Recipes Holidays + Events Thanksgiving Thanksgiving Make-Ahead Hors d'Oeuvres By Food & Wine Editors Updated on November 20, 2019 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Photo: © Kana Okada Alleviate some holiday stress by prepping your Thanksgiving hors d'oeuvres ahead of time. By the time your guests arrive for dinner, all you'll have to do is arrange the crudite platter. From savory tarts to fantastic cheese-stuffed mushrooms, here are great make-ahead hors d'oeuvres for Thanksgiving. 01 of 21 Roasted Beet Toasts with Horseradish Cream Top Chef Masters finalist Traci des Jardins creates a gorgeous cold-weather hors d'oeuvre with roasted beets, horseradish cream and rye toast. More Thanksgiving Recipes Go to Recipe 02 of 21 Pepper-Glazed Goat Cheese Gratin This warm, sweet-spicy goat cheese dip is an easy alternative to a cheese plate. Thanksgiving Appetizers Go to Recipe 03 of 21 Miso-Infused Cream Cheese Spread Cooks in Japan cure all kinds of food in miso, from fish to tofu. Inspired, chef David Myers uses the fermented soybean paste to flavor cream cheese. Thanksgiving Dinner and Menu Ideas Go to Recipe 04 of 21 Provençal Vegetable Tart © Christina Holmes Julianne Jones makes this savory rectangular tart with the ingredients typically found in ratatouille: eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes. “You arrange the vegetables nicely in the flaky crust, then tuck in thinly shaved cheese,” she says. “I love serving the tart at dinner parties because it’s aesthetically impressive.” Fantastic Thanksgiving Appetizers Go to Recipe 05 of 21 Prosciutto-Wrapped Persimmons © Dave Lauridsen Jason Travi wraps prosciutto around persimmon wedges and roasts them until the meat crisps and the fruit turns tender and sweet. More Thanksgiving Recipes Go to Recipe 06 of 21 Focaccia with Caramelized Onions, Pear and Blue Cheese Vegetarian Thanksgiving Recipes Go to Recipe 07 of 21 Whipped Feta with Cucumbers © Seth Smoot The taste of the Mediterranean shines through in this airy feta spread that's served with olive oil-marinated cucumbers. Healthy Thanksgiving Recipes Go to Recipe 08 of 21 Turkey Liver Mousse Toasts with Pickled Shallots © Petrina Tinslay This hors d'oeuvre is a Louisiana riff on traditional French chicken liver pâté. The Rushings create a silken mousse with livers from the quintessential American bird, turkey, but you can also use chicken livers. Instead of cornichons, the little French pickles, the Rushings add a sweet-and-tangy Southern accent—pickled shallots. Chef Holiday Recipes Made Easy Go to Recipe 09 of 21 Goat Cheese-Stuffed Mushrooms with Bread Crumbs Here, creamy chévre is stuffed into antioxidant-rich mushrooms and topped with crispy herbed bread crumbs. Thanksgiving Entertaining Ideas Go to Recipe 10 of 21 Blue-Cheese-and-Walnut Dip with Waldorf Crudités David Malosh With walnuts, mayonnaise, apples and grapes, this recipe is a riff on classic Waldorf salad. More Thanksgiving Recipes Go to Recipe 11 of 21 Cheddar Gougères © Quentin Bacon Cabot Clothbound Cheddar gougères are perfect with cava. Amazing Thanksgiving Appetizers Go to Recipe 12 of 21 Crispy Kale with Lemon-Yogurt Dip © Frances Janisch "I like the idea of making a healthy kind of potato chip that's not one of those packaged, dehydrated vegetable chips," Seamus Mullen says. He roasts kale with extra-virgin olive oil and garlic until it's crunchy. Healthy Thanksgiving Recipes Go to Recipe 13 of 21 Fried Parsnip Ribbons Julie Taras and Tasha Garcia usually top stewy braised dishes with these earthy vegetable chips for a bit of crunch. They also serve them as a salty snack. Gluten-Free Thanksgiving Recipes Go to Recipe 14 of 21 Goat Cheese-Edamame Dip with Spiced Pepitas © Lucy Schaeffer Canned chipotles in adobo sauce give this clever, creamy dip an enticing heat and smokiness. The spiced pepitas (roasted and salted pumpkin seeds) scattered over the dip are delicious and great as a snack on their own. Vegetarian Thanksgiving Recipes Go to Recipe 15 of 21 Fig-and-Stilton Squares After baking flaky squares of puff pastry, Melissa Rubel Jacobson tops them with sweet fig preserves and pungent blue cheese. Ideas for Thanksgiving Entertaining Go to Recipe 16 of 21 Savory Ricotta-Squash Tart © Quentin Bacon Instead of appearing in a soup, squash gets cut into rings, caramelized and baked in a tart that can be served with a salad as a starter, or as an unusual side dish. Thanksgiving Vegetable Recipes Go to Recipe 17 of 21 Chicken-Liver Mousse with Pickled Red Onion © John Kernick Shawn McClain's mousse is supremely silky and light, with a lovely hint of apple from Calvados. He serves the mousse with pickled red onion and toasted baguette slices alongside, so guests can assemble their own crostini. Potluck Thanksgiving Go to Recipe 18 of 21 Hazelnut Profiteroles with Blue Cheese and Grapes Shawn McClain serves some form of these savory cream puffs with drinks at both of his Chicago restaurants. He pokes a hole in the sides of the puffs when they come out of the oven to release the steam, then fills them with a creamy mixture of blue cheese and mascarpone. Delicious Thanksgiving Appetizers Go to Recipe 19 of 21 Cauliflower Fritters To create these wonderful tapas, José Andrés makes a batter with crunchy nubs of chopped cauliflower florets, fries spoonfuls in a skillet and then tops the fritters with yogurt sauce and a dollop of caviar. You can make these crispy bites early in the day and then reheat before serving. Go to Recipe 20 of 21 Cristina's Famous Nuts Cristina Salas-Porras tosses assorted nuts with sage and rosemary and bakes them for a long time at a low temperature; they come out perfectly crisp. No wonder she’s famous for them. Go to Recipe 21 of 21 Bagel Chips with Ricotta, Chive Puree and Prosciutto © Kana Okada Using bagel chips as the base for an hors d'oeuvre is a quick way to add flavor and crunch. Grace Parisi tops the chips with fresh ricotta, chive puree and prosciutto. As an alternative, she sometimes uses dried apricot halves in place of the chips. Go to Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit