These impressive little appetizers are fantastic for a number of reasons. They come together quickly, making them perfect for entertaining. Beautifully colored, taste great and still have essential nutrients. A standout dish for a party, placed strategically next to a meat side dish, it is quite refreshing.
Great for potlucks or make some up to enjoy for yourself as a snack. If your kids have a friend gathering, it is really easy for them to make as well. Only a small amount of skill with a piping bag is required to get the swirly star effect with the cream cheese. They love these. Be festive and enjoy!
Ingredients you will need:
2 – Cucumbers
12 – cherry tomatoes
4 oz. – cream cheese softened
1 tbsp. – mayonnaise
3 tbsp. – light ranch
1 tbsp. – frozen or fresh dill
¼ tsp. – garlic salt
Black pepper for garnish
Instructions:
1. Wash, peel and slice cucumber into half inch slices.
2. Remove little of insides of the cucumber with a half tea spoon measurement.
3. Combine softened cream cheese, mayo, and ranch. Mix it well until smooth in texture.
4. Add dill and garlic salt and mix just until combined.
5. Place all the topping into a piping bag with a star attachment and pipe out about a ¾ of a tbsp. into each prepared cucumber. If the topping has hard time to stick to cucumber pat dry the cucumber juice before piping.
6. Cut cherry tomatoes in half and insert into each cucumber topping.
7. Sprinkle with black pepper, serve and enjoy. This appetizers can be prepared several hour before serving, make sure to refrigerate until ready to serve.
- 2 – Cucumbers
- 12 – cherry tomatoes
- 4 oz. – cream cheese softened
- 1 tbsp. – mayonnaise
- 3 tbsp. – light ranch
- 1 tbsp. – frozen or fresh dill
- ¼ tsp. – garlic salt
- Black pepper for garnish
- Wash, peel and slice cucumber into half inch slices.
- Remove little of insides of the cucumber with a half tea spoon measurement.
- Combine softened cream cheese, mayo, and ranch. Mix it well until smooth in texture.
- Add dill and garlic salt and mix just until combined.
- Place all the topping into a piping bag with a star attachment and pipe out about a ¾ of a tbsp. into each prepared cucumber. If the topping has hard time to stick to cucumber pat dry the cucumber juice before piping.
- Cut cherry tomatoes in half and insert into each cucumber topping.
- Sprinkle with black pepper, serve and enjoy. This appetizers can be prepared several hour before serving, make sure to refrigerate until ready to serve.
If you make this Cucumber Bites Appetizers recipe please share the picture with me on facebook, instagram or pinterest. Tag it with #valyastasteofhome, I love seeing your creation. 🙂
Such beautiful and healthy appetizers. Perfect for the parties!
It is perfect for the party. They stand out on the table too. Thanks for stopping by Julia! 🙂
Live in the UK so I don’t know what “ranch” is. Does anyone know what it would be called in the UK or what could be substituted?
Ranch dressing is a type of salad dressing made of some combination of buttermilk, salt, garlic, onion, herbs, and spices, mixed into a sauce based on mayonnaise or another oil emulsion. You can ado seasoning into mayonnaise to replace ranch dressing. I hope that helps.
Ranch dressing is readily available at most British supermarkets. The Newman’s Own brand have it.
Born and bred in the USA here. I would DIE without Ranch in my life!!!!! ?❤
can anyone please tell me if these can be made the night before?
Hi Donna. All the prep can be done the night before, but actual assembling needed to be done at least to 2 hours before serving (make sure you refrigerate them if prepared 2 hours ahead of time). I hope this helps. Thanks for your comment 🙂
Why do they have to be prepared at least 2 hours before serving?. They can’t be prepared just before?
For the best presentable look and delicious taste.
Honestly I think she means must be prepared no more than 2 hours before serving, that would make more sense. The juices from the veggies would probably start to make the cream cheese run if standing out for longer than that. I haven’t made them yet, but I plan on it.
Mine isn’t mixing smooth… I followed the directions perfectly. What should I do?
Hi Hannah. It’s hard to tell what went wrong with out actually seeing the preparation. I think the cream cheese wasn’t soften enough. This filling should mix pretty easy.
I bet that’s what it was! Thank you!!!
You are very welcome. I’m glad we got it figured out. 🙂
I used a small food processor to get my lumps out. Cream cheesecake wasn’t soft enough.
can you make these a day ahead of the party
I would not make them that far ahead. They will not look as beautiful and fresh. You can make them 4 hour before the party and keep it refrigerated. Thank you for asking Marlene. Have a Happy Thanksgiving! 🙂
I made these for Thanksgiving 2016 and they were a big hit! The tomatoes were a bit juicy, so after slicing them in half I just blotted them with a paper towel. I will definitely make these again! Thank you for sharing!
That’s awesome! I’m so glad to hear that! I get tomatoes at Costco, they taste good and not so juicy. Thank you very much for such an amazing review! 🙂
Don’t know what I’m doing wrong but my filling is not enough to fill the cucumber slices and it’s chunky. I followed the measurements exact and the cream cheeese was at room temp.
Hmm… It also depends on the cream cheese freshness. It sounds like the cream cheese is old and cannot cream while beating. Also, the cucumbers may be cut too thin and that can cause cream shortage. So sorry you’re having a hard time. Practice makes perfect. Give another try and see how it tuns out for you. I hope this helps.
I doubled the recipe since I love the filling!
Added 3 drops of hot sauce and omitted the tomatoes for a July 4th pool party. Turned out great. Next time I will fill the cucumber cups with dip made from 1/3 cup sour cream, 1/3 cop mayonnaise and 1 Tbs taco seasoning for variety.
That’s a great idea. I’ll give it a try as well. Thank you for your comment!
Perfect appetizer finger food idea.
Yes, they are! Perfect for parties as well. 🙂
Yum!
Yes, they are!
Can you substitute an ingredient in place of the ranch? I don’t like the MSG in it. ?
I have a homemade ranch dressing recipe on my blog HERE. You can make homemade made ranch instead of store bought, I have been using homemade ranch for a while now and we love it!
Can you put a type of cheese as a tomato replacement? If so, which would you recommend?
Cube the cheese of your choice (like cheddar for example) and place it instead of tomatoes. Also, you can use other vegetables like radish to replace the tomatoes if you’d like. I hope this helps. 🙂
Could I use celery instead of cucumber?
Sure. You can make celery boats. ?
I used this at a tea party. They definitely we’re a hit. I made it like a dip with out Mayo. Still delish!!
That is so awesome! I’m glad you liked the recipe. Thank you so very much for sharing your experience with me! 🙂
I used a melon baller to scoop out cucumbers, works great! Adding this to my appetizer selection for sure! YUMMY
That is a great idea! Thank you for making this recipe and sharing your experience with me! 🙂
I made these for my parents 45th wedding anniversary and they were a huge hit. everyone loved them. I do too 🙂
I’m so happy to hear that! They are truly delicious and cute little gems 😀 Thank you for an amazing review and happy anniversary to your parents! 45 – that’s so awesome!
Would they work with whipped cream cheese. They look delicious. I’m trying for my daughters bday party this weekend.
Yes, whipped cream cheese will work as well. Happy Birth Day to your daughter!
Perfect appetizer for summer party. And it was quick and easy to prep! One tip – use cucumbers that are of equal width. I didn’t have a piping tool, so I just spooned the dip into the cucumber. I bet you could prep the dip and cut the cucs ahead of time, then just assemble before serving.
Yes, those steps are totally possible to prepare in advance. Thank you for sharing your tips and an amazing review!
Do you use regular cucumbers or seedless English?
I’ve tried both and works perfectly with either kind.
To help with mixing the filling (and any time mixing ingredients into cream cheese), add the more liquid ingredients a little at a time. Putting all the liquid ingredients in at once and then trying to incorporate them into the cheese is asking for lumps.
That’s a great tip, Anne! Thank you for sharing that with my readers!
Also, if the cream cheese is soft at room temperature then it’s easy to incorporate everything together with no lumps.
Made these today for a wedding reception that we catered. They turned out delish! The filling was to die for! I have added this to my recipe book and will for sure be making these again. Thank you so much for sharing.
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for trying out my recipe! 🙂