Sometimes, you’re put in a position where you need to entertain guests on a budget, but you’re not given a lot of time to prepare something fancy. If you’ve ever found yourself in that situation, it’s possible you’ve stumbled upon the Archer Farms Appetizer Collection at your local Target store and wondered if it was the solution to your problem. We picked up a box of these to try them out for ourselves and see if they’re the perfect party treat or just a collection of pre-dinner duds.
If you have a baking sheet that’s large enough, you can actually cook the whole box at once. That gives you 29 pieces of snack food to play with. Of course, the mushroom arancini take less time to cook, while the cranberry gorgonzola bites come in a bakeable tray. Putting all of this stuff together is a little bit of a juggling act, though it’s not a particularly difficult one. (You can see the full cooking instructions at the bottom of this article.)
This collection features three different types of appetizer: ham and cheese crescents, mushroom arancini, and cranberry gorgonzola bites (shown from left to right above). We’re going to talk about each of those separately.
The ham and cheese crescents are pretty much exactly what they sound like, aside from the fact that they’re not even slightly crescent-shaped. Each one is a flakey mini croissant filled with cream cheese, cheddar, and just a touch of ham. The filling is a fluffy goop that has a nice, creamy consistency and a pretty decent flavor.
The round balls of mushroom arancini are almost like portly, high-class mozzarella sticks. They’re breaded spheres with a gooey, cheesy blend of fontina, parmesan, and cream cheese in the center. There are some mushroom bits and mushroom flavoring tossed in for good measure. Of the three options in this assortment, these ones would be enhanced the most with a dipping sauce.
The cranberry gorgonzola bites have the richest flavor of the three, as the cranberry packs a serious punch in the flavor department. This fruity taste is only enhanced by gorgonzola cheese, and the whole thing is shrouded in a lovely pastry. These are the for those who prefer bold flavors rather than subtlety.
The serving size is four pieces, and the nutrition content per serving will vary based on the appetizer you’re eating. It would take us kind of a long time to explain all of this, so we’ll just refer you to the package scans at the bottom of this article. There, you can see a full breakdown of the nutritional content for this item.
The Archer Farms Appetizer Collection gives you three appetizer options in a single box. All three of them are good, though the mushroom arancini should probably be paired with a dipping sauce of some kind. While we’re not sure these appetizers will level up your potluck game to legendary status, we think party guests will appreciate having something a bit out of the ordinary to snack on.
To learn more about the nutrition content, ingredients, or cooking instructions for these frozen appetizers, check out our package scans below.
