Game Day Grub

We are officially one week out from the Super Bowl, so I’m here to help you plan your game day grub! Whether you’re having a get together for the game, or just want to indulge in some delicious finger foods, it’s time to plan your menu and start your grocery list! Let the record reflect that I could not care less about football as a whole, I’m just here for the snacks 🙂

Last year I decided to do an entirely homemade menu for Super Bowl Sunday. No frozen foods. No chips and store bought dips. No takeout. No pizza. It was certainly a change, but it turned out so well that we’re going to do the same thing this year!

The Menu

We feasted on crispy oven baked buffalo wings, soft pretzel bites, warm cheese dip, and festive football deviled eggs. Are you drooling yet?? Can we just take a moment to appreciate our protein centered menu? Even though these aren’t the healthiest foods, we were satisfied calling it “Linner” since we didn’t just load up on carbs.

Keep scrolling for recipes, tips, and of course…photos 🙂

Crispy Oven Baked Buffalo Wings

I can take no credit for this recipe. I followed these instructions to a T, and they came out PERFECT. They were hot, but not in an “oh my gosh I need to chug a gallon of milk” sort of way. They came out perfectly crispy, which I was so happy about. You really don’t need to fry chicken wings to get that crispy gold outer coating. We are so excited to make these again next week!

A few things to note:

• We did not make the blue cheese dip. We are strictly a ranch family 🙂
• The recipe says to cut each wing at the joint so you are left with a drumette and a mini wing. Did you know that each store sells wings differently? Some might already come cut, and others might come whole. If you buy them whole, keep in mind that you’ll really have twice as many individual wings to consume.
• In my opinion, chicken wings are stupidly expensive for what they are. Keep an eye on the poultry section at your local grocery store throughout the year, and pop them in your freezer when they go on sale. This year, I got my wings in early January for half off!
• The best place to buy aluminum free baking powder is Trader Joe’s.

Soft Pretzel Bites

This recipe is also not a Peiffer Palate original. My mom actually vetted this recipe for me before I decided to add it to our Super Bowl menu. We’ve both made these pretzels several times and they are always a hit! I’ve taken them on airplanes (who needs to spend $10 on an airport soft pretzel when you can bring your own), we’ve packed them for road trips, and we’ve stood at the kitchen counter snacking on them right out of the oven. They are DELICIOUS!

Here are my soft pretzel making tips:

• You do not need to be a “baker” for this recipe at all. It’s super simple, so don’t let the idea of making homemade bread scare you away.
• Do not skip the baking soda bath! Embrace the mess. Baking soda water will get all over your stove, but it really is easy to clean up. Be sure to pour your baking soda into your boiling water SLOWLY! If you pour it quickly, you’ll have a volcano science experiment on your hands. Don’t say I didn’t warn you 🙂
• The pretzel bites will expand after the baking soda bath and after being baked. I prefer to cut my pretzel bites into smaller pieces, but feel free to experiment with sizes. You can’t go wrong!
• These stay fresh in a sealed container/bag for about 3 days, but then they start to get stale pretty quickly. I highly recommend freezing whatever you can’t eat up front and popping them in the microwave to defrost later.

Cheese Dip

This cheese dip recipe had me at 5 ingredients! I feel strongly that cheese dips do not need to be overly complex. As long as the texture is right, and it’s a tasty cheese to begin with, that’s all that really matters! Since we already had a lot going on with the pretzels and wings, I really wanted something that would come together quickly right before we were ready to sit down to eat. This dip checked all of the boxes!

A few notes:

• If you plan to have this dip out for a bit, it would be best to transfer it into a mini crockpot to keep it warm.
• It stored great in the fridge! When we wanted to take out leftovers, it heated up on the stove perfectly. No lumps at all!
• This recipe would be good base for a queso dip/nachos. I’d add in some pepper jack, green chiles, and diced tomatoes for an entirely different taste. Yum!

Festive Football Deviled Eggs

There isn’t much to say about these deviled eggs! You can use your favorite recipe, or just wing it with the typical ingredients (egg yolk, dijon mustard, vinegar, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper). What makes these deviled eggs festive and fun are the little pieces of chive pressed into the filling to look like the lacing on a football. They were super simple to make, and I love that deviled eggs can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge. Who needs more chaos right as the game is starting?

A few tips:

• Peel your hardboiled eggs while they’re warm. The shell will come off much easier, and you’ll be less likely to take a chunk of the egg white off with it.
• To get your filling back into your egg whites easily, consider using a small melon baller/cookie scoop. Or, put your filling in a Ziplock bag, cut off a tiny corner of the bag, and pipe it in! I use this hack all the time 🙂

And, if you’re not into making homemade foods for Super Bowl Sunday, I highly recommend getting some taquitos and guacamole from Trader Joe’s. You can see what they look like in my January 2022 Trader Joe’s Food Finds.

Well, I’m officially hungry! I highly recommend shopping for the Super Bowl earlier this week as opposed to waiting until the end of the week when the stores get crazy busy! If you end up making any of these recipes, please let me know how they turn out 🙂

xoxo

Jennifer

Tagged Snacks, Super Bowl