Caesar Dip, Zucchini Fries, and a Whole Lot of Potatoes: Our Most Popular Snack and Appetizer Recipes of 2024

Small bites remain supreme.

Published December 23, 2024

Collage of most popular snacks and apps — Serious Eats

In my opinion, small bites reign supreme over big meals. I would take a tablescape of small plates over a centerpiece any day, as it's a chance to try a smattering of different recipes instead of focusing on just one or two. (Alas, the creator of tapas rests peacefully in his grave.)

This year, you showed us just how much you all love small bites, too. A few of the recipes you clicked on most involved the Caesar-fication of a classic snack or appetizer, but there was also no shortage of potatoes (which, yes, are a snack even if they're not in chip form). And in some cases, your favorite recipes involved a combination of the two! So without further ado, these are the most popular snack and appetizer recipes of 2024. Might we suggest making some—or all—of them for your holiday spread? Now that would be a tablescape.

Savory Caesar Dip
Serious Eats / Two Bites
The garlicky anchovy flavor of Caesar salad paired with a cream cheese base is a match made in snack heaven.
Savory Caesar Dip
Mozzarella in Carrozza (Italian Fried Mozzarella Sandwiches)
Serious Eats / Qi Ai
Anything can be a snack if you really want it to be. Even (or especially, we should say) a fried sandwich stuffed with cheese.
Mozzarella in Carrozza (Italian Fried Mozzarella Sandwiches)
Air-Fryer Roast Potatoes
Serious Eats / Jen Causey
I don't know about you, but when I want a potato or several, I don't want to wait hours for it to cook. Enter: These air-fried roast potatoes. No preheating the oven! No rimmed baking sheets! And most importantly, minimal waiting around!
Air-Fryer Roast Potatoes
Alka Seltzer Cheese Sauce
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
For the smoothest and creamiest cheese sauce around, we turned to our medicine cabinets. You heard us! Turns out Alka-Seltzer (specifically the aspirin-free kind) is the ideal emulsifier for cheese sauce thanks to its inclusion of baking soda and citric acid. And that's on science!
Alka Seltzer Cheese Sauce
Continue to 5 of 10 below
Baked Zucchini Fries With Herby Feta Dip
Serious Eats / Morgan Hunt Glaze
Bland, soggy zucchini fries? We don't know them. The keys to success here are removing the zucchini's watery seeds and dredging the sticks in panko and Parmesan.
Baked Zucchini Fries With Herby Feta Dip
Caesar Roast Potatoes
Serious Eats / Two Bites
Roast potatoes, but make it Caesar. It's the cheesy, umami-rich spin on our most popular crispy roast potatoes recipe that we didn't know we needed.
Caesar Roast Potatoes
Air-Fryer Buffalo Wings
Serious Eats / Jen Causey
This recipe yields crisp, juicy, well-sauced chicken wings in—wait for it—under an hour! What can't the air fryer do?
Air-Fryer Buffalo Wings
British Chips
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
Fries—or, sure, in this case, "chips"—are a snack, and a perfect one at that. Here, Genevieve shows us how to achieve British chips that are shatteringly crisp on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside.
British Chips
Continue to 9 of 10 below
Air-Fryer Shrimp
Serious Eats / Morgan Hunt Glaze
The air fryer does it again, this time churning out juicy, buttery shrimp in less than five minutes. With five variations, including jerk, Old Bay, and ginger-sesame, you can serve this shrimp on its own or as part of a larger meal.
Air-Fryer Shrimp
City Chicken
Serious Eats / Casey Barber
City chicken is a Depression-Era Rust Belt specialty made with...pork (!) that mimics the taste and texture of chicken drumsticks. Deception at its finest.
City Chicken

Caesar Dip, Zucchini Fries, and a Whole Lot of Potatoes: Our Most Popular Snack and Appetizer Recipes of 2024

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