Appetizer, Hors D’Oeuvre and Snack Recipes

Cutting board with tapas
Image by Terence Lim

Appetizers and hors d’oeuvre are the enticing entrance to a full meal. They pique the appetite without satisfying it and encourage easy conversation among gathered guests. Appetizers can be plated or passed, but they are most often finger food, easy to eat while standing and never overly messy in the hands.

Appetizers are mini meals that go by different names around the world. Spaniards have tapas, delicious bar food with a deep history. The Italians throw together antipasti platters with elegant simplicity. Hunger pangs in the eastern Mediterranean are calmed with meze and a beverage. Cantonese diners pick out an entire meal from dim sum carts. And the spicy chaat of India are some of the most flavorful snacks in the world.

International Appetizer Recipes

Buffalo Wings 
(American chicken wings in spicy sauce)

Olive Marinate 
(Italian marinated olive appetizer)

Law Bok Gow 
(Chinese steamed radish cake)

Empanadas 
(Latin savory stuffed pastries)

Guacamole 
(Mexican avocado sauce and condiment)

Sausage Rolls 
(Australian, New Zealand sausage-stuffed puff pastry)

Jamaican Beef Patties 
(Jamaican spicy curried meat pies)

Tortilla Española de Patata 
(Spanish open-faced potato omelet)

Oysters Rockefeller 
(American oysters with green sauce appetizer)

Siu Mai 
(Chinese steamed pork and shrimp dumplings)

Mejillones Fritos 
(Spanish batter-fried mussels)

Baleadas 
(Honduran flour tortillas with beans and cheese)

Domatokeftedes 
(Greek tomato fritters)

Pakora 
(Indian, Pakistani vegetable fritters)

Queso Fundido 
(Mexican melted cheese appetizer)

Köttbullar med Gräddsås 
(Swedish meatballs with cream sauce)

Sigara Boregi 
(Turkish cheese-filled filo appetizers)

Coxinhas 
(Brazilian deep-fried chicken croquettes)

Khinkali 
(Georgian meat-filled dumplings)

Pâtés Haïtiens 
(Haitian puff pastry beef patties)

Acharuli Khachapuri 
(Georgian boat-shaped cheesebread with egg and butter)

Lo Mai Gai 
(Chinese rice steamed in lotus leaves)

Pimento Cheese 
(American Southern cheese spread and sandwich filling)

Cancha 
(Ecuadorian, Peruvian toasted corn snack)

Gamberetti all’Agro 
(Italian lemon-marinated shrimp)

Chopped Chicken Livers 
(Jewish liver paté spread)

Tod Mun 
(Thai spicy fish cakes)

Plantain Fritters 
(Jamaican fried plantains)

Mücver 
(Turkish zucchini fritters)

Yangnyeom Dak 
(Korean sweet and spicy fried chicken)

Tostones 
(Caribbean fried plantains)

Alcapurrias 
(Puerto Rican stuffed fritters)

Pilus 
(Indonesian sweet potato puffs)

Dolmathes 
(Greek grape leaves stuffed with rice and meat)

Torshi 
(Iranian, Afghan pickled vegetables)

Medu Vada 
(South Indian deep-fried lentil fritters)

Lumpia Shanghai 
(Filipino meat-filled eggrolls)

Tlacoyos 
(Mexican bean-stuffed masa patties)

Muhammara 
(Middle Eastern spicy roasted pepper dip)

Hummus bi Tahina 
(Middle Eastern chickpea and sesame dip)

Buñuelos de Queso 
(Puerto Rican cheese fritters)

Okonomiyaki 
(Japanese savory “as-you-like-it” pancakes)

Muchines de Yuca 
(Ecuadorian stuffed and fried cassava balls)

Pâté de Campagne 
(French country-style pork terrine)

Gefüllte Eier 
(German deviled, stuffed eggs appetizer)

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