Even if your budget is tight, you should still be able to get together with friends or have guests over and serve good food. You’ll just need to be more intentional with your food choices. Making food yourself instead of picking up a party tray or bags of snacks is a good way to start. But even homemade, some foods are cheaper than others. Here are 5 of my favorite cheap easy appetizers to serve to guests, that could also double as a light and quick meal at home.
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Cheese Fondue
Fondue doesn’t have to be expensive. Traditional fondue is made with Swiss Alpine cheeses, but you can make a fondue with a variety of cheeses. If you want to spend a bit more money, traditional cheeses like Emmenthal and Gruyère will give a great flavor. However, you can still make a delicious and creamy fondue with Swiss cheese and Montery Jack or Muenster cheese. Fondue also typically is made with dry white wine, but you can use lemon juice instead to keep your cheese sauce smooth.
Fondue can be used as a snack or appetizer, dipping pieces of French bread in the cheese sauce. For something a bit heartier, try dipping other foods including sliced apple, roasted potatoes, cooked vegetables, or even pieces of chicken.
Soft Pretzels
A tray of soft pretzels is a great party platter, whether gathering at home or taking a dish to a party. We love our homemade soft pretzels for snacking, and even as pretzel buns for sandwiches. Get the recipe here. You can make full size soft pretzels, or make pretzel nuggets. Stick with the traditional buttery pretzel, or sweeten things up with a cinnamon sugar pretzel. And in my opinion, no soft pretzel party tray is complete without a few dipping sauces. There are so many ways to enjoy or serve homemade soft pretzels, and when you make them yourself it’s very affordable!
Loaded Baked Potato Rounds
Bruschetta
Bruschetta is a summer-time favorite of mine, and a fantastic way to get my child to eat tomatoes! Our family’s bruschetta is not exactly traditional – my husband doesn’t like balsamic vinegar, and I just love cheese. But however you and your friends prepare it, bruschetta is a fabulous appetizer that is cheap to serve. If you grow your own tomatoes and basil in the garden or in pots, even better!
I like to cut a baguette diagonally into slices and brush the slices with olive oil. It’s not traditional, but I like to also top them with a bit of mozzarella cheese. Toast the baguette slices in the oven. Fresh from the oven, top the baguette slices with a mixture of diced tomatoes, fresh basil, dried oregano, minced garlic, and a bit of red wine vinegar. Of course, if you like balsamic vinegar, then use that in place of the red wine vinegar.
Chili Dip
Chili dip is a great snack, appetizer, or even a light meal. It’s quick to prepare, and can be made ahead of time. For me, that’s important when I’m having guests over. I want to be able to make as much as possible ahead of time, so that when guests arrive I can be relaxed and enjoy our time together. Since the primary ingredients are canned goods and cream cheese, the ingredients are easy to keep on hand. When something comes up unexpectedly, this dish can be made quickly without needing a last minute grocery run. And since I can pick up these things at my local salvage grocery store, I spent $2.14 to make this batch! I also got a bag of tortilla chips for 99 cents, and everything was still in date. If you’ve never heard of salvage grocery stores, read this article and see if there is a salvage grocery store near you.
My chili dip recipe is at the bottom of this page. It’s simple, delicious, and filling. If you have vegetarian guests, you can substitute a can of vegetarian chili for the chili with meat.
Start by softening cream cheese and greasing a pie plate. I recommend softening the cream cheese in the microwave, 15 seconds at a time. I have tried leaving it out on the counter but frequently get sidetracked. Cream cheese shouldn’t be out on the counter for more than 2 hours, per Philadelphia, the cream cheese manufacturer.
Once the cream cheese is soft, press the cream cheese into the bottom of the pie plate. Then, layer chili on top followed by refried beans. Sprinkle chopped green onions, and top with shredded mozzarella. Finally, bake for 20 minutes and it’s ready to eat. Serve with tortilla chips.
Chili Dip
Ingredients
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 15 oz canned chili
- 16 oz refried beans
- 4 green onions, chopped
- shredded mozzarella
Instructions
- Grease glass pie plate
- Spread cream cheese on bottom of pie plate
- Spread chili on top of cream cheese layer, then refried beans, and sprinkle onions on top
- Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top
- Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes
- Serve with tortilla chips
