This post is sponsored by Kroger, however, all opinions listed here are my own.

I don’t know about you, but to me, Thanksgiving day seems like it’s one of the longest days of the year. You either start early cooking in your own home or go early to someone else’s house and time progresses slowly until you reach the “dinner” part. Don’t misunderstand me, I like these long days but they can also become a pain in the neck if you don’t have the proper fuel or resources to help you get through them. Enter easy Thanksgiving appetizers! These are small bites of joy that are helpful to get you through any cooking disaster or any long story your aunt has been telling everyone for the 11th time. 

I turned my Pinterest groove on and started thinking about what could be the perfect easy Thanksgiving appetizers, something that would work for either someone who doesn’t want to or can’t spend much time in the kitchen and someone who wants to keep their guests’ stomachs full and therefore happy.  That’s how these 4 cheesy easy Thanksgiving appetizers came to life! I thought of cheese balls for both grownups and children, a fun cheese and cracker combination that looked like pumpkin pies, and a pizza dip. All put together in less than an hour! 

Cheese is really one of the best options you can opt for when it comes to entertaining and pleasing large amounts of people. It is something that can be very simple or very elegant, it’s super versatile thanks to its many shapes and tastes. You can just find good cheese, pair it up with crackers and you’ve got yourself a party! Of course, I wanted to take advantage of all the freshness and variety that I find at my local Kroger (in my case, my nearby Ralph’s) so I added a few more touches here and there. 

Besides Kroger being a one-stop-shop for everything Thanksgiving due to its variety of products, it was also really helpful to find that my Ralphs has a FANTASTIC cheese aisle, divided into categories labeled by the type of cheese they have. I found what I needed in no time! I picked the staple Kroger and Simple Truth Organic brands for my mozzarella and goat cheeses, Whenever you are hosting or creating food for many mouths to eat, knowing you can find high-quality products at a great price is highly appreciated! 

For my pizza dip, I opted for the fancier Private Selection brand for a blend of cheeses that would go on top and I even found a yummy option for pizza sauce from Private Selection as well that would add that extra flavorful touch. If you’re searching for a good brand to impress your guests, look no further than Private Selection! They have from frozen desserts to crackers to infused oils, so many great finds for this holiday season!  

You know me, I like perusing through supermarket aisles, but a good tip for a holiday like Thanksgiving is to take advantage of Kroger’s in-store pickup. If you forget something or if you just don’t want to deal with the craziness of the supermarket the day before the big day, in-store pickup or delivery can be your saviors! 

Back to the appetizers: I was surprised at how easy and fast these came to life! I do appreciate the usual baked and puff pastry treats they serve at parties sometimes but when you find a time-saving recipe that makes it easier to survive and exit the kitchen and lets you spend more time at your party, hang on to it! Both of the cheeseballs can be formed ahead of time and just rolled into their corresponding “toppings” on Thanksgiving Day and you can make the whole pizza dip a day ahead. 

These easy Thanksgiving appetizers are also a good way to bring together the younger family members or those friends who always offer themselves to help you cook. If a kid can make it, you know you’re going to finish it in no time! 

Hope you enjoyed these three easy peasy and cheesy ideas. I’m a #QuesoLover so these 4 easy Thanksgiving appetizers are what I would want to serve at any party! Let me know what your go-to Thanksgiving appetizer or holiday snack is in the comments! 

EASY THANKSGIVING APPETIZERS

Festive Pomegranate Cheese Balls

INGREDIENTS

• 6 ounces plain goat cheese, softened (at room temperature)
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened (at room temperature)
• ¾ cup chopped pecans
• Salt to taste 
• ¼ cup of pomegranate seeds 
• ¼ cup golden raisins
• 2 Tbsps of finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 3 Tbsps crushed pecans 

STEPS

1. In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese and goat cheese until smooth and creamy along with your desired amount of salt. Stick this in the freezer for about 10 minutes while you prep your toppings. 
2. In another bowl, add together your pomegranate seeds, chopped rosemary, pecans, and chopped raisins. Mix with a spoon. 
3. Scoop about 1 Tbsp of the cheese mixture and roll into a small ball*. Drop the ball into the bowl of toppings and roll it around to coat completely. Do this with all of the mixture.
4. Transfer the balls to a plate and chill in the fridge at least half an hour before serving. Serve along with crackers or crostini!

*You can make the cheese balls without their coatings the day or days ahead of the big event and store with tight plastic wrap. 

Turkey Cheese Balls 

INGREDIENTS

• 6 ounces light cream cheese, at room temperature
• 6 ounces grated cheese, I used Sharp White Cheddar form Simple Truth 
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 cup crushed pecans
• About 1/2 cup of sliced almonds, check to have ones without cracks
• Bits of peeled carrots, shaped to resemble turkey heads

STEPS

1. In a medium bowl mix together cream cheese, your chosen grated cheese, Worstercershire sauce, chopped green onions, garlic powder. Chill in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes.
2. Roll cheese mixture into small balls, about 1 Tbsp each.*
3. In a small bowl, add your chopped pecans and roll each cheese ball in it, pressing down a bit to coat all of its sides. 
4. Place on your serving plate and garnish with a few sliced almonds as wings and a carrot “head” to make them look like turkeys! 

*You can make these cheese balls a day of several days ahead of the big event, and store them in the fridge tightly with plastic wrap until you’re ready to coat them. 

Cheesy Pizza Dip

INGREDIENTS

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/2 cups grated mozzarella cheese, divided (3/4 cup + 3/4 cup)
• 1 cup Private Selection’s Grated Cheese Blend (parmesan, asiago, fontina cheese)
• About ¾ cup of Private Selection’s “Basilico’ pizza sauce (or your favorite marinara or red sauce)
• about 15 pepperoni slices (or as needed), cut into smaller circles. I picked mine from Simple Truth’s brand.
• About 4-5 Baby Bella mushrooms, I chose the Simple Truth organic ones. 
• 3 green onions, chopped 

STEPS

1. Add your softened cream cheese to the base of an oven-safe dish and mix it with the mozzarella cheese. Smooth it out.
2. Add a layer of pizza sauce.
3. Top it off with a layer of the Premium Selects grated cheese blend and your favorite toppings! I used pepperoni (which I cut into smaller circles), Baby Bella mushrooms and chopped green onions. *
4. Bake everything or 20-25 at 350F or until you see the cheese has melted. 
5. Serve immediately, with baguette rounds/crostini. 

*You could make the cheese + sauce layers the day before Thanksgiving, but add the green onions and mushrooms the day of. 

“Pumpkin Pie” Cheese and Crackers 

INGREDIENTS

• Crackers with rugged texture, like Triscuit Thin Crisps
• Small crackers possibly with a nice pie-looking edge
• About 2-3 Tablespoons of cream cheese, I used the Kroger brand  
• About 10 oz of the orangest cheddar cheese you can find (in block shape)

STEPS

1. Using a sharp serrated knife, carefully slice your bottom, rugged crackers as small triangles.
2. Measure the base of each of your triangles with the smooth cracker and cut what your vertical edge would be. 
3. Use the rugged bases to also measure the size of your cheddar cheese triangles and slice them right off the block. Make sure these aren’t too wide. 
4. Soften the cream cheese and add it to a piping bag and use it to paste both the cheese to the base cracker and the side, as well as to add a decorative “whipped cream”  (I used a star tip for this).