Low-Stress & Healthier Savoury Party Food Ideas

When planning a party, the first things that come to mind are stress and getting everything just perfect.  A major concern is always what food to have and also ensuring that there is a balance of semi-healthy and healthy.  By making things yourself in advance, you can ensure exactly what goes into your party food.  Although pastry isn’t entirely healthy, you can make sure that what’s inside is.

Here are a few party food suggestions that are sure to please –

1 – Homemade Sausage Rolls

Find a recipe that uses real mince, or more real mince than sausage mince, and includes some finely chopped hidden vegies.  The kids will love them and they are very easy to make.  Make sure when you cook the sausage rolls that the seam is on the bottom so they don’t pop open.  You can add sesame or poppy seeds on top for colour and texture.

2 – Sandwiches cut into fun shapes or Lavish Rolls

It’s always nice to have some with the salad, as well as some simple sandwiches or lavish rolls. This then caters to the fussy eaters, as well as the healthier people.  If you make sandwiches, cut them into fun shapes; it is a great way to get kids to eat them, and the adults will be able to eat them as well.  Lavish rolls are cute. If you cut each roll into 8 pieces and stand them up, they look amazing, as well as being healthy and so easy to make.

3 – Pizza Scrolls

Whilst these sound super naughty, you can make them using puff pastry, pizza sauce or tomato paste and healthier fillings. Some suggestions for fillings are: ham, pineapple & cheese; chicken, avocado, mild sweet chilli sauce & cheese; olives, semi dried tomato, fetta, capsicum & cheese. Use your imagination – the list of fillings is endless. I use light tasty cheese, rather than mozzarella, and it cuts out that horrible oily feeling you get from eating pizza.  Ensure that you dice the filling into bite size pieces.

To make pizza scrolls you need a full sheet of pastry. Cover with tomato paste or pizza sauce, except for a 2 cm edge at the top, which will seal the scroll.  Place diced filling over the top and then roll very tightly. Seal the edge use a brush and water.  Roll over until the seal is at the bottom and cut into 12 pieces for bite sized fun. To get even pieces, cut into half then quarters then each quarter into 3. When you bake, you need to lay them down flat on baking paper to avoid major sticking issues.

4 – Muffin or Pita Bread Pizzas

As with the pizza scrolls, use a light cheese, pizza sauce and some nice yummy healthy fillings.  You can even create little faces for younger kids.

5 – Homemade Chicken Nuggets

Bought chicken nuggets are just oily and fake and are ok for a treat, but try making some homemade nuggets.  Chicken tenders are the best but you can use breast.  Cut into small pieces, roll in flour, then dip into an egg & milk mixture, then bread crumbs. You can cook them in a frying pan with a little bit of oil, or you can oven bake them.  If you oven bake the nuggets, you will need to give them a good spray with oil, otherwise they will dry out. Serve with tomato sauce. A nice alternative is mayonnaise mixed with a dash of mild sweet chilli sauce.

6 – Dinner Rolls

Dinner rolls filled with rissoles or grilled chicken and salad. Ensure you do some with simple salads and some with all the salads to cater to everyone.  When filling the dinner roll, cut a triangle out so you can put more filling. If you just cut a straight line downwards, you won’t fit much filling.  Rather than putting sauce on them, just have a few sauces and mayo on the table so that people can add their own if they choose.

7 – Pop Corn Cones

I looked everywhere for popcorn cones or cups that were cute, but had no luck finding anything. What was on the market was expensive.  I ended up buying thick scrapbooking card, cutting it into quarters and making my own. Then I could match my son’s party theme as well.  Then you just need to fill with air popped popcorn on the day.  If you make popcorn a few hours before place into a paper lunch bag to keep it fresh until you are ready to fill.

8 – Mini Quiches

Rather than using buttery pastry shells, a fantastic alternative is to use bread and make mini quiches in a muffin pan. They are so easy and cheap to make. I find that a nice quiche Lorraine (without cream, and using light cheese), vegetarian or a chicken quiche works fantastically. Just cut your bread using a large circle cutter with a plain or decorative edge. Spray your tin well, add the bread and then the filling and place straight into the oven.  If you only cook them for 12 minutes, it will be just enough to freeze them and take them out of the day and finish cooking them which ensures they aren’t overcooked when reheated.

9 – Mini Beef or Chicken Skewers

You can use small bamboo skewers or trying buying food picks and placing the beef or chicken on them.  If you do a nice simple skewer with a basic marinade it’s sure to impress everyone.

10 – Oven Baked Potato Skins

Buy some small potatoes, steam them until almost cooked and then cut them in half. Slightly hollow them out, add some fillings and bake in the oven until golden and crispy. Some great fillings are: chilli con carne, light sour cream & light cheese; sour cream, mild sweet chilli sauce & cheese (bacon optional); vegetables topped with light cheese – there are so many options to choose from.

To help reduce the stress on the day, try making the following in the weeks leading up to the party and freezing them:

• Homemade Sausage Rolls
• Pizza Scrolls
• Muffin or Pita Bread Pizzas
• Homemade Chicken Nuggets
• Rissoles for Dinner Rolls
• Mini Quiches (semi cook so on the day you can finish the cooking and browning)
• Beef or Chicken Skewers

Hopefully, these tips and food suggestions will help to reduce the stress on party day. I know these ideas have helped me over the years. Coming from a catering background, I picked up a lot of helpful tips to make my parties less stressful and more of a healthier success.

These healthy and creative party food alternatives come courtesy of our guest blogger Melissa Porter from Trendy Lil Treats. Trendy Lil Treats supply products to assist in easy healthy eating for children; products to make life a little easier for mum and much more fun for your little ones.