When you need a quick, delicious and easy appetizer for your next gathering, make these Roasted Feta Stuffed Dates Appetizer with Walnuts.
Sweet dates are stuffed with creamy feta cheese and topped with a crunchy walnut, orange and maple topping. The salty-sweet flavour combination is a delight!
This feta stuffed dates recipe is perfect for the Fall and Winter seasons, especially the holiday season!
I love to make easy holiday appetizers like these and these. And, if you’ve made my Boursin stuffed dates recipe, I know you’ll love this feta stuffed version too.
Why you’ll love this roasted dates appetizer
- Easy: You need just X ingredients to make this simple appetizer, all of which can be found at local grocery stores.
- Quick: These feta roasted dates come together in under 30 minutes.
- Bite-sized: Perfect to serve at holiday parties as everyone enjoys cocktails and mingling.
Ingredients needed to make these feta stuffed dates
Medjool dates: make sure to use fresh medjool dates and ensure they are pitted dates (some dates come pitted otherwise you’ll have to take a pit of extra time to pit them, don’t worry it’s super easy!)
Feta: it’s best to use a block of feta cheese that you can cut into small pieces to fit into the dates
Walnuts: finely chopped walnuts are needed for the crunchy topping
Orange: orange zest adds the perfect punch of flavour in the walnut topping
Maple syrup: I love to use maple syrup in this recipe but you can also substitute with honey
Olive oil: just a hint of olive oil is needed
Seasonings: a pinch of ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg and salt round out the flavours of the topping
Fresh herbs: fresh thyme leaves or fresh rosemary adds a nice touch of freshness as the garnish
How to make these roasted feta stuffed dates
- Preheat the oven to 375F and line a small baking sheet or baking dish with parchment paper.
- Prepare the dates, if not pitted use a small sharp knife to make a slit lengthwise on one side of the date, making sure to not not slice all the way through and then remove the pits.
- Open the dates and stuff each date with one piece of feta cheese and place each stuffed date, feta-side up, on the parchment lined baking sheet (or in the baking dish).
- In a small bowl mix together the finely chopped walnuts, olive oil, orange zest, maple syrup, salt and pinches of ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg. Spoon the walnut mixture over the stuffed dates, dividing between the tops of all the dates.
- Bake the dates for 15 minutes and then remove from the oven. Let the dates sit for 5 minutes before moving to a serving tray and garnish with thyme leaves or fresh minced rosemary. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Tips & Tricks
- Spice things up by drizzling the roasted dates with hot honey!
- Double this delightful recipe to feed a crowd at holiday parties.
- Make sure to use a block of feta cheese for these stuffed dates. Pre-crumbled feta cheese will not work.
- If you’re allergic to walnuts, you can wrap these dates in prosciutto instead of using the walnut topping and then bake for 15 minutes. Highly recommend drizzling with the maple-olive oil-orange zest mixture (without walnuts) when they’re finished baking.
Common questions
You can fully prep these ahead of time up to topping with the pistachios topping. If you plan on serving the roasted dates later in the day, place in the fridge until ready to roast. If you are going to roast within the hour, simply leave on the counter until ready to bake the dates.
While this recipe was originally developed with feta cheese, a good substitute would be plain goat cheese.
How to store
Store any leftover dates in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days. Enjoy as-is, reheat gently in the microwave or reheat at 325F for about 10-15 until the dates are warm.
More bite-sized appetizers to love from the blog
- 5-Ingredient Puff Pastry Cheese Twists with Gruyère
- Easy and Quick Holiday Brie Crostini Appetizers
- Easy Apricot Jam & Gruyere Cheese Puff Pastry Bites
Roasted Feta Stuffed Dates Appetizer with Walnuts
Ingredients
- 16 pitted medjool dates
- 150 g block of feta cheese, cut into 16-20 pieces
- 1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts
- 1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 navel orange, zested
- 1 1/2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- big pinch ground cinnamon
- big pinch ground nutmeg
- fresh minced rosemary or fresh thyme leaves
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F and line a small baking sheet or baking dish with parchment paper.
- Prepare the dates, if not pitted use a small sharp knife to make a slit lengthwise on one side of the date, making sure to not not slice all the way through and then remove the pits.
- Cut the feta cheese block into 16 pieces.
- Open the dates and stuff each date with one piece of feta cheese and place each stuffed date, feta-side up, on the parchment lined baking sheet (or in the baking dish).
- In a small bowl mix together the finely chopped walnuts, olive oil, orange zest, maple syrup, salt and big pinches of ground cinnamon and ground nutmeg. Spoon the walnut mixture over the stuffed dates, dividing between the tops of all the dates.
- Bake the dates for 15 minutes and then remove from the oven. Let the dates sit for 5 minutes before moving to a serving tray and garnish with fresh thyme leaves or fresh minced rosemary. Serve immediately and enjoy!
- Optional: Drizzle with more olive oil and/or maple syrup before serving.
Notes
- Spice things up by drizzling the roasted dates with hot honey!
- Double this delightful recipe to feed a crowd at holiday parties.
- Make sure to use a block of feta cheese for these stuffed dates. Pre-crumbled feta cheese will not work.
- If you’re allergic to walnuts, you can wrap these dates in prosciutto instead of using the walnut topping and then bake for 15 minutes. Highly recommend drizzling with the maple-olive oil-orange zest mixture (without walnuts) when they’re finished baking.
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