12 Walmart Frozen Appetizers You Need To Pregame Dinner

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A standard dinner might include a main course along with a side of starch or vegetables. Pretty basic stuff, but if you're expecting company or are simply feeling fancy, you can easily upgrade it to a multi-course meal by adding an appetizer.

Appetizers need not be anything too elaborate, and indeed, this list of Walmart exclusives features a lot of bar food staples like mozzarella sticks, poppers, and potato skins. There are also a few Asian-inspired items, including the old stand-by, egg rolls, as well as the newly trendy soup dumplings. Walmart's bettergoods line also includes more upscale apps like sweet-and-savory brie bites, fusion-flavored empanadas, and a very contemporary reboot of a '90s party staple.

The best part of shopping for Walmart-branded appetizers, besides the surprisingly varied selection, is the low prices (though these may vary by location). As these apps are all fairly inexpensive, you can upgrade your meal without blowing the whole week's grocery budget. In fact, you might even be tempted to pick up a selection, then skip the main course and graze on an appetizer buffet instead.

Brie cheese has a flavor that's kind of sour, kind of musty, and all kinds of funky, so much so that it can be a bit overwhelming on its own. A spoonful of sweet-tart raspberry filling, however, tames brie's more abrasive edge, and with the addition of a crispy pastry crust, all of the flavors and textures meld together into a tasty appetizer that can pair with the most elegant of meals. Each box of bettergoods raspberry and brie bites contains six rolls and is priced at $5.97.

A quick stir-fry with a side of rice or noodles is one of the easiest meals to make. With about 30 seconds more effort, though — enough time to open a box of frozen egg rolls and place them in the oven, microwave, or air fryer — you can elevate your simple dinner into something far more memorable. Great Value egg rolls come in a choice of chicken or pork, and a box of four costs $2.98. Walmart also carries a selection of dipping sauces, but if you're feeling ambitious, you can make restaurant-style sweet-and-sour sauce from ketchup, pineapple juice, salt, sugar, and vinegar as the egg rolls heat up.

Shanghai-style soup dumplings called xiao long bao have been a popular restaurant offering in recent years, but Walmart claims its Asian-inspired Great Value steamed soup dumplings are Korean-style, instead. This is curious because Korean cuisine does not seem to have an analogue of the dish, although Chinese xiao long bao are available in that country. Well, we're not here to school Walmart on culinary attribution, since reviewers find these soup dumplings delicious — one person swears they're 10 times better than the Bibogo brand, which is itself Korean, but makes its soup dumplings with a Vietnamese pho flavor. The Great Value dumplings are also quite cheap at just $2.98 per package.

Once upon a time, figs were mainly known for their starring role in Newtons cookies (as they're now known), as well as appearing in a Christmas carol about an old-timey holiday dessert (and one-time Spam flavor) called figgy pudding. In recent years, though, figs have gotten quite the glow-up, with fig jam appearing everywhere there are hipsters in the kitchen. Even Walmart's bettergoods line is now in on the fig fad, offering puff pastry squares topped with goat cheese and fig jam called Figs in a Blanket. While figs "on" a blanket might be a better descriptor since the figs and cheese sit atop the pastry, we'll again forego picking a fight with Walmart in favor of noting that buyers enjoy the sweetness of the figs paired with the tangy cheese and crunchy crust. A box containing nine bites is priced at $5.97, which seems to be standard for many bettergoods apps.

A Midwestern state fair classic, corn dogs actually have roots in the Pacific Northwest. Whatever their origins, they're undeniably fun to eat, and if you shrink them down to mini size, they make an excellent appetizer. While these Great Value mini corn dogs lack a stick to eat them from, you can easily remedy this with a wooden toothpick. As a bonus, the toothpick can make a hygienic handle for dipping the dogs in mustard or ketchup. For $6.43, you get a box of about 40 corn doggettes, making them perfect for serving a crowd.

At this point, mozzarella sticks aren't even pretending to be Italian anymore — just as well, since they may have originated in Wisconsin. They're still a bar food staple and an ever-popular appetizer, though, particularly for game day watch parties and other such events where finger foods reign supreme. Walmart sells 17.4-ounce cartons of Great Value mozzarella sticks for $4.96, making them another budget-minded option for feeding the multitudes.

The bettergoods brand is all about embracing modern trends, but mini quiches are quintessentially '90s. (Back then, they were a Sam's Club staple, and you were forbidden by law from throwing a party without them.) Sam's is part of the Walmart brand family, so it stands to reason the company would want to reboot this nostalgic standby. The flavors of bettergoods mini quiches, however, have 2020s written all over them: avocado black bean and sweet potato bacon. An assortment of a dozen costs $5.97, which comes to about 50 cents per pie.

Jalapeño poppers are another appetizer that blew up bar menus back in the '90s, although they're basically a smaller, simplified Tex-Mex version of chile relleno. They also make a great entry-level chile dish for those unsure of their spice tolerance, since the cream cheese filling does a lot to temper any heat from the jalapeños. Great Value jalapeño poppers cost $3.46 per half-pound box and can be baked, fried, or cooked in an air fryer.

Fun fact about potatoes: The skin is actually the healthiest part. It can also be the tastiest, especially if you load it up with cheese and meat. Walmart's Great Value potato skins are smothered in cheddar cheese and bacon, and you get five in a box for $4.96. One reviewer says they're just as good as the kind you'd get in a restaurant, especially if you serve them with sour cream. You can feel free to sub in a different dip, however, since they also go well with salsa or barbecue sauce.

Arancini is a fancy fried appetizer that you can make with leftover rice — that is, if you have the time and inclination. For a much easier version (and one that's also baked, thus lower in fat), you can opt to pick up a package of bettergoods frozen arancini from the Walmart freezer case. These are available in either cacio e pepe or pimento and cheese flavors, with each 10-piece box priced at, you guessed it, $5.97.

Taquitos are such cute little meat cigars, just the perfect shape for dipping in salsa and queso to kick off a Mexican meal. Great Value has two different kinds: chicken and Monterey jack cheese rolled up in flour tortillas and beef with green chiles wrapped in corn tortillas. Which one is better? Walmart reviewers are undecided, as each is rated at 4.5 stars. This means you'd better try them both, which won't be a hardship since they're both only $4.42 per package. (The chicken taquitos come 16 per box, while the slightly smaller beef taquitos fit 20.)

The empanada is a Latin American hand pie, but bettergoods is reinterpreting the dish in fusion fashion with an Indian-spiced coconut chicken curry filling. Reviewers love them, but advise they're better baked in the oven as the air fryer can make them too crunchy. One person also recommends serving them with hot honey, a now-ubiquitous American invention (albeit one inspired by a Swiss restaurateur in Brazil), for a fusion trifecta. Yes, these bettergoods chicken curry empanadas are also priced at $5.97 per box, with each box containing eight empanadas.