Vegetarian party food

Vegetarian party food is fun, delicious, and easy to prepare. Here are some great recipes and tips for delicious vegetarian party food.

There is plenty of fabulous party food for vegetarians, so there’s no need to go into panic mode if one of your young guests doesn’t eat meat. While it’s nice to prepare something special for your vegetarian guests, remember that many traditional party foods are meat free anyway. Things like potato chips, nuts, pretzels, cheese sticks, crackers, fruit kebabs, and birthday cake are all good party snacks, so when it comes to vegetarian food, it’s usually only the hot or more ‘meal like’ dishes that you need to adapt.

With that in mind, check with your guest exactly what they can and can not eat before preparing special dishes. In New Zealand, most people refer to vegetarian as being meat free, however they still eat eggs and dairy products such as milk and cheese. However in some cultures, being vegetarian means not eating anything derived from animals, and we provide some great party recipes for these people in our Dairy Free Party Food article.

Vegetarian party food does not have to be boring or difficult to make, in fact quite the opposite. This article gives you heaps of ideas for quick and easy vegetarian party food, as well as some delicious recipes for those with a little more time. If you get really stuck, you can always buy vegetarian ‘meat’ products such as bacon and sausages, and use them in your ordinary recipes. Happy Cooking!

Quick and Easy Vegetarian Party Food

• Put spaghetti, grated cheese, pineapple and onion onto English muffins and toast them under the grill to make mini pizzas.
• Make vegetarian kebabs using mushrooms, zuchinni, cherry tomatoes, pineapple and capsicum. Brush with olive oil, then cook them on the barbeque, or simply place them under the grill.
• Instead of serving chicken nuggets, heat up potato pom poms, vegetable nuggets, or mini hashbrowns.
• Make good old fashioned cheese on toast, and cut them into fancy shapes using cookie cutters.
• Cook up fresh stuffed pasta like tortellini, and serve them with a tube of toothpicks. There are lots of good pasta varieties in the fridge section of your supermarket.
• Cut corn on the cob into narrow slices and grill on the barbeque.
• Heat up vegetarian spring rolls, won tons or samosas, and serve with sweet chilli or barbeque sauce.
• Dip small pieces of broccoli, carrot and cauliflower in flour, then beaten egg, then breadcrumbs. Shallow fry them until the crumbs are crunchy, and serve with toothpicks.
• Make good old fashioned nachos, but replace the mince with refried beans. You will find refried beans with the rest of the nacho ingredients in your supermarket isle.

Mini Quiches

These quiches can be eaten hot or cold, so you can make them the day before and save extra stress on party day. The best bit is these quiches are self crusting, so it really is no fuss, and children love them.

You will need:

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• ½ cup self raising flour
• 1 cup mashed potato
• 1 cup of cooked vegetables (chopped). Nice vegetables to use are asparagus, mushrooms, broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower, but you can use a combination of whatever you choose.
• 1 cup grated cheese
• 1 large onion (diced)
• Salt and pepper to taste

To make:

1. Beat together the eggs and milk, and then slowly stir in the flour until it is just mixed.
2. Add the mashed potato, vegetables, onion and seasoning, and stir.
3. Spoon the mixture into muffin tins, and bake at 220*C for approximately 20 minutes, or until the centres are set.

Nut Meat Balls

These nut meat balls can be served just like you would ordinary meat balls – with toothpicks and sauce. You can also form them into patties, and use them in burgers. Delicious.

You will need:

• 1 250g packet soft Tofu (in the fridge section of your supermarket)
• 1 onion (chopped)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons peanut butter
• ½ cup chopped nuts. Peanuts, almonds, pine nuts and cashews are nice, but you can use whatever nuts you like.
• ¼ – ½ cup breadcrumbs

To make:

1. Mix together the soft tofu, onion, soy sauce, peanut butter and nuts, and then slowly add the breadcrumbs until the mixture reaches a thick ‘meat like’ consistency.
2. Roll the mixture into balls, and shallow fry.

Vegetable Fritters

These fritters are nice hot or cold, and you can add whatever seasonings you like to spice them up. My favourite addition is good old fashioned curry powder, but salt and pepper might be your safest bet for kids!

You will need:

• ½ cup flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 onion (grated)
• 1 cup grated vegetables. Hard vegetables like carrot, potato, pumpkin, and kumara cook well, and it’s also nice to add some whole kernel corn.
• Salt, pepper, and seasonings to taste.
• 1 egg white
• Oil to fry

To make:

1. Mix flour and baking powder together, and then slowly add in the milk, mixing as you go to avoid lumps.
2. Stir in your vegetables and seasoning and mix well.
3. Beat the egg white until stiff, and carefully fold it into the vegetable mixture.
4. Drop spoonfuls of mixture into a hot pan, and fry until golden brown.

Enjoy your meat-free feast!