30 Great Game Day Recipes

The big game day is coming up. What are you going to serve those football fans? I’ve updated my roundup of game day recipes to include some new favorites of the football crowd at the Harris house. These munchable appetizers, snacks, main events, and desserts are sure to satisfy any sports watchers’ appetites.

These easy game day recipes are sure to please a crowd.

Thinking about game day, I picked recipes that are easy to make, serve, and eat. Most of them, like my antipasto board and fried pickles, work great as finger food in front of the TV, an important requirement! Sure, some like these loaded turnip root fries are a little messy, but they’re worth the extra napkins.

Game Day in the South

If you are tailgating, you’d better live by the mantra, “the early bird gets the worm.” So early, the experienced tailgaters start the night before the big day with grills and fryers set up right outside the trucks…Families share food, kids throw footballs, truck stereos blare tunes so loud you’d think the lead singer is sitting in your lap, and friends gather, exchange stories, and play games.

This is what southerners wait for all year—fall is football and football is life.”

—from Love Language of the South

Of course, spicy chicken wings, pulled pork sliders, burgers, pizza, and fries figure into the mix of great football foods. But why not think a little outside the box this year?

For example, these game day recipes include an easy, healthy buffalo cauliflower appetizer to rival any hot wings. And slow-cooker pheasant nachos are the perfect wild-game snack for game day. Pan-fried dove is another delicious wild-game appetizer.

For a game day sweet treat, cowboy cookies are sure to hit the spot — but make a double batch because they’ll be gone in a flash! Sweet and salty chocolate-dipped candied bacon is another irresistible finger food.