14 Easy Dinner Party Starters You Can Make in Under 20 Minutes
Hosting a dinner party doesn't mean you need to spend your afternoon in the kitchen before guests even arrive. The trick to a stress-free starter course is picking dishes that lean on a handful of excellent ingredients rather than complicated technique — think good fish, good cheese, and good tomatoes, dressed simply and plated with a little care.
We went through Fine Food Specialist's Drogo's Kitchen recipe archive and pulled out every starter with a genuine prep-and-cook time of 20 minutes or less. Some are cold starters you can build in five minutes flat; others are make ahead starters you can prep hours before your guests sit down; a few need only a minute or two on the heat. All of them free up your oven and your attention for the main course.
Cold and no-cook starters
These are the easiest of the bunch — nothing goes near a hob, so they're ideal cold starters for a dinner party where you want everything ready to plate the moment guests arrive.
1. Hiramasa Sashimi with Shiso & Salmon Caviar
Ready in: 10 minutes
Thin slices of Hiramasa are laid over a bed of green shiso leaves and finished with salmon caviar, micro herbs, cornflowers and a dash of citrus ponzu. There's no cooking involved at all — just clean, sharp knife work and thoughtful plating. Serve with soy sauce and freshly grated wasabi on the side.
2. Salmon Sashimi with Sesame & Ginger Dressing
Ready in: 5 minutes
One of the quickest starters on this list. Whisk together spring onion, ginger, soy, rice vinegar, sesame oil and sesame seeds, then spoon the dressing over thinly sliced sashimi-grade salmon. Use the freshest fish you can find, since it's served entirely raw.
3. Merinda Tomato Salad with Nasturtium Flowers & Strawberry Vinegar Dressing
Ready in: 5 minutes
Merinda tomatoes have a firm, almost crunchy texture that holds up beautifully in a salad. Slice them, scatter with basil and nasturtium flowers, and dress with a simple strawberry (or quince) vinegar and olive oil emulsion. A ball of buffalo mozzarella on the side rounds it out.
4. Mixed Tomato Salad with Burrata
Ready in: 15 minutes
A summery, simple starter recipe built on ripe Inca and datterini tomatoes, torn burrata, basil and a balsamic glaze. There's an optional sharper mustard-and-honey dressing if you want more punch, but the base version needs nothing more than good tomatoes and a drizzle of olive oil.
5. Oysters with Salmon Caviar & Crème Fraîche
Ready in: 20 minutes
Freshly shucked oysters topped with diced cucumber, a spoonful of crème fraîche, a dash of white balsamic vinegar and a generous scoop of salmon caviar. It looks like serious effort but is really just careful assembly — a great pick for a festive or celebratory dinner.
Ready in: 10 minutes
The ultimate make ahead starter — nothing here needs to be freshly cooked. Drogo's Kitchen recommends a 3-3-3 rule: three cheeses, three cured meats and three garnishes. Arrange the biggest items first, then fill the gaps with crackers, jelly, grapes and edible flowers.
7. Salmon Caviar with Cream Cheese and Blinis
Ready in: about 10 minutes
A classic, foolproof canapé-style starter. Top mini blinis with a little cream cheese and a spoonful of salmon caviar, then finish with chopped chives. It scales up effortlessly for a bigger table.
8. Smoked Salmon and Caviar Blinis
Ready in: about 10 minutes
Warm the blinis briefly in a pan, then top half with smoked salmon and crème fraîche and the other half with caviar, cracked black pepper and a single chive. Serving two toppings on one platter gives guests a bit of variety without any extra cooking.
Quick-cook starters
These need a few minutes of heat — a hot pan, a blowtorch, or a quick toast — but nothing that ties you to the kitchen.
9. Merinda Tomato Bruschetta with Micro Basil
Ready in: 10 minutes
Diced tomatoes are tossed with garlic and olive oil while sliced baguette toasts until golden under the grill. Spoon the tomato mixture onto the toasted bread and finish with grated Parmesan and micro basil.
10. Torched Langoustine Tails with Harissa Butter
Ready in: 11 minutes
Wild langoustine tails barely need cooking at all. Melt butter with harissa paste and lemon zest, pour it over the langoustines, then blowtorch for around a minute until they curl and char slightly. If you don't have a blowtorch, a very hot grill works too.
11. Ice Lettuce, Tiger Prawn & Mango Salad with Chilli
Ready in: 10 minutes
Tiger prawns are cooked briefly in boiling water, then combined with ice lettuce, diced mango and a chilli-lemon-honey dressing. The ice lettuce's crisp, dewy leaves make an unusual and refreshing base for the sweetness of the prawns and mango.
Ready in: about 10 minutes
Just-cooked asparagus spears get draped in a creamy green herb sauce built on soft herbs and a crème fraîche or yoghurt base. It works equally well as a starter or a side, and the sauce itself keeps for a couple of days if you want to prep it in advance.
13. Burrata Maldera with Pistachio Dukkah
Ready in: about 10 minutes
Toast cumin, coriander and sesame seeds briefly, then crush them with pistachios, chilli flakes and flaky salt to make an Egyptian-style dukkah. Scatter it generously over a whole burrata and serve with warm flatbread or toasted sourdough for scooping.
Make-ahead starter
14. Passion Fruit Scallop Ceviche
Active time: 10 minutes
This one rewards a little advance planning. Mix quartered scallops with passion fruit pulp, coconut milk, olive oil and chives, then let the citrus from the passion fruit "cook" the scallops. Drogo's Kitchen suggests marinating for an hour for the best texture, but notes 15 minutes will do in a pinch — so it's flexible whether you're prepping the night before or twenty minutes before guests arrive.
A few tips for pulling it all together
- Do the cold ones first. Anything raw or assembled (sashimi, tomato salads, blinis, the charcuterie board) can be plated and covered in the fridge an hour or more ahead, so you're only handling hot items — the langoustine, the bruschetta toast, the asparagus — once guests are actually at the table.
- Buy the best raw ingredients you can. With starters this simple, there's nowhere for a mediocre tomato or an average piece of fish to hide. Quality does most of the work.
- Keep dressings and toppings separate until the last minute for anything involving lettuce, bread or pastry, so nothing goes soggy while you're finishing the main course.
With a mix of cold, quick-cook and make-ahead options like these, it's entirely possible to put together a starter course that looks like it took hours — without ever losing your oven, or your evening, to it.
