20 Southern Holiday Appetizer Recipes

The South may be best known for its comforting entrées and indulgent desserts, but plenty of noteworthy starters come from below the Mason-Dixon Line, too. For example, Benedictine spread was developed between 1893 and 1925 by Jennie Benedict, a caterer and restaurant hostess in Louisville, Kentucky. The cucumber-cream cheese spread is often tinted with green food coloring and served as a dip or on bread rounds for a festive Christmas appetizer.

Many Southern appetizer recipes make use of convenient ingredients and simple preparations. With tortilla roll-ups, dips and spreads, meatballs, mushrooms, and more, Southern starters add tasty variety to your holiday table.

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Southern Pimiento Cheese Spread

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An iconic Southern dish with some variation in nearly every kitchen repertoire, this cheese spread makes a satisfying addition to your holiday appetizers. Serve it with pickles, olives, and baguette slices or on your favorite crackers or sturdy chips.
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Basil Walnut Spread

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This easy spread takes just a few minutes to make and tastes fantastic on toasted baguette slices or crackers. Reminiscent of pesto, it can be adjusted to ingredients you have on hand, for example, substituting another nut for the walnuts and adding parsley or mint.
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Celebration Cheese Ball

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With maximum appeal for minimal effort, this tasty cheddar and cream cheese ball rolled in chopped pecans makes a good addition to a holiday appetizer potluck. Serve it with crackers, sliced baguette, or celery sticks.
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Baked Spinach Balls

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These baked spinach balls make an excellent appetizer for the vegetarians on your guest list. Many packaged stuffing crumbs include chicken broth, so be sure to check labels if you intend this dish as a vegetarian choice. Serve them with a marinara sauce for dipping.

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Classic Cheese Straws

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A generous amount of sharp cheddar cheese and a dash of spicy cayenne pepper flavor these Southern cheese straws. Serve them with a dip such as hummus or just on their own.
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Cheddar Bacon Puffs

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These airy little puffs deliver a hearty cheddar and bacon flavor. They also freeze well for make-ahead convenience.
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Dilly Deviled Eggs

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This classic deviled egg recipe combines chopped dill pickle and some dried dill weed. Add a little dill pickle juice to enhance the deli flavor.
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Marinated Roasted Bell Peppers

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These peppers make a nice Christmas-themed red and green topping for French bread slices. You can also add them to salads or pile them on sandwiches.

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Tortilla Pinwheels With Cream Cheese Filling

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Serve these easy tortilla roll-ups with your favorite salsa, guacamole, or ranch dressing. You can easily customize the basic recipe for variety or to match the flavors of the main meal.
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Clam Dip With Cream Cheese and Mayonnaise

The Spruce / Diana Rattray

This dip makes use of canned minced clams, cream cheese, and mayonnaise. You can put together this tasty dip in less than 10 minutes, and you can easily scale the amount up or down to fit the number of servings you need.
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Easy Shrimp Dip

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This shrimp dip takes just a few minutes to fix, so keep the ingredients on hand during the holidays, and you'll be ready to impress in the event of unexpected guests.
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Macaroni and Cheese Croquettes

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Serve these deep-fried delicacies with a spicy sriracha mayo or aioli. They taste best hot, so plan ahead—you can keep them warm in a 200 F oven.

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Crab-Stuffed Mushrooms With Parmesan Cheese

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The stuffing for these fancy mushrooms includes crabmeat, breadcrumbs, and Parmesan cheese. You can use the regular button or cremini mushrooms for bite-size hors d'oeuvres or larger portobellos for a sit-down starter.
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Fontina, Spinach, and Bacon-Stuffed Mushrooms

Diana Rattray

Melted fontina cheese throughout the simple fresh spinach and bacon filling makes these stuffed mushrooms as delicious as they are easy. They're a great option when you want a gluten-free item on the menu.
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Bacon-Wrapped Scallops

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This impressive appetizer is deceptively easy to prepare, but it tastes best just out of the oven, so it's a better choice for a sit-down dinner than a buffet.
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Party Ham Rolls

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Using Hawaiian sweet dinner rolls, these slider-style sandwiches are a snap to prepare and bake. They add a more filling choice to an appetizer spread.

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4-Ingredient Appetizer Meatballs

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Jazz up your favorite frozen meatballs with this easy currant jelly barbecue sauce. You can prepare and serve these right from the slow cooker.
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Southern Grape Jelly Meatballs

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The secret's out about these meatballs, one of the South's favorite appetizers. Grape jelly, the surprise ingredient, adds sweet stickiness to the savory ketchup base in this sweet-and-sour-inspired sauce.
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Tangy Slow Cooker Cocktail Franks

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Crudités may look pretty, but you know your guests really want meat. These cocktail franks come together in the slow cooker, so you can prepare and serve without dirtying any extra dishes, leaving you with more time for socializing.
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Baked Sugared Pecans

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Add these sugared pecans to your selection of savory appetizers for palate-pleasing variety.

20 Southern Appetizers for Holiday Entertaining