When you throw a Cinco de Mayo party you’re going to want some great finger foods. You can find a round up of some of my favorite Mexican themed appetizers to make for your next party below.
Fun fact — I just learned researching this piece that Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day. Celebrating Cinco de Mayo in the United States is like celebrating the Battle of Gettysburg. It really doesn’t make a lot of sense.
So, why do we celebrate? I have a theory. I think it’s an excuse to pull in the start of summer. Isn’t it much better to think about summertime starting May 5th rather than Memorial Day?
I mean who doesn’t love throwing a party with cerveza and margaritas? I know I don’t need a fake holiday for that!
When you throw a Cinco de Mayo party you’re going to want some great finger foods. You can find a round up of seven of my favorite Mexican themed finger foods below.
Basic guacamole recipe
Here’s a super simple Guacamole recipe from Gimme Some oven. She recommends adding roma tomatoes but this recipe is great without them. The great thing about a basic recipe is you can play around with it and make it your own. That’s actually how I approach recipes in general. I love making it my own. The recipe notes feature in ClipDish lets you add your customizations to clipped recipes.
Basic salsa recipe
Like the guacamole recipe above its good to have a basic salsa recipe you can make your own. This simple recipe uses canned tomatoes so you can make it all year round. If you want a smokier taste swap out some or all of the jalapeños with chipotle peppers. Fun fact, chipotle’s are just smoked and dried jalapeños.
Mini chicken taco recipe
This amazing recipe from Jersey Barnfire Hot Sauce has the chicken slow cooking in a crockpot with beer and ginger ale.
Mini beef taco recipe
It’s a beef taco but teeny. This is a really fast finger food that the kids are going to love. Serve them with the salsa, guac and sour cream. These little tacos make a great appetizer.
Mexican Appetizer Cups
This contest winning appetizer sneaks in some healthy spinach into these yummy cheesy cups. The recipe also makes clever use of Pillsbury refrigerated biscuits to make the actual cups.
Bacon wrapped jalapeño poppers
Ok, this one might be a stretch, but OMG they are so good. Let’s just say anything with a jalapeño can be served at a Cinco de Mayo party. I won’t tell.
Easy queso dip
Isabel over at Isabel eats shares this recipe for queso dip. Her trick is to use 2% milk and block cheese to get the amazing velvety texture in her dip. If you can’t get freshly made tortilla chips try a bag of Xochitl corn chips. Also, spend some time browsing her site, she has some other great Mexican recipes there.
Margarita ceviche
Ok, technically ceviche is Peruvian, in fact, it’s their national dish. However, I couldn’t resist adding this fun recipe from The Crumbly Kitchen to the list. The limes cook the fish and the tequila gives it a great earthy taste. Find yourself a good local fish monger to make sure you’re getting the freshest fish for this recipe. I’m not a huge fan of calamari so I’ll leave it out.
Don’t forget…
You can clip any recipe that we shared here into our cookbook app ClipDish. Give it a try. You’ll never need to worry about losing a recipe you found online ever again. Plus, ClipDish strips out all the extra stuff just leaving you with a nice clean consistent recipe view.
