New Year’s Eve Snacks & Finger Foods

Feed a party crowd with these New Year’s Eve snacks and finger foods. Make all of your snacking dreams come true with a ton of sweet and savory nibbles, many store bought, some super easy to make.

Happy “Snacks For Dinner” Week! < — an unofficial holiday week that I made up. I’ll be snacking my way through the next few days, leading up to my favorite snacking evening of all: New Year’s Eve!

After talking with a neighbor about a dilemma she was having for NYE (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 figured I would put together a board of New Year’s Eve appetizers that eats more like a light dinner.

I know I’ve already offered plenty of unique charcuterie board ideas on this blog, like my smoked salmon platter and wine and cheese board. I’ve even made jarcuterie and a big old Halloween food ideas post.

But this New Year’s Eve snack board truly takes it to the next level, with cheese AND charcuterie AND seafood AND sweet treats AND even a simple homemade appetizer, if you want.

This New Year’s Eve snack board is easier than it looks, I promise.

I know this board of New Year’s Eve finger food looks pretty epic, and it IS pretty epic. But really, this is one item I made, one thing I heated up in the oven, and 98% stuff I bought at the store.

Please don’t feel like you need ALL of the New Year’s Eve snacks I’ve listed here. This board is for a BIG crowd, but if your gathering is a little smaller, just cut it down to a few of your favorite things.

And if all else fails, just walk through the freezer aisle at Trader Joe’s, buy a bunch of stuff, take it home and heat it up and put it on a pretty platter. I’ve done that more times than I can count, and people love it.

Break out the champagne or mix up a lemon margarita or grapefruit vodka cocktail with rosemary, and let’s get started on these New Year’s snacks.

New Year’s Eve finger foods that come directly out of the package:

• 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 New Year’s Eve snacks.
• 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. Honeycomb is also perfect on a breakfast charcuterie board the next morning.
• Vegetable chips – so much fancier than potato chips for NYE appetizers, right?
• Smoked salmon – I buy this from my local bagel shop and arrange the slices on a small, pretty plate. You could also assemble smoked salmon crostini for New Year’s Eve finger food if you wanted to.
• Marinated olives + marinated mushrooms – from the olive bar at the store.
• Assorted crackers – The more interesting, the better for New Year’s Eve appetizers! I brought crackers home from Germany last time I went and hand-carried them on the plane to avoid breakage, because I’m such a cracker fanatic!
• Pomegranate seeds – for a pretty garnish to my New Year’s Eve food (I also love these to look “bloody” on a Halloween charcuterie board!)
• Chocolate-covered pretzels – everybody loves these!
• Mini cannoli – store bought, of course. Or go all out and make a cannoli dip board for dessert after filling up on savory New Year’s snacks.
• Fun, festive cookies – from a local bakery.

NYE appetizers that you just have to chop, thaw or warm up:

• Quiche – quiche is awesome for a New Year’s Eve finger food platter like this 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 vegetarian quiche recipe is for you.
• Cocktail shrimp – buy them pre-cooked, so you just have to thaw and serve. Serve with bottled cocktail sauce or homemade piquillo pepper spread, if you want.
• Salami – buy a fancy log of salami and slice it up for New Year’s Eve snacks.
• Creamy dip – something like spinach-artichoke dip, or lemon pepper-asiago dip. I usually warm it up before serving for a special touch.

Homemade New Year’s Eve food that is super simple to make:

• Spinach & Artichoke Stuffed Wontons – recipe in the card below!
• Fruit and Cheese Kabobs – these are the perfect New Year’s Eve snack for kids, and they have croissant croutons. Yum!
• Prosciutto Pinwheels – these are fun New Year’s snacks made with just five ingredients. They’re elegant without being fussy, and everybody will love them!
• Phyllo Cup Appetizers – made with cheese, apples and bacon, these are a savory modern take on a cheeseball and crackers for your New Year’s Eve finger food platter. 
• Baked Lemon Ricotta Cheese – put this out with some crostini, and it’ll disappear in minutes.
• Black Bean Meatballs – a filling New Year’s Eve food option for vegetarians.
• Greek Chicken Meatballs – don’t forget the yogurt dipping sauce!