Light and healthy Cucumber Appetizers pair spicy creamy Buffalo chicken with fresh cucumber slices. It’s an easy, crowd pleasing veggie filled snack that’s perfect for holidays, game days, and parties.
We also love these 2 ingredient appetizer mushrooms.
Table of contents
Anything buffalo chicken is usually a huge hit, just try healthy buffalo chicken dip, so I knew if I paired creamy hot sauce chicken with cool and refreshing cucumber, it would taste amazing. But just don’t take my word for it, my 11 year old went nuts for these cucumber appetizers, too!
I never had a huge passion for cooking appetizers because many are so unhealthy or healthy ones take forever to make. This horderves idea uses cucumber slices and basically chicken salad on top; it’s neither unhealthy nor does it take to long to make, just try them and you will see!
Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Encourages veggie consumption: Which is never a bad thing, up the anti even more with Instant pot egg bites or bacon-wrapped asparagus!
- Healthy: Lean protein from chicken combined with fiber and vitamin packed plus hydrating cucumbers make for a very nutritious, naturally gluten free cucumber snack.
- Low calorie: Swapping crackers for cucumbers mean this cold appetizer recipe has only 16k calories per serving, perfect for anyone following a low carb, keto lifestyle!
- Easy: When you use pre-cooked chicken, these cucumber appetizers take 15 minutes to make.
- Budget friendly: Inexpensive cold appetizer idea uses minimal ingredients including low cost, easy to find cucumbers!
- Customizable: Not into buffalo sauce? That’s okay! See below for many other variations to make cucumber horderves idea your new favorite party appetizer!
Ingredients You Will Need
- Cucumber: English cucumbers are the preferred cucumbers to use. They are long and thin, with a tender skin. In the grocery store, they are often wrapped in plastic just to ensure that their delicate skin is not bruised in transit.
Can I use garden cucumbers? Yes! Fresh is always best especially when summer is in high swing! These cucumber snacks actually work great with ‘chubby’ garden cukes as they hold up well when loading them high with the buffalo chicken topping.
- Chicken breasts: You will need 2 1/2 cups of cooked chicken breast for this horderves idea. This is a great chance to use meal prepped Instant Pot shredded chicken breast, make Instant Pot frozen chicken breast or use any leftover oven baked chicken breast you have in your fridge.
- Red hot sauce: My go to for slow cooker buffalo chicken chili and air fried wings! You can mix it with a small amount of melted butter for even more traditional ‘buffalo’ taste or opt to use your favorite store brand of buffalo sauce.
- Plain yogurt: Regular or Greek yogurt work, just be sure to use 2% fat or higher for best creamy taste in this cold appetizer recipe.
- Green onion: Adds a mild onion taste without overpowering the Buffalo flavors.
- Blue cheese: Creamy blue cheese pairs perfectly with spicy buffalo hot sauce. You can omit it or use your favorite cheese, though.
- Pepper: For taste.
How to Make Cucumber Appetizer Bites
- Prep cucumber and chicken: Trim the ends of long english cucumber. Cut into 0.5 inch thick slices. Shred cooked chicken.
How to slice cucumber: If you would like pretty cucumbers lines like mine for this horderves idea, before slicing peel skin with a vegetable peeler lengthwise every 45 degrees. Set aside.
- Make buffalo chicken mixture: In a medium bowl, add chicken, yogurt, hot sauce, blue cheese, onion, and pepper. Stir well.
- Assemble cucumber bites: Arrange the cucumber slices in a single layer on a serving platter. Using 2 forks, scoop amount of chicken mixture not wider than a cucumber slice but rather tall. Place on a cucumber slice. Repeat with remaining slices. Any leftovers – you are allowed to eat.
Topping Ideas
While I love these cucumber bites with the creamy buffalo chicken there are so many ways you could top them!
You could also jazz up this horderves idea even further by adding a cherry tomato and cracked black pepper on top of the creamy buffalo chicken cucumber bite!
Tips for Best Results
- Plain yogurt: It’s always worth checking labels to ensure you are not using sweetened yogurt!
- Add fresh herbs: Freshly minced parsley or cilantro on top is my preference, although dill is always in my fridge. It not only tastes great, it looks fancy.
- Serve immediately: You can make these ahead, but they really do taste the best while fresh!
- Extra buffalo dip: Stuff into cut up celery sticks, yum!
FAQs
Yes. You can totally do that. The best way is to refrigerate chicken mixture in an airtight container for up to 2 days and assemble before serving. You could cut the cucumber into slices up to 24 hours in advance, store covered in the refrigerator.
Learn how to bake chicken breast as store-bought are convenient but extremely high in sodium. Here is how you can cook chicken breast in Instant Pot. Anything works for this horderves idea. All that being said, you can use store-bought roasted chicken if you are OK with that. At the end of the day, sometimes will not kill us. And chances are if serving at a party most of your guests will not care anyways.
If you don’t like blue cheese, don’t use it. Add more onion. You could also use your favorite freshly grated cheese, cheddar or a gouda would taste amazing.
No. My kids devoured these cucumber appetizers. If you like more hot sauce go for it. Knock yourself out. You can also use any other brand name of hot sauce besides Frank’s Red Hot.
Yes. Add to taste until cream cheese mixture forms and is easy to grab with 2 forks.
No. Please do not use low fat and non fat dairy products because they lack flavor. Full fat dairy is good for you. It doesn’t make anyone fat. Your cucumber appetizer bites will not taste good. And who wants to be embarrassed in front of the crowd when they serve this cold appetizer recipe?
Serving Recommendations
I attended a New Year’s party where cucumber appetizer bites “flew off” the table. I was really surprised since cucumber is a vegetable nobody wants to eat when drinking beer. The morale of this story: if you invite your not-so-health-conscious family and friends over, chances are they will love your easy cucumber appetizers.
- Holiday parties: Serve with other horderves ideas like baked spinach artichoke dip and a holiday charcuterie board.
- Super bowl or any game day get together: Other crowd favorites include air fryer chicken wings, black bean nachos, or any one of these delicious healthy chili recipes.
- Summer appetizer: Cold appetizer idea for beach days, pool days or the park along with quinoa tabbouleh or tomato pasta salad.
How to Store Leftovers
Refrigerator: Refrigerate cucumber appetizers up to 24 hours. Cucumbers will leak and lose their crunch a bit but still will be delish.
Freeze: Do not freeze either assembled bites or chicken mixture.
More Healthy Appetizer Recipes to Try
Cucumber Appetizers
Ingredients
- 2 long English cucumbers
- 2 1/2 cups cooked chicken breast shredded
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt 2%+ fat
- 4 tbsp Frank’s red hot sauce
- 3 tbsp blue cheese crumbled
- 3 green onion sprigs finely chopped
- Ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Trim the ends of cucumbers and cut into 0.5 inch thick slices. If you would like pretty lines like mine, before slicing peel skin with a vegetable peeler lengthwise every 45 degrees. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine chicken, yogurt, hot sauce, blue cheese, onion and pepper; stir well.
- Arrange cucumber slices in a single layer on a serving platter. Using 2 forks, scoop amount of chicken mixture not wider than a cucumber slice and rather tall, place on a cucumber slice and repeat with remaining slices. Any leftovers – you are allowed to eat.
Make Ahead: Refrigerate chicken mixture in an airtight container for up to 2 days and assemble before serving.
Store: Refrigerate leftovers for up to 24 hours.
Freeze: Do not freeze.
Notes
- Cucumber: English cucumbers are perfect year round, but chubby garden cucumbers work great to load with the buffalo chicken mixture, too!
- Chicken breast: Learn how to bake chicken breast as store-bought are convenient but extremely high in sodium. Here is how you can cook chicken breast in Instant Pot.
- Blue cheese: Can omit, add more onion or your favorite freshly shredded cheese like cheddar or Tex-Mex.
- Hot sauce: Adjust more or less to taste or use your favorite brand of buffalo sauce.
- Yogurt: Do not use o% yogurt, your appetizers will lack flavor. Be sure to use unsweetened plain yogurt.
I doubled the blue cheese, making sure to leave some crumbles intact. Yum.
So glad you enjoyed it!
I made these with tuna fish instead of chicken and without the blue cheese crumbles. I used a grapefruit spoon to scoop an indent into the middle of the cucumber then spooned the filling into the indent. Added an olive on top for decoration. They were a healthy addition to a party appetizer platter.
Thank you for sharing! Sounds delicious!
Wow! Looks so Yummy and Delicious! Can’t wait to try in my home. Thanks for sharing the video.
This recipe was so easy! I used canned chicken. I know not that healthy but better than chicken wings.
These look delicious and pretty! My favorite part, any leftovers— you are allowed to eat!! 🙂
Haha, you are because there will be leftovers 100%. Hard to be precise with 40 cucumber slices.