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These Halloween appetizers are the savoury side of the party: hot dips that sit happily on the table, bites you can eat with one hand while the doorbell rings, and a few heartier plates for the grown ups who skipped dinner.
In short, here are 18 easy Halloween appetizers from eightyrecipes and our sister blogs Kitchenette, A Beautiful Bite and No Dash of Gluten. The quickest is ready in 15 minutes, several can be made the day before, and each one comes with a simple spooky serving idea.
None of them needs special moulds or food colouring. A black olive, a toothpick and a good name do most of the work, which is exactly how party food should be on a busy night.
Quick Breakdown
Hot Dips for Your Halloween Party
A warm dip is the easiest Halloween party food there is. Bake it, set it down with a big bowl of chips, and it takes care of itself for the first hour.
1. Crack Chicken Dip
Canned chicken, cream cheese, sour cream, ranch seasoning, bacon and two cheeses bake into a bubbling, golden dip. For Halloween, spoon it into a hollowed out pumpkin or a round bread bowl and surround it with tortilla chips.
Get the Crack Chicken Dip recipe →
2. 3-Ingredient Chili Cheese Dip
Cream cheese, a can of chili and sharp cheddar are all this dip needs. It bakes up bright orange, so serve it with black bean or blue corn tortilla chips for instant Halloween colours.
Get the 3-Ingredient Chili Cheese Dip recipe →
3. Cheesy Hissy Fit Dip
Browned sausage, cream cheese, sour cream, Velveeta and Monterey Jack melt into one rich, scoopable dip. The name alone earns it a place on a Halloween table, and it is just as good with crackers as with chips.
Get the Cheesy Hissy Fit Dip recipe →
4. Edamame Hummus
This high protein hummus is naturally bright green, which makes it the perfect swamp dip. Serve it with carrot sticks, cucumber and pretzel sticks for the people who want something fresh between the cheesy plates.
Get the Edamame Hummus recipe →
Halloween Finger Foods and Bites
Finger foods are the heart of any Halloween appetizers spread, because nobody wants a plate and a fork while they are holding a drink and a trick or treat bowl.
5. Mini Corn Dogs with Bacon
Cocktail wieners on toothpicks in a buttermilk cornmeal batter with crumbled bacon folded through it. Children go wild for these, and they look like little magic wands when you stand them in a tall glass.
Get the Mini Corn Dogs with Bacon recipe →
6. Homemade Pizza Rolls
Refrigerated pizza dough rolled around pepperoni, mozzarella and Parmesan, baked until golden and served with warm marinara. Call the sauce a dip of blood and watch them vanish.
Get the Homemade Pizza Rolls recipe →
7. Pizza Muffins
Ready made pizza dough pressed into a muffin tin and filled with sauce, mozzarella and black olives. Cut the olives into quarters and arrange them as little spiders on top before baking.
Get the Pizza Muffins recipe →
8. Crack Chicken Pinwheels
Cream cheese, cheddar, bacon, ranch seasoning and rotisserie chicken rolled up in soft tortillas and sliced into spirals. They are no cook, so they are the easiest make ahead bite on this list.
Get the Crack Chicken Pinwheels recipe →
9. Cream Cheese Sausage Balls
Hot sausage, cream cheese, Bisquick and cheddar rolled into bite size balls and baked until crisp outside and tender inside. Push a short pretzel stick into the top of each one and they turn into tiny pumpkins.
Get the Cream Cheese Sausage Balls recipe →
10. Chilaquiles Cups
All the flavours of chilaquiles baked into individual cups: tortilla strips, enchilada sauce, eggs and Monterey Jack. They are handheld, sturdy and very easy to pass around.
Get the Chilaquiles Cups recipe →
11. Ultimate Party Crab Bites
A creamy centre of crab, cream cheese and Monterey Jack inside a crisp breadcrumb shell. These are the grown up option for an adult Halloween party, and they disappear first every time.
Get the Ultimate Party Crab Bites recipe →
12. Alabama Fire Crackers
Saltines tossed in olive oil, ranch seasoning, garlic and red pepper flakes until every one is coated. Put them out in a cauldron or a black bowl as a spicy snack for nibbling between games.
Get the Alabama Fire Crackers recipe →
Hearty Halloween Party Food
If your Halloween party runs through dinner time, add one or two of these heartier appetizers so nobody goes home hungry.
13. Grape Jelly Meatballs
Frozen meatballs slow cooked in chili sauce and grape jelly until sticky and glossy. Top each one with a slice of black olive or a mozzarella pearl and you have a slow cooker full of eyeballs.
Get the Grape Jelly Meatballs recipe →
14. Air Fryer Chicken Wings
Crispy, smoky wings with a paprika, garlic and herb dry rub, cooked in the air fryer in under 30 minutes. Pile them on a black platter and call them bat wings.
Get the Air Fryer Chicken Wings recipe →
15. Popcorn Chicken
Walnut sized pieces of chicken marinated in salted milk, pressed into seasoned flour and fried until crunchy. Serve them as monster bites in paper cones with ketchup and honey mustard.
Get the Popcorn Chicken recipe →
16. Philly Cheesesteak Sliders
Shaved steak, onion and green pepper on sweet rolls under melted provolone. Cut jack o’lantern faces into the cheese slices with a small knife before they go on, and the sliders grin at your guests.
Get the Philly Cheesesteak Sliders recipe →
17. Shredded Chicken Nachos
A sheet pan of tortilla chips layered with spiced shredded chicken, cheese and toppings. Use a mix of orange and blue corn chips and scatter sliced black olives on top for the Halloween colours.
Get the Shredded Chicken Nachos recipe →
18. Buffalo Chicken Pull Apart Bread
Pizza dough balls baked with buffalo chicken, Monterey Jack and blue cheese around a small bowl of dip. It makes a dramatic centrepiece, and everyone just tears off a piece.
Get the Buffalo Chicken Pull Apart Bread recipe →
Halloween Appetizers at a Glance
Here are all 18 Halloween appetizers side by side, so you can plan your party around the time you have. Times come from each recipe card.
| Recipe | Total time | Makes | Method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edamame hummus | 15 min | 6 servings | Food processor |
| Crack chicken pinwheels | 20 min | About 3 dozen slices | No cook |
| Air fryer chicken wings | 27 min | 4 servings | Air fryer |
| 3-ingredient chili cheese dip | About 30 min | 6 servings | Oven |
| Popcorn chicken | 30 min, plus 30 min marinating | 4 servings | Stovetop |
| Homemade pizza rolls | About 32 min | 24 rolls | Oven |
| Pizza muffins | 33 min | 12 muffins | Oven |
| Crack chicken dip | 40 min | 6 servings | Oven |
| Mini corn dogs with bacon | 40 min | 24 mini corn dogs | Stovetop |
| Shredded chicken nachos | 40 min | 8 servings | Oven |
| Philly cheesesteak sliders | 40 min | 12 sliders | Oven |
| Cream cheese sausage balls | 45 min | About 20 balls | Oven |
| Chilaquiles cups | 45 min | 14 cups | Oven |
| Ultimate party crab bites | 1 h 15 min | 10 servings | Stovetop |
| Buffalo chicken pull apart bread | 1 h 30 min | 8 servings | Oven |
| Grape jelly meatballs | About 3 h 10 min | 8 servings | Slow cooker |
| Cheesy hissy fit dip | See recipe | 6 servings | Oven |
| Alabama fire crackers | See recipe | About 160 crackers | No cook |
Recipes marked see recipe do not list a total time on their card, so check the full recipe before you plan around them.
How to Make Halloween Appetizers Look Spooky
The trick with Halloween appetizers is to change the presentation, not the recipe. A few small touches go a long way:
- Black olives. Slice them into rings for eyes, or cut them into quarters for spider legs on pizza muffins and nachos.
- Toothpicks and pretzel sticks. They turn meatballs into eyeballs and sausage balls into tiny pumpkins.
- Orange and black colours. Blue corn tortilla chips, cheddar, carrots and black serving bowls do the work of food colouring.
- A hollowed pumpkin or bread bowl. Either one makes a hot dip look like the centrepiece.
- Spooky labels. Swamp dip, bat wings and monster bites cost nothing and make children far more willing to try something new.
Make Ahead Plan for Halloween Appetizers
Halloween night is busy, so do as much as you can the day before. Assemble the crack chicken dip and roll the pinwheels the night before, bake the pizza muffins earlier in the week and freeze them, and start the grape jelly meatballs in the slow cooker in the afternoon. Then the only thing left to do on the night is bake and set out.
Keep an eye on the clock once the food is out. The FDA advises that hot buffet food should stay at 140°F or warmer and cold food at 40°F or colder, and that perishable party food should not sit out for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F. A slow cooker on its warm setting is the easiest way to keep the meatballs and dips safe, and you can refill small platters from the oven instead of putting everything out at once.
If children are coming straight from trick or treating, the FDA’s Halloween food safety tips for parents are worth a quick read, especially the advice on checking candy before anyone eats it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Planning the Party
What are the easiest Halloween appetizers to make?
The easiest Halloween appetizers on this list are the 3-ingredient chili cheese dip, the grape jelly meatballs and the crack chicken pinwheels. Each needs only a few ingredients and very little hands on time, and the pinwheels need no cooking at all.
Which Halloween appetizers can I make ahead?
Crack chicken dip can be assembled up to 24 hours ahead, pizza muffins freeze for up to 2 months, and crack chicken pinwheels can be rolled the night before. Grape jelly meatballs can go into the slow cooker hours before guests arrive.
What are good Halloween appetizers for kids?
Mini corn dogs, pizza rolls, pizza muffins and popcorn chicken are the most child friendly Halloween appetizers here. Leave the cayenne out of the corn dog batter and the jalapeño out of the chilaquiles cups for young children.
How many Halloween appetizers should I make for a party?
Plan on four to six different Halloween appetizers for a party: one or two hot dips, two or three finger foods and one hearty option such as the meatballs or wings. Most of these recipes serve 6 to 8, so double the ones that will be the main event.
Serving and Storage
How long can Halloween appetizers sit out?
Perishable Halloween appetizers should not sit out for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour when the room is above 90°F. Keep hot dips and meatballs at 140°F or warmer, ideally in a slow cooker on warm.
How do you keep Halloween party dips warm?
Keep Halloween party dips warm in a small slow cooker on the warm setting, or bake a second dish and swap it in halfway through the party. The crack chicken dip and cheesy hissy fit dip both hold well this way.
Which Halloween appetizer is the quickest?
The edamame hummus is the quickest Halloween appetizer here at 15 minutes, followed by the crack chicken pinwheels at about 20 minutes and the air fryer chicken wings at 27 minutes.
How do you make appetizers look like Halloween?
Make appetizers look like Halloween with black olives for eyes and spider legs, pretzel sticks as pumpkin stems, orange and black chips, and a hollowed out pumpkin or bread bowl for dips. Fun names like swamp dip and bat wings help too.
