36 Best Thai Appetizers

You know, whenever I watch the presence of Thai appetizers, my mouth starts watering due to their stunning look and perfect ingredient combination. Personally, most Thai appetizers have their own uniqueness in terms of flavor and ingredients.

The typical combination of sweetness, spiciness, salty, and sour in appetizer recipes makes Thai food more appealing. How about you? Do you have any special love for Thai authentic cuisine, especially Thai appetizers?

I guess the answer is yes because you are ready to listen to what I am going to share in this post. What is more wonderful than preparing Thai appetizers in your kitchen? Now, let’s scroll down to discover what beautiful Thai appetizers I would like to offer you!

List Of 36 Delightful Thai Appetizers You Will Love

Here are different kinds of Thai appetizers you should try making at home.

 Salads

1. Thai Cucumber Salad With Peanuts
2. Thai Green Mango Salad
3. Crispy Fried Eggs Salad
4. Grilled Eggplant Salad
5. Chopped Thai Salad With Sesame Garlic Dressing

 Appetizers With Fruit

1. Thai Fried Bananas
2. Dragon Fruit Cocktail With Vodka
3. Mango Martinis
4. Thai Fruit Skewers With Coconut And Lime
5. Easy Mango-coconut Dip

 Seafood

1. Coconut Baked Shrimp With Lemongrass Guacamole
2. Pan-Seared Scallops With Thai Sauce
3. Mini Thai Shrimp Lettuce Wraps
4. Thai Fried Calamari With Sweet Chili
5. Thai Fried Spring Rolls With Shrimp
6. Baked Thai Chili-Garlic Shrimp
7. Classic Thai Fish Cakes
8. Thai Crab Cakes

 Chicken

1. Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps
2. Crunchy Rainbow Thai Peanut Chicken Wraps
3. Sesame Thai Chicken Dip
4. Chicken Satay With Peanut Dipping Sauce
5. Thai Deep-fried Chicken In Pandan Leaves
6. Sticky Thai Chicken Wings
7. Thai Drunken Noodles

Pork

1. Supreme Thai Ribs
2. Thai Pork Satay
3. Thai Pork Lettuce Wraps
4. Royal Flower Dumplings
5. Spicy Garlic Lime Pork
6. Thai Pork Toast
7. Crispy Thai Laab Meatballs
8. Galloping Horses

Veggies

1. Thai Corn Fritters
2. Fresh Spring Rolls With Peanut Sauce
3. Vegan Thai-Style Spring Rolls

You can find a variety of Thai appetizers ranging from salads to veggie recipes.

Salads

Salad is always the top choice to start any meals, so you can try the following flavorful Thai salads.

1. Thai Cucumber Salad With Peanuts

This is a light and fresh salad cooking idea to munch with chicken wings, seafood, or any delicious items, with cucumbers as the main ingredient. In addition, red onion, cilantro, minced jalapeño, and peanuts are also used in the recipe to make it more flavorful.

The slices of juicy cucumbers will be tossed in tangy, salty, and sweet dressing that contains oil, fish sauce, sugar, lime juice, and garlic. When taking the first bite of the salad, you will want to grab some more!

2. Thai Green Mango Salad

Just follow some simple steps, and then you can make a super flavorful Thai dish. In this recipe, shredded green mangoes will be stirred well with bean sprouts, spring onions, unsweetened coconut, cilantro, and basil.

This mixture will be dressed with lime juice that creates a bright flavor for the salad. This appetizer is suitable for BBQ parties when you need something tangy and crunchy to complement the smoky meat.

3. Crispy Fried Eggs Salad

This Thai salad is made in a way different from other kinds of salad. In this recipe, fried eggs are dressed with shallot, Thai chilies, garlic, lemongrass, cilantro sprigs, and scallion.

Then, it is coated with an aromatic mixture of lime juice, palm sugar, and fish sauce. Finally, sprinkle some herbs on the salad top to make the salad more eye-catching and flavorful. How amazing it is!

4. Grilled Eggplant Salad

I am impressed with Thai cuisine because of its uniqueness. There are some ingredients that seem impossible to be combined together in a dish. However, nothing is impossible in this salad recipe.

The grilled eggplants mix perfectly with lime dressing. Some dried shrimps and gooey egg yolk on the top make everything more attractive, which will make you mouth-watering at first glance.

5. Chopped Thai Salad With Sesame Garlic Dressing

Chopped salads always blow my mind with their evenly mixed ingredients in beautiful dressings.

Chopped Thai salad contains slices or small pieces of green vegetables such as baby kale, bell peppers, carrots, green onions, and herbs that are tossed in a sweet, sour, and oily dressing.

Just stir it up several times, and you will have a super yummy salad.

Appetizers With Fruit

There are some fruity Thai appetizers you should not miss.

1. Thai Fried Bananas

This recipe is simple but perfect for light meals or appetizers during the day. The Plantains or Namwa bananas will be soaked in a batter made of rice flour, shredded coconut, sugar, toasted sesame seeds, and salt.

After that, the batted-coated bananas will be fried until they turn deep brown. Then, just take them off the heat, drain their oil content and wait for them to cool down. It’s time to enjoy the crispy fried bananas.

2. Dragon Fruit Cocktail With Vodka

Have you ever tasted dragon fruit? Does its sour-sweet and fresh flavor make you go crazy? This recipe full of dragon fruit’s flavor is perfect for summer when you crave some fruity drinks.

Now, just add the fresh tropical fruit to the cocktail recipe with lime juice, honey, blood orange pulp, and orange liquor, and you will have your new favorite Thai beverage.

3. Mango Martinis

Now, let’s transform fresh mangoes into a yummy treat. This will be a super fruity appetizer with the perfect combination of mango flavor and your favorite vodka.

The cocktail will be a great treat for parties when you want to bring some refreshing flavor to the meals, and all of your guests will be sure to love it!

4. Thai Fruit Skewers With Coconut And Lime

Dear fruit lovers, it’s time for you to enjoy your favorite in a new and interesting way. Normally, you peel the fruits, cut them into smaller pieces, and can put them in the fridge for chilling or eat them immediately.

However, in this Thai fruit recipe, you will push the skewers through the fruit pieces or just simply place the fruits onto a plate and then coat them with a tasteful mixture of coconut milk and lime zest. This helps enhance the fruity flavor a lot.

5. Easy Mango-Coconut Dip

Do you want to make a typical and unique sauce of Thai cuisine? If yes, this recipe is for you. The dip is made of ripe mango in combination with coconut milk and lime juice.

This is a flavorful sauce or a dip to serve with various dishes such as spring rolls, coconut shrimp, grilled chicken, pork, and others. I guess tasting this sauce will get you so amazed!

Seafood

Warmly welcome big fans of seafood; I have so many Thai seafood recipes, especially shrimp, waiting for you to discover. Now, let’s see!

1. Coconut Baked Shrimp With Lemongrass Guacamole 

The coconut-baked shrimp with lemongrass guacamole is the perfect combination of ingredients like avocados, lemongrass, strawberries, and coconut that are assumed to be difficult to mix well with each other.

Actually, they truly complement each other in the recipe. The baked shrimp with juicy texture inside and crispiness from the outside will be served with lemongrass guacamole, a mixture of mashed avocados, lime juice, basil, lemongrass, and salt.

2. Pan-Seared Scallops With Thai Sauce

I would say that this scallop recipe is easy to make but super delicious. Just try to make it a tasty appetizer for the whole family to enjoy and give feedback.

I guess all of them will fall in love with the combination of pan-seared scallops and flavorful Thai sauce.

3. Mini Thai Shrimp Lettuce Wraps

The beautiful dish is a combination of shrimp and lettuce leaves, so it will be a perfect meal for those who want to enjoy their savory shrimp while getting some fiber intake.

The bite-size of each shrimp lettuce wrap will bring you the full flavor for each grab. If you want a tasteful and spicy starter for your meals, this shrimp recipe is one of the best you should try.

4. Thai Fried Calamari With Sweet Chili

There is no doubt that there are so many calamari recipes all over the world, but I guess the Thai version of calamari will melt your heart. It is a simple and quick appetizer that can be served conveniently whenever you want.

All you need to do is deep frying a ring-shaped squid coated with a spiced flour mixture. After that, just serve the hot rings with Thai sweet chili dipping sauce and some fresh vegetables.

5. Thai Fried Spring Rolls With Shrimp

Nowadays, this shrimp recipe is a popular appetizer that has different recipes from countries. However, Thai food always comes with its uniqueness that brings us new and surprising flavor.

Despite its simplicity, the Thai fried spring rolls with shrimp are super addictive with their crispy egg roll wrapper that covers the marinated shrimp.

Dipping the roll in a pad Thai sauce and putting it in your mouth will immediately bring you to heaven!

6. Baked Thai Chili-Garlic Shrimp

In this recipe, the shell-removed shrimp is marinated with a flavorful mixture of coconut oil, brown sugar, shrimp paste, chili, herbs, and seasonings.

After a chilling time, the shrimp will be broiled. It can be served with rice as a wholesome appetizer for every home meal or party.

7. Classic Thai Fish Cakes

The classic Thai fish cakes are a yummy appetizer commonly served in Thai restaurants. To make the dish, the fresh fish paste will be mixed with red curry, ground long beans, and kaffir lime leaves.

Then, the paste will be deep-fried until it turns a golden brown color. The authentic fish flavor is the key point in the recipe, which will make you addicted to it on your first try!

8. Thai Crab Cakes

Just like the round shape of classic Thai fish cakes, the crab version is super moist on the inside and crispy from the outside.

To make the cakes, crabmeat will be ground with other ingredients, including lime zest, onions, chili, lime juice, egg, mayonnaise, seasonings, and herbs.

After that, the crab paste will be mixed well with panko crumbs to create the cakes’ crispiness before it is fried in the skillet until turning golden brown. As usual, serve the fried dish with Thai sweet chili sauce for a flavorful appetizer.

Chicken

It is the turn of chicken lovers to transform their favorite into delicious Thai starters.

1. Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Some bite-sized chicken lettuce wraps with a refreshing flavor will surely make your family members satisfied. The dish is great for both appetizers and main dishes.

The lettuce wraps are filled with vegetables, chicken, and Thai chili sauce. To make this recipe, the chicken, veggies are chopped well before being sauteed with seasonings.

2. Crunchy Rainbow Thai Peanut Chicken Wraps

The breathtaking Thai peanut chicken rolls are very suitable to be an appetizer in buffet parties. Each roll is packed full of juicy chicken, spicy peanut sauce, and fresh vegetables will surely be loved.

The sweet peanut sauce will mix greatly with spicy chili and tangy lime, which is believed to be the most desired flavor for a stunning starter.

3. Sesame Thai Chicken Dip

Thai sesame chicken dip is a fresh and flavorful appetizer. To make this, the chicken will be coated with creamy, sweet, and sour dressing of soy sauce, garlic, and sesame oil.

When combined with the base of cream cheese and some veggies like green onions and spinach on the top, the chicken dish is much more savory.

4. Chicken Satay With Peanut Dipping Sauce

The chicken satay is grilled chicken dressed with peanut dipping. To make the dish, the chicken is brushed with Asian marinade sauce before the grilling.

The savory and tender chicken meat that is served on sticks mixes well with rich peanut sauce. This will be a perfect appetizer for every party.

5. Thai Deep-Fried Chicken In Pandan Leaves

When the seasoned chicken is covered in pandan leaves and then deep-fried, the pleasant smell of the leaves will make the chicken more savory.

In addition, the leaves also keep the chicken from drying out. As a result, we will have juicy and flavorful Thai deep-fried chicken.

6. Sticky Thai Chicken Wings

Chicken wings recipes can come with a variety of versions that meet the favorite flavor of people from different countries. Now, it is the turn of Thai chicken wings that are packed with authentic Thai flavors.

The chicken wings are chilled in a sweet and salty marinade spiced up with aromatic spice. After that, the seasoned chicken will be baked to look caramelized. Now, it’s time to serve the savory wings!

7. Thai Drunken Noodles

Thai drunken noodles is a stir fry noodle recipe with chicken, vegetables, and a tasteful sauce mixture. When making the dish, you can adjust the spicy level as you prefer.

In addition, if you do not have on hand the necessary ingredients to make the noodle dish, you can flexibly substitute them with what you have in your kitchens, such as shrimp or pork instead of chicken and available vegetables. Have a nice meal!

Pork

Pork will never taste bland when it is used in the following appetizer recipes.

1. Supreme Thai Ribs

The delicious rib recipes always melt my heart at first glance. The supreme Thai ribs are unexceptional. The brown-red color of the sweet-spicy sauce covering savory baked ribs appeals to me a lot.

Now, just gather all the necessary ingredients and prepare the dish for your whole family to enjoy for dinner or lunch. And you will never go wrong with this!

2. Thai Pork Satay

There are tons of recipes to make grilled pork, but Thai pork satay will surely rock your world with its authentic smoky char flavor.

The marinated pork will be skewered with wooden sticks and then grilled over medium heat until the meat texture turns tender.

Let’s enjoy the grilled pork with peanut dipping as the way local people serve the dish.

3. Thai Pork Lettuce Wraps

Holding a fresh and flavorful lettuce wrap, spooning some pork sauteed on it, and then topping some spicy-sweet sauce will blow your mind a lot.

Instead of grabbing prepared lecture wraps, you will serve them by yourself during the meal.

By doing this, you can adjust the amount of pork and sauce you put in each wrap to meet your own taste. What an amazing meal!

4. Royal Flower Dumplings

Royal flower dumpling is a Thai savory snack, and it is famous in many Thai restaurants as an appealing starter. It contains a flower-shaped dough that is filled with sweet-salty pork and peanut.

However, if you want vegetarian dumplings, you just substitute the pork with veggie ingredients. The deliciousness and nice decoration of the dumpling recipe will be perfect to be presented at every party.

5. Spicy Garlic Lime Pork

When all of the flavors, including sour, spicy, sweet, and salty, are matched in the same dish, this is definitely a great food you should try.

In this pork recipe, the slices of tender and moist pork are tossed in spicy and garlicky dressing, and then it is served with refreshing vegetables and extra mint leaves.

The flavor mixing of herbs, pork, and vegetables will bring you a wonderful food taste.

6. Thai Pork Toast

Thai pork toast is one of the addictive finger foods of Thai cuisine you should try. The mini-size pieces of Thai pork toast seem to take some time and complicated steps to make, but it is actually a simple recipe.

It is a square piece of toasted bread packed with seasoned ground pork, and then it is served with sweet and sour cucumber relish. That’s all but its flavor will be stored in your mind for a long time!

7. Crispy Thai Laab Meatballs

Serving some spiced and savory meatballs with grilled meat in BBQ backyard parties will be the best-ever idea you can try.

The fried meatballs are made of rice powder, pork, shallots, lime juice, chili flakes, herbs, and seasoning.

When served with some cucumber, lettuce, and mint, the meatballs’ taste will be much more flavorful.

8. Galloping Horses

What an amazing recipe name, right! Now, let’s see what it is! It is simply a bite-size starter that is made of tropical fruits such as rambutan, pineapple, and orange, topped with super delightful stir-fry pork or some chili if you like spiciness. Let’s enjoy it!

Veggies

If you want to add some vegetable appetizer recipes to your favorite list, the below options will be worthy.

1. Thai Corn Fritters

Thai corn fritter comes with an extremely light and fresh flavor of corn, making it a steak lover’s top-tier side for enjoying a hearty meal. For the tastiest dish, you should choose fresh corn rather than a frozen one.

To make corn fritters, the fresh corn kernels will be tossed in the flour mixture before they are being fried in the skillet.

The corn fritters can be served with different toppings and dipping, including coconut milk, ginger paste, chili sauce, or curry paste.

2. Fresh Spring Rolls With Peanut Sauce

If you love a refreshing appetizer full of fresh vegetables, the spring roll recipe is definitely for you.

There is a variety of veggie choices you can put in your spring rolls, such as butter lettuce, carrot, cucumber, green onion, and others that you think are suitable for spring roll making.

All the fresh ingredients will be chopped or sliced into smaller pieces before being rolled in rice paper.

Now, the rolls are ready to serve with flavorful peanut sauce made of peanut butter, soy sauce, maple syrup, fresh garlic, rice vinegar, and toasted sesame oil.

3. Vegan Thai-Style Spring Rolls

The recipe name points out that the rolls are filled with tons of vegetables, which is the key factor creating the unique flavor of the dish. It is a quick and simple recipe that does not require any cooking.

The roll filling contains noodles, chopped cabbage, bean sprouts, and green onions. All of the green ingredients will be rolled tightly in rice paper. Finally, serving the dish with sour-sweet soy sauce will enhance its flavor a lot.

Enjoy Thai Appetizers In Your Own Way!

The recipes of appetizers I shared with you mostly originated from Thailand, and maybe there are some ingredients you can not find in your country or not meeting your taste.

Hence, just be creative and flexible to customize the ingredients to achieve your favorite food taste. For example, spiciness is the key point of most Thai appetizers, but it does not mean that you have to make the dishes with the same spicy level.

Instead, you can reduce the amount of chili you put in the appetizers so that you can have more enjoyment when eating Thai food.

How about you? Have you ever made Thai appetizers at home? Are the results perfect as you desire? I highly appreciate all of your contributions, so please feel free to share your experiences with me in the comment section below.

Last but not least, you can like or share this post if you think it is helpful to you and everyone!