Snack Dinner Ideas for When You Can't Muster Up a Full Supper
We've all been there. Some nights, we go all-out. Steak, salad, mashed potatoes. An epic cookout or Sunday dinner. Three courses, plus a fun cocktail or two. And then, there are the days when the only thing we want to do is break out the largest pile of snacks and call it dinner. Pull out the dips, smoothies, toasts, nuts, and crackers—these snack dinner ideas will hit just the spot when you can't find the willpower to muster up a proper supper. We guarantee the kids will love it, too. From Peanut Butter & Jelly French Toast Skewers to Smoked Fish Dip and a Watermelon Smoothie, these recipes prove you don't have to serve a classic big supper to make dinner fun, fast, and interesting. So whether it's a glass of Cornbread & Sweet Milk, a bucket of homemade potato chips, or Hot Cheesy Crab Dip piled high on crackers, dinner is served.
Boiled Peanut Hummus
Recipe: Boiled Peanut Hummus
Swapping traditional chickpeas for boiled peanuts gives this dip a true Southern spin. Serve with your choice of raw veggies, toasts, and chips for a filling (but kind of healthy) snack dinner.
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Orange-Carrot Smoothie
Recipe: Orange-Carrot Smoothie
Pack in the fruits and veggies at dinnertime with this smoothie, which is filled with carrots, mangoes, vanilla yogurt, and orange juice. Pro tip: Serve this on a hot summer night when you can't bear to turn on the stove.
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Roasted Sweet Potato Hummus
Recipe: Roasted Sweet Potato Hummus
Sweet potatoes give this dip a playful orange hue. Serve with pita chips and crudités if you're craving a light dinner.
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Cornbread & Sweet Milk
Recipe: Cornbread & Sweet Milk
Many a Southerner knows the magic of cornbread and milk, though consistencies and types of milk will vary. Here is Damaris Phillips' version, perfect as a dinnertime treat.
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Carrot Hummus Recipe
Recipe: Carrot Hummus Recipe
Carrots, red chiles, mint, coriander, and cumin ensure a lively dip that will tickle your tastebuds.
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Apple Chips
Recipe: Apple Chips
Delicate, crunchy, and perfumed with cinnamon, Apple Chips are the perfect fall snack—we don't blame you if a pile of these disappears around dinnertime.
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Smoky Black-Eyed Pea Hummus
Recipe: Smoky Black-Eyed Pea Hummus
New year? Super bowl? Lazy dinner? Whip up our Smoky Black-Eyed Pea Hummus for a light dinner or a gathering where a little luck is required.
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Shrimp on Seasoned Crackers with Pepper Jelly and Cream Cheese
Recipe: Shrimp on Seasoned Crackers with Pepper Jelly and Cream Cheese
This easy snack dinner features succulent shrimp flavored with a little lemon, herbs, and olive oil. Assemble on a well-seasoned saltine with the cream cheese and pepper jelly mixture.
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Chopped Chicken Livers on Toast
Recipe: Chopped Chicken Livers on Toast
It might sound fancy, but it's really just chicken salad on toast, but with livers. This recipe comes from Charleston, South Carolina, chef Mike Lata. It's simple and quick to prepare, so you can have dinner ready in a flash.
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Strawberry-Banana-Peanut Butter Smoothie
Recipe: Strawberry-Banana-Peanut Butter Smoothie
This smoothie is a great, refreshing dinner option for the lactose-intolerant, since it uses almond milk instead of regular.
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Peanut Butter & Jelly French Toast Skewers
Recipe: Peanut Butter & Jelly French Toast Skewers
With peanut butter, bread, and assorted fruit, you've covered some major food groups with these skewers. Perfect for the kids when you can't muster up much else.
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Hot Crab and Shrimp Dip
Recipe: Hot Crab and Shrimp Dip
Lump crab meat, fresh shrimp, a medley of spices, and five minutes make this mean seafood dip. Honestly, what more do you need for dinner?
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Sweet Potato Toast
Recipe: Sweet Potato Toast
Looking for a quick, filling, gluten-free dinner? Sub the bread for slices of sweet potato. Roasted in the oven, they become crisp on the outside but stay tender in the center. Top with eggs, arugula, and some Parmesan and call it breakfast for dinner.
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Ranch Snacker Crackers
Recipe: Ranch Snacker Crackers
If you're putting together a few snacks for dinner, these ranch-flavored oyster crackers should be on the lineup. We guarantee they'll disappear instantly.
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Prosciutto-and-Manchego Cheese Straws
Recipe: Prosciutto-and-Manchego Cheese Straws
We dressed up the traditional cheese straw with some prosciutto and Manchego twisted around delicate rods of flaky puff pasty.
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Fried Pickle Chips
Recipe: Fried Pickle Chips
Fry up a batch of pickle chips and you'll find no one who has room for a real dinner afterwards.
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Spicy Strawberry-Goat Cheese Crostini
Recipe: Spicy Strawberry-Goat Cheese Crostini
Dinner is served. Toasty baguette slices hold up a pile of strawberries and goat cheese seasoned with mint, lime, and jalapeño chile.
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Watermelon Smoothies
Recipe: Watermelon Smoothies
What says summer more than a smoothie filled with watermelon and strawberries? It's the season at its finest.
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Buttery Toasted Pecans
Recipe: Buttery Toasted Pecans
Sometimes, a handful of crunchy, savory nuts just hits the spot, and before we know it, we've eaten the whole bag for dinner. A little butter and red pepper ensures that's exactly what'll happen with these pecans.
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Hot Cheesy Crab Dip
Recipe: Hot Cheesy Crab Dip
With adjectives like hot and cheesy, it's darn impossible not to eat the whole pan as dinner. Serve with toasted bread, chips, pitas, raw veggies…you might even just scoop it with a spoon.
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Cheddar Cheese Shortbread Crackers
Recipe: Cheddar Cheese Shortbread Crackers
Crisp, buttery, and definitely addicting. You can change it up by swapping Cheddar for pimiento cheese, or doing a pecan or bacon rendition.
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Peach-Ricotta-Prosciutto Toasts
Recipe: Peach-Ricotta-Prosciutto Toasts
This is the ultimate summertime dinner snack. Crisp baguette is piled high with ricotta, peaches, and prosciutto before getting a drizzle of olive oil. That's all the dinner we need.
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Caramelized Onion Dip
Recipe: Caramelized Onion Dip
Any potato chip is instantly elevated by this creamy dip. And, of course, the caramelized onions are what make it.
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Smoked Fish Dip
Recipe: Smoked Fish Dip
Elegant and a one-bowl operation? Sounds like a plan to us.
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Sunshine Smoothie
Recipe: Sunshine Smoothie
Sometimes, smoothies are the perfect dinner replacement. This one is for the mango lovers.
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Creamy Avocado Dip
Recipe: Creamy Avocado Dip
We're just saying, this may give the mighty guacamole a run for its money. Smooth, creamy, and packed with peppers, all it needs is some chips and veggie sticks.
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Sweet-and-Salty Snack Mix
Recipe: Sweet-and-Salty Snack Mix
Cereal, pretzels, peanut-butter candies, and mini marshmallows? Bring back the nostalgia.
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Butter-Baked Saltine Crackers
Recipe: Butter-Baked Saltine Crackers
If you know the pleasure of butter smeared on a saltine cracker, then you'll know that these are a must on the dinner table…even if they're the only thing on the table.
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Homemade Potato Chips with Fried Herbs
Recipe: Homemade Potato Chips with Fried Herbs
Nothing hits the spot quite like a homemade potato chip. Throw your dinner plans out the window, whip up a batch, and serve with one of our dips.
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Ivy Odom's Lacy Cornbread
Recipe: Ivy Odom's Lacy Cornbread
These are best served with other sides, so make a few dips and toppings to go along with them. You won't be able to eat just one.
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Jalapeño Cornbread Sticks
Recipe: Jalapeño Cornbread Sticks
Cornbread with a kick is made extra special when you bake it in corn-shaped pans.
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Creamy Spinach-Ricotta Crostini
Recipe: Creamy Spinach-Ricotta Crostini
A food processor is your shortcut to finely chopped herbs and an ultra-smooth spinach spread.
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Basic Deviled Eggs
Recipe: Basic Deviled Eggs
There's never a bad time for a good deviled egg, and our basic recipe will have you churning out a few in no time at all. Who needs a real dinner?
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Barbecued Pork Quesadillas
Recipe: Barbecued Pork Quesadillas
Quesadillas are the perfect snack that double for pretty much any meal. We gave ours a Southern spin and loaded it with barbecued pork.