For the biggest American sporting events of the year, you can’t just set out oven-baked frozen apps and store-bought dips. It’s 30 years bad luck (obviously a Dallas Cowboys fan did this in 1996 and now look at them). But with the winter holidays interspersed throughout the season, trying to dream up some exciting game day food can be stressful. Don’t worry—we’ve got you.
While other Football Food lists will tell you to get the usual wings and pizza and veggie dip combo, our Favorite Football Food Recipes will help you create a mix of traditional and new takes on an unforgettable gameday spread.
Spicy Football Food
Nothing goes better with football than buffalo sauce.OK, maybe beer. But still. You can’t have a Top 10 Super Bowl Foods list without hot wings, but we decided to switch up the vehicle. These Buffalo Chicken Egg Rolls take everything you love about hot wings—chicken, sauce, garlic, bleu cheese—and rolls it up with coleslaw, cream cheese, and cheddar. And this recipe is quicker to make than you think. Just shred some rotisserie chicken, toss it in sauce, then roll, roll, roll,
Football Food That's Easy
For many of us, football isn’t just entertainment—it’s nostalgic. Playing it, watching it and arguing about it with family and friends. So the biggest football game of the year deserves something else from your childhood. Hot pockets! But these are adultified with fresh thyme, Dijon mustard, smoked ham, sharp cheddar, and gruyere, all stuffed into a buttery, flaky puff pastries. Another fan favorite that’s easy to make in bulk.
Classic Football Food
Football is big everywhere in America, but Southerners take it especially seriously. Almost as seriously as they take sausage and biscuits. Because that’s what these Old-Fashioned Sausage Balls really are—spicy breakfast sausage, Bisquick, and cheddar all rolled up into delicious little bites.
Personal-Sized Football Food
Sliders are the ultimate Super Bowl sandwich, because they let you get that sammie fix without committing to a whole serving. That means more room for the rest of that glorious party spread. These Chicken Parm Sliders are super straight forward—saucy, cheesy, and even yummier served on homemade garlic knots (recipe included).
Crowd-Pleasing Football Food
Every Top 10 Super Bowl Foods article needs a timeless appetizer like this pigs in a blanket recipe. But our version takes the classic ballpark treat—a hot dog—and wraps it in another ballpark classic—soft pretzel. Then we dial it up with some pub-style beer cheese for dipping sauce. You can make 1,000,000 of these in no time, and all your party guests will lose their minds about them.
Football Food That's Quick To Make
There’s no such thing as too many sandwiches at a Super Bowl party, but there IS such a thing as missing the ULTIMATE sandwich. Pepperoni, Genoa salami, Black Forest ham, provolone, a creamy, tangy giardiniera sauce, all on a giant boule loaf—this Muffuletta is a twist on the New Orleans classic that serves 6-8 people per sandwich. So bang out a couple extra and you’ve got yourself a party.
Football Food with Sweet Heat
What’s a Top 10 Super Bowl Foods list without a jalapeño something in the spread? But have you tried Jalapeño Poppers with pineapple and Tajin in the mix? Now wrap it all up in bacon with cream cheese and maybe you can enjoy the Holy Day of football even though your team hasn’t made the playoffs in 5 years.
Football Food That's Better Than Takeout
Let’s face it—your favorite sub shop is gonna be so busy it’ll take 2 hours to get your order. So cut out that stress and throw some chuck roast in the crockpot and get ready for a Sub Shop Cheesesteak made right in the comfort of your own home. Top it with lettuce, tomato, pepper rings, and a healthy dose of provolone, then broil it. And don’t forget to save some of that crockpot jus to dip the sammie in!
Football Food on a Bread Slice
Cooking up a ton of steaks for your party would be pretty expensive, so why not cook fewer steaks, slice them up, then make them all pretty to share? These Fig & Steak Crostini are topped with fig jam brie, arugula, filet mignon, fresh fig slices, chopped pistachios, and hot honey. They’re almost too pretty to eat!
Football Food in a Bun
You’re already going to be sitting on a mountain of beer, so pour some of that in a pot and boil these brats before you finish them on the grill. These sammies are quick to make, and the red cabbage kraut and beer cheese set them off! Our Grilled Beer Brats are an easy way to make a lot of filling food for your guests.
Smoky Football Food
You can’t have a party without at least one dip, right? You could set out some store-bought sour cream gloop. OR you could serve up this Smoked Trout Dip with pumpernickel crostini, homemade pickled onions, and pickled jalapeños. The dip itself is already bomb, but a composed bite with the pumpernickel, onions, and peppers will have you cheering louder than that annoying guy that nobody actually invited.
Classic Football Food with a Twist
We’ve got nothing against setting out a crockpot of frozen meatballs for guests to eat straight up or on a roll, but really you should switch it up this year. Make the meatballs yourself, stuff them with cheese, then bread and fry them for good measure. Serve these Italian Fried Meatballs up with some marinara dipping sauce, then get ready to text the recipe to all your guests.
Vegetarian Football FoodThat Meat Eaters Love
This is a vegetarian sammie that even all the militant carnivores will love. Topped with roasted red pepper and pesto cream sauce, our Fried Eggplant Sandwich proves that you don’t need meat to make people lose their minds over Super Bowl food. Fry up all your eggplant ahead of time, then reheat it when you broil the sandwiches right before party time!
Football Food You Can Dunk
Every Super Bowl spread needs something unexpected, and these Pork Gyoza will NOT disappoint! While you may not see steamed dumplings as a typical party food, the flavors are no more exotic than really, really good Chinese takeout—pork, mushrooms, scallions, garlic, soy sauce, ginger, and more. These are yet another wow food that’s easy to batch, so get your wonton fingers ready.
Tropical Football Food
Everybody loves Coconut Fried Shrimp, even people who don’t like shrimp. But what makes this recipe memorable is the green curry dipping sauce—coconut milk, sour cream, green curry paste, lime, honey, ginger, and a pinch of cayenne. Plus it’s super quick and easy!
Football Food That Kids Love
Here’s a recipe to trick people into eating their veggies. Yeah, they might eat 30 of these Pizza Zucchini Bites, but at least they got a nice dose of nutrients underneath all that cheese and pepperoni. This appetizer is definitely one of those last-minute lifesavers—you can prepare enough for the entire Buffalo Bills team and staff in under an hour.
Football Food You Probably Haven't Tried Yet
If you want your Super Bowl guests to be talking about one dish long after the party’s over, these Pork Belly Bao are IT. Slow-cooked pork belly finished with a garlic ginger glaze then stuffed into the fluffiest roll you can imagine—if you’ve never tried bao before, you’ll be blown away by their unforgettable flavors and textures.
Healthy-ish Football Food
These Air Fryer Zucchini Fries pack all your favorite Italian flavors into a scrumptious little potato alternative—parmesan, garlic, basil, oregano, and crushed red pepper. Served up with marinara dipping sauce, this simple side will disappear quickly, so you should probably double it. Or quadruple it.
Two-Bite Football Food
It’s hard serving soup at any party, because you have to keep it warm. So we solved that real quick by turning broccoli cheddar soup in to Broccoli Cheddar Bites! You get all the cheesy cruciferous goodness with a little kick of cayenne to remind you it’s the greatest sporting event of the year.
Football Food with a Middle Eastern Twist
You can’t have a Super Bowl party without some burgs, so why not flip the script on them and bring out some Middle Eastern-style spiced lamb sliders? While a guest or two might be a little hesitant about lamb, the creamy garlic & herb Boursin and the roasted reds round everything out so nicely.
Football Food That Makes Pizza Even Better
Pizza is of course a Super Bowl party must-have, but how about some new topping already? Fried eggplant, kalamata olives, roasted reds, fresh mozzarella, and chili oil take everybody’s favorite Italian food to the next level. This is a great way to use up leftover fried eggplant, or an even better excuse to fry up some fresh!
Football Food You Can Put On Anything
Never underestimate the power of a good topping in your Super Bowl spread. These Italian Roasted Red Peppers go great on everything—salads, sandwiches, pizza, crostini, your bare hand—everything. Not only are they easy to make, but they pack so much flavor that your guests will be begging for the recipe.
Football Food Sandwiches without Bread
These Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps offer a breadless sandwich for any Keto psychopaths you might associate with. Really that’s not the biggest reason to make them for the party though, because these flavors—ginger hoisin sauce with Chinese 5 spice chicken—and these textures—Bibb lettuce and sliced almonds—will satisfy anybody, diet or not.
Classic Football Food
All right, all right—maybe they came in late, but here they are—traditional hot wings ramped up with some garlic and spices. But don’t worry, these fan favorites don’t stray too far from the original. Our recipe is air-fried, which COULD cause some complications when cooking for 100 people. You can always deep-fry or bake your wings, but for us—the sauce is the boss.
Football Food Bringing All the Smoke
Who doesn’t love a good smoke out? If you got the smoker space and the cash (or you’re only having a small party), ribs are the way to go. No fancy tricks here—just a good spice rub and lots of quality time in the pit (OK, we use an electric smoker lol). One huge advantage of smoking food for a party is that you can fuss over other preparations while your smoker does all the heavy-lifting.
Football Food That's Pizza But Not
If you’re looking for a pizza alternative that’s still cheesy af, then steer it Mexican with this Grilled Veggie Quesadilla. Bell pepper, onion, mushrooms, and zucchini hit with Mexican seasoning, grilled, then sandwiched inside a cheesy tortilla shell. Not only are these impossible to put down—they’re also a great recipe to batch for a party.
Football Food as a Sushi Alternative
Sushi can get expensive really fast, but these Kani Salad Bites offer up those Japanese flavors you love in a vehicle you probably haven’t tried them in before. Cold Kani salad and seaweed salad stuffed into a baked wonton wrapper topped with wasabi pea dust. These bites pack a ton of flavor and they’re also easy to make in large batches.