Now that football season is in full swing, so is tailgating. And if you’re like me, there’s nothing better than going to a tailgate with all of your friends, family, and most importantly, great food.
Everyone goes to tailgates expecting lots and lots of food, so what happens when you have to bring something and you don’t know what to bring? Or, if you aren’t the best cook, thinking of easy yet delicious food to make can leave you stressed out and frustrated.
This happens to me way too often, so, I did a little test run this past weekend. The recipes I found varied from ones family or friends taught me how to make to recipes from the internet. Using these, I was able to compile a list of my top 7 tailgating foods that were affordable, easy, and delicious.
1. Buffalo Chicken Dip
Buffalo Chicken Dip is without a doubt a holy grail food. Start by baking chicken breasts in the oven until cooked thoroughly. When they’re done, take a fork and shred the chicken. In a large bowl, mix together the shredded chicken and a brick of cream cheese. The next part is all about what you like and how you want your chicken dip to taste. I add in buffalo sauce, ranch, blue cheese, and a little bit of BBQ sauce. All of these ingredients are essential but how much you add depends on how you like your dip. Make sure to taste, taste, taste!
2. Pepperoni Pizza Sliders
Pepperoni Pizza Sliders are a recent, yet amazing, discovery for me. Now this is super simple, it includes buns or rolls, pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, and pepperoni. You can make it your own by adding vegetables or other meats. Simply layer the bottom bun with the ingredients and top it off with the top bun. It’s so easy and cooks within 12 minutes
3. Jalapeño Poppers
I’ve never been a fan of spicy foods but, once I finally tried them, they were to die for. The ingredients for these were jalapeños, bacon, and cream cheese. The trick to getting these to not be super spicy is removing ALL of the seeds. (For a spicier popper, opt for leaving some in.) After that you stuff them with cream cheese and wrap in bacon.
4. Spinach & Artichoke Dip
Spinach & Artichoke Dip, is an essential crowd favorite. I’ve eaten this dip ever since I was little and it’s always been served at family parties, graduations, and cookouts. For this dish, I used the recipe here
5. BBQ Chicken Bites
When I first discovered these chicken bites, I automatically thought of BBQ Chicken Pizza. For this dish, I used the recipe here . To make this recipe even simpler, I used pre-made dough instead of making my own. These bites were a huge hit with my friends and also gave me more ideas of what I could potentially stuff these little dough balls with (Nutella anyone?
6. Homemade Guacamole
In all honesty, there’s no food that I love more on this earth than guacamole. If you’re an avocado lover, the possibilities of what to add to your guac are endless. I personally take ripe avocados and mash them in a bowl. I then add tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, salt, pepper, lime (to taste), and occasionally mango. This is my go-to guacamole recipe that’s easy and takes 5 minutes to make. Serve it with chips or veggies, or eat with a spoon, of course!
7. Pasta Salad
I mean, who doesn’t like pasta salad? Check out this for a go-to crowd pleasing recipe. I think every tailgate that I’ve ever attempted had some version of a pasta salad. This takes less than 10 minutes to throw together because I did say easy dishes, didn’t I.
Tailgating is something everyone looks forward to at every football game. Spending the day eating, talking, drinking, and laughing while rooting for our Nittany lions (or any other team), theres nothing better.
You can refer to this list to make easy and delicious food that’ll be sure to impress all of your friends and family.