8 Cheap and Easy Holiday Appetizers

Easy Holiday Appetizer Ideas
My family loves making and eating appetizers. We all have our favorites, and we've shared seven easy recipes we enjoy making below.
- Hot Artichoke Dip
- Alfredo Meatballs
- Ty's Beer Dip
- Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Livers
- Corn Beef Dip
- Bacon-Wrapped Water Chestnuts
- Creamy Fiesta Dip
- Harvest Dip
All of these appetizers are simple to put together and can be customized for any holiday or party. Bon appetit!


1. Hot Artichoke Dip
Ingredients:
- 2 cans artichokes, not marinated
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese
- 8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
- Pinch of garlic salt, onion salt, salt, and pepper
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix all of the ingredients in a 1-quart casserole dish.
- Bake the dish for 30 minutes.
- Serve with crisp crackers, chips, or bread rounds for dipping. This dish is delicious when served hot.

2. Alfredo Meatballs
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 lbs hamburger meat
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 tbsp chives
- 2 tbsp parsley
- 1 tbsp Old Bay Seasoning
- ½ package onion soup mix
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup water
- Olive oil
- 1 jar of Ragu classic Alfredo sauce
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Combine the hamburger meat, onions, chives, parsley, seasoning, soup mix, egg, and water in a bowl.
- Take some of the mixture and shape it into a 1.5" ball. Continue making the meatballs until the bowl is empty.
- Spray a cookie sheet with a nonstick spray. Place the meatballs on top and then drizzle each one with a small amount of olive oil.
- Bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
- Pour the jar of Alfredo sauce into a slow cooker and set the heat to high.
- Place the meatballs and drippings from the cookie sheet into the slow cooker and cook it for 30 minutes.
- After the time has elapsed, adjust the slow cooker heat to low and let it cook for as long as you want. I recommend letting it cook for at least three hours.

3. Ty's Beer Dip
Ingredients:
- 2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened
- 2 (8 oz) packages shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 (8 oz) carton sour cream
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 package ranch dressing
- 1/2 cup beer
- 1 (1 lb) loaf round bread
Instructions:
- Place the cream cheese, sour cream, cheddar cheese, garlic powder, ranch dressing, and beer in a large bowl. Blend the contents with an electric mixer until smooth.
- Remove and reserve the top of the round bread. I like to use pretzel sticks. Hollow out the loaf and reserve the bread pieces you removed.
- Spoon the cream cheese mixture into the hollowed loaf. The bread top can be used as a lid to close the bowl between servings. The bread pieces you removed can be used to scoop up the dip.
- If you don't want to use bread as the serving bowl, you can use a regular bowl to hold the dip and use chips or pretzels to dip.

4. Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Liver
Ingredients:
- 1 lb chicken livers
- 1 lb bacon strips
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Cut each bacon strip into three pieces.
- Wrap a piece of bacon around a chicken liver and secure it with a toothpick.
- Place each bacon-wrapped chicken liver on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes (or until it's done).
5. Corn Beef Dip
Ingredients:
- 2 packages corn beef, chopped
- 2 tsp accent salt
- 2 tsp dill weed
- 16 oz mayo
- 2 tsp onion, minced
- Bagels
Instructions:
- Mix all of the ingredients except the bagels together in your serving bowl.
- Cut up bagels into bite-size pieces for dipping.

6. Bacon-Wrapped Water Chestnuts
Ingredients:
- 1 package bacon
- 2 cans water chestnuts (8 oz each)
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Cut each bacon strip in half and wrap a piece around each water chestnut.
- Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Make sure the bacon is crisp.
This appetizer is delicious without a dip, but I have four dip recipes you can use to boost the flavors below! All you have to do is mix the ingredients together and serve it with the chestnuts.
Peach Dip
- 1 jar peach baby food
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup ketchup
Ranch Dip
- Ranch dressing
Lite Thousand Island Dip
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 1/2 cup mayo
Horseradish Dip
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp Worcestershire
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 3 tablespoons horseradish
- Salt and pepper to taste
7,. Creamy Fiesta Dip
Ingredients:
- 1 cup mayo
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup chunky salsa
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions:
- Mix everything together. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for a day.
- Serve with toasted crackers or anything else you want to serve!

8. Harvest Dip
8 oz cream cheese
1 pkg dry ranch dressing
1 small can of green chilies, chopped and drained
I can yellow corn, drained
I small can chopped black olives
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
Cream cream cheese and dry ranch. Fold in all other ingredients. Refrigerate at least 2 hours
Questions & Answers
© 2008 moonlake
Comments
These wonderful recipes were so popular over Christmas on my Pinterest board for appetizers, and they still get a lot of repins. Came back because Easter is just around the corner and pinned this to Awesome HubPages.
I continue to hope and pray for the best possible outcome for your husband and your family, and that things are getting better for you all everyday.
These would be great for upcoming New Year's parties. Wishing you a very happy 2014! No share buttons visible...
This article has been repinned more than any other photo or article from my Pinterest boards. I have pinned it 3 different times with the 3 different photos you have here, and every photo has enjoyed great popularity on my Pinterest board.
We're down to the line and this article could very well be the thing that keeps people sane who are hurrying around attending to last minute details for parties and dinners.
Going to share it one more time in case someone missed it and is racking their brain trying to figure out what to do about appetizers for their event tonight, or over the next few days. These recipes you have couldn't possibly be better and anyone who serves them will have some happy guests for sure!
Happy Christmas to you and your family Sharon! Thank you for being one of my best friends here on HP!
Pinning this one more time to my 'Appetizers' board. This article with the first photo at the top has gotten several re-pins a week every since I first pinned it and it's still going strong . . .
I pinned this the first time with the Alfredo meatballs photo and I have had dozens of repins on it. Now I'm pinning it again to the same board (Appetizers, Snacks, & Sandwiches), but using the Bacon Wrapped Chicken Livers photo. We'll see what happens.
Sharing again too, as Christmas is only 2 weeks and 2 days away.
Now I have a great source for dip recipes. I like the sound of Ty's beer dip and we have all the ingredients available here in Peru. I'll have to try it next time we have a party. Thanks, Moonlake!
Thanksgiving, Christmas,New Years And Easter and The 4th Of July. Cheap and Easy Holiday Appetizers brilliant suggestion all sound superb!
No, moonlake, only 65 days now! :)
Came back to pin this to my 'Appetizers, Snacks & Sandwiches' board. Gave you 5 more stars and will share again with my followers. Christmas is only 65 days away, and Thanksgiving and Halloween are much closer, so these recipes could be very useful to people planning to entertain.
Hi moonlake! Great eye-catching and mouth-watering nice ideas to celebrate weekends.
These sound and look awesome. And artichoke is healthy. Thanks for sharing. All votes up!
Interesting appetizers. Voted up, interesting and shared.
These are great recipes. I love to eat artichoke dip, but I have never tried to make it. Now I have an easy recipe, thanks to you! I'll look forward to giving some of these other recipes a try, too!
Wow...such great sounding recipes. These would be good when having guests over anytime of the year. Have to bookmark this! Up and useful votes and will share.
What great appetizers! You know of course, that anything wrapped in bacon is good! Meatball recipe is interesting, but then, they all are.
Voted up, useful, and interesting.
You have several super recipes here that are perfect for the holidays or entertaining anytime, but I really liked the sound of the Creamy Fiesta Dip best. Easy and fast, and since I love picanté and parmesan, I think it can't go wrong. I really like fast easy recipes that get a person out of the kitchen among family or other guests to enjoy the festivities.
Voted up, useful, and awesome! Will share.
You got me at the artichoke dip. My mouth is watering now!!!!!
moonlake, The meatballs sound terrific! Thanks for sharing.
Have a Wonderful Christmas! ~ Barbie Perkins
They sound good! I want to try out the meatballs! Thanks- Happy Holiday's!
Mmmm....got my mouth watering. Thank you for the recipes!
They all sound delicious. Will give them a try this season.
Now I'm hungry.
I'm planning on making appetizers for Christmas Eve; I will be making the meatballs. Thanks for three great recipes.
BEER DIP! Oh, I am soooooo trying this one at Xmas, thank you!!!!
Wow great recipes! I love artichoke dip and I am definitely going to try the meatballs they sound so yummy! Thanks!
I'll give the meatballs a try. Thanks for the recipe.
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