20 Great Small Group Snacks
Looking for the perfect snack idea for the small group?
People love food, and nothing helps people relax more when they arrive at the small group than good friends and great food. In this article, we’ll share our favorite small group snacks and the recipes to make your next small group a hit with everyone. Follow along as tackle the salty and the sweet!
Sweet & Salty
Sweet and salty is a great partnership of food and when both are together it can provide something for almost everyone.
1. Chocolate Chip Cookies & Pretzels
The current reigning champion of sweets is the classic chocolate chip cookie. Besides the fact they taste great alone is that they go perfectly with milk or coffee. Do you know what is else is cool about chocolate chip cookies? No one cares if you buy them or bake them yourself. If you swing by Marshall Fields and buy a dozen (make it two dozen) you’ll tell people they are worth spending money on. If you bake a couple dozen you are telling people you care about them and you’re willing to invest your time. Either way, it’s a win!
2. Cheese and Crackers
A nice traditional spread of cheese and crackers says you’re refined and intelligent. Very cultured in the art of bringing a snack. Include some goat cheese and some other moldy chunk no one knows how to pronounce and you’ll be the certified platter master. Don’t forget to pick out some nice crackers to spread that cheese on. If you really want to go over the top, add some meat to that platter and you’ve hit a home run!
3. Pudding with Pretzel Stick Dippers
It’s fun and delicious. Get fancy with it and put it a nice crystal class and spray some cool whip on top of it. Put it in the fridge for about thirty minutes before everyone arrives for a nice chilled preparation. You can even it take it up a notch by layering some chocolate pudding and then vanilla pudding, and then chocolate again. Then have a bag of pretzel sticks people can use to dip into the pudding and use instead of a spoon.
4. Popcorn & M&M’s
This is our personal movie night favorite. I don’t know who originally came up with this idea, but it’s AMAZING! Pop a bunch, and I mean like a gallon, of popcorn around the time everyone is arriving. Put out some bowels for people to use for their personal servings. Then have a bag of chocolate M&M’s that people can sprinkle over the top of their warm popcorn. (The popcorn has to be fresh and warm). The M&Ms get warm and melt on the inside, but not the outside and it’s magically. It’s sure to be a hit with everyone with a sweet tooth.
5. Rice Crispy Bars
These sticky treats have been favorites for decades. They are sweet and chewy and for some use bring back fun childhood memories. If you want, you can even tie these into a great small group icebreaker question about a sweet or sticky childhood memory. They are pretty simple to whip up only requiring some butter, marshmallows and Rice Krispies. To make it even more fun you can add sprinkles, or food coloring, or some kind of candy to the mix.
6. Chocolate Schotcheroos w/ Karo Syrup
My mother-in-law got me addicted, I mean introduced me to these bars. I originally thought they were just chocolate covered Rice Crispy bars, which is a great idea in its own sense. But no, they are much much more. They use Karo syrup, which I honestly don’t even know what that is, nor do I care, and this makes a solid treat that you’ll be addicted to, I mean craving for decades to come. Just make sure they all get eaten at the small group because you don’t want to bring these home.
7. Chex Mix
Keeping it simple doesn’t mean it has to be boring. A classic Chix mix in a bowl and throw in something sweet to bring it home. A semi-sweet chocolate chip, M&M’s or even consider some Reese’s for the peanut butter lovers in the small group. They make so many variants of this Chex mix now it’s hard to run out of options.
8. Carmel Corn
Make people feel like they are at a special event by serving caramel corn. Instead of focusing on the package it comes in,
9. Tortilla Wrap Cinnamon Rolls
Super easy and quick. Take a soft shell taco tortilla and spread butter on it. Then sprinkle brown sugar and some cinnamon and it. Once you’re done roll it back up. You can serve them whole like this or can choose to cut them up into bite-sized bits. Either way, this is a win and everybody will enjoy it. If you like cinnamon, another very cool thing out there is ‘copycat Taco Bell Cinnabon Delights’. These things look amazing, and I didn’t even know Taco Bell had them.
Healthy Snacks
I feel like food has really become a love language and more on the giving side. People who want to show people they love them to give food, and not just any food – sweets. So often the people trying to eat healthily and honor the temple the Lord gave us get lift out. I’d really appreciate seeing more healthy snacks at the small group. Here are some easy ideas that taste great.
10. Cottage Cheese & Tortilla Chips
Have you tried it? The salty chips with the cottage cheese create a dish all in its own right. It’s healthy too, with a cup of cottage cheese packing 28 grams of protein, people are sure to have bigger biceps by the time for prayer rolls around. The secret to making this mix work serves the chips in a separate bowl from the cottage cheese, don’t pour over. Use the chips to dip into and scope the cottage cheese.
11. Cappuccino Protein Shake
My favorite protein mix choice for small group night is MusclePharm’s Cappuccino. Blend one scope of this with about 16 ounces of milk and you’ve got power hour buddy. That’s 24 grams of protein in the powder and another 16 grams coming from the lactate making for a total of 40 grams! Here comes the BOOM! And the best part is it tastes amazing. Everyone will be asking for seconds.
12. Beef Sticks & Cheese
You can buy a pack of beef sticks from the local grocer, but buying them from the local butcher is way better and shows you’ve got taste and style. Even better if you hunt yourself, nothing (and I say nothing) is as giving as sharing your bounty with your small group lads. Add some mild or sharp cheddar on the side to really round out this top of the line small group snack. Once I had a buddy bring beef sticks that he had custom labeled as ‘Possum Sticks’. The label even had a label of a roadkill possum on it. This really required us to put our trust in him before sharing in this snack.
13. Granola & Yogurt Parfait
This a great healthy snack that tastes great and fills you up. You can add fruit like strawberries, bananas, cherries, blueberries, and whatever else to really give it a fun and tasty twist. This can be easily prepared ahead of time, or put out buffet style so people can choose their own ingredients and toppings. Put it in a short glass for a beautiful presentation and you have got a perfect small group snack that is sure to please the pickiest taste buds and satisfy the most hungry guests.
14. Oatmeal Peanut Butter Energy Bits
How about these power morsels of goodness I found at (https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/oatmeal-peanut-butter-energy-bites/). They are simple to make, have tons of great healthy ingredients and will satisfy. They pack a solid dose of protein from the peanut butter and you add some chocolate chips to please everyone with a sweet tooth without turning them into a full sugar snack. You also have the option of changing out some of the nuts if there are allergies in your small group.
Solid Snacks
Here is a category that has the equality of a small size meal in and of itself. This category is really for people bringing it to the table. We’re talking about the ability to substitute a meal here. If this sounds like what your small groups want and desires, read on.
15. Nacho Mini-Plate
Prepare the serving table with a bag of tortilla chips, some shredded cheese and a selection of toppings that the small group can select to build their own personal nacho plate. I recommend having smaller plates, so someone doesn’t overload a full-size dish (there is always that one guy). Let me fix up their nachos with ingredients like; olives, jalapenos, tomatoes chunks. Have the oven on and ready and throw it in there for about two to three minutes, just enough to get it to melt. (Consider if their plate can go in there). Then once it comes out they can go to the next station of toppings like; sour cream, chives, salsa.
16. Buffalo Wings
So this is really just a glorified chicken nugget. For small group purposes, we’re going to take a big bag of boneless chicken nuggets and bake them so they are nice and warm ahead of time. This usually takes thirty to forty minutes. Then prepare two to three homemade dipping sauces for people to select from and try out. Try to make a sweet, and at least one spicy. Have some condiments on the side for double dippings like ranch or BBQ. There are a lot of free buffalo sauce recipes out there. Here is one from allrecipes.com:
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/219109/buffalo-chicken-wing-sauce/
17. Tortilla Meat Wraps
Simple snack you can pull off for more than just the small group occasion. Take some soft shell tortilla shells and lay them out. Then add your favorite deli meats. You can make some with ham, some with chicken, or whatever you want. You can even mix them together. Then add cheese and any condiments you think would go well with them like range or mustard. My personal favorite is salami wraps with some mayonnaise, green olives, and mustard.
Got Bacon? I feel like by bacon bells have been alarming as I’m writing out these snacks demanding that I don’t forget about the absolute best snack in the world. Oh, sweet bacon we shall not forget you… isn’t that in the Bible somewhere? How about this easy snack:
18. Bacon Wrapped Smokies
Personally, these are one of my Christmas and New Year party favorites, but because I use spend those holidays with some friends from our small group I will include them here. You’re basically taking a pack of little smokies (mini sausages) and wrapping the pieces of bacon and adding a little bit of brown sugar to bring it all together. Take a toothpick to hold them together and then bake them at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes (we’re waiting until the brown sugar melts). and they are ready to serve.
19. Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Soft Pretzels
I found this recipe on tablespoon.com and will share the link below. Basically, you’re taking some of the best food that can be found by mankind and mixing them together to a fully satisfying clump of goodness. I mean someone actually had the idea of taking buffalo chicken, which is perfect in its own right and shoving it into a pretzel! Hold on, not done yet. Then add cheese to the top! Wow, well done good and faithful servant, well done.
20. Warm Cheese Dip
How about a nice traditional warm cheese dip to liven things up and satisfy your small group guests. Here you can go traditional with a plain cheesy approach, or you can spice it by adding some beef. This only requires some cream cheese and shredded cheese. Then if you choose, add cooked beef, corn, ranch, or other ingredients. Someone in our small group prepares this for us once in a while and will bring it to event nights I host for the men. He wasn’t will to give me his recipe for this article though, saying it’s a family secret. I respect that, but now it’s time for you to go create your own family secret.
Conclusion
Hopefully, we’ve given you some ideas that you can use to prepare a snack for your next small group meeting. Start with the fundamentals of a good snack with something either sweet or salty. From there you can get more complicated and specific by adding meats, warming things ups, or packaging things in their own special containers.
If you’ve got a favorite small group snack please let us know below in the comment section.