10 Impressive Summer Party Food Ideas

Prawn and mushroom tapas

These light and refreshing prawn and mushroom tapas look wonderful and are perfect for summer. They’re featured on the blog The Passionate Cook, with the mushrooms sautéed in garlic and herbs before being served alongside pink, succulent prawns.

Roasted fruit brioche squares

If you want to serve something sweet at your party, but don’t want to worry about slicing up cheesecakes or providing plates, try these. You just cut toasted brioche slices into squares and spread with clotted cream, before topping with your favourite roasted fruits. We’ve used plums here, but try peaches or even roasted berries - flavoured with vanilla bean paste and a dash of your favourite liqueur.

Antipasto on a stick

Want to serve an antipasto platter but don’t want to worry about plates, knives and spoons? Simple. Serve it on a stick. Slide cubes of cheese, salami and ham slices along with olives and marinated artichokes onto small skewers and arrange on a plate for guests to help themselves.

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Garlic and Brie pull-apart bread

This roasted garlic and Brie pull-apart bread is great for serving at a party, and guests can pull portions off for themselves. This one was created by Des at the blog Life’s Ambrosia, and cooks in about half an hour.

Jelly in orange wedges

Don’t these look fantastic? You just make up a jelly mixture and pour the liquid into a scooped-out half of an orange. Place on a plate in the fridge to set, and once firm, gently cut into wedges with a sharp knife. These are even better if you use contrasting coloured jelly - try a green, lime-flavoured jelly set in an orange - or raspberry jelly set in scooped-out lemon halves. Keep in the fridge until ready to serve.

Turkey and herb meatballs

Instead of handing around the usual mini sausage rolls, make your own mini meatballs. We’ve used turkey mince flavoured with garlic and parsley but you could make any meatballs you like - just roll them a little bit smaller than usual, brown in a frying pan and then bake in the oven until cooked through. Serve hot or cold, speared with cocktail sticks. You could also have some chutney or sauce on the side too, for dipping.

Harissa-roasted butternut bites

For these spicy vegetarian nibbles, just roast small chunks of butternut squash that have been tossed in a little harissa paste, honey and olive oil until golden and tender - about 20 minutes in a hot oven. Spear with a cocktail stick and serve. Delicious with a soft, creamy goat’s cheese too.

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Pesto pinwheels

These tortilla pesto pinwheels look striking, and are easy to make, with a cream cheese and pesto base. The tortilla wraps are then filled with your favourite sliced meats. They were created by Brandie, of the blog Home Cooking Memories. You could use whatever fillings you like. Try a vegetarian version, by leaving out the meat and adding in some extra veggies - try baby leaf spinach leaves, roasted red peppers or olives, for contrast.

Mini banana pops

You know those frozen bananas on sticks that are all the rage now? Well here’s a mini party-food version. Georgia, from the blog The Comfort of Cooking made these chocolate-coated mini banana pops perfect for a bite-sized sweet treat. Keep them frozen until just ready to serve and try different sprinkles on top - shredded coconut, pistachios, hundreds and thousands…

Mini muffulettas

A muffuletta is a round loaf of bread that’s been hollowed-out, and had the top cut off. It’s then filled with an olive-based paste, deli meats and cheese. The top is replaced and the whole sandwich is wrapped and placed in the fridge to set. Once set, it’s cut into wedges. Because a standard muffuletta is made with a large round loaf, the individual wedges can be quite big. These mini muffulettas were featured on the Taste of Home website and are perfect bite-sized party food - they’ve made them on a miniature scale using rolls.