100+ of the best canapé recipes - delicious party food for every occasion
From crisp parsnip rolls to mini mushroom wellingtons, these party canapés are the perfect start to any celebration.
Whatever you call them – canapés, appetisers, picky tea, or finger food – there's one thing we can all agree on: no coronation, street party, Christmas or New Year's celebration is quite complete without a selection of tasty morsels and Champagne to get the party started!
That's exactly why we've collected all of our favourite Good Housekeeping canapé recipes for every special occasion, as well as our top tips for serving, too.
How to serve canapés:
• Size: Make sure your canapés are easy for your guests to eat by serving in mouth-sized portions.
• Taste: Since it's only a mouthful, it needs to be full of flavour and well-seasoned. Many of our recipes are served with an accompanying dipping sauce for extra hosting points.
• Base: Make sure your canapé is on a sturdy base in order to make it easy for your guests to eat (serve messier canapés with cocktail sticks and ensure there's a good supply of napkins for your guests).
• Appearance: Canapés should be visually pleasing. A herb garnish, edible flower, or even a sprinkle of cracked black pepper goes a long way!
• Preparation: Aim to prepare the elements of your canapés in advance so that you can assemble them quickly and enjoy the company of your guests.
Celebrate in style with our crowd-pleasing canapé ideas. We have every occasion covered – from summer gatherings to Christmas parties – with plenty of tasty choices for vegetarians, vegans, pescatarians, and meat eaters, too.
It's time to get the champagne on ice, get a playlist sorted and plan the ultimate party menu...
Chicken Satay Skewers
Always popular, these will be devoured quickly.
Recipe: Chicken Satay Skewers
Mozzarella Dippers with Spicy Tomato Jam
Fried cheese with a spicy, thick tomato sauce: you know these will be gone in minutes!
Recipe: Mozzarella Dippers with Spicy Tomato Jam
Parisian Sausage Rolls
A fantastically easy and substantial canapé that’s sure to have guests asking for more.
Recipe: Parisian Sausage Rolls
Pea and Mint Fritters
We’ve used petits pois here as they’re smaller, more tender and have a lovely flavour. But you can use garden peas, if you prefer.
Recipe: Pea and Mint Fritters
Crispy gnocchi, olive and chorizo skewers
We're obsessed with crispy fried gnocchi so we decided to pop them onto a skewer with salty chorizo and briny olive for an addictive snack in every bite.
Hot honey halloumi fingers
These oven baked halloumi fingers are served with an addictive chilli-infused honey to drizzle on top. Perfect with a refreshing cocktail.
Recipe: Hot honey halloumi fingers
Ploughman’s Nibbles
An easy assembly job that can be adapted to use your favourite cheese and chutney.
Recipe: Ploughman’s Nibbles
Hoisin duck cucumber bites
These hoisin duck bites couldn't be easier to make, only needing five ingredients and 15 mins to put together but you wouldn't think it as they're incredibly delicious.
Recipe: Hoisin duck cucumber bites
Venison and Black Pudding Scotch Quail Eggs
These take a little patience, but are well worth it. You can buy cooked and peeled quail’s eggs if you want to cut out the first step. Venison mince is becoming more widely available, with larger Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Ocado stocking it.
Chicken Katsu Bites with Tangy Mayo Dip
These chicken bites get an extra flavour dimension from a Japanese seasoning called shichimi, which contains chilli, citrus and sesame. You could also use togarashi – also sold as Japanese 7 Spice. Both are available in Waitrose, Ocado, or online. If you can’t get them, use mild chilli powder instead.
Crispy Sushi Rice ‘Cakes’ with Seared Tuna
When preparing sushi, you would normally wash the rice multiple times to remove starch, however for these cakes you want to retain most of it, as it’s the ‘glue’ that binds them together.
Teriyaki Mushroom Maki Roll
Be sure to use teriyaki sauce (the thickened kind) here, rather than teriyaki marinade (both are sold in supermarkets). We used Blue Dragon.
Recipe: Teriyaki Mushroom Maki Roll
Chicken Shawarma Pastries
Full of flavour and easier than they look as we’ve used ready-rolled shortcrust pastry rather than making an authentic Levantine dough.
Recipe: Chicken Shawarma Pastries
Halloumi and Pistachio Baklava
These sweet and salty savoury baklava bites are sure to intrigue and wow.
Recipe: Halloumi and Pistachio Baklava
Cheesy Truffle Popcorn
Once you pop, you won’t be able to stop!
Recipe: Cheesy Truffle Popcorn
Baba Ghanoush with Za’atar Flatbreads
This super easy version of baba ghanoush is sure to become a favourite, especially when served with these impressive, but easy flatbreads.
Hot Smoked Salmon Rye Breads
Use plain or honey roast hot smoked salmon, or swap for hot smoked mackerel, if you like. If rye bread isn’t your thing, slices of seeded or sourdough bread would be just as nice.
Recipe: Hot Smoked Salmon Rye Breads
Rye and Danish Blue Cracker Bites
We’ve served our cracker bites with whipped Danish blue cheese and pear, but feel free swap out for your favourite fruit and cheese combination - apple and cream cheese, or goat’s cheese and grape would work well.
Pea and Ham Hock Croustades
If cooking for vegetarians, simply leave out the ham hock and replace with a little suitable goat’s cheese.
Recipe: Pea and Ham Hock Croustades
A crack team of highly skilled food content producers, the GH Kitchen Team are Good Housekeeping’s resident recipe developers and all-round food obsessives. GH Kitchen Director Sarah Akhurst is our resident hosting pro and loves nothing more than putting on a foodie feast for friends. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time. With a wealth of professional kitchen experience between them, they’re dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work every single time.
