Thanksgiving Appetizer Recipes

This week, I decided to do something different. Instead of offering one recipe, I’m offering several. I came up with some fresh ideas for Thanksgiving appetizers, and I am so proud of how they turned out! You can get printable versions of these Thanksgiving appetizer recipes at www.susanmallery.com/recipes.php, as well as lots of other appetizer recipes. If you make any of these appetizers, I would love to hear from you. Post a comment here, or send me an email via my website.

Recipe: Snap Pea Crab Canoes

8 oz. snap peas
8 oz crab meat
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 green onion with top, cut into one-inch chunks
1 t lemon juice
1 t Dijon mustard

Heat a quart of water to boiling. Add the snap peas and blanch for one minute. Drain, then put in ice water for one minute, then drain again. Carefully cut a slit into the straight side of each snap pea, then set aside.

Put the remaining ingredients into a food processor and pulse until smooth.

Put the crab mixture into a Ziploc bag and cut a small triangle off the corner of the bag. With one hand, hold a snap pea so that the slit opens, then fill with the crab mixture.

If your family doesn’t like seafood, try this variation instead:

Recipe: Snap Pea Cheese Canoes

8 oz snap peas
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 green onion with top, cut into one-inch chunks
2 T minced chives
½ t garlic salt

Heat a quart of water to boiling. Add the snap peas and blanch for one minute. Drain, then put in ice water for one minute, then drain again. Carefully cut a slit into the straight side of each snap pea, then set aside.

Put the remaining ingredients into a food processor and pulse until smooth.

Put the cheese mixture into a Ziploc bag and cut a small triangle off the corner of the bag. With one hand, hold a snap pea so that the slit opens, then fill with the cheese mixture.


The next recipe was inspired by Smitten Kitchen’s Sweet Potatoes with Pecans, Goat Cheese, and Celery. One of my goals with this blog is to help bring attention to great recipes on other blogs, and this one looks incredible.

Recipe: Sweet Potato Rounds with Roasted Garlic and Feta

2 large sweet potatoes, sliced ¼-inch thick
2 large heads of garlic
2 T + 1 t olive oil, divided
1 t salt
1 t dried sage
¼ C crumbled feta cheese

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. With the sweet potato slices in a bowl, add 2 T olive oil, salt, and sage, and stir to coat. Place the slices in a single layer on two cookie sheets. Put each head of garlic on a square of aluminum foil. Drizzle 1 t of olive oil over the two heads of garlic, then wrap them both with aluminum foil and place on the cookie sheets. Roast for 10 minutes, flip the slices, then roast for another 10-20 minutes, until the slices are brown at the edges. Remove from the oven.

Turn the oven to broil. Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves into a bowl and mash roughly. Spread mashed garlic onto the sweet potato rounds and then add a bit of crumbled feta to each round. Broil for about 2 minutes.

Recipe: Bruschetta Bites

1 tube of crescent roll dough
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 T mayonnaise
1 clove garlic, minced
20 whole fresh basil leaves
3 small, sweet tomatoes, sliced thin
Parmesan cheese, sliced thin

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Take the crescent roll dough out of the tube but leave it in the tube shape. Slice into ¼-inch rounds and place in a single layer on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until golden brown, about 11 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Mix the cream cheese, mayonnaise, and garlic. Spread each dough round with cheese mixture, then layer with one basil leaf, one tomato slice, and one parmesan slice.

Recipe: Butternut Hummus

1 butternut squash, about 2 pounds
2 cloves garlic
½ C tahini
¼ C olive oil
2 T lemon juice
½ t salt
½ t paprika

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Cut the squash in half and place cut-side down on a cookie sheet. Bake for 45 minutes.

Scoop the flesh of the squash out of the skin and place in a food processor. Add remaining ingredients and pulse until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Serve with pita bread.