Game Day Appetizer or Healthy Weeknight Dinner for Parties (2023)

FAQs

What do you serve at an appetizer party? ›

Planning Your Appetizer Party Menu

Bruschetta, breadsticks, crackers, and rolls are also mainstays. Protein: Serve meat or fish dishes, such as meatballs, chicken wings, or sushi, to give your guests protein. You could also make an egg, cheese, or tofu appetizer.

If you're hosing 25 -35 guests, plan 3-4 bites per person if a full dinner is to be served afterwards, or 5-7 bites per person if a lighter meal will be served. If you're hosting a party of 50, then you can offer 6 to 9 different items.

A good rule of thumb for a dinner party, allow for 6 appetizers per person. For a cocktail party consider making 12 appetizers per person.

If you're offering catered appetizers, plan for about six portions per guest. For a party of 100 guests, this adds up to roughly 600 appetizer portions. You can also offer light snacks like nuts, fruits and pretzels to give guests something to munch on when they first arrive — stock up on these items in bulk.

3-4 pieces per person, 30-45 minutes before dinner, cocktail hour. 6-10 pieces per person, 1.5-2 hour event, preceding dinner time. 10-12 pieces per person, 2-4 hours event, heavy hors d'oeuvres. 12-15 pieces per person 4+ hour event, dinner replacement.

For larger parties, serve 8 appetizers per person. With more people there, you want to have a larger buffet of food to choose from, so a larger variety of 6-8 different appetizers is a good plan. The higher the number, the bigger the array of choices you need. For a party of 40, make at least 320 appetizers.

The easiest rule is the “One Pound Rule.” Provide one pound of food for each adult guest (not including drinks or dessert).

The rule of thumb for smaller gatherings is that 3 types of appetizers are suitable for 8 to 10 guests; 4 or 5 types of appetizers for 14 to 16 people.

What are good foods to eat after a game? ›

After the game, athletes should eat a high-protein meal that contains poultry, meats, fish or legumes. “When you compete, you break down muscle. The protein helps repair it,” Sentongo said.

7. Fresh Fruits and Vegetables – are the simplest appetizer. Fruits are good appetizers because they give an attractive appearance, fragrance, appealing taste and delicious flavor.

Place each appetizer on its own small plate for an elegant look. Arrange all of the little dishes on a large serving platter in a circular pattern or a uniform pattern in which all of the plates are spaced the same amount of distance from each other.

Finger foods are small, individual portions of food that are eaten out of hand. They are often served at social events. The ideal finger food usually does not create any mess (i.e. no crumbs, drips, or any kind of mess), but this criterion is often overlooked in order to include foods like tacos.

A general rule here is about 3 different appetizer recipes for 10 people, 5 different appetizer recipes for 30 people and 7 different appetizer recipes for 50 people. Keep on adding 2 more unique recipes for each additional 20 people that will be attending the party.

Leslie Levin Nilsson, creative director of catering company Bartleby & Sage, says, "We suggest six passed hors d'oeuvres for a wedding of 50-100 guests, seven to eight passed hors d'oeuvres for a wedding of 100-150 guests, and up to ten for very large weddings."

What are considered heavy appetizers? ›

They are full of protein or have a protein component. This could be something like shrimp cocktail, chicken wings, or smoked salmon canapés. The appetizers have some substance or bulk to them. Think of appetizers like mini sliders or puff pastry bites.

An appetizer is meant to stimulate your appetite, making you extra hungry for your meal. This is where the word comes from, literally meaning "something to whet the appetite" or "something to appetize."

Portion Size: One of the most important distinctions between appetizers and hors d'oeuvres is the portion size. The former tends to be 3-4 bites while the latter are usually 1-2 bites.

You can set out food in covered dishes (or covered with tin foil), on warming trays or in chafing dishes which will all keep things warm until serving. If you're using disposable or other chafing dishes, be sure to put your food in piping hot. Chafing dishes maintain temperature. They don't heat up food.

Nowadays, the starter is often the first course of a meal, served directly before the main course. Starters come in a wide variety and may be served hot (vol-au-vents, soufflés) or cold (cold cuts, pâtés). However, as part of a formal dinner, they may be served after the soup or the hors d'oeuvres.

What is the best pre-game snack? ›

Aim for 1-3 g of carbohydrate per kilo of body mass with each meal. Carbohydrate based snacks between meals will also top up energy stores. For many amateur footballers, the pre-match meal can be difficult to have on a match day with a late fixture.

Yogurt is one of the best options, it also calms and soothes the stomach. Banish bloat with potassium. Potassium counteracts the bloating effects of sodium. Some of the potassium rich foods are beans (soy, kidney beans), banana, spinach, dried apricots, baked potato, baked sweet potato and yogurt.

Chicken wings are the food of choice. According to the National Chicken Council — yes, there is a National Chicken Council — Americans consume more than 100 million pounds of chicken wings on Super Bowl Sunday alone. For those playing along at home, that's more than 1.25 BILLION individual wings.

Carbohydrates: these replace your glycogen (energy) stores that will have been used during the game. They can be replaced with simple carbohydrates (more sugary carbs, like sports drinks, sweets, fruit) as these are quickly absorbed by the body.

An appetizer is a small dish of an overall meal. It can also be a drink or multiple drinks containing alcohol. Common examples include: shrimp cocktail, calamari, salad, potato skins, mussels, bruschetta or cheese and crackers. An appetizer may also be very elegant in some restaurants.

An appetizer is part of a meal that's served before the main course. You might serve your dinner guests an appetizer of crab-stuffed mushrooms when they first arrive for dinner. Usually, an appetizer is a small serving of food — just a few bites — meant to be eaten before an entree, and often shared by several people.

What is considered a simple appetizer? ›

Fresh Fruits and Vegetables – are the simplest appetizer. Fruits are good appetizers because they give an attractive appearance, fragrance, appealing taste and delicious flavor.

Cold appetizers should be set out before the party actually starts. Hot appetizers should be brought out once most, if not all, of the guests have arrived.

Canapes. “A small, prepared and usually decorative food, held in the fingers and often eaten in one bite.” Yep, this is just a fancy way of saying hors d'oeuvres and/or appetizers.

Hors d'oeuvres are small items served before dinner, often accompanied by cocktails. They're most commonly found at cocktail parties or during the cocktail hour of a reception or gala. Most of the time, hors d'oeuvres are considered 'finger foods' and can be eaten while standing and mingling.