The Wedding Nutritionist

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Cold Finger Foods for Wedding

Finger foods and hors d'oeuvres are perfect for almost any wedding. It allows your guests to mix and mingle while eating a party appetizer. You can either have stations with food, place platters around your venue or use serving staff to walk trays of food around your guests. Whichever way you choose, making sure there are plenty of options available will keep your guests happy.

It’s also important to make sure that you’re serving food when you’re serving alcohol. If you end up with a long reception hour while you’re getting photos taken, your guests may start to drink more than expected. This can simply be from getting swept up in the excitement of the day. So making sure there is food for them to eat at this stage is important and finding the perfect light appetizer or easy cold appetizers ideas is a sure-fire way to satisfy your guests' taste buds in the moments leading up to the wedding reception meal.

Cold finger food is great as it can be prepared in advance and served at room temperature, without worrying about reheating. It can also sit out without having the issue of going cold, which can turn hot finger food nasty. It also allows you to have a lot of variation in what you’re serving, unlike your main meal. Salad recipes can sometimes be adapted into finger food, too, so get creative with your plating.

So here are some of my favorite cold appetizer recipes and finger food recipes for your wedding, that can be served cold using simple ingredients. Most of these are super easy to make, and your guests will love them.

Cold Finger Foods for Wedding

You can’t go wrong serving up these nutritious cold appetizers, finger foods, and hors d'oeuvres at your wedding. 

3 Ingredient Banana Cookies

293 calories

Ingredients

  • 0.3 Tbsp Cacao powder - 6 calories

  • 1 Banana - 105 calories

  • ½ cup Oatmeal, dry oats (uncooked) - 150 calories

  • 2 tsp Sugar - 32 calories

Instructions

  1. Mash banana with a fork.

  2. Combine all ingredients and mix evenly.

  3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

  4. Spoon mixture evenly onto tray and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Apple Prosciutto Bites

313 calories

Ingredients

  • 1 Apple, small - 77 calories

  • 1 cup Leafy greens, arugula, raw - 5 calories

  • ⅓ cup Cheese, Parmesan, shaved (cups) - 111 calories

  • 2 oz Prosciutto - 120 calories

Instructions

  1. Slice apple.

  2. Top apple slice with 1 piece arugula + 1 strip Parmesan.

  3. Wrap 1 small strip prosciutto around stack and pierce with toothpick if desired. Continue.

  4. Dairy free? Use a dairy free cheese, or more prosciutto. Vegetarian? Add more cheese instead of using prosciutto.

Egg White Bites

231 calories

Ingredients

  • 6 Egg white - 102 calories

  • ¼ cup Leafy greens, spinach, raw - 1.75 calories

  • ¼ cup Tomatoes, grape - 8 calories

  • ¼ cup Cheese, shredded, cheddar - 114 calories

  • 1 tsp Hot sauce - 5 calories

  • 1 Salt, dash - 0 calories

  • 1 Pepper, dash - 0 calories

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

  2. Spray a muffin tin with oil spray.

  3. Slice tomatoes and spinach.

  4. In a bowl, combine egg whites, spinach, tomatoes, cheese, and seasonings whisking until well combined.

  5. Pour mixture evenly into muffin tins.

  6. Bake ~30 minutes or until you can insert a fork into a muffin & pull it out clean.

  7. Top with hot sauce.

  8. No dairy? Use a dairy-free cheese or avocado.

Cheese and Crackers

190 calories

Ingredients

  • 1 Serving of crackers, whole wheat, 110 calories per serving - 110 calories

  • 1 oz Cheese, sliced, fresh mozzarella, full fat/ regular - 80 calories

Instructions

  1. Cut cheese into small slices.

  2. Make mini sandwiches with crackers and slices of cheese.

  3. No dairy? Use avocado or peanut butter. Gluten free? Use gluten-free crackers.

  4. For a different version of this, you can make layered dips with cheese and serve them with crackers. All of which are perfect additions to your meat and cheese boards.

Copycat Starbucks Egg Bites

410 calories

Ingredients

  • 2 Egg, large - 144 calories

  • ¼ cup Monterey jack cheese, shredded - 114 calories

  • ¼ cup Ricotta cheese, part-skim - 108 calories

  • 1 Salt, dash - 0 calories

  • 1 Pepper, dash - 0 calories

  • 1 Uncured bacon, slice - 44 calories

Instructions

  1. This recipe works best when making 2-3 servings at one time.

  2. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

  3. Cut bacon with scissors into small pieces. Fry in pan on stovetop for 8-10 minutes on low heat, mixing frequently.

  4. In a bowl, whisk eggs. Add in cheeses, seasonings, and bacon.

  5. Spray a muffin tin with an oil spray, and add egg mixture (one serving of the ingredients in this recipe = about 3 muffins).

  6. Cook for 25+ minutes. Insert fork or toothpick into egg muffins to see if it comes out clean (then you know it’s done).

  7. No cheese? Use a dairy-free cheeses, or extra bacon.

  8. Note: Silicone muffin tins work very well here (rather than the traditional metal or carbon steel ones).

Cream Cheese & Smoked Salmon Cucumber Bites

307 calories

Ingredients

  • 1 Cucumber, medium - 42 calories

  • 4 oz Smoked salmon - 133 calories

  • 4 Tbsp Cream cheese, whipped (Tbsp) - 132 calories

  • 1 Everything bagel seasoning, dash - 0 calories

Instructions

  1. Cut off ends of cucumber, slice lengthwise.

  2. Spread cream cheese on top.

  3. Add smoked salmon.

  4. Top with seasonings.

  5. No everything bagel seasoning? Use salt & pepper.

Egg Bites in Muffin Tins with Veggies

272 calories

Ingredients

  • 2 Egg, large - 144 calories

  • ⅓ cup Cheese, shredded, mozzarella - 112 calories

  • 1 Everything bagel seasoning, dash - 0 calories

  • 1 cup Leafy greens, spinach, raw - 7 calories

  • ¼ Bell pepper, red - 9.25 calories

Instructions

  1. This recipe works best if you’re making 2 or 3 servings at once.

  2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

  3. Spray a pan with an oil spray.

  4. Dice pepper. Cook on medium heat ~3 minutes.

  5. Crack eggs in a bowl and whisk with a fork, add in other ingredients.

  6. Pour evenly in muffin tin. Silicone muffin tins work best.

  7. Bake for 20 minutes, or until eggs have set.

  8. No dairy? Use bacon.

Festive Strawberries with Yogurt

190 calories

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Strawberries, fresh - 50 calories

  • ½ cup Yogurt, flavored (<15 gm sugar/ serving), 2% Greek - 100 calories

  • 2 tsp Sprinkles - 40 calories

Instructions

  1. Dip strawberries into yogurt

  2. Top with sprinkles

  3. No dairy? Use a dairy-free yogurt

Low Carb Tea Sandwiches

292 calories

Ingredients

  • 1 Cucumber, medium - 42 calories

  • 7½ Tbsp Cream cheese, whipped - 250 calories

  • 2 Tbsp Dill - 0 calories

  • 2 Tbsp Chives - 0 calories

  • 1 Salt, dash - 0 calories

Instructions

  1. Note: 7 1/2 Tbsp cream cheese = 1/2 cup

  2. Cut herbs finely.

  3. Slice cucumber.

  4. In a bowl, combine cream cheese, dill, salt, and pepper. Stir until herbs are mixed in.

  5. Spread mixture evenly on cucumber.

Ricotta Stuffed Brussels

322 calories

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Brussels sprouts - 56 calories

  • ½ cup Ricotta cheese, part-skim - 216 calories

  • 2 Tbsp Cheese, Parmesan, grated (Tbsp) - 50 calories

  • 1 tsp Red pepper flakes, dash - 0 calories

  • 1 Salt, dash - 0 calories

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

  2. Mix cheeses and seasonings. 

  3. Cut off Brussels’ hard ends, then halve them.

  4. Top Brussels with cheese mixture. 

  5. Line baking sheet with parchment paper & spray with an oil spray.

  6. Bake Brussels for 25 minutes.

Caprese Salad Antipasto Skewers

342 calories

Ingredients

  • 2 cups Cherry Tomatoes - 64 calories

  • 3 oz Mozzarella cheese balls, mini - 243 calories

  • 2 Tbsp Vinaigrette, light (less than 50 calories per 2 Tbsp) - 35 calories

Instructions

  1. Stick 1 tomato & 1 mozzarella cheese ball on each toothpick.

  2. Dip in vinaigrette

  3. You may have extra tomatoes leftover – that’s ok! Dip them in the dressing by themselves.

  4. If you have fresh basil, add that to the toothpicks to make caprese skewers.

  5. No tomatoes? Use another non-starchy veg like cucumbers or peppers. No dairy? Make an easy salad with tomatoes & 1 small avocado

  6. Note: I like Trader Joe’s fat-free vinaigrette – but Paul Newman, Whole Foods, etc. all have good light dressings.

Cucumber Goat Cheese & Prosciutto Bites

428 calories

Ingredients

  • 1 Cucumber, small - 32 calories

  • 2 oz Cheese, goat - 206 calories

  • 2 oz Prosciutto - 120 calories

  • 1 cup Blueberries, fresh - 70 calories

Instructions

  1. Slice cucumbers into coin shapes. Top with cheese, prosciutto, and berries.

  2. If you’d prefer 1/2 cup of blueberries and 1/2 cup of strawberries, that’s fine!

  3. No prosciutto? Use additional cheese. No dairy? Use a dairy-free brand or additional prosciutto. No goat cheese? Try sour cream.

  4. You can also add caramelized onions on top, as a variation to make this the perfect goat cheese appetizer for weddings.

Bacon Wrapped Dates

316 calories

Ingredients

  • 2 Dates - 120 calories

  • ¼ cup Ricotta cheese, part-skim - 108 calories

  • 2 Uncured bacon, slice - 88 calories

Instructions

  1. Slice dates in halves, and cut raw bacon strips in halves.

  2. Add a small amount of ricotta to date halves.

  3. Wrap with bacon and bake for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees.

  4. No dairy? Use a dairy-free ricotta. No ricotta? Use feta (regular). No bacon? Use turkey or soy bacon. Another variation of this dish is serving up a wrapped bacon cheddar cheese bite to lean more into the savory vs. sweet.

Other Recipes I Love

You can’t go past marinated shrimp for finger food appetizers. Packed full of flavor from the fresh herbs, this recipe requires at least a three hours to chill overnight, so perfect to make the day before. Try this recipe here.

Deviled eggs are made on the menu as the wedding parties’ food of choice these days. The cold appetizers can be flavored with as much or as little spice as you like making it easy to customize to your preference. Try this recipe here.

Ham and cheese pair perfectly. Even better when wrapped in pastry! Easy appetizers are the best when they can be added to an antipasto platter or served on their own. Try this recipe here.

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