This Holiday Season Give Those Traditional Crockpot Appetizer Recipes A Little Burst Of Flavor
With the holiday season quickly approaching, I’m guessing you have already pulled out some of your favorite appetizer recipes. You know you love those mouth-watering little treats and you know that your guests love to nibble on appetizers as they mingle.
Even when planning a big sit-down meal, your dinner guests will always make room for a few tasty bites before dinner. The trick to serving good appetizers is serving an attractive and delicious variety of dishes. This may be easier said than done when you have become so accustomed to making certain appetizers year after year.
Let’s put your crockpot to work making something a little more special than the same little wienies, cheese dips, and barbecued meatballs that your guests have come to expect. It’s time to go beyond those simple treats and come up with appetizers that are worthy of your holiday get-together.
Cheese Dip: You can certainly make a simple little cheese dip that would be delicious, but, don’t you want to make a dip that your guests will remember, and talk about, and ask you for the recipe? How about an Artichoke and Cheese dip? By adding some chopped artichoke hearts to your favorite cheese dip you’ve perked this appetizer up enough to make it memorable.
You can also add flavorful ingredients like Parmesan cheese, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and red pepper flakes to really kick this cheese dip up a few notches. Cook in your crockpot on low for about 2 hours, and keep warm to serve with your crackers, chips, or bread.
Cocktail Sausages: Think way beyond those little wienies and serve up an easy, but fancy, batch of sweet and tangy Apple Sausage Appetizers instead. Use any combination of ingredients such as brown sugar, honey, balsamic vinegar, and Dijon mustard, then instead of adding Vienna Sausages, cut up some good apple smoked sausage, some tart apples like Granny Smith, and some sweet onion and add that to the crockpot.
If your guests were expecting the standard cocktail wienie appetizer, they’ll be pleasantly surprised when they bite into this sweet and spicy treat. Combine the ingredients in your crockpot, set it on low heat, and let cook for about 2 hours. Check to make sure the apples and onions are just cooked through but not turning to mush, then serve warm.
Saucy Mini Meatballs: Take a plain meatball appetizer recipe and make it better with the addition of some good old beer in your sauce. Beer is the secret ingredient to a lot of recipes that need a little tangy boost. You can use your favorite recipe to make the meatballs. Brown the meatballs in a little oil in a skillet, then put them in your crockpot.
Mix together in a separate bowl a combination of ingredients starting with beer. Add any or all of the following ingredients to the beer – spicy tomato juice, mustard, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, onion, hot sauce, red pepper flakes, or anything that sounds good to you. Pour this sauce over the meatballs in the crockpot, turn the heat to low, and let it cook for about 2 hours or a little more until you’re sure the meatballs are cooked thoroughly. You won’t find these meatballs on just any buffet!
Nutty Snacks: I always think some pretty bowls of assorted nuts placed on tables around the room is a nice touch. But, instead of just dumping some mixed nuts in a bowl, why not cook up a batch to surprise your holiday guests? Because pecans are often associated with sweet snacks and desserts, these Cajun Style Pecans will be quite the surprise, indeed!
Choose the spices that you would normally associate with a good Cajun dish. You’ll probably want ground onion and garlic, of course, and cayenne pepper, chili powder, oregano, basil, and thyme. Mix these together, then add to some melted butter and pecans in your crockpot. Cover your crockpot and turn it to high for about 10 minutes, then uncover and turn to low. Continue cooking on low, uncovered, for about 2 hours. Stir the contents a few times to keep the pecans coated and toasting evenly. After they’re done cooking, just cool the pecans by spreading them on a baking sheet, rack, or paper towels.
We all have our favorite appetizers that have become a tradition over the years. We can still enjoy these same appetizers, but don’t they deserve a little updating? And don’t our guests deserve a little special treat this year? Surprise them by tweaking your old crockpot appetizers and maybe you’ll start some brand new traditions!
Grab your old crockpot appetizer recipes for the holidays, search for a few new recipes, and brush up on your slowcooker cooking methods! It’s time to get started and get serious saving money with your slowcooker!
