Fun and Festive New Year’s Eve Party Food Ideas
These New Year’s Eve Appetizers are 98% store-bought, for a low effort, but high impact, charcuterie board-style spread of finger foods.
Get festive with these New Year’s Eve Food ideas
Recently, I was talking with a neighbor about a dilemma she was having for New Year’s Eve: her and her friends need some sort of dinner, but nobody wants to cook and their group is too big for a restaurant reservation.
I’m guessing this could be quite a common issue, so I figured I would put together a board of New Year’s Eve appetizers that eats more like a light dinner, with cheese AND charcuterie AND seafood AND sweet treats AND even a simple homemade appetizer, if you want.
While this board of New Year’s Eve finger food looks pretty epic, it actually consists of one item I made, a few things I heated up in the oven, and 98% stuff I bought at the store.
This post will give you a ton of ideas to put together the New Year’s appetizers spread of your dreams. The board pictured here is for a big crowd, but if your gathering is a little smaller, just cut it down to a few of your favorite things.
Why you will love a New Year’s Eve Charcuterie Board
- Low Effort, High Impact. Almost everything you see in these photos was simply purchased at the store and unwrapped or unboxed. But wow, what an impact when it’s all presented together!
- Versatility – A big board like this gives you the chance to offer a mix of flavors, from savory to sweet, and also makes it pretty easy to cater to dietary restrictions, if needed.
Staple ingredients for New Year’s Eve Appetizers
- Cheese – like marinated mozzarella balls from the cheese counter at my store, and high-quality sliced sharp cheddar.
- Nuts – cashews and pistachios are my favorite!
- Fruit – Offer whole clementines and berries, especially if there are kids around.
- Honeycomb – goes great with cheese, and always seems very fitting for a special occasion.
- Vegetable chips – so much fancier than potato chips for New Year’s appetizers, right?
- Smoked salmon – I buy this from my local bagel shop and arrange the slices on a small, pretty plate.
- Marinated olives + marinated mushrooms – from the olive bar at the store.
- Assorted crackers – The more interesting, the better for New Year’s Eve appetizers!
- Pomegranate seeds – for a pretty garnish!
- Chocolate-covered pretzels – everybody loves these!
- Mini cannoli – store bought, of course. Or go all out and make easy cannoli dip board for dessert.
- Fun, festive cookies – from a local bakery.
Traditional New Years Foods that bring good luck
- Round foods – to symbolize completeness and unity. Roasted grapes are a good (round-ish) option, as well as round cakes and cookies.
- Greens – to symbolize wealth and prosperity. Consider offering a really good kale salad as part of your spread.
- Black-eyed peas – a Southern tradition thought to bring good fortune. Black eyed pea dip is always a great choice as a New Years Eve food.
- Pork – to represent progress and prosperity. You can’t go wrong with General Tso meatballs (which are made with pork, and also, they’re a round food!)
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Easy New Year’s Appetizers that require little to no prep
- Quiche – quiche is awesome for a New Year’s Eve charcuterie board because it provides a more filling, meal-type option. It’s also super simple to “make” – simply bake it, cut it up into slices, and serve warm or room temperature. A store bought quiche is really delicious and so easy, but if you’d prefer homemade, my quiche recipe is for you. You can make it a day or two in advance and simply reheat it.
- Cocktail shrimp – buy them pre-cooked, so you just have to thaw and serve. Serve with bottled cocktail sauce.
- Salami – buy a fancy log of salami and slice it up for the easiest New Year’s Eve food.
- Creamy dip – something store-bought like spinach-artichoke dip, or Mexicali dip. I usually warm it up before serving for a special touch.
How to make a New Year’s Eve Charcuterie Board
- FIND A HUGE PLATTER. The bigger, the better. Or, you can arrange multiple smaller platters together for a similar effect for your New Years Eve food.
- PREP HOT FOOD. If you’re going to be making any hot foods like the Spinach & Artichoke Stuffed Wontons in the recipe card below, prep those.
- ARRANGE! Add the hot foods to the platter first, and then anything that has its own bowl or smaller serving dish. Then, arrange the smaller, loose items like nuts and chips in any blank space that’s left.
New Years Eve Party Foods Ideas and Home Chef Tips
- Delegate Tasks – if a party guest asks “what can I bring?,” take them up on it, and ask them stop at a local bakery for cookies, or even at their favorite sushi restaurant for a few takeout rolls to add to the spread!
- Create a Signature Cocktail – With so much going on with your New Years foods, simplify your drink options by offering a signature drink, like cranberry rosemary cocktails, or simply champagne!
New Year’s Eve Charcuterie Board
These New Year's Eve Appetizers are 98% store-bought, for a low effort, but high impact, charcuterie board-style spread of finger foods.
Ingredients
For the Spinach & Artichoke Wontons
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 12 4-1/2-inch square wonton wrappers
- 1 container Spinach & Artichoke Dip 10 ounces
- 1 egg beaten
For the Platter
- Cheese
- Cashews pistachios, peanuts
- Clementines
- Honeycomb
- Vegetable chips
- Quiche store-bought
- Smoked salmon
- Marinated olives + marinated mushrooms
- Cocktail shrimp
- Assorted crackers
- Salami
- Lemon Pepper & Asiago Dip
- Pomegranate seeds to garnish the dip
- Chocolate-covered pretzels
- Mini cannoli
- Fun festive cookies
Instructions
Make the Spinach & Artichoke Dip Wontons:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray rimmed baking pan with cooking spray.
- Place wonton wrappers on work surface. Place 1 heaping tablespoon dip in center of each wrapper. One at a time, use your finger to brush beaten egg along edges of one wrapper. Lift all 4 corners of wrapper and pinch corners together at top. Pinch edges and corners of wonton together to seal. Repeat with remaining wontons.
- Transfer wontons to prepared baking pan; spray with additional cooking spray. Transfer to oven and bak 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
- Build a large platter using the wontons and rest of platter ingredients.
Notes
- Nutrition is for the homemade wonton cups.
Serving: 1wonton, Calories: 103kcal, Carbohydrates: 7g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 7g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 0.1g, Trans Fat: 0.002g, Cholesterol: 14mg, Sodium: 262mg, Potassium: 11mg, Fiber: 0.1g, Sugar: 3g, Vitamin A: 21IU, Calcium: 56mg, Iron: 0.3mg
This website provides estimated nutrition information as a courtesy only. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Did you make this recipe?Leave a Review below or share a photo and tag me on Instagram @foxeslovelemons with the hashtag #foxeslovelemons.
I am planning on trying the Spinach and Artichoke Wontons for a gatfhering. Your reply will probably not get to me in time, but for future preparation, can I stuff the wontons and refrigerate them ahead of time (morning of or day before)?
Thanks for your reply,
Kathleen
Oh yes, that should work just fine. Enjoy your gathering, Kathleen!
This may be one of your best snack platters yet … I am pumped for the day you go on Beat Bobby Flay. Let the battle cheese platter begin! Seriously, this thing was delicious – not just beautiful. Great work!
This sounds like a great party idea, and I like how simple the wontons are. Hope your New Year’s Eve gathering turns out well, and I wish you and Jeff a wonderful year in 2018.
Thank you, Susan. Best wishes to you and your family in 2018!