Easy Hors D'oeuvres Prep Ideas

Hosting an upcoming party? Serving hors d’oeuvres?

Here are some easy hors d’oeuvres prep ideas to make your life a little easier and stress free.

For your upcoming party, are you wondering what to serve as an hors d’oeuvres? Are you asking yourself how and when are you going to be able to prepare any or all of them? If so, we have some easy hors d’oeuvres prep ideas for you. Using these tips and tricks will allow you to spend more time and energy on the planning of your party and / or your dinner menu.

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Easy Hors D’oeuvres Preparation

If you are having guests for dinner, you may or may not be offering hors d’oeuvres either before or after the dinner – but, in most cases you should.

If you are having a party of evening socializing, you also should be providing some food snacks or hors d’oeuvres for your guests.

Whichever party situation you are in, you need some hors d’oeuvres. Preparing hors d’oeuvres can be time consuming.

It takes time to come up with the ideas for what to serve. As well, you will require time for the purchase of the food items and probably even more time for the preparation of the hors d’oeuvres.

Here are some ideas to make your hors d’oeuvres prep time less consuming and much easier.

Buy Pre-Made Hors D’Oeuvres Trays

Regardless of the type of party you are hosting, you will most likely serve some snacks or hors d’oeuvres. Make it easy on yourself and buy some pre-made hors d’oeuvres trays and platters from your local grocery store.

Veggies and Dip Tray

Save yourself some time and effort by purchasing pre-made trays of vegetables and dip – crudite with dip. Most grocery stores offer these trays already prepared for you. All you have to do is put the tray out on the table.

To make it look like your did all the work, and to make it look more presentable, put the cut up vegetables and dip on a decorative tray.

Fruit and Dip Tray

The same can be done with a fruit and dip tray. Grocery stores most often have them prepared and ready to buy.

They did all the work…you take the credit! Stress free appetizers done easy.

Lemon Ceramic Serveware — Place your fruit and cookies in the larger dish with a side of dip in the smaller matching snack bowl.

Lemon Ceramic Serveware Small Dishes — Use the smaller snack bowls for individual fruits, olives, trail mix or another dip.

For any outdoor gathering, you should consider keeping your dips and fruit chilled. These super chill serving sets allow you to do just that.

Super Chill Chip and Dip Server with Other Sets on Table Setting — Keep cool food cool with this Super Chill Chip and Dip Server. It also comes in other serveware options for the perfectly matching, practical – and very elegant – snack setting.

Extra Large Party Divided Serving Dish — While this veggie tray is not as decorative as some other serving dishes, it is still more presentable than a store bought tray – and is very easy to transport either from indoors to your deck or to bring to a party at someone else’s home. It will also keep left-overs fresh in the fridge for snacks tomorrow.

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For those who love to entertain in style but don’t have the time you would like to do it…here is a very simple idea.

Take your fruit tray and break it up onto a decorative butcher block cutting board and add a few other items. It will look like you spend a lot of time preparing this – even though you didn’t.

Fruit hors d'oeuvres displayed on cutting board — Get a bit more creative with your prepared fruit tray from your grocery store by displaying it with some other crackers and dip for a beautiful hors d’oeuvres display.

Rowan 40 inch Charcuterie Board — This Rowan charcuterie board is a long 40 inches providing plenty of space for all kinds of fruit, crackers and dips.

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Buy Pre-Made Meat Charcuterie Platters

Another time consuming appetizer which is commonly served to party guests is a charcuterie meat platter.

Instead of having to choose the types of meats and how much to buy, opt for a pre-made meat tray from your grocery store. These typically must be ordered slightly in advance so just be sure you order it in time for your party.

Again, as with the fruit and veggie trays, transfer the meats to a decorative tray or butcher block cutting board for a custom charcuterie display.

Hors D'oeuvres Charcuterie Meat and Vegetable Tray — Once you have purchased your pre-made meat tray, you can simply transfer the slices to a decorative tray or cutting board. Add some vegetables, cheese and pickles for an interesting and colorful display.

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Napoli Charcuterie Boards Size Options — Choose one or more of these round Napoli Charcuterie Boards and fill it with your pre-bought sliced charcuterie meats and cheese platters.

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Buy Pre-Sliced Deli Meats

If you prefer to choose your own meats to include on your charcuterie platter, you can easily buy pre-sliced meats in a package. Even though they are in a package does not mean that they are not high quality meats. And it will be easy to go through your grocery store deli section and grab a few packages and go.

Once you get home, simply display the meat slices in a decorative way on a platter or wood cutting board for an easy and beautiful hors d’oeuvres.

Hors D'oeuvres Charcuterie Meat Cheese Olive Tray — Present this Charcuterie Meat tray which is a simple mix of some pre-packaged and sliced deli meats. Prosciutto ham, genoa salami, and cappicolo ham on this platter are all readily available in packages at any grocery store. Add a few pieces of cheese, cherry tomatoes and some olives on the side – and you are done!

If you did not notice, the above charcuterie platter is served on a slate tile tray – a unique way to display your hors d’oeuvres on your party table.

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Buy Pre-Made Cheese Platters

As with the prepared meat charcuterie trays available at your grocery store, you can order a mixed cheese platter to serve at your holiday dinner or party.

One of the benefits of these trays is that you will receive a wide variety of cheeses. So, instead of having to decide on the specific cheeses you want and then having to buy a small amount – or sometimes only a specified larger size – of each, you can rely on your grocer to give you a variety that everyone will be happy with.

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Buy Cheese Blocks

If you want another easy way to be able to present your cheese and cracker tray, consider buying cheese naturally comes in blocks. This way, all you have to do is plop the blocks on the decorative tray or butcher block board with a few cheese knives, and you are done.

Some great examples of these cheeses which are bought in pleasing looking blocks are blue cheese, brie cheese, Camembert cheese, Parmesan cheese (yes, Parmesan cheese is delicious on its own), as well as some other seasoned cream cheese blocks such as Boursin.

Just note that for Parmesan cheese, you should have a specialized cheese slicer so that you can have very thin slices. Otherwise, it may just become a cheesy mess.

Hors D'oeuvres Cheese Tray with Cheese Blocks — Easily put out a couple of cheese blocks along with some fruit and crackers for an easy to prep appetizer. In this case, a block of brie and a block of Parmesan cheese have been placed on the hors d’oeuvres board. Make sure you have some good cheese knives to be able to cut the cheese safely.

Vietri Three-Piece Cheese Knife Set — For an easy hors d’oeuvres offering, cheese blocks are on the list. If you like to serve blocks of cheese, be sure you get yourself some specialty cheese knives. This 2 piece deluxe cheese set will be suitable for both hard and soft cheeses. Bring on the Parmesan!

Teigen Wood and Rivet Serving Collection — Easily put out your tray of hors d’oeuvres with this collection of teak serving dishes and trays. Notice how you can simply place the cheese in it full block form.

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Buy Frozen Hors D’Oeuvres

While you may think that this easy hors d’oeuvres prep idea is the easiest, it usually requires more work than any of the above mentioned hors d’oeuvres.

However, with the wide variety of frozen hors d’oeuvres available today, you can have more variety of food on your table. You can choose from the simplest of mini sausage rolls, to spring rolls to mini chicken balls, to mini quiches.

Another note about frozen hors d’oeuvres is that, as you are probably aware, anything pre-frozen is never as good as fresh. But…you don’t have to fully prepare them – just reheat them – so…you decide.

Note also that while these hors d’oeuvres are pre-prepared, they still need to be reheated – hence, making them a little more time consuming than simply putting out a cheese, meat or fruit tray.

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Relax and Enjoy your Party!

While some people are masters of party planning, some of us find it stressful and therefore, could use a bit of help with the preparation. With these easy hors d’oeuvres prep ideas, you should be on your way to easing your stress of at least one part of your party planning – your hors d’oeuvres selections.

The main keys are to let someone else – your grocer – prepare most of your hors d’oeuvres for you. What you do is customize them by presenting them in a stylish way in a decorative bowl, dish, container or butcher block cheese board. And almost instantly, your hors d’oeuvres will take on a chef-like, high end restaurant look.

Wood Carved Fish Serving Collection — For the fisherman, fish lover or even water lover, bring out these fish shaped serving bowls and trays to display your hors d’oeuvres – one of the easiest ways to instantly make your hors d’oeuvres more interesting looking.

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Personalized Walnut Charcuterie Board Options with Monogram — For a truly personalized party, grab yourself some personalized monogrammed charcuterie boards – sure to make a big statement.

These easy hors d’oeuvres prep ideas may be so easy that you may never shy away from hosting a party again! And remember, relax – your hors d’oeuvres are looked after. Enjoy your party!

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Remember that presentation of your hors d’oeuvres is part of the key to impressing your guests. So, don’t forget your decorative serving trays and bowls. Bring them out and use them to make your hors d’oeuvres look even more appetizing.

Bring out this beautiful set of serveware for any hosting that you will be doing. Having matching serving platters and dishes makes for a very easy way to make your hors d’oeuvres look their best. Your guests will be sure to be impressed.

Catalina Charcuterie Collection Pieces — By having multiple matching serving trays, platters and charcuterie boards, it makes displaying your pre-bought charcuterie meats, cheeses and fruits very easy – and they will look great.

As mentioned, the most important part of making your hors d’oeuvres stand out is how they are displayed. These 2 or 3 tiered glass serving trays would be a practical and elegant addition to your table setting.

Amelie Rectangular Tiered Servers in Different Finish Options — These Amelie Rectangular Tiered Servers are available in different sizes – 2 or 3 tiers – as well as in different metal finishes. Use the 3 tiered tray and put your deli meats on the bottom tray, your cheeses on the middle tray and add some fruit on the top tier.

For any holiday parties where you will be serving some hors d’oeuvres, why not add a taste of the season with a themed display tray or dish.

28 Inch Mrs Clause Server with Champagne on Countertop — This adorable – and sizeable at 28 inches tall – Mrs. Clause Server will help make your guests feel even more welcome as she serves up some party goodies.

Not to be outdone, there is also a Mr Claus Server available for you to easily impress your guests.

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Easy Hors D’oeuvres Prep Ideas

Hosting an upcoming party? Serving hors d’oeuvres?

Here are some easy hors d’oeuvres prep ideas to make your life a little easier and stress free.

Easy Hors D’oeuvres Preparation