Need the perfect appetizer for any occasion? This Steak Appetizer is pretty next level! All you need is some good steak, bacon, caramelized onions, and a tangy blue cheese sauce served on a sweet potato round. It's bursting with flavor and the ultimate party snack!
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Need inspiration for more holiday appetizers? This delicious appetizer was inspired by a steak crostini, but made gluten free and with more whole foods!
Serve it at your next party, these tasty morsels will delight the palate, and they're suitable for even more of your guests by reducing common allergens! This is a great recipe to make time and time again.
Looking for more delicious steak recipes? Be sure to check out this garlic butter steak bites recipe with lemon zucchini noodles, this steak and seafood skillet with parmesan cream sauce, or these sirloin steak caprese skewers with walnut pesto.
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❤️Why you'll love this
- Naturally low carb & gluten free - Make something that is inherently delicious, but also made with whole foods! No refined sugar is used, and everything is naturally gluten free, and lower in carbs.
- Made with simple ingredients - Made with common ingredients, you can find everything you need at the grocery store, or in your pantry or fridge.
- Elegant and refined - Although the ingredients are super familiar, a few cooking techniques, the perfect combination of flavors, and presentation methods make them elevated! Wow your guests, it's easier than you think!
- Make-ahead - You can make the creamy blue cheese dip, the roasted sweet potato rounds, the caramelized onions, and bacon bits ahead of time, so these steak bites come together easily on the day of. The only thing we recommend making fresh at the time of serving is the steak, but everything else can be stored and reheated (if necessary) before it's time to assemble.
🥩Ingredients
Here are the ingredients used for this recipe.
✏️Ingredient notes
- Olive oil & butter - Olive oil is used to sear the steak at a higher heat, and butter is used to caramelize the onions.
- Yellow onions - Cut into thin slices.
- Balsamic vinegar - Optional, but adds a lovely flavor to the onions when they are caramelizing.
- Kosher salt & black pepper
- Sweet potatoes - Choose larger potatoes to cut them into good sized rounds.
- Steak - Use something you really enjoy eating. We usually opt for ribeye or New York strip.
- Bacon
- Blue cheese crumbles - One of the main flavor components that pairs perfectly with everything else in the recipe.
- Cream cheese & sour cream - For the blue cheese sauce.
- Garlic - To add flavor to our
- Lemon - For a little bit of bright acidity and sweetness.
- Chives - For brightness, and packs a pungent onion flavor.
- Honey - The sweetness balances and complements the acidic, savory, and sharp flavors in this bite and ties everything together perfectly.
- Garnish with - more honey, freshly cracked black pepper, flakey sea salt, and chives.
See recipe card for quantities and nutrition information.
🔪Prep work
- Allow the steak to sit out at room temperature for about 30 minutes before searing to ensure a more even cook, then dry it off with paper towels before seasoning and searing it for best results.
- Let Greek yogurt, blue cheese crumbles, and cream cheese sit out for about 30 minutes - 1 hour before preparing the blue cheese sauce. This will help the sauce blend together easily.
- Cut sweet potatoes into roughly 48 rounds that are about a ¼ inch thick, thinly slice onions, cut bacon into bite-size pieces, mince garlic cloves, and prepare the chives.
📖Step-by-step instructions
Heat the oven to 400°F and prepare a large sheet pan with parchment.
🧅Caramelize the onions
Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, add butter and onions with a pinch of salt. Cook for 30 - 40 minutes, until the onions are nice and browned, moving every 5 minutes or so to ensure even cooking.
In the last 15 minutes or so of cooking, add balsamic vinegar to the onions. Once onions are nice and caramelized, remove them from the skillet and set them aside.
🍠Bake the sweet potato rounds
While onions are caramelizing on the stovetop, toss sweet potato rounds in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Add to a prepared baking sheet, and cook for 20-25 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are softened and lightly brown, flipping halfway through.
🧄Make the blue cheese sauce
Next, to make the creamy blue cheese sauce, combine lemon juice and zest, cream cheese, sour cream, 1 tablespoon of honey, most of the blue cheese crumbles, and most of the chives with a little salt and pepper. Food process until smooth, and add salt and pepper to taste.
*Make sure to reserve some blue cheese crumbles and chives for garnishing later. Cover and refrigerate sauce until time to use.
🥓Cook the bacon
Back in your skillet, wipe it clean after caramelizing the onions.
Heat the skillet over medium heat, cook bacon pieces until fat is rendered and pieces are cooked through, 7-10 minutes. Remove from the skillet and set aside on a paper towel-lined plate. Clean the skillet again.
🥩Cook the steak
Season the steaks with salt and pepper, and add steaks back to a hot skillet with olive oil. Sear for 3-5 minutes per side depending on the thickness of the steak and your preferred temperature is reached. Allow steaks to rest for 10 minutes before slicing in.
If you want to save a little time, feel free to use this air fryer ribeye steak guide to take some of the components off the stove!
Hint: Use a meat thermometer to track the internal temperature, and remove the steak from the skillet 5°F below the desired internal temperature. It will reach the desired temperature when resting. For example, we prefer our steak medium-rare (about 130°F), so we take the steaks off when they are about 125°F internally.
🥄Assemble the bites
Now, it's time to assemble! Add a nice smear of the blue cheese sauce to each sweet potato, followed by the caramelized onions.
Next, steak, blue cheese crumbles, then bacon.
Layer on a drizzle of honey to taste, chives, freshly cracked pepper, and salt. Enjoy!
✨Substitutions
Here are a few simple swaps you can make with some of the ingredients.
- Feel free to swap the greek yogurt for sour cream!
- You can use green onion as the perfect swap for chives.
- Red onion can also be used in place of yellow onion.
- No garlic? Use about ½ a teaspoon of garlic powder to substitute for fresh. A good general rule of thumb is ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder for every 1 garlic clove.
💭Frequently asked questions
Our top choices are ribeye steak, New York strip, sirloin steak, or even some gorgeous filet mignon. You can truly use your favorite cut. We don't see any reason why you couldn't use flat iron steaks or flank steak as well.
💫Top tip
Serving a crowd? We recommend preparing all of the components except for the steak ahead of time to make it come together smoothly on the day of! Cook steak fresh for best results.
🥣Storage
Store the components separately in airtight containers in the fridge, and eat within 5 days of preparing.
These ingredients don't stand up well to freezing.
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📖 Recipe
Steak Appetizer with Bacon Sweet Potato and Blue Cheese
Ingredients
- 3.5 teaspoons kosher salt, divided (or to taste)
- 2 teaspoons black pepper, divided (or to taste)
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2 large sweet potatoes, cut into ¼ inch rounds, skin on
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 10 ounces blue cheese crumbles, divided
- 5 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 4 ounces Greek yogurt
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon honey (or to taste)
- 1 whole lemon juice and zest
- 2 tablespoons fresh chives
- 6 slices bacon, cut into small pieces
- 2 pounds New York strip steak (any cut of steak you prefer)
- Garnish with: chives, honey, blue cheese crumbles, salt, and pepper
- Serve with: remaining blue cheese sauce on the side
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 400°F and prepare a large sheet pan with parchment. Set aside.
Caramelize onions:
- Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, add butter and onions with a pinch of salt. Cook for 30 - 40 minutes, until the onions are nice and browned, moving every 5 minutes or so to ensure even cooking.In the last 15 minutes or so of cooking, add balsamic vinegar to the onions. Once onions are nice and caramelized, remove them from the skillet and set them aside.
Bake the sweet potato rounds:
- While onions are caramelizing on the stovetop, toss sweet potato rounds in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Add to a prepared baking sheet, and cook for 20-25 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are softened and lightly brown, flipping halfway through.
Make blue cheese sauce:
- Combine lemon juice and zest, cream cheese, sour cream, 1 tablespoon of honey, most of the blue cheese crumbles, and most of the chives with a little salt and pepper. Food process until smooth, and add salt and pepper to taste.*Make sure to reserve some blue cheese crumbles and chives for garnishing later. Cover and refrigerate sauce until time to use.
Prepare the bacon:
- Back in your skillet, wipe it clean after caramelizing the onions.Heat the skillet over medium heat, cook bacon pieces until fat is rendered and pieces are cooked through, 7-10 minutes. Remove from the skillet and set aside on a paper towel-lined plate. Clean the skillet again.
Cook the steak:
- Season the steaks with salt and pepper, and add steaks back to a hot skillet with olive oil. Sear for 3-5 minutes per side depending on the thickness of the steak and your preferred temperature is reached. Allow steaks to rest for 10 minutes before slicing in.
Assemble:
- Add a nice smear of the blue cheese sauce to each sweet potato, followed by the caramelized onions, steak, blue cheese crumbles, then bacon. Layer on a drizzle of honey to taste, chives, freshly cracked pepper, and salt. Enjoy!
- Store components separately in an airtight container for up to 5 days in the fridge.
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Notes
- You will want to cut the sweet potato rounds thick enough to hold well, about ¼ inch thick. You will need large sweet potatoes.
- This recipe makes about 48 pieces, and 2 pieces are a serving, making enough for 24 people.
- You can use any cut of steak you prefer, but since we made this recipe with New York strip, the macros will reflect this.
- Prepare all ingredients except for the steak ahead of time to save time when time to serve!
- Hint: Use a meat thermometer to track the internal temperature, and remove the steak from the skillet 5°F below the desired internal temperature. It will reach the desired temperature when resting. For example, we prefer our steak medium-rare (about 130°F), so we take the steaks off when they are about 125°F internally.
Kckay says
Can't wait to try this.
Briana says
You're going to love it!