Food and Recipes Entertaining Ideas & Tips 32 Mardi Gras Appetizers To Celebrate The Carnival Season By Patricia S York Patricia S York Patricia was the assistant food editor at Southern Living and worked with the Southern Living food team from 2006-2022. She contributed to articles about food, gardening, and pets. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Updated on January 23, 2024 Close Photo: Brian Woodcock; Styling: Rachael Burrow Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday, referring to the practice of the last night of eating richer, filling foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which begins on Ash Wednesday. Try these festive Mardi Gras appetizers before the fasting begins! We included Creole favorites like BBQ shrimp, mini muffulettas, and Oysters Rockefeller, plus new twists on old classics like shrimp boil skewers and andouille hush puppies. Even if you live in a town where Mardi Gras isn't observed, you can still throw your own Carnival celebration. Start off with these amazing Mardi Gras appetizers and finish with your own homemade King Cake. Laissez les bons temps rouler! 01 of 32 Mini Muffulettas Photo: Jennifer Davick; Styling: Amy Burke You can easily make these Mini Muffulettas the day before the party. Just assemble, place in ziplock plastic freezer bags, and refrigerate overnight. Store-bought craft paper and simple twine create clever sandwich wrappers. Get The Recipe 02 of 32 Air Fryer Popcorn Shrimp Southern Living These light and crunchy shrimp make a fun party snack. The trick to crispy air fryer popcorn shrimp is to toss the panko bread crumbs in oil. Pick up frozen peeled, deveined raw small shrimp from your freezer aisle, which gets thawed and patted dry before getting dressed in the coating. Get The Recipe 03 of 32 Creole Deviled Eggs Victor Protasio, Food Stylist: Chelsea Zimmer, Prop Stylist: Matthew Gleason Jazz up basic deviled eggs with spicy mustard, the "Holy Trinity" (celery, onion, and green bell pepper), and a dash of cayenne. Get The Recipe 04 of 32 Broiled Oysters With Tasso Breadcrumbs Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall Spicy, heavily seasoned tasso ham and sourdough breadcrumbs make an outrageously good topper for broiled oysters. For a showy presentation that will also help the cooked oysters stay in place, carefully place them on a platter filled with rock salt. Get The Recipe 05 of 32 Crawfish Rolls Greg DuPree; Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn; Prop Stylist: Christine Keely Here's a fun and easy way to serve peeled and cooked crawfish meat. Stir up the crawfish with some mayo, dill, celery, and a few other ingredients to make a creamy filler for dinner rolls. You could also use mini slider rolls as well. Get The Recipe 06 of 32 Crispy Andouille Hush Puppies Hector Manuel Sanchez You're going to love this twist on classic hush puppies that has a bit of a kick from Andouille sausage. Buttermilk, beer, and white cornmeal make a light and tangy batter. Fry in batches in hot vegetable oil in a Dutch oven, drain, and keep warm until ready to serve. Get The Recipe 07 of 32 Muffuletta Deviled Eggs Hector Sanchez; Styling: Caroline M. Cunningham There's always a welcome place for a tray of deviled eggs at Southern parties, and this sandwich-inspired spin is delicious. Mirroring the iconic muffuletta sandwich, these deviled eggs mix in olive salad and get topped with crispy salami. Make up to 24 hours ahead of serving. Get The Recipe 08 of 32 Shrimp-And-Andouille Gumbo Dip Brian Woodcock; Styling: Rachael Burrow Classic gumbo is turned into a praise-worthy appetizer in this warm dip. Unlike gumbo that can stew for hours, this dip takes just 30 minutes with all your favorite ingredients from the iconic Louisiana dish—Andouille sausage, red bell pepper, celery, green onions, sliced okra, garlic, shrimp, and Creole seasoning. Serve with your dippers of choice—breadsticks, veggie strips, crackers, or sliced baguette would all work well. Get The Recipe 09 of 32 Old Bay Rémoulade with Crudités and Shrimp Johnny Autry; Prop and Food Styling: Charlotte L. Autry Serve fresh veggies and peel-and-eat shrimp with Old Bay rémoulade for a light, tasty appetizer as an ode to summer days by the water. There’s loads of zip in this dip from a blend of sauces, capers, horseradish, garlic, and Old Bay seasoning blended with mayo. This dip can be made up to one week in advance, just store in an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to serve. Get The Recipe 10 of 32 Crawfish Dip Greg DuPree The slow cooker makes hosting so much easier because you can both make and serve this dip in it. This app is party ready in an hour with 15 minutes hands-on time and 45 minutes in the slow cooker. Crawfish (from frozen peeled crawfish tails), diced vegetables, spices, Creole mustard, hot sauce, lemon juice, and Worcestershire sauce jack up this creamy dip with bayou textures and flavors. Get The Recipe 11 of 32 Roast Beef Debris Po'Boy Greg Dupree, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Christine Keely Yes, this is a mighty looking sandwich. But it can work equally well as an appetizer when sliced up for a crowd, or made into mini po'boys with slider rolls. Either way, you're in for a treat. Get The Recipe 12 of 32 Grilled Cajun Shrimp Kabobs With Sausage Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Lydia Pursell; Food Styling: Chelsea Zimmer Adapt these quick skewers to an appetizer portion with mini skewers. Cajun seasoning and fresh herbs provides a delicious boost to these shrimp, sausage, and veggie skewers, while grilling them for a few minutes on each side seals in even more flavor. Instead of serving them as an appetizer, try the skewers with grits or rice for a fast, lowcountry-themed weeknight dinner. Get The Recipe 13 of 32 Crawfish Cakes Southern Living This spicy Louisiana riff on crab cakes will be a fun surprise for guests. Make your crawfish cakes mini and serve with toothpicks for a grab-and-go appetizer. Included is a cilantro-lime cream sauce that cools down the spicy Cajun seasoning in the cakes. Get The Recipe 14 of 32 Crab Cake Hush Puppies Oxmoor House If you thought hush puppies couldn't get any more irrestable, try this crowd-pleasing recipe. This classic Southern fried cornmeal battered app gets a seafood twist with fresh, lump crabmeat. After frying in batches until golden brown, serve these salty snacks with a rémoulade or cocktail sauce. Get The Recipe 15 of 32 Oysters Rockefeller Southern Living Created by Jules Alciatore at the famed New Orleans restaurant Antoine's, Oysters Rockefeller dates back to 1899. This recipe is a riff on the original’s key components—a blend of herbaceous ingredients (spinach, green onions, and parsley) and spiked with an anise-flavored liquor. These bacon and spinach topped oysters are broiled on rock salt for just 4 to 6 minutes until browned before serving. Get The Recipe 16 of 32 Baked Oysters With Bacon, Greens, and Parmesan Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall Bacon is an amazing complement to Gulf oysters, which look beautiful on a platter with coarse sea salt to prevent them from wobbling around and retain heat. Included in this recipe are oyster-shucking tips, but your fishmonger can do it for you too. You can prepare up to a day in advance, as they only take about 5 to 8 minutes to bake in a high heat oven. Get The Recipe 17 of 32 Deviled Crab Melts Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Claire Spollen; Food Styling: Torie Cox If you love crab but are burnt out on crab cakes, these crunchy crostinis are our new favorite way to serve it. Fresh basil, cilantro, and lime zest add bright flavors to the richer ingredients in this snack. Sourdough bread gets topped with lightly spiced crab, fresh tomatoes, and Monterey Jack cheese, and then broiled until the topping is melted and slightly browned. Get The Recipe 18 of 32 Creamy Crab Dip Hector Manuel Sanchez Get your seafood fix with an updated version of your retro crab dip recipe—the one that featured layers of crabmeat, cream cheese, and cocktail sauce. Cream cheese is swapped for a mixture of sour cream and mayonnaise spiced with Old Bay seasoning for a low-country flavored take. Serve as an app with crunchy celery sticks or as a meal topped over baked potatoes. Get The Recipe 19 of 32 Shrimp-Okra-And-Sausage Kebabs Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Mindi Shapiro Levine; Food Styling: Tina Stamos Sprinkled with Cajun seasoning and brushed with a hot sauce mixture, your Louisiana friends will love these kebabs, which you can put on mini skewers for easy serving. Thread kebabs with large peeled and deveined shrimp, andouille sausage and small, halved okra pods, after tossing the ingredients in Cajun seasoning and olive oil. Grill on high heat until the okra is charred and the shrimp is cooked through, about 1 1⁄2 minutes per side. Get The Recipe 20 of 32 Mini Crab Cakes With Cajun Sauce Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall The best part about these pretty little crab cakes is that they can be prepared up to five days in advance. When making mini-sized cakes, lump crabmeat will bind together better than jumbo crabmeat. Serve in small lettuce leaves, with Cajun spiced sauce, and garnishes of chives and lemon wedges. Get The Recipe 21 of 32 Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp Skewers With Chipotle Comeback Sauce Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall You can prepare these skewers and the sauce a day in advance so all there is to do before your party is fire up the grill. Make extra Chipotle comeback sauce for when a sweet, smoky flavor is needed, from a dip for fried chicken strips or to add kick to a salad or sandwich. To make this app into a heartier meal, try them as po' boys by stuffing a hoagie with the grilled shrimp, and then top with lettuce and the comeback sauce. Get The Recipe 22 of 32 Shrimp Cakes Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Lydia Pursell; Food Styling: Chelsea Zimmer Your guests may be expecting crab cakes, but one bite of these cakes will be a wonderful surprise of shrimp and a little heat from paprika. After forming the cakes, chill for 15 minutes or up to 4 hours before cooking. The horseradish paprika sauce can be made 5 days ahead, and you may want to use it again for a fried fish sandwich. Get The Recipe 23 of 32 Easy BBQ Shrimp Southern Living The key to this easy shrimp appetizer is in the tangy marinade. To infuse the shrimp with flavor, mix the marinade of soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic, parsley, and onion, pour over shrimp, and cover and chill for 2 to 3 hours. Then grill or broil for 6 to 8 minutes, and serve with cocktail picks. Get The Recipe 24 of 32 Mini Shrimp Rolls Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Chelsea Zimmer Everyone will be excited when you bring these sliders as an appetizer. Shrimp salad gets a bit of an upgrade on a toasty roll with fresh toppings. Bringing these rolls to a party? Prepare the components separately—the shrimp salad, toasted rolls, and toppings—and assemble before serving. Get The Recipe 25 of 32 Mini Crab Cakes With Garlic-Chive Sauce Jennifer Davick Crab cakes are always a welcome addition to any gathering. These bite-sized ones are flavored simply with scallions, Old Bay seasoning, and Worcestershire sauce. This app comes together from start to finish in less than 20 minutes and makes 16 crab cakes. Get The Recipe 26 of 32 Hot Crab-And-Artichoke Dip Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Margaret Monroe Dickey This dip is coming in hot, but once it hits the table, it won't be around for long. Crab combined with artichokes, cream cheese, Old Bay seasoning, lemon juice, Parmesan, and mozzarella cheese is full of texture, flavor, and creaminess. Avoid canned crabmeat, and opt for freshly picked unpasteurized crabmeat at your local seafood counter, or frozen fresh crabmeat, for the best tasting dip. Get The Recipe 27 of 32 Lump Crab Mornay Iain Bagwell This creamy dip will bring you right to the bayou. Fresh crab, scallions, a pinch of red pepper, sherry, and parsley blend into a mornay sauce and then served with toast points. A decadent dip indeed, and it only takes 20 minutes to make. Get The Recipe 28 of 32 West Indies Crab Salad Victor Protasio; Prop Styling: Claire Spollen; Food Styling: Torie Cox This recipe originated in Mobile, Alabama, the city where Mardi Gras began. A sweet and sour vinaigrette brings out the crab’s natural sweetness. If you’re using fresh lump crab straight from the shell, you can spread the crabmeat on a baking sheet and broil for 45 seconds, any remaining shells will turn orange for easy removal. Get The Recipe 29 of 32 Shrimp-Stuffed Mirlitons Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kathleen Varner; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall There is actually a festival in New Orleans dedicated to the mirliton, and if you haven't tried this interesting squash, this recipe is the perfect primer. Also known as chayotes, these green pear-shaped squash have the texture of an apple with a cucumber-like flavor. Halved and stuffed with a shrimp and ham mixture, these bake for about 30 to 40 minutes at 375 degrees. Get The Recipe 30 of 32 Crab Cake Bites with Old Bay Mayo, Chive, and Lemon Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke Trust us, the Old Bay Mayo takes these cakes to the next level. The binder in this recipe is scaled back so the fresh jumbo crabmeat takes center stage. To set the mixture and help hold their shape, chilling crab cakes are essential. Get The Recipe 31 of 32 Deviled Crab Take a new look at deviled crab if you’ve been previously turn off by this dish, which is upgraded with fresh and local ingredients. Fresh lump blue crab meat, diced vegetables, chopped herbs, spices, and seasonings create a spicy mix. Carolina gold rice is the secret ingredient to help bind the mixture together. Get The Recipe 32 of 32 Gulf Crab Cakes with Lemon Butter Recipe Iain Bagwell We don’t want heavy binders overloaded with mayonnaise and bread crumbs in our crab cakes, which mask the flavor and texture of fresh crabmeat. Here, fresh lump crabmeat and diced vegetables are the star in this recipe. Make sure sure to chill the cakes for 30 to 40 minutes before cooking, this helps them hold their shape. Get The Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit