Christmas and New Year's Eve appetizers and cocktails: what to serve and how much to make
Appetizers are the first thing on the table on Christmas Eve and what goes with the New Year's toast: fresh salsas with bread, cold seafood, fried bites straight from the pan and a cocktail to welcome the guests. This guide gathers twelve recipes from the site, ordered by how they are served, with how much to make for your headcount and a plan to have almost everything ready before anyone arrives.
Christmas appetizers, in short: two fresh salsas with bread (pebre takes 15 minutes of work, chancho en piedra 20) and one cold seafood dish (shrimp ceviche, 45 minutes). Something fried that comes out hot: cheese empanadas in 1 hour or sopaipillas in 45 minutes. For the toast, cola de mono made the day before or pisco sour in 10 minutes. Count 1 or 2 empanadas and 2 or 3 sopaipillas per person when there are several things to nibble on, plus a pitcher of agua de jamaica or alcohol-free cola de mono for those who don't drink.
Cold bites: fresh salsas and seafood
The first things on the table, because they need no heat and no attention: two Chilean salsas to spread on bread or serve with sopaipillas, and a ceviche served well chilled in small bowls.
Pebre
Tomato, soaked onion, cilantro and green chili finely chopped: 15 minutes of work and 30 of resting. Makes 2 cups and is the salsa for bread and sopaipillas.
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Chancho en piedra
The Maule salsa: tomato, garlic and chili crushed in a mortar with oil and salt, no cooking, in 20 minutes. Coarser and juicier than pebre; eaten on pan amasado.
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Shrimp ceviche
Shrimp blanched for 1 or 2 minutes and marinated for 20 in lime with red onion, tomato and cilantro. Ready in 45 minutes, 4 servings; served cold and eaten the same day.
View recipeHot bites: fried and served on the spot
Fried in batches once the guests are seated, and eaten right away. Have the dough rolled or the empanadas assembled ahead so the oil is the only step left.
Fried cheese empanadas
Thin hot-water pastry with lard, mantecoso or gouda cheese and a firm crimp, fried 3 minutes per side at 180 °C. Makes 12 in 1 hour and freezes raw for up to 3 months.
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Sopaipillas
Pumpkin dough, fried until golden at 170-180 °C: 20 pieces in 45 minutes. With pebre or chancho en piedra for the appetizer table, or soaked in chancaca syrup if you want them sweet.
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Garlic shrimp
500 g of shrimp sautéed 3 or 4 minutes with golden garlic in olive oil and butter: 4 servings in under 20 minutes. Served in the same pan with bread for dipping.
View recipeFor the toast: the cocktails of Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve
Cola de mono is the drink of a Chilean Christmas and is made the day before; pisco sour and Aperol Spritz come together in minutes as the guests arrive. The terremoto, the fonda drink, also works on a hot December afternoon. These are alcoholic drinks: for adults, in moderation.
Cola de mono
Milk, condensed milk, strong coffee, aguardiente, cinnamon and clove: 20 minutes of work and 24 hours of resting in the fridge. Makes 10 glasses and has an alcohol-free version.
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Pisco sour
The 3:1:1 ratio of pisco, pica lime juice and gum syrup, shaken with ice for 20 seconds. Four glasses in 10 minutes, with or without egg white.
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Aperol Spritz
The 3-2-1 rule: 90 ml prosecco, 60 ml Aperol and 30 ml soda water over ice, with half an orange slice. One glass in 5 minutes, no shaker; built glass by glass.
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Terremoto
Ice-cold pipeño wine with a scoop of pineapple ice cream and, to taste, grenadine or fernet: 200 ml of wine and 60 g of ice cream per glass. Four glasses in 10 minutes for a hot afternoon.
View recipeFor the kids and alcohol-free
A cold pitcher of agua de jamaica covers everyone who doesn't drink, and homemade fries are the appetizer the kids are waiting for. Cola de mono and terremoto also have alcohol-free versions in their own recipes.
Homemade french fries
Potato sticks double-fried, 6 minutes at 150 °C and 3 at 180 °C, after a 30-minute soak. Four servings in 45 minutes; the first fry can be done ahead and frozen.
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Agua de jamaica
Cold hibiscus infusion: 1 cup of dried flowers boiled 10 minutes, strained and sweetened, topped up to 2 liters. Eight glasses with 15 minutes of work; keeps 4 or 5 days in the fridge.
View recipeHow much to make for your headcount
Each row takes the yield declared in the recipe and turns it into batches for 8 and for 12 people, assuming an appetizer table with several things on it.
| Dish | Recipe yield | For 8 | For 12 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pebre | 2 cups (6 servings) | 1 batch | 2 batches |
| Chancho en piedra | 2 cups (6 servings) | 1 batch | 2 batches |
| Shrimp ceviche | 4 servings | 2 batches | 3 batches |
| Fried cheese empanadas | 12 empanadas | 1 batch (12) | 2 batches (24) |
| Sopaipillas | 20 sopaipillas | 1 batch (20) | 2 batches (40) |
| Garlic shrimp | 4 servings | 2 batches | 3 batches |
| Cola de mono | 10 glasses (1.8 liters) | 1 batch | 2 batches |
| Pisco sour | 4 glasses | 2 batches (8) | 3 batches (12) |
| Aperol Spritz | 1 glass | 8 glasses | 12 glasses |
| Terremoto | 4 glasses | 2 batches (8) | 3 batches (12) |
| Homemade french fries | 4 servings | 2 batches | 3 batches |
| Agua de jamaica | 8 glasses (2 liters) | 1 pitcher | 2 pitchers |
Rule of thumb: 1 or 2 empanadas and 2 or 3 sopaipillas per person when there are several things to nibble on; if the appetizers replace dinner, double the fried batches. For cocktails, 1 or 2 glasses per adult.
Work plan: what to make ahead
Almost all of it can be prepared in advance; the only things done with guests at the table are frying and shaking.
- Up to a week ahead: Assemble the cheese empanadas and freeze them raw on a tray; they fry straight from the freezer. Do the first fry of the potatoes and freeze them spread out.
- The day before (December 23 or December 30): Make the cola de mono: it needs at least 24 hours of resting in the fridge and keeps up to 7 days in sealed bottles. Make the agua de jamaica too, which keeps 4 or 5 days.
- The morning of the 24th (or the 31st): Roll the dough and cut the sopaipillas; keep them covered in the fridge. Soak the onion and squeeze the limes for the pebre, the ceviche and the pisco sour.
- Two hours before: Chop the pebre and crush the chancho en piedra: pebre improves with 30 minutes of resting and both are served the same day. Blanch the shrimp for the ceviche and marinate them 20 minutes in lime; then keep cold until serving.
- As the guests arrive: Bring the cola de mono and the agua de jamaica to the table with ice. Shake the pisco sour in batches of 4 glasses and build the Aperol Spritz glass by glass.
- With everyone seated: Fry in batches: sopaipillas first, then the empanadas and the second fry of the potatoes. The garlic shrimp go last, 3 or 4 minutes in the pan and straight to the table.
- At midnight on New Year's Eve: Keep a batch of pisco sour or Aperol Spritz for the midnight toast, with the ice ready beforehand; the cola de mono is served then too, very cold.
Christmas appetizers: frequently asked questions
What appetizers should I serve at Christmas?
A mix of cold and hot: pebre and chancho en piedra with bread to start, a shrimp ceviche in small bowls and, once everyone is seated, freshly fried cheese empanadas or sopaipillas. With a house drink such as cola de mono, the start of Christmas Eve is covered.
How much appetizer food do I plan per person?
With several dishes on the table, 1 or 2 empanadas and 2 or 3 sopaipillas per person, a small bowl of ceviche and about 2 tablespoons of each salsa. The table in this guide turns each recipe's yield into batches for 8 and for 12 people; if the appetizers replace dinner, double the fried batches.
What cocktail is drunk at Christmas in Chile?
Cola de mono: milk, coffee, aguardiente, cinnamon and clove, served very cold, at around 5% alcohol. It is made the day before and yields 10 glasses. For something lighter to welcome guests, pisco sour is shaken in 10 minutes and Aperol Spritz is built glass by glass.
What do I serve the kids?
Double-fried homemade french fries, sopaipillas without chili and a pitcher of agua de jamaica. The cola de mono recipe explains how to make it alcohol-free by replacing the aguardiente with milk, and the terremoto recipe has a version with grape juice and pineapple ice cream.
What can I prepare the day before?
The cola de mono (it needs 24 hours of resting), the agua de jamaica, the cheese empanadas assembled and frozen raw, the first fry of the potatoes and the sopaipilla dough cut and covered in the fridge. Pebre, chancho en piedra and ceviche are made the same day: ceviche keeps no longer than 24 hours and the salsas lose their freshness.
The rest of Christmas Eve
After the appetizers come the main course and the sweet finish: the full Christmas menu lays out the turkey, the sides and the work plan, and the Christmas desserts guide gathers pan de pascua and the cold desserts for after dinner.