Looking for party food ideas that will please all of your game day fans? Great! You’re in the right spot. 🙂
Hosting a party while watching the big game can be tricky.
You want to have some friends over, but you don’t want to be stuck in the kitchen missing the action (and hilarious commercials).
Not to worry. There are some tricks to having your cake and eating it too.
These big game party food ideas rock.
They will keep your guests happy, and you completely free during game time.
To be honest, the only thing I want to worry about is filling my plate and jockeying for a prime viewing spot on the couch!
Remember to put a PIN in your favorite images so you can reference them later.
Let’s get to it.
(This post contains affiliate links)
#1) DIY Party Drink Station Idea
I love a help yourself drink bar for any gathering.
There are so many awesome ideas on Pinterest, but most of them require expensive countertop drink servers or cumbersome carts.
One of my favorite (and inexpensive) methods is to clean my sink really well, fill it with ice, and load it up with with beverages.
Clean up is a breeze (all you have to do is pull the sink stopper and let the ice drain).
Everything stays cold, and you don’t have to spend a dime beyond your bag of ice.
It’s a perfect no fuss party idea for an indoor gathering.
#2) Party Food Nacho Bar Idea
Spending a lot of time on tedious tasks in the kitchen can be daunting.
That is why a help yourself buffet is ALWAYS a go-to party food idea.
Nachos are super popular, and you won’t have to spend any extra time assembling dainty finger foods or appetizers.
Do you want a fool proof nacho assembly line? Ok… 🙂
- Brown 2lbs ground beef and 1 large onion in table top roaster, season liberally with salt and pepper. Drain the grease, and keep warm on low.
- In a crock pot melt 8oz Velveta, 1 can Rotell Tomatoes, 1/2 Cup Milk, and 1 Cup Shredded PepperJack Cheese
- Dish up the toppings… tomatoes, black olives, jalapenos, chives, sour cream, salsa, black beans, cilantro, guacamole
Your guests can take it from here. 😉
#3) Vegetable Platters – The Perfect Party Food Idea
Because of the rich selection of party foods and appetizers, it’s always a good idea to bring in some freshness with a fruit or vegetable platter.
Trusty favorites include sliced peppers, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber rings, cherry tomatoes and celery.
Great fruit options include cutting clusters of grapes, slicing apples, an assortment of fresh berries, and some orange rings will round things off nicely.
Some prepping advice:
- Slice apples ahead of time, they stay crisp and white if you toss them in Sprite
- Wash berries, dry well, and leave stems on for easy grabbing
- Slice oranges into rings. Cut end rinds off exposing flesh, then slice into disks. Score the rind on each disk to allow for easy peeling.
- Most veggies will not require toothpick servers, some of the slippery fruits may (yes you party pineapple)
#4) Build Your Own Pizza Party Food Idea
It sounds complicated but really isn’t.
This was one of the BEST prime time courses for our last big super bowl party. Both kids and adults loved it.
I will advise that it worked especially well with a toaster oven we had in our bar. (We used this one!)
Guests were just 2 minutes away from a custom personal pan pizza.
Here’s how we did it.
- Purchase or Make Pizza Crusts– (english muffins, sandwich thins, larger crusts cut into smaller circles, even flour tortillas all work well for store varieties) I made an easy bread dough recipe that I flash grilled for exceptional small homemade crusts…(e-mail me for the recipe it’s not on the blog yet! 😛 )
- Set Out the Toppings– the sky is the limit here!
- shredded cheese, always including mozzarella- duh, parmesan, feta the list can go on…
- assortment of meats: pepperoni, crumbled sausage, canadian bacon, grilled chicken
- A bowl of sauce- for pizza my favorite is Barilla Traditional Marinara
- The veg: peppers, onion, mushroom, spinach, black olive, and pineapple (which really isn’t a vegetable I guess, oops)
- The garnishes: fresh cilantro & basil
- Arrange the assembly line that flows towards the toaster oven-
- Start with the crusts, then sauce, cheese, toppings, toaster oven, garnishes.
- Cutting Station- place a cutting board and pizza cutter next to your toaster oven.
#5) Party Food 7 Layer Bean Dip Cups from Cooking Classy
I love 7 Layer bean dip, but don’t love how the ingredients slime together when people start digging in.
These cups and are so much more appetizing and really speed up the buffet. They can all be prepped well in advance to game time!
They will even prevent the dreaded double dipper. There’s always one at every party. 😛
#6) Party Pepperoni Cheese Pizza Bombs
If your not looking to assemble a build your own pizza bar, these pepperoni pizza bombs are the next best!
They are…the bomb! 🙂 HAHA
SO easy to make, and pretty darn delicious! Head on over to Sizzling Eats to see how to make them. Yum.
#7) Party Slow Cooker Sweet & Spicy Sausage
I like these even more than the crock pot of little smokies!
Ok I said it… now that I have that off my chest you can head over to A Night Owl Blog to see the feature post from honeyandbirch.com and the recipe on how to make them.
They are the perfect mixture of spicy and sweet meatiness.
#8) Easy Party Food Ham & Cheese Sliders from Love & Food ForEva
So easy to assemble, so rich and delicious.
They bake all at once and can be easily pulled apart for the taking. You could use any configuration of hot sandwich you can think of.
Click on the link or the image to see how to make them!
#9) Best Ever Baked Honey BBQ Wings from A Night Owl Blog
What would a game day lineup be without a delicious wing recipe?!?
The problem with frying your wings (which are amazingly delicious) is that you will be stuck in the kitchen during game time laboring over the hot fryer.
I can’t have that at kick off.
These wings are the best baked variety in my opinion.
I like buffalo, my husband likes spicy bbq…and these are a crispy baked version of both!
Enjoy, and go here to learn how to make them.
#10) Party Slow Cooker Spinach & Artichoke Dip from Damn Delicious
Anything made in the slow cooker is a perfect party food idea.
Spinach and artichoke dip is one of my all time favorites, and this recipe does not disappoint!
Head on over to Damn Delicious to get the recipe.
Happy Party Food Planning!
I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as I have! Let me know which ones make it to your table, function, or game day fiesta.
Team on three…
<3 Ang
