With our cocktail party mini graze boards, there will be no lines at the buffet at your holiday party! A great serving solution for any occasion—birthday parties, weddings, showers—It’s a delicious cocktail party for one, with special appetizers and a sweet dessert on a single serving piece.
Your guests will be sure to get a taste of every holiday treat you’re offering. Even better, using mini graze boards at your party means that for you, there’s no pulling hors d’oeuvres out of a hot oven, or replenishing bowls of snacks! Set them out just before the party starts and you’ll be able to spend the rest of cocktail hour mingling with your guests.
And while they’re perfect for the holidays or any other cocktail party, a mini graze board also functions as an upgraded version of a TV-dinner if you’re having a viewing party or movie night. That’s something to keep in mind when Oscar season rolls around!
To put together a cocktail party mini graze board, fill a single serving piece, tray, or plate with your holiday favorites.
Mini Graze Board Tips
- -Make items bite-size, and, ideally, finger food
- -Avoid messy sauces
- -Go for a mix of savory and sweet
- -Keep snacks like popcorn in small ramekins or cupcake liners
- -Choose things you can make ahead of time
- -Round out apps that require prep with snacks like potato chips, popcorn, pretzels, or nuts
- -Have a couple more filling items on the plate (like the pig in a blanket and deviled egg we have here) as well as some lighter snacks
- -Use smaller fruits like mini pears, crabapples, or fresh apricots
It’s always nice to add an item to fit the occasion; the mini brownies here are piped with bows to look like gifts for a holiday party. You might go for tea sandwiches shaped like mini wedding cakes for an engagement party, shower, or wedding, or graduation cap cookies for a graduation party.
For our mini graze boards, we used marble trivets, and packed them with classic party bites including a pig in a blanket, a deviled egg, and a blini with smoked salmon, sour cream and dill. Then we added favorite bar snacks made special for the occasion: a toothpick bearing a cheddar cheese cube, cocktail onion, and two sweet gherkins, and a ramekin filled with pumpkin-spiced popcorn. For dessert, there are brownies with bows piped on top so they look like holiday gifts, and a poached pear in a gold cupcake wrapper.
Serve whatever favorites make you and yours feel jolly, and give them a twist or upgrade—like the bows on the brownies and spice on the popcorn—to get them party ready. Add a label with each guest’s name so no one misplaces their own; you can download our printable mini-banner template here. Then label each graze board, pass them out, and get the party started!
What You’ll Need
- Downloadable Cocktail Party Mini Graze Boards template
- Scissors
- Marker, pen, or calligraphy pen for writing names
- A serving piece like a marble trivet, small tray, cheese board, or plate
- Party appetizers like pigs in a blanket, blinis, deviled eggs
- Dressed-Up bar snacks like flavored popcorn or olives and cheese cubes on a skewer
- Dessert items like brownies and poached pears
How-To
Step 1 Download our Cocktail Party Mini Graze Boards template, print on card stock or paper and cut out. Write each guest’s name on a label.
Step 2 Assemble each graze board with one or two of each item.
Step 3 Add the label to each graze board, and set out on a table or hand to each guest as they arrive.
For more fun individual graze board ideas, click here.
