New Year’s Eve Party Food Ideas
Posted on: December 21st 2021
The beauty of planning a New Year’s Eve party is that you don’t have to narrow down your menu selections — you can have it all! A New Year’s Eve party is a perfect time for preparing a huge smorgasbord of various appetizers, from savory staples like crab and artichoke dip to sweet delicacies like chocolate fondue.
If you want to ring in the new year with new recipes, we’ve got you covered. This ultimate guide to New Year’s Eve food ideas will spark your culinary creativity with a variety of party appetizer suggestions, including dips, bites, poppers, desserts, and more. Discover all the ways you can make your New Year’s Eve party special this year below.
Top 30 New Year’s Eve Party Food Ideas
Ring in the New Year right with these 30 tasty New Year’s Eve appetizers:
1. Cheesy Bacon Spinach Dip
Dip is an excellent New Year’s Eve appetizer because it isn’t too filling, leaving guests with enough room to taste test every dish at the party. Cheesy bacon spinach dip, in particular, is always a crowd-pleaser, thanks to its mouthwatering flavors of bacon and sharp cheddar cheese. Serve this creamy dip with crackers or pita chips to create the ultimate party appetizer pairing.
2. Baked Onion Dip
Another delicious party dip is baked onion dip. This variety of dip combines all of the satisfying and slightly sweet tastes of caramelized onions and turns them into an irresistibly creamy spread. Baked onion dip goes especially well with potato chips, tortilla chips, or multi-grain crackers.
3. Crab and Artichoke Dip
Take your New Year’s Eve party up a level by serving crab and artichoke dip. This warm and cozy recipe perfectly blends the rich flavors of crab meat, artichoke hearts, and Parmesan cheese to create an elegant dip you’ll crave well into the new year. Set your crab and artichoke dip out with crostini, carrots, or slices of crusty bread like baguettes.
4. Crab Dip
If you don’t have many artichoke lovers coming to your party, stick with making a more traditional crab dip. Preparing a cheesy hot crab dip is a simple way to win over all of your party guests and keep them snacking until midnight. You can serve crab dip with pita chips, sliced bell peppers, or baguette rounds.
5. Steak Bites
Give your New Year’s Eve party a more fancy feel by serving steak bites. While providing a full steak for each of your guests is likely unrealistic, preparing steak bites gives you a way to offer your guests tender, sizzling steak without going over your party budget. Make sure you serve a variety of sauces with your steak bites so your party guests can have some fun experimenting with different flavor combos.
6. Toasted Ravioli
The only thing better than ravioli is toasted ravioli. This dish turns the beloved pasta entree into a stackable appetizer with a delightfully crisp texture on the ravioli’s outer layer. Serving this cheesy, dreamy dish alongside warm marinara sauce will allow your guests to give their toasted ravioli a flavor boost by dunking it into the marinara.
7. Stuffed Mushrooms
Stuffing mushrooms with a delicious blend of cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, and seasonings is a great way to provide your guests with a bite-sized appetizer full of flavor. Stuffed mushrooms are easy to prepare and will make your New Year’s Eve party guests feel like they’re at a fine dining establishment.
8. Jalapeno Poppers
Jalapeno poppers are a classic party appetizer made from slicing jalapenos in half and filling them with rich cream cheese spread, then sprinkling the peppers with a crispy bread crumb topping and baking. You can put a unique twist on this fan-favorite by making jalapeno popper egg cups, which involve putting all of the traditional jalapeno flavors into a fluffy egg cup and wrapping it in bacon.
9. Crab Cake Poppers
Like jalapeno poppers, crab cake poppers offer a satisfying amount of flavor in a single bite. But crab cake poppers offer a seafood-inspired twist and are shaped more like meatballs. Serving crab cake poppers with a spicy aioli will give them an extra kick of flavor your party guests will love.
10. Spinach Artichoke Cups
Spinach artichoke cups are a flavorful, poppable party appetizer that your guests won’t be able to get enough of. You can make spinach artichoke choke cups in a snap by mixing up a batch of spinach artichoke dip, stuffing spoonfuls of the dip into won ton cups, and baking it until the won tons are crispy and the filling becomes ooey-gooey and warm.
11. Fried Pickles
Fried pickles have all of the components of a good fried appetizer — they’re crispy and salty, and it’s impossible to eat just one. You can make your own fried pickles by coating thick dill pickle chips in a seasoned batter then frying them in a large skillet. Your fried pickles will be perfectly golden brown and crispy. Serve with ranch for even more flavor.
12. Onion Rings
Although you can find numerous types of onion rings in the frozen section, you can make your New Year’s Eve party extra special by serving homemade onion rings. All you have to do to make onion rings is heat up oil in a skillet, dip onion slices in batter, and fry the rings until they’re golden brown.
13. Shrimp Cocktail
Putting out a shrimp cocktail dish is an easy way to keep your party guests snacking and satisfied. If you want to jazz up your shrimp appetizer a bit, try serving fried shrimp tempura with a sweet chili sauce. Your guests will love the crispy texture the shrimp tempura offer, along with the expertly balanced flavors of the sweet chili sauce.
14. Pigs in a Blanket
Pigs in a blanket are a classic party appetizer that features mini cocktail sausages wrapped in dough and baked to perfection. The best part about these tiny bites of yumminess is how easy they are to make — all you have to do is wrap pre-made breadstick, puff pastry, or croissant dough around the sausage and bake.
15. Southwestern Egg Rolls
Put a new spin on egg rolls for the new year by making southwestern egg rolls. Southwestern egg rolls wrap mouthwatering ingredients like chicken, corn, chopped bell peppers, black beans, and cheese in a crispy shell of fried tortillas, resulting in a crave-worthy appetizer that tastes like fried tacos.
16. Herbed Cheese Balls
Coating miniature cheese balls in herbs is a great way to reinvent the traditional cheese ball party appetizer. Herb-coated mini cheese balls have more Mediterranean flavors than a typical cheese ball, with ingredients like feta, basil, and rosemary, making them ideal for spreading on pita chips or crostini.
17. Cheese and Crackers Tray
You don’t have to make a full charcuterie board to impress your New Year’s Eve party guests. A simple cheese and crackers tray is often a better choice if you’re planning on serving multiple appetizer dishes. Guests will appreciate having a variety of cheeses and crackers to snack on in the party’s later hours.
18. Nachos
You can never go wrong with serving nachos at a party. If you really want to wow your guests this New Year’s Eve, set out a big plate of cheesy fried egg nachos. Putting a fried egg on top of all of the usual nacho toppings will give the dish an extra element of gooeyness that goes perfectly with the layers of melted cheese.
19. Guacamole
You can’t serve nachos without guacamole. Guacamole is an easy crowd-pleaser that requires only mashing up some avocadoes and mixing them with seasonings like salt, cilantro, onions, and tomatoes. Make sure you add a splash of lime juice for an infusion of citrus.
20. Honey BBQ Chicken Wings
Wings are a party staple that can be prepared in a variety of ways. These honey BBQ chicken wings might just be the best variation. Making honey BBQ chicken wings will provide your guests with a handheld snack that’s full of sweet and tangy flavors.
21. Crab Puffs
You can picture crab puffs as adorable mini crab cakes sandwiched in choux pastry — the base for other pastry favorites like cream puffs and eclairs. Making crab puffs for your New Year’s Eve party simply involves baking individually sized pastry pillows and filling them with a savory crab filling.
22. Sweet Meatballs
If you’re looking for a party appetizer that perfectly balances sweet and savory flavors, sweet meatballs are your answer. You can easily make meatballs with a sweet jelly glaze in a crockpot so you don’t have to worry about any last-minute party prep.
23. Baked Brie
Wrapping baked brie in puff pastry is a surefire way to keep your New Year’s Eve guests happy. Baked brie has all the makings of a hit party appetizer, with its melty mild cheese, sweet raspberry jam filling, and flaky pastry shell. You can also drizzle maple syrup on your baked brie or sprinkle chopped pecans for some crunch.
24. Cranberry Brie Bites
Another way to enjoy brie is in the form of cranberry brie bites. Making cranberry brie bites is like making personal-sized baked brie for your party guests. Each cranberry brie bite contains melted brie cheese, sweet cranberry sauce, and fresh rosemary, wrapped in a fluffy pastry.
25. Caprese Bites
If you want an easier way of serving a caprese appetizer than chopping a bunch of ingredients and placing them carefully on crostini, try making caprese bites. To prepare caprese bites, all you have to do is put a mini ball of fresh mozzarella, a cherry tomato, and a fresh basil leaf on a skewer and drizzle it with a balsamic glaze.
26. Cookie Dough Ball
In addition to all of the delicious savory New Year’s Eve party appetizers listed so far, your guests will want something sweet to snack on. A cookie dough ball is a perfect dessert for your guests to enjoy while waiting for the ball to drop. A cookie dough ball offers all of the sugary goodness of cookie dough without the raw ingredients, making it perfect to spread on graham crackers, pretzels, and more.
27. Cake Balls
Cake balls are a cute New Year’s Eve dessert that your guests won’t be able to resist. You can make whatever flavor of cake balls you want by baking your favorite type of cake, allowing it to cool, then crumbling it up and mixing it with whatever type of frosting you want. Once you’ve rolled the cake-and-frosting mixture into balls, let them set in the refrigerator before coating them in melted chocolate and allowing them to chill again.
28. Chocolate Fondue
Is there anything more fun than dipping your favorite sweet treats in chocolate fondue? Take your New Year’s Eve to the next level by setting up a pot or fountain of chocolate fondue and providing your guests with delicious dipping ingredients like strawberries, marshmallows, pretzels, biscotti, graham crackers, cookies, and more. Make sure you also supply fondue forks or skewers for your guests to dip their sweet treats safely.
29. Candied Nuts
Candied nuts are a classic party appetizer for the holiday season. Homemade candied nuts offer the warm, comforting spice of cinnamon with a sweet glaze that coats the nuts with a sugary crunch that your guests won’t be able to stop snacking on. When making your homemade candied nuts, try using any combination of pecans, walnuts, cashews, almonds, and peanuts.
30. Deviled Eggs
Many guests will enjoy balancing out their sweet snacks with one last bite of a savory appetizer like deviled eggs. Deviled eggs are a go-to party appetizer because they are delicious, simple to make, and easy to customize. You can stick with a tried-and-true basic deviled eggs recipe or mix things up a little with a new deviled eggs recipe.
Impress your New Year’s Eve party guests by preparing holiday horseradish deviled eggs with bacon or deviled eggs on toasted biscuits with trout roe and dill. Regardless of which deviled eggs recipe you choose, you’ll have a blast ringing in the new year with friends, family, and great food.
Make Your New Year’s Eve a Hit With These Tasty Recipes
Make sure you start the new year off right by using top-quality ingredients in your New Year’s Eve party recipes. When you cook with Sauder’s Eggs, you can be certain you’re using high-quality, farm-fresh eggs that are full of nutritional value. At Sauder’s Eggs, we partner with local farmers to ensure we bring you reliable ingredients you can feel good about serving your family.
Use our online store locator to find the Sauder’s Eggs nearest you and start working on your New Year’s Eve party menu today!
