Christmas is the holiday to celebrate kindness, generosity, togetherness and love for one another. People celebrate Christmas by giving gifts and presents to their family and friends along with a lavish Christmas dinner. Whether you are hosting a Christmas dinner or you are a guest for Christmas dinner, appetizers are the most important and most loved side dishes on the dinner table. Flavorful and delicious appetizers can be made by using olive oil with herbs and other ingredients.

Why should we use olive oil for making appetizers?

Olive oil adds a unique and different flavor to your dish because of its tangy and salty flavor. Olive oil is actually extracted and collected from pressing the olives along with their seeds. This natural method of olive oil collection makes the oil full of nutrients and minerals along with healthy substances. These healthy substances are very beneficial and healthy for your body because they make your muscles strong, lower the cholesterol level and increase your heart health.

Olive oil is a very healthy replacement for butter and vegetable oil. It enhances the taste of your food and makes it light and airy as well. In this way, you can easily enjoy your food without getting fatty.

Quick olive oil appetizers:

People try to make delicious dishes that require hard work and time. But you need not make a lot of effort to make appetizers. You can make quick and time saving appetizers easily that your family and friends would love to eat. Here are some healthy but time saving appetizers that you can make for this Christmas dinner:

• Olive oil and garlic bread:

Olive oil and garlic breads are quick, time saving, healthy and delicious appetizers that you can serve to your guests. Add a few chopped and minced garlic cloves in olive oil and heat it for about 5–20 minutes. Then remove the garlic cloves from the oil by straining it and add the oil in a serving bowl. Now make your bread crispy and golden brown by baking it for 5 minutes and serve it to your guests.

• Olive oil toasted bread with roasted vegetables:

These are such easy and quick appetizers to make for Christmas dinner that every single guest of yours would love. Just cut your bread in slices, add olive oil on it and bake it for about 5 minutes. Then add some roasted vegetables on the top of your bread and add some salt and pepper to taste. Now you can serve it to your guests easily.

• Olive oil and cheese pastries:

You can use ready-made pastries for this dish. Just cut your pastries in halves and add some olive oil in it. Now add cheese to your pastries and bake it for 5–10 minutes in the oven until your pastries are crispy and golden brown. Serve it to your guests while they are hot, and you can also add some herbs or spices on the cheese if you want.

Olive oil dips:

Olive oil dips are a very classic and traditional appetizer choice to add in the dinner menu. These appetizers are very delicious if made with premium extra virgin olive oil. These appetizers can be served with bread, crackers or vegetables etc. Some olive oil dip recipes are:

• Hummus with olive oil:

Humus is a classic and traditional appetizer served with turkey or ham or other dishes. It is a very popular south European appetizer which is made with chickpeas, lemon juice and garlic along with extra virgin olive oil. Olive oil adds a creamy and buttery texture to the appetizer and can be served with pita bread and fresh vegetables like carrots, cucumbers and celery etc.

• Greek yogurt with olive oil:

It is such a wonderful and yogurt based dip that can be served with meat or vegetables because its flavor goes very well with meat and vegetables. You can make it by mixing Greek yogurt, cucumber, garlic and a large amount of olive oil. You can decorate it with some mint leaves to give a fresh look to it.

• Eggplant with olive oil:

It is a smokey, creamy and nice textured dip that is made by mixing baked eggplant with olive oil and herbs. You can also add garlic and lemon to have a rich and tangy flavor. Olive oil will enhance the smokey flavor of eggplant by providing a rich and deep flavor to it. You can serve it with pita bread and roasted vegetables.

• Olives and herbs paste:

These are South European appetizers made from olives, garlic and olive oil. You can add spices like red peppers and tomatoes to give it a beautiful color. You can eat it by spreading it on bread or crackers. 

 Festive starters with olive oil:

If you want to make filling appetizers for your Christmas dinner, you should try making festive starters with olive oil. These starters are not only tasty and delicious but also provide health benefits. Some of the festive starter ideas are:

• Italian toast with tomatoes and olive oil:

Italian toast with tomatoes and olive oil is made with crispy Italian bread with a freshly prepared mixture of tomatoes, garlic, olives, olive oil and chopped basil leaves on the top. This simplest dish is full of rich flavors that will make the mood of your guests fresh. To give it a more festive look, you can add soft goat cheese on the top as well. Olive oil is mixed with every flavor and compliments the whole dish.

• Spinach and cheese pastries with olive oil:

These starters are very easy to make with puff pastry, fresh spinach, cheese and olive oil. You just need to add spinach, olive oil and cheese in your puff pastry and bake it for 5–20 minutes until they become nice and golden brown. Olive oil will not only give a nice golden brown texture to your pastry but also give a tangy flavor to it. You can serve them as bite sized starters to your guests.

• Stuffed mushrooms with olive oil:

You can make stuffed mushrooms with olive oil easily by frying mushrooms in the olive oil along with garlic, breadcrumbs and spinach. After frying, stuff this mixture in the mushroom caps and add a little amount of olive oil on the top. Now bake it for 5–10 minutes until the caps are nice and golden brown. You can also add cheese if you want.

• Mozzarella balls with olive oil:

These are elegant and perfect appetizers to serve on your Christmas dinner table this year. You just need to make small mozzarella balls and dip them in the mixture of extra virgin olive oil, fresh herbs like thyme and rosemary and vinegar for a few hours. It will let all the flavors add to the mozzarella balls. Now serve these balls with basil leaves and cherry tomatoes to have a more festive look.

Enhance the taste of your appetizers this Christmas with a unique and surprising taste of our high quality extra virgin olive oil. Our extra virgin olive oil will give a new life to your dishes whether you are making Italian bread, olive oil and olive paste, olive oil dips or some olive oil starters. Our extra virgin olive oil will make this year’s Christmas unforgettable for your family and friends by its taste and health benefits. Don't miss this chance and buy our high quality extra virgin olive oil right now and transform your Christmas dinner into something truly delicious.