken. But it’s got a goal: This ensures all the hard work of securing a crispy piece of chicken doesn’t go to waste. These boneless wings are crunchier, and, without the pesky bones, they’re arguably more snackable. The elusive texture of wet-crunchy is in full effect here when chunks of crisp chicken breast and celery get dunked into the zingy Buffalo sauce.
Tajín Chicken Wings
These chile-lime baked chicken wings get their spunk from Tajín, a tangy and mild combination of dried chiles, salt and dehydrated lime juice that is often sprinkled on fruit. Bake the wings with the seasoning (as well as baking powder and salt for crackly skin), then gloss them in a buttery sauce that’s bright with Tajín, lime juice and fresh chile. Take a cue from tajín fruit cups (as well as the carrots and celery typically eaten with Buffalo wings) and serve alongside spears of jicama, cucumber and pineapple.
Chipotle Honey Chicken Wings
Spicy and sweet, with a cooling dip to dunk them in, these chicken wings are simple to make. Smoky chipotle chiles in adobo sauce are blended with sour cream, honey, garlic and a couple spices to make a flavorful coating for the wings while the oven heats up. Then with just a quick roast on a wire rack over a parchment-lined sheet pan (so your pan stays relatively clean), the wings are ready. Orange zest adds a fruity brightness, but is optional.
Vegan Queso
Thanks to a hefty dose of funky nutritional yeast and smoky heat from paprika and chipotle, this cashew-based dip has enough nacho-cheesy vibes to please all kinds of eaters. Unlike traditional queso, this recipe, adapted from my cookbook “Start Here: Instructions for Becoming a Better Cook” (Knopf, 2023), stays smooth and creamy even at room temperature, ideal for snacking on all party long. Don’t be shy with the salt, which is critical to bringing out that cheesy flavor. Serve this with tortilla chips, steamed broccoli or French fries, or toss with boiled elbow macaroni for a vegan mac and cheese.
Sweet and Spicy Chicken Meatballs
Combining sweet and spicy flavors in savory, satisfying weeknight meatballs, this recipe calls for a generous amount of crushed red pepper to contrast with the deep caramel honey-like chopped dates. A hefty dose of herbs and citrus zest serves to lighten and brighten. Medjool dates can be easier to find, but if you can obtain a variety called deglet noor, the dates will be a little drier and easier to chop. Serve the meatballs with warm couscous, a couscous salad or a simple green salad.
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Cheesesteak Egg Rolls
Crispy, savory, homemade fried cheesesteak egg rolls are well within your grasp—if you know a few simple tricks.
Arugula Salad With Radish, Fennel and Mustard
This zesty arugula salad is a bold beginning to a meal. Use a sharp knife or mandoline to cut the watermelon radish and fennel bulb so they’re just shy of paper thin. When dressing the salad, try to bring some of those bright, colorful slices to the top for an especially attractive result.
Oysters Mosca
In this one-pan gratin, inspired by a favorite appetizer at Mosca’s, an Italian restaurant just outside of New Orleans, fresh oysters are covered in a garlicky butter sauce, topped with a mélange of breadcrumbs and freshly grated Parmesan and baked until tender yet juicy. It’s a hit with those who love oysters — and even those who aren’t fans of raw ones. The shellfish are full of flavor from the Creole seasoning that accents the sauce, with a hint of Italian influence from the herbs and Parmesan. At Mosca’s, they use plump Gulf oysters from nearby waters, a variety that’s especially good cooked and worth seeking out if you live near the Gulf Coast. Otherwise, any oysters work: Using preshucked oysters packed in their liquor at your local grocer or fishmonger makes preparing this dish a breeze. Best enjoyed warm from the oven, this appetizer is meant to be shared with a group.
Garlic Parmesan Wings
Wings are a crowd-pleaser for game day or any day of the week. Baked, not fried, with a savory blend of spices, the chicken is then tossed in butter, fresh garlic, lemon zest and parsley. Plenty of freshly grated Parmesan added at the end makes these garlicky wings irresistibly good. The key to crispy wings is ensuring they spend time in the refrigerator after they have been coated in the baking powder and spices. The baking powder and salt draw moisture out of the wings, allowing the skin to brown more easily in the oven. Serve these with ranch dressing or your favorite dipping sauce. Feel free to add a few splashes of hot sauce while tossing the wings in the butter mixture, if you are feeling extra spicy.
Baked Chicken Meatballs
These weeknight-friendly chicken meatballs come together in a snap, with minimal chopping and minimal mess. They’re made with a panade — a simple combination of bread crumbs and milk — which makes for light and tender meatballs. Baked meatballs aren’t quite as charred and caramelized as the pan-fried variety, but they do brown nicely underneath, thanks to contact with the hot sheet pan. A hit with adults and kids, chicken meatballs can be served as a snack with your favorite sauce for dipping, or tossed with a simple tomato sauce and served over pasta.
Avocado, Edamame and Yuzu Dip With Furikake
This voluptuous dip “couldn’t be simpler,” wrote Ravinder Bhogal, the chef of Jikoni in London, in her cookbook “Comfort and Joy” (Bloomsbury, 2023). Tumble avocado in a food processor with ginger, for a subtle sweetness and restorative sting; soy sauce, standing in for salt but rounder and deeper; toasted sesame oil, earthy and plush, making everything it touches more intensely itself; and edamame, for body (and protein). Then stir in yuzu, a citrus that’s sweeter and gentler than lemon, lending a sherbety tang, and light where avocado is luscious. (If you don’t have any on hand, try squeezing together lemon and clementine.) A dose of sambal brings a throb of heat, if you like, while a dusting of furikake adds crunch. Ms. Bhogal serves the dip on toast at her restaurant, but you can dispense with the formality of framing it as a meal and eat it straight, dunking the likes of carrots, radishes, tortilla chips and Thai prawn crackers.
Kimchi Napjak Mandu (Flat Dumplings)
Kimchi lovers can rejoice in these fun-to-make (and eat!) dumplings. With less filling than other Korean-style dumplings, these fry up flat and eat more like jeon, the category of pan-fried fritters or pancakes that are the star of Korean party food, especially during holidays like Seollal, the Korean New Year. A final flourish of gochugaru, sea salt and scallions tops the mandu, reflecting how these are typically served on the streets of Daegu, the southeastern city in South Korea known for this style of flat dumpling. Though napjak mandu are traditionally shaped like half moons, the use of square wonton wrappers folded into triangles results in more surface area, and in turn, more crunch.
Chile Oil Wontons
This classic recipe shows you how easy — and satisfying — it is to make your own chile oil wontons at home. Here, they’re shaped to resemble gold ingots, a Chinese symbol of good fortune and wealth, but feel free to wrap them however you like. A crucial step here is making the sauce for the wontons, which can be done in advance and starts with mixing your own chile oil. (Save any extra sauce to use with fried eggs, tofu, potatoes, rice, chicken or anything, really.)
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Crispy Mexican Fried Chicken Wings
These crispy, juicy fried chicken wings are tossed with a chile sauce right before serving for an unparalleled fiery bite. The recipe from recipe developer Octavio Peña is perfect for a game-day party or any other time you want excellent wings.
Gok Jai (Vegetable Crystal Dumplings)
A regional specialty of Zhongshan in China’s Guangdong Province, this dumpling illustrates the diversity of these tasty morsels across China. With its translucent skin, this crystal dumpling is a vegetarian version of Zhongshan gok jai, which traditionally includes dried shrimp and pork. The skin, made from wheat, tapioca and potato starches, is chewy, with a notable bounce, and the tofu-and-vegetable filling is savory and textural. A long knead is crucial to achieving an elastic dough that doesn’t crack when steamed and will deliver its distinctive texture when cooked through. The unconventional use of a tortilla press makes short work of flattening the dough into disks, but a small rolling pin works as well.
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7-Layer Buffalo Chicken Dip
Buffalo chicken dip gets the seven-layer treatment with refried beans, pepper jack cheese, blue cheese crumbles, crispy bacon, and more.
Smoky Tomato Soup
A grown-up version of grilled cheese’s best friend, this tomato soup is subtly complex thanks to the addition of ancho chile and smoked paprika, but it still has all of the nostalgic qualities of a really good tomato soup: It’s silky, robust and wonderfully tomato-y. Taking a cue from this classic tomato soup, this recipe calls for sweating the onion and garlic with a little flour to thicken the soup, which creates a velvety texture that doesn’t hide the pure tomato flavor. Simmering a whole ancho chile in the soup produces an undercurrent of heat; but if you prefer more spice, pluck off the stem and blend the chile into your finished soup rather than discarding it. Adjust the amount of cream and the level of heat as you like and the soup will taste just right to you.
Turkey Sliders
These juicy turkey sliders are incredibly versatile: They’re simple enough for weeknights, but they’re also the perfect size for parties. The key is to use turkey with enough fat (ground turkey breast isn’t ideal here) so that your sliders will be perfectly moist; slathering them with a combination of barbeque sauce and mayonnaise provides additional insurance. Optional caramelized onions are the perfect savory, jammy topping to balance out the sharpness from the Cheddar and the sweet Hawaiian rolls, but the sliders are also great unadorned.
Roasted Mushroom Soup
You don’t need fancy mushrooms to make a rich soup, you just need to brown them. To do that, spread creminis — save fancier mushrooms for another recipe — on a sheet pan and roast them until they’re juicy. Pour off and save the umami-heavy juices — they’ll provide a savory backbone to the soup — then keep roasting the mushrooms until they’re glistening brown. Blending so many mushrooms with plain water (or stock, if you have some) creates a thick soup, not to mention one with a deeply earthy flavor. For a more substantial meal, top with croutons, farro or sautéed spinach, or serve alongside buttered toast, roasted sausage or a green salad.
Beet Salad With Celery and Pomegranate
It’s nice to make this beet salad in winter when pomegranates are available. For the best result, cook your own beets — simply boil or roast them any time you have a free moment, even a day or two ahead. Then, slip off the skins while the beets are still slightly warm. Slice them just before you make the salad. Sumac, available in Middle Eastern grocery shops, adds tartness, as would a spoonful of pomegranate molasses. To serve, toss with chopped celery and mint, then garnish with pomegranate seeds. It’s a feast for the eyes.