Nutrition: 65 Calories | 1.8g Net Carbs | 5.3g Protein | 4.9g Total Fat
Easy Make Ahead Shrimp Appetizers with a lemon, dill cream cheese spread on top of sliced cucumber. Also great for a light and refreshing snack.
A few months back, I attended a special military ceremony with my husband. Afterward, there was a reception for all the guests to mingle and visit. The reception was catered with a variety of finger foods and small desserts. I tried almost everything that was offered. You know, for research, and because I love trying new food. The shrimp and cucumber appetizers were my favorite. I ended up going back for a few more. Then, I had to recreate the flavors at home. So, after a little experimentation, this is the recipe I came up with.
Make a Flavored Cream Cheese Spread
The first step in these easy make ahead shrimp appetizers is making the delicately flavored cream cheese spread. When I was creating the recipe, this was the part I spent the most time on because the flavors need to be just right, not overwhelming. Start with room temperature cream cheese. Add fresh minced dill, lemon zest and fresh lemon juice. Then, add a a pinch of salt to enhance all the flavors.
Cream the ingredients together in a bowl using a hand mixer. Taste the cream cheese spread at this point. You should be able to taste the lemon and dill, but not too much. The flavors will get stronger as the mixture rests. The lemon and dill flavors will infuse the cream cheese. The perfect refreshing flavors to complement both the shrimp and the cucumber.
Prepare the Cucumber
First, wash the cucumber. If you’re using a thin skinned cucumber like English cucumber, you don’t have to peel it at all. If you’re using a thicker skinned variety, you might want to peel the whole thing. I used an English cucumber, so I peeled some skin and left some, creating stripes. This is a fun and easy way to create more color variation. To peel or not to peel, it’s up to you. Cut off the end of the cucumber and discard. Then, slice your cucumber into rounds about 1/4 inch thick. I ended up with 34 slices.
Assemble Your Make Ahead Appetizers
The last layer to the appetizers is the shrimp. Buying cooked, pre-peeled shrimp makes the prep even easier. If you don’t have any, you can easily cook and peel the shrimp yourself, it just takes a little longer. There are two ways to make this appetizer ahead of time. If you don’t have a lot of room in your fridge, store the cream cheese spread, sliced cucumbers, and shrimp separately until it’s time to assemble them. If you have enough room for a serving platter, completely assemble the shrimp appetizers, and store them in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve.
Assembling the appetizers is super easy. First, put the cream cheese spread in a zip top bag, remove all the air and seal the bag (or use a piping bag). Snip the corner off the bag with scissors. Then, top each of the sliced cucumber rounds with the cream cheese mixture. Finally, add one shrimp on top. Serve immediately or store, covered, in the refrigerator.
Having a party? You might also like these appetizers: Ham Asparagus Roll Ups, Cheesy Taco Pepper Poppers, and Salami Pizza Cups.
Make Ahead Shrimp Appetizers with Lemon, Dill and Cucumber
Easy Make Ahead Shrimp Appetizers with a lemon, dill cream cheese spread on top of sliced cucumber. Also great for a light and refreshing snack.
Total Time: 20 min
Prep Time: 20 min
Ingredients
- 34 Small Shrimp, Cooked, Peeled and Deveined (about 7 oz)
- 1 English Cucumber
- 4 oz Cream Cheese, Softened
- 1 1/2 tsp Fresh Lemon Juice
- 1/2 tsp Fresh Lemon Zest
- 1 1/2 tsp Fresh Dill
- 1/4 tsp Salt
Directions
In a bowl, mix together the softened cream cheese, lemon juice, lemon zest, dill and salt with a hand mixer until thoroughly combined. Set the cream cheese mixture aside.
Trim the ends of the cucumber. Using a vegetable peeler, peel strips of the cucumber skin, leaving some skin to create stripes. Slice the cucumber in 1/4 inch thick circles. Lay out the cucumber slices on a plate or serving platter.
Spoon the cream cheese mixture into a zip-top bag. Remove the air from the bag a cut off a corner. Squeeze the cream cheese mixture onto each of the cucumber slices and top with one shrimp. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Nutrition:
Yield: about 8.5 servings, Serving Size: 4 Pieces
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 65, Total Fat: 4.9g, Saturated Fat: 2.6g, Cholesterol: 14.7mg, Sodium: 207.4mg, Carbohydrates: 2.1g, Fiber 0.3g, Sugars: 1g, Protein 5.3g
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