🏈 The Ultimate Guide to Game Day Snacking 🏈

I have always subscribed to the “more is more” school of thought when it comes hosting, but there’s one exception to that rule…game day. There’s no such thing as “over-preparing” or “making too much” when everyone’s on your sofa all day. If kickoff is at 1pm, that means people don’t stop eating for the next 6 to 9 hours across multiple games. No matter what you put out, grazers will be grazing, and there’s no accounting for the Stress Eating Quotient when your team is down by [insert scary number of points here].

The game day snacking math is a unique equation, but an important one to learn, so instead of another list of dip recipes, I’m making a ranking of my top four game day snacks, ordered by how well they actually hold up over a long stretch of grazing.

The Ranking

4th place: The Elevated Pretzel Bowl

Ranch seasoned pretzels are probably my favorite thing about game day. Toss mini pretzels with melted butter, a ranch seasoning packet, garlic powder, and a little dill, then bake at 250°F for 45 minutes, shuffling them halfway. It’s too easy to be this good, but I think I probably ate a third of the batch while prepping them.

It costs about $4 to make, which is great, but they also disappear in the first hour of the early game, so they’re budget-friendly and crowd-pleasing, but a bad marathoner. My vote is to make them, but just not count on them lasting past 2pm. Recipe here!

3rd place: Elote dip

Corn (charred in a dry skillet if frozen, straight from the can if you're in a hurry), mayo, sour cream, cotija, lime juice, chili powder, cilantro. It's genuinely one of my favorite dips, because I will happily stand in the light of the fridge and shovel corn out of a can into my mouth any other day, and this is that but elevated. My only qualm is that it’s a cold dip, which means it warms up and gets a little sad sitting out past hour three. The solution is to make half now, keep half in the fridge, and swap the bowls around 4pm, but I always forget to do that (which means more for me later) so that’s what leaves it at 3rd place. Recipe here!

2nd place: Buffalo chicken dip (but in the slow cooker)

Oneee thing about me…this newsletter will always make me sound like a bag o’ chicken’s biggest fan. That is probably because I am, and it continues to show up for me and save the day in ways that I never expect. Just shred up a rotisserie chicken, mix it with cream cheese, buffalo sauce, and ranch seasoning, then chuck it in the slow cooker on low. This is the one built for the long haul. It holds its temperature for hours without drying out, and you can leave it out through both games without touching it. Serve with celery and tortilla chips. Recipe here!

1st place: Rosemary chili roasted nuts

This is the one I get next day texts about. Every. Single. Time. Just toss mixed nuts with olive oil, brown sugar, chili powder, chopped rosemary, and salt, and roast at 325°F for 15 minutes. The best part is that they're better the day after you make them, so they’re easy to prep ahead. Recipe here!

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What To Do If Everyone Stays For Dinner

There's always a moment around the start of the late game where you realize nobody is leaving and it's now technically dinner time. Snacks can only get you so far, but the last thing you want to do in that moment is cook an actual meal. Here’s the solution to that:

Sheet Pan Nachos

Spread tortilla chips across a full sheet pan, load with the leftover shredded chicken from the buffalo dip, black beans, whatever cheese you have, and anything from the fridge that needs using. Broil for 3 minutes until the cheese melts. You can even top it with the leftover elote dip instead of making a separate topping! Recipe here.

Chili (in the same slow cooker)

If the buffalo dip is done by dinner, don't wash the slow cooker (I’m lazy, and extra flavor is extra flavor), use it! Ground beef or turkey, a can of beans, a can of diced tomatoes, taco seasoning, an hour on high. Serve with the leftover pretzels crushed on top instead of crackers, and whatever hot sauce you’ve got. Recipe here!

Quesadillas

Tortillas, whatever cheese and shredded chicken are left, a hot pan, two minutes a side. The classics are classic for a reason and this is as easy as easy gets. Recipe here!