KylAre you missing people and entertaining? As we work toward the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, people are yearning to have gatherings and serve up some delicious food.
Thankfully, we can take special measures to ensure the safety of our loved ones by having outdoor, socially distanced gatherings!
The key to making sure these events are safe and abide by COVID-19 guidelines is serving delicious foods that can easily be held. This eliminates the need to have groups of people sit around a table in close proximity.
With these amazing handheld meat recipes, you can enjoy the company of your loved ones while enjoying good food!
1. Mini Meat Pies
Mini meat pies have a delicious flaky pie crust and are simple to make! These handheld treats can be made in large batches and frozen ahead of time.
For the crust, use premade crust pastry or make your own. Add in fine ground meat such as beef, pork, chicken, or even minced lamb!
Use herbs and seasonings that complement the meat you choose, such as rosemary for lamb, sage for pork, basil for chicken, and cayenne for beef.
2. Sloppy Joe Sticks
Sloppy Joes are a notoriously messy meal to eat - but they can be prepared as a delicious handheld meat dish!
Using pre-made pizza dough, wrap your Sloppy Joe mixture along with diced onion, roll them up, and bake them until golden brown.
For the Sloppy Joe mix, you can opt for ground beef or mix it with ground pork for a more diverse taste and texture.
3. Beef Taco Tarts
Using ground beef, or any ground meat of your choosing, you can easily whip up these tiny yet mighty taco tarts!
Using frozen mini phyllo shells to hold the taco-flavoured meat and top with shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, sliced cherry tomatoes, guacamole, and sour cream.
4. Beef-Stuffed Pinwheels
Using fully-cooked boneless beef pot roast prepared in gravy, mix with shredded asiago cheese and green onion. Roll your creation in thawed puff pastry and bake.
Once done, slice the roll into pinwheels and serve to your guests!
5. Meatball Kabobs
Mix ground beef, or (again) any ground meat that you prefer, with dry breadcrumbs, parsley, garlic, and cumin to create your meatballs. Once cooked, slide them onto a skewer and serve with naan bread and Tzatziki sauce.
You can also add grape tomatoes, sliced cucumber, and chunks of red onion to the skewer for a delicious Mediterranean-inspired creation!
6. Meat-Stuffed Bell Peppers
This delicious combination of meat and veg is sure to be a hit at your socially distanced gathering!
Using cooked ground meat mix with chopped spinach, cooked couscous, garlic, and oregano, stuff baby sweet bell peppers that have been cut in half. Top the peppers and fill with shredded cheese and bake in the oven.
7. Pulled Pork Empanadas
Inspired by the Latin dish, this version of the empanada uses pulled pork mixed with sliced pimento olives, bell pepper, and onion and flavoured with cumin and barbecue sauce.
Fold the mixture into pie crust dough and bake. This handheld meat recipe is savoury and satisfying!
8. Shrimp and Grits
While we say “handheld meats”, we can’t leave out delicious seafood! Using a muffin tin, you can easily create pre-portioned and easy-to-hold shrimp and grits bites.
Create the base of the shrimp and grits using polenta and top the shrimp with sharp cheddar cheese, bacon, diced tomatoes, and scallions. Drizzle with a mixture of cider vinegar, sugar, lime juice, and red pepper flakes.
9. Shrimp Toast
To make this delicious shrimp toast, start with a sweet chili sauce made with rice vinegar, sugar, and hot sauce mixed with cornstarch. Prepare the shrimp paste along with ginger, garlic, and water chestnuts.
Serve your creation on sourdough bread cut into 1-inch triangles.
10. Smoked Salmon Rolls
You can also whip up some smoked salmon rolls for your socially distanced gathering.
Take some thinly sliced cold-smoked salmon and mix with softened cream cheese. Add some lemon juice, chives, finely chopped white onion, and paprika.
Serve on flatbread or crackers.
11. Grilled Oysters
Before we get back to the meat, let’s look at this delicious grilled oyster recipe served with garlic butter:
Grill the oysters with grated parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, garlic, and parsley. You can buy pre-made garlic butter to drizzle on top or make your own using butter, lemon, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic.
Serve the oysters with toasted Italian bread.
12. Chicken and Waffle Cones
If you’re looking for a super simple handheld meat for your gathering, this is it! Take some waffle cones, add some fried chicken drizzled with hot sauce, et voila!
However, making your own fried chicken is super simple too. Dip the chicken in egg (beaten) and then in a bowl with salt, pepper, garlic, and paprika. Lastly, dip in some flour so it is well-coated before placing it in a deep fryer.
13. Chili in a Jar
This mess-free chilli recipe uses mason jars to make it easier for your guests to hold and enjoy!
Prepare your favourite chilli recipe and portion it into the jars. Top each jar with sour cream, shredded cheese, green onion, and half of a cornbread muffin
14. Cup of Ribs
Barbecue ribs are a classic, and finger-licking-good, food to serve while entertaining!
To make this recipe easy to hold and eat, simply serve the meat in a small cup along with barbecue sauce for easy dipping. Complete the experience by adding in some coleslaw or baked beans.
Safe and Savoury
While we all yearn to go back to “normal” and enjoy things that were once part of our everyday lives, we still have to be careful.
However, being careful doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the spirit of a good food-focused gathering!
With the right ingredients, such as fresh, high-quality meats, you can create these delicious handheld meat recipes for your socially distanced gatherings.
At D’Arcy’s Meat Market, we have a wide selection of meats from beef to chicken and from lamb to pork. Come visit us at our Edmonton or St. Albert location to see what we have in store or get in touch if you have a special request.