9 Easy to Make Football Party Food Ideas with Recipes

#1 Buffalo Chicken Dip

What you’ll need:

• 1 cup of chopped chicken (canned or rotisserie-style)
• 8 ounces of cream cheese
• ½ cup of hot sauce
• ¼ cup of blue cheese crumbles
• 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat your oven to 350⁰ F. Mix the ingredients in an oven-safe dish, topping it with shredded cheddar cheese. Bake the dip for 20 to 25 minutes. You can also cook the dip in a slow cooker on low for three to four hours. The recipe makes 18 servings and pairs well with tortilla chips, Fritos, bread and crackers.

#2 Slow Cooker Barbeque Meatballs

What you’ll need:

• 2 pounds of ground beef
• 1 ½ cups of breadcrumbs
•  2 eggs
• ¼ cup of chopped onions
• 1 ½ teaspoons of salt
• 18 ounces of BBQ sauce

Preheat your oven to 375⁰ F. Mix the ground beef, breadcrumbs, eggs, chopped onions and salt. Roll the mixture into one-inch balls and place them on a greased cooking sheet. Bake the meatballs for 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer them to a pan and add the BBQ sauce, cooking over medium heat for five minutes.

You can also complete the recipe with a one-pound bag of frozen meatballs, BBQ sauce and a diced white onion. Add the meatballs to a slow cooker for two-and-a-half hours on high or four hours on low, stirring occasionally. This recipe makes 36 meatballs.

#3 Quick & Easy Queso Dip

What you’ll need:

• 12 ounces of white American cheese
• 4 ounces of shredded pepper jack cheese
• 2/3 cup of half-and-half creamer
• A 4-ounce can of green chile peppers, drained and diced
• 1 clove of garlic, diced
• 1 jalapeno, diced
• ½ teaspoon of black pepper

Combine all the ingredients except the green chile peppers in a slow cooker on high heat for 50 minutes. Drain and dice the chile peppers and add to the mixture after 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. You can top your dip with salsa, cheese, onions or spices. This recipe makes three cups of queso dip.

#4 Pigs in a Blanket Recipe

What you’ll need:

• 8-count tube of crescent rolls
• 12-ounce package of cocktail wieners
• 4 tablespoons of butter, melted
• Shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Preheat your oven to 375⁰ F. Unroll the dough and tear along the perforated line, cutting each section into three smaller triangles. Place a cocktail wiener near the larger portion of each triangle and roll toward the point. You can sprinkle shredded cheese inside the rolls as well. Brush each pig in a blank with melted butter, place them on a greased baking sheet and cook them for 12 to 15 minutes. You’ll have eight to 12 servings.

#5 Gameday Chicken Wings

What you’ll need:

• 3 pounds of raw or frozen chicken wings split at the joint
• 1 cup of BBQ or buffalo sauce

You can make this recipe in two different ways. If you use frozen wings, let them thaw overnight in your fridge. Cook the wings on a baking sheet at 400⁰ F for 30 minutes then cover them with BBQ or buffalo sauce in a slow cooker on set to high for two hours or low for five hours. You can add more sauce if you wish. Slow cook your wings first then bake them for a crispier, caramelized finish. This recipe makes eight servings.

#6 pretzel Bites

What you’ll need:

• 8-count tube of biscuits
• ¼ cup of baking soda
• 1 egg
• Coarse salt

Preheat your oven to 425⁰ F. Roll the biscuits into tubes of your preferred thickness and cut each into one- or two-inch pieces. Bring half a pot of water to a boil before slowly adding baking soda. Boil the dough pieces for 15 seconds on each side and remove them.

Place the dough on a greased or lined baking sheet. Brush with egg wash and top with coarse salt. You can add cinnamon or spices to add different flavors. Bake the pretzel bites for 15 minutes. This recipe makes eight servings.

#7 Slow Cooker Chili

What you’ll need:

• 1 ½ pounds of ground beef
• 30 ounces of kidney beans, rinsed
• 10 ounces of diced tomatoes
• 1 white onion, chopped
• 6 ounces of tomato paste
• 16 ounces of tomato sauce
• ¼ cup of brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons of chili powder
• A dash of BBQ sauce

Brown the ground beef over medium-high heat for five to seven minutes and drain the grease. Drain the kidney beans and diced tomatoes before mixing them with the ground beef and other ingredients in a slow cooker. Cook the chili on high for three hours. Add toppings like shredded cheese, tortilla chips, Fritos or sour cream. This recipe makes eight servings.

#8 Stuffed Jalapenos

What you’ll need:

• 24 jalapenos
• 8 ounces of cream cheese, softened
• 3 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 ½ teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce
• 4 pieces of bacon, crisped and crumbled

Preheat your oven to 450⁰ F. Cut the jalapenos lengthwise and remove the seeds. Boil the peppers for five to 10 minutes. They become less spicy the longer you boil them. In a bowl, mix the cream cheese, shredded cheese and Worcestershire sauce and spoon into the peppers. Top them with bacon crumbles and place on a baking sheet. Bake for three to five minutes. This recipe makes four dozen servings.

#9 Pepperoni Stromboli

What you’ll need:

• 1 tube of refrigerated pizza dough
• ½ cup of pizza sauce
• 1 package of precut pepperoni
• 1 ¼ cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning
• 2 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons of fresh or dried parsley

Preheat your oven to 400⁰ F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and unroll the pizza dough, stretching it toward the edges. Spread pizza sauce evenly on the dough, leaving a two-inch margin around the edge.

Place even layers of pepperoni and mozzarella. Roll the dough into a tube and pinch the ends closed before flipping the stromboli so the seam faces down. Brush the roll with egg wash, sprinkle parmesan and parsley and cut a few slits into the top of the dough. Bake it for 15 to 20 minutes and cut it into slices. This recipe makes six servings.

Looking for Apartments in Columbus, OH?

Ardent Communities has apartments of various sizes that are good for hosting gameday parties. Some of our living communities also have media screening rooms where you can watch the big game and entertain your guests.

Learn about our locations and contact us online to schedule a tour.