The Best Vegetarian Thanksgiving Appetizers

Thanksgiving appetizers vary widely from family to family. Some go for the charcuterie approach, others opt for chips and veggies and dip, and still others go for the pre-prepared frozen bites. A nice thing for the non meat eaters at the Thanksgiving feast is that most of these things are vegetarian anyway, so whether you are part of a hot prepared foods family or a cold creamy dips family, strap in, because this is our list of the best vegetarian Thanksgiving appetizers, and it’s about to blow your vegetarian mind.

Mini Vegetable Samosas

Would you immediately call out samosas as a traditional Thanksgiving food? No. They are, however, an anytime food, and since “Thanksgiving time” is included in “anytime,” the law states that samosas can, in fact, be a traditional Thanksgiving food (feel free to check my work). Also, these have plenty of delicious warm spices and a bit of heat that pair beautifully with the rest of the Thanksgiving foods. Sporked managing editor Gwynedd Stuart noted that these samosas are “filled with potatoes, carrots, peas, lentils, and onions—are crispy, spicy, and satisfying without including meat.” Make these as a vegetarian Thanksgiving appetizer and all of your friends (not just the vegetarians) will thank you.

Trader Joe’s Vegan Tzatziki Dip

Looking for vegetarian Thanksgiving appetizers that are also vegan Thanksgiving appetizers? Look no further than this vegan tzatziki dip from Trader Joe’s, which is great with everything from pita chips to veggies to Impossible kebabs. Yes, again these may not be “traditional” Thanksgiving foods but hey, if the main meal stays largely the same every year, why not mix up your appetizer game with the dip Gwynedd described as “tangy and cool and bursting with dill and cucumber flavor”? This one will definitely up your vegan Thanksgiving appetizer game and your vegan friends will love you forever (probably).

Firehook Sea Salt Organic Mediterranean Baked Crackers

I have these on here because I know how popular cheese boards are, and every cheese board needs a good cracker to go with it. Cheese boards are a classic in the world of vegetarian appetizers, and I’m here to help you make the ideal one. I highly recommend you start with these crackers, which our team described as “so crunchy [with] big chunks of salt that make them even crunchier.” Not only that but they are sturdy enough to dip into a cheese spread or hold a chunk of brie, but not so hard to bite that they will make you and your dentist sad. Go get you some of these and some cheese (see below) for your vegetarian Thanksgiving appetizers this year.

Trader Joe’s Pastry Bites with Feta Cheese & Caramelized Onions

These lil dudes are divine. They are flavor bombs of the highest order and absolutely belong on your list of vegetarian Thanksgiving appetizers. As for how they taste, they are exactly what their name would suggest. Our team adored these, noting that the “consistency of the filling is so eggy and light—like a little souffle. There’s a little bit of salty bite from the feta, but it’s not too briny or dry. The caramelized onion is sweet, savory, and goes so well with the flavor of the cheese filling.” In other words, buy some of these. The flavor is giving caramelized onion, it’s giving salty cheese, but most of all it’s giving Thanks.

Cabot Pimento Cheese Spread

Every vegetarian needs a go-to pimento spread (cheese, cream cheese, peppers, mayo, etc.). This Cabot pimento cheese is a great vegetarian appetizer to add to the mix. It goes great with the crackers listed above and, according to the Sporked team, has a “sweetness from the pimento peppers, saltiness from the cheese, and it has a nice bite on the end as well from the spices.” Go try some of this and let us know how much you love it on a scale of 10 to 11. Also, and I can’t stress this enough, Cabot makes amazing cheese. If you see their stuff around it is almost always worth giving it a try.

Trader Joe’s Triple Creme Brie

Lastly, we gots some creamy brie. This one makes an appearance at all of my Friendsgivings, as it is the favorite cheese of many of my favorite vegetarian friends. As I said before, putting together a cheese and accoutrements board is a great way to get a bunch of vegetarian Thanksgiving appetizers all together on one beautiful piece of wood, and if I do say so myself, this brie certainly belongs on that board. Our tasting team called it “a standard, flavorful brie that will please both cheese novices and cheese aficionados alike, “as it is creamy and mild, and would be perfect for making into a baked brie or just for eating cold out of the fridge on a cracker with some roasted garlic and fig jam. There is nothing like a good brie to elevate your vegetarian appetizer game.