23 Thanksgiving Appetizers to Add to Your Menu

Marinating cubed feta is a low-effort move with big-flavor results. Pair it with crackers and fruit to anchor your cheese board. Feta's slightly airy texture makes it perfect for soaking up bold flavors, such as these briny, piquant peppercorns. For the best results, look for feta in brine, and drain off the brine before marinating.

Buttery, mild Castelvetrano olives add just enough salt and tang to these fried sausage snacks that pair beautifully with a crisp martini or chilled glass of wine. Use a high quality Italian sausage for the best texture and flavor.

Missy Robbins, chef at Lilia in Brooklyn, makes a deviled-egg toast that's topped with bottarga. This riff from F&W's Justin Chapple, served on crisp artisan crackers, is topped with smoky-sweet Urfa biber and shaved jalapeño.

This filling appetizer stars curry-and honey-roasted carrots wrapped in flaky puff pastry. For best results, look for carrots that are five to six inches in length. Pre-roasting carrots with curry and thyme balances their natural sweetness with rich, savory flavor, making them a satisfying stand-in for sausages.

Chef Carla Hall makes her own crunchy crackers to serve with her version of pimento cheese.

Instead of serving blini alongside a tin of caviar, Justin Chapple makes these handheld snacks. Waffles are cut into strips, and the pockets are filled with caviar, crème fraîche, and snipped chives to form the perfect pop-in-your-mouth morsel.

The tartness and texture of the blackberry conserva is a nice contrast to the rich, silky pâté. Spoon leftover blackberry conserva on pancakes, waffles, or ice cream.

Bacon-wrapped dates are chewy, crispy, sweet, savory, and smoky all at once. Here, plump and tender Medjool dates are stuffed with a mixture of blue cheese and cream cheese, and a toasted walnut stands in for the pit. Fresh goat cheese could easily be swapped for the blue cheese, and roasted salted almonds can replace the walnuts. For sweeter stuffed dates, drizzle them with honey before serving.

This creamy, smoky dip features flaky smoked salmon two ways: half is finely chopped to add a pleasant texture to the dip alongside briny pops of capers, and the rest is pureed with the mayonnaise, sour cream, and cream cheese, lending its beautiful color and deepening the flavor.

Cookbook author Nik Sharma's book Season weaves inspiration from his upbringing in Bombay with stories and experience from his adult life in the U.S. The result is a culinary memoir filled with delicious recipes like this one. Sharma notes that any mix of nuts will work for this recipe—just be sure to let them cool completely before serving or storing to ensure a crisp, not sticky, texture.

Store-bought 'nduja is transformed into a special canapé when served on toasted baguette and topped with a quick-pickled celery.

At his dinner parties in Harlem, chef and cookbook author Alexander Smalls pairs creamy, slightly spicy, fresh deviled crab with tender corn muffins, barely sweetened with brown sugar and studded with corn kernels, for a quick one-bite appetizer. Choose fresh crab over pasteurized for the best flavor.

A splash of vermouth helps cut through the richness of the cheese and allows the herbs and garlic to permeate. Fresh, crisp vegetables are the perfect accompaniment to this take on Brie en croûte.

These mini wedges are coated in a creamy, anchovy-packed dressing and dredged in crunchy panko, making them easy to eat with your hands. Alternatively, you can serve the dressing and breadcrumbs alongside the lettuce wedges, for easy dipping.

Inspired by merguez, a North African lamb sausage, these meatballs are loaded with cumin, garlic, and paprika for the ideal one-bite nosh. Harissa gives them a fiery heat that's tempered by the herby dip. You can also prepare these make-ahead meatballs with ground beef or a plant-based meat alternative, such as Impossible.

Garlic oil–basted hen-of-the-woods mushrooms—aka maitake—are the secret to making this simple riff on bistro-style steak with mushrooms complex and richly flavored. Rather than arranging the thin slices of rare roast beef on a platter, skewer them with roasted mushrooms to form an elegant one-bite appetizer.

Freezing the beef before cutting it chills the fat, making it easier to make very thin, even cuts. Tenderloin is a lean piece of meat, without a lot of marbling and sinew, so it has a nicer texture when raw. Be sure to choose at least a prime-grade filet.

Harissa ties in a smoky element, while the warm cinnamon and vanilla bring out the sweet fruitiness in inky black dry-cured olives.

Japanese korokke are the basis for these cheesy squash fritters, which can be made with freshly steamed kabocha squash or canned pumpkin puree. A drier squash, kabocha has a sweet flavor and cooks down into a custardy texture that's still dry enough to fry into these crispy two-bite appetizers. Serve them with a shortcut dipping sauce—a blend of fresh garlic, bright yuzu juice, and silky Kewpie mayo.

In this ultimate version of baked clams, chef Daniel Humm includes chopped clams in the filling, doubling down on briny clam flavor. Bacon, parsley, lemon, and a touch of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese add a savory, herby kick.

Triple créme cheese, an ultra-rich version of brie, is topped with pan-roasted mushrooms and herbs in this elegant appetizer.

A dollop of sweet-tart cranberry relish hides at the center of the goat cheese and ricotta mousse for a burst of flavor. Garnish with fresh chives or tart lemon zest for some color and brightness.

A mix of five different alliums—shallots, scallions, and sweet, yellow, and red onions—upgrades this classic caramelized onion dip with layers of flavor. Yellow and red onions give it bite, while Vidalia onion and shallots lend a pleasant sweetness. Taking the time to cook the onions low and slow concentrates their flavor, while adding scallions halfway through cooking keeps them just fresh enough to serve with chips, toasted bread, or vegetables like endive, steamed fingerling potatoes, and roasted Broccolini.