Tired of serving the same old boring veggie tray at your parties and cookouts? Check out this tasty, easy, and mess-free way to make veggies the belle of the ball!
Quick and Easy Party Veggie Cups
Given that I ♥ Pinterest (Vegan recipes! DIY projects! Shamelessly-Self-Helpy-Inspirational quotes!), when I started seeing pictures of adorable veggie cups pop up, I just had to make my own.
I mean, I could use a little happy right now, and these colorful cups are so ridiculously cheerful, it’s hard not to smile when you pick one up.
However, having recently watched the eye-opening documentary Plastic Paradise (not the best choice for cheering up, whoops), I made my cups in mason jars instead of disposable plastic cups. (I swear, after watching that movie, I’ll never look at a plastic cup the same way again!)
Luckily, mason jars gave these veggie cups a fun outdoorsy look that’s perfect for summer parties and picnics, all while being blissfully eco-friendly.
Beyond being good for the planet, these party veggie cups are super fun to make—and eat. In fact, Jeff and I mowed through six of them in one day!
What’s more, I love that the veggie sticks in these cups are “pre-dipped,” so there’s no mess for you or your guests. And since everybody gets plenty of dip, people will actually take—and eat—a full serving of veggies.
Which, as you know, gives me the warm fuzzies.
You can make these cups with any dip or dressing that you want. Update: This healthy vegan copycat of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing is pretty and delicious in these cups (as seen in the pictures on this post), but oil-free lemon tahini dressing is good too!
The only thing I wish I’d done differently? I should have used half-cup mason jars like these or these instead of half-pint jars. That way, you can dip the last half of each carrot stick as easily as the first half. (Yet another reason these cups are great for gatherings—you can double dip guilt free. 🙂 )
Hope you enjoy, and if you’re in the States, have a great Memorial Day!
- 2 lbs carrots, peeled and chopped into sticks
- 2 bunches of celery, washed and chopped into sticks
- 2 yellow or orange bell peppers, sliced
- 2 pints grape tomatoes
- 12 party picks
- 2½ c dressing or dip (e.g. Healthy vegan Hidden Valley Ranch copycat dressing)
- Pour a half-inch of dressing into the bottom of each cup. Thread grape tomatoes onto party picks. Add 3 carrot sticks, 2 celery sticks, 1-2 pepper strips, and 1 tomato party pick to each cup.
- Arrange cups on a cutting board or the table and watch the compliments roll in!
-While I used cup-size jars for this post, half-cup size jars are even better, so long as you cut shorter veggie sticks. Juice glasses are great too!
Shared on Lou Lou Girls Fabulous Party, Healthy Happy Green & Natural, Allergy Free Wednesday, Bloggers’ Spotlight Link Party, Plant-Based Potluck Party, Healthy Vegan Fridays
Your turn:
- Are you on Pinterest? What recipe/project is on your to-try list?
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I'm Lee, an RD thriving on a healthy plant based diet.
These are adorable Lee! And fun! Great idea. (I can see why you might want to use the smaller mason jars, too.) And so glad you picked jars instead of plastic. I haven’t elminated it altogether, but try to keep it at a minimum, it just isn’t, I don’t know, right.
Thanks Maria! True confession: I was actually going to use plastic cups until I watched Plastic Paradise. Once I learned that there’s a garbage patch of plastic twice the size of Texas (!!) floating in the middle of the Pacific ocean, I decided maybe mason jars would be better. 😮 Not to mention cuter!
Wow! I didn’t know that! I’ll have to watch Plastic Paradise. I have cut back on plastic use a lot, but I can do better. ☺️
Lee, these just make me smile! So happy, colorful, and organized. I’m imagining how much I’d love my own little dip jar at a party!
Hi Heather, so glad you like them! It definitely solves the dip problem at parties, you know? I mean, I don’t want to loiter around the veggie tray for 10 minutes while I nibble, but so often there’s no spoon with the dip, so if you want some on all your veggies, you’re kind of stuck there. Which means up I usually end up without dip after celery stick #1, gah! Anyhow, I’m definitely serving these at my next BBQ; if you give them a try at your next party, let me know how they turn out!
These are so cute Lee! I I saw something similar with shrimp cocktail but we all know veggies are much better. 🙂
I love how you used cute little mason jars. I’m obsessed with them and have way too many (or at least that’s what my husband says).
Hi Mary Ellen, I can completely relate to having too many mason jars!! But from the little half-pints up to quarts, they’re perfect for everything from storage to parfaits to desserts, you know? And of course, for blog post pics, too. 🙂 Now if only I had a slightly larger cabinet, because I’ve got so many crammed in on my mason jar shelf that half the time one falls out at me when I open that cabinet door. Whoops!
Yummy!! This would be a great and healthy snack.
Thanks for linking up at #bloggerspotlight
Thanks Hil! Kids of all ages would definitely go for these.
These are so cute! I can’t wait to make these for my next get together =) Perfect for parties & potlucks.
I need to get some of those cute baby jars! Plastic is so last year haha ;p
Thanks Kimmy! I actually used mason jars to serve jicama sticks and red bell pepper strips at a Mexican-themed dinner I had for family over Memorial Day too, and it was super cute. (Although I still didn’t have little jars, so I had to cut all the sticks really long, whoops.)
I’m telling you, I’m having plastic nightmares after watching Plastic Paradise! There are these nesting albatrosses on Midway Island in the middle of the Pacific Garbage (read: plastic) Patch, and they ALL have huge amounts of nasty plastic in their stomachs, because the fish they eat eat all that plastic. I mean, one baby albatross that died had a magic marker cap—along with about a pound of plastic bits—in it’s sweet little belly. Gaaah! Let’s hear it for glass jars!
Maybe I’ll get some of those cute little mason jars. I really do try and not use plastic when possible. We use glass containers to store our leftovers and we reuse all of our glass jars that we buy (like almond butter and pasta sauce). That’s so sad 🙁
Btw – I’m featuring this on Healthy Vegan Fridays this week! Thanks for sharing this and I’m pinning & sharing.
Hi Kimmy, I know, we mostly use glass storage containers too, but I hadn’t thought to reuse the glass containers we get from the store–great tip! I know, what happens to the albatrosses is really sad, poor babies.
On a completely separate note, though, I’m thrilled and honored to be featured and pinned on Healthy Vegan Fridays!
This is a perfect, fun and easy treat! Great for parties too! Thank you for sharing your healthy and delicious Easy Party Veggie Cups with us at the Plant-Based Potluck Party. I’m pinning and sharing.
Thanks Deborah!
Will the veggies stay crisp and fresh enough if cut the day before serving?
Hi Mandy, yes, the veggies will be find if you cut them a day before serving. Just store them in tightly sealed containers in the fridge overnight. Then place them in the cups with dressing just before your event. 🙂