60 Tasty Tailgate Recipes To Make For Game Day

During football season in the South, every good match has an even better tailgate spread that fans look forward to on game day. Over the years, menus have evolved to include wow-worthy recipes that are perfect for serving on any given Saturday. Our impressive roster of crowd-pleasing favorites contains a wide variety of dishes that are guaranteed to be the talk of the tailgate. It’s never too early to get to planning so you’re sure to score come football season.

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Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox

Fire up the grill and add a little spice to your tailgate with this all-new burger recipe. Poblano peppers are grilled right into the burger patties for incredible texture and flavor.

Credit: Photo: Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Torie Cox

It’s not gameday without barbecue! Coffee and bourbon make for an ultra-rich barbecue sauce that’s sweet and tangy.

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Victor Protasio; Food Stylist: Chelsea Zimmer; Prop Stylist: Christina Dailey

Early kickoff? Breakfast tacos are the easiest, most portable way to get everyone geared up for the day.

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Victor Protasio; Food Stylist: Chelsea Zimmer; Prop Stylist: Christina Dailey

The Grove at Ole Miss is the ultimate tailgate locale, and these grab-and-go sandwiches are the ultimate tailgate dish.

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Frederick Hardy II; Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn; Prop Stylist: Kay Clarke

These adorable treats are a surefire way to impress a tailgate full of fans. If you’re short on time, swap for boxed brownie mix but keep the homemade frosting.

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CAITLIN BENSEL; FOOD STYLIST: TORIE COX

Corn dogs are the ideal grab-and-go food for mingling tailgaters. Don’t forget the ketchup and mustard!

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Victor Protasio; Food Stylist: Chelsea Zimmer; Prop Stylist: Christina Dailey

A drizzle of honey is the secret that makes this chicken recipe irresistible.

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Victor Protasio; Food Stylist: Margaret Dickey; Prop Stylist: Christina Daley

You can make this dip and put it in the fridge up to three days in advance, but top it with freshly chopped scallions just before serving.

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Robby Lozano, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall

Everyone at the tailgate will be blown away that you made your own pretzels from scratch. It’s a labor of love to make them, but they can be served at room temp, which is great for tailgates.

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Morgan Hunt Glaze; Prop Stylist: Julia Bayless; Food Stylist: Sally McKay

You don’t have to be from the Mountain State to appreciate this delicious dish. They’re surprisingly simple to make with just a few ingredients.

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Jen Causey, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Priscilla Montiel

You can freeze the blondie batter before or after baking, making this dessert the perfect make-ahead option for tailgates on the go.

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If you’re looking for a no-fail snack, here you go! These Pigs In A Blanket also freeze beautifully for make-ahead purposes.

Credit: Victor Protasio; Food Styling: Rishon Hanners; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis

“Absolutely fabulous!” wrote a reviewer who left five stars. “I even purchased the spicy pickles which I had never had before and that was the cherry on the top! Thank you for such a great dinner!”

Credit: Victor Protasio; Food Styling: Rishon Hanners; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis

Instead of standing at the tailgate and flipping burgers all afternoon, make a big batch of these tasty sliders ahead of time. Homemade bacon jam sets them apart from your usual burger recipe.

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Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Rebecca Cummins

Those 11 a.m. kickoffs aren’t exciting for everyone, but your tailgate crew will be thrilled to see a platter of these homemade chicken minis on the spread.

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Victor Protasio; Food Stylist: Chelsea Zimmer; Prop Stylist: Christina Dailey

Inspired by the famous Toomer’s Drugs lemonade in Auburn, Alabama, this sheet cake was made for serving a crowd.

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Victor Protasio; Food Stylist: Chelsea Zimmer; Prop Stylist: Christina Dailey

A Gamecocks favorite, these chicken dogs will be a hit at any tailgate. Wrap them in foil to make them easily portable to the tailgate, and let visitors add their own toppings.

Credit: Photography and Styling: Karen Rankin

When you need something more substantial than dip to feed your hungry crowd, you can’t go wrong here. Southerners will instantly recognize this handheld staple, made with ham, cheese, and Hawaiian rolls. This recipe elevates the basic ham-and-cheese with an amazing homemade béchamel sauce and Gruyère cheese.

Credit: Photographer: Jennifer Causey Food Stylist: Melissa Gray Prop Stylist: Kay Clarke

This recipe is as good as stuffed jalapeños but packed into a shareable party dip. Though delicious as is, for even more color and texture you can fold in chopped red and yellow bell peppers. If you’re busy the day of the tailgate, this dip is a great option that can be made ahead of time.

Credit: Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Ali Ramee; Prop Styling: Sarah Elizabeth Cleveland

Game day isn’t truly complete without a scrumptious meatball dish on the table. These saucy meatballs slow cook in grape jelly, adding sweetness to the heat and spice of chili sauce and barbecue sauce. Set a container of toothpicks next to the slow cooker and let your guests do the work.

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Monica Farber

This is hands-down the most crowd-pleasing dip recipe for when you’re feeding a group of hungry Southerners. It’s melty, creamy, cheesy, chicken-filled, and packed with a kick of Buffalo flavor. Flat pretzel chips or crusty bread make excellent scoops.

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Morgan Hunt Glaze, Food Stylist: Jennifer Wendorf, Prop Stylist: Shell Royster

Southern-favorite Conecuh sausage is turned into bite-sized pieces that are sliced up and fanned out to create extra bites of crispy, juice meat. The tangy dipping sauce puts this special tailgate appetizer over the top. These will be the first to go at the party.

Credit: Photographer: Jennifer Causey Food Stylist: Melissa Gray Prop Stylist: Kay Clarke

These practically mess-free chicken bites are boneless, letting guests indulge with a fork. If you’ll be transporting these chicken bites after cooking, we recommend keeping the chicken and sauce separate until right before serving. For variety, offer a bowl of both ranch and blue cheese dressings on the side.

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Creamy, cheesy, bacony, and oh-so bubbly, this dip will have the whole tailgate doing victory dances. This dip packs an entire pound of bacon, plus cream cheese, Cheddar, sour cream, and mayo. Top with lettuce and cherry tomatoes to make it look just like the sandwich.

Credit: Antonis Achilleos

It’s not game day without a huge plate of nachos. Pick up some pulled pork from your favorite barbecue joint to help these nachos come together in just 15 minutes. All you need to do is layer your favorite toppings, bake, and then add any cold ingredients you’d like.

Credit: Victor Protasio, Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall, Prop Stylist: Kathleen Varner

Imagine all the best flavors of Buffalo chicken dip rolled into a delicious and flaky pastry. To make these, you’ll need thawed sheets of frozen puff pastry, on which you’ll spread the Buffalo chicken filling before rolling them up jelly-roll style. The pinwheels are topped with blue cheese dressing and chopped fresh celery leaves or parsley.

Credit: Photography: Caitlin Bensel Food Styling: Ali Ramee Prop Styling: Sarah Elizabeth Cleveland

Did someone say sausage balls? We can hear the people running from other tailgates already. This recipe spices it up a notch with hot pork sausage and pepper Jack cheese, but also makes life easier with Bisquick.

Credit: Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Styling: Christina Daley

These bite-sized poppers check off all the boxes: colorful, adorable, and tasty. Use baby bell peppers as the base for cheese and pepperoni to deliver the flavor of pizza in popper form. Garnish with bright green basil.

Credit: Photo: Hector Manuel Sanchez; Prop Styling: Lydia Pursell; Food Styling: Tami Hardeman

Who doesn’t love a two-ingredient recipe that’s destined to be the hit of the party? As is, this recipe makes 24 crackers, so we recommend doubling (or tripling!) this recipe. The crackers need to bake on low heat for 90 minutes to achieve a nice and crisp bowtie shape.

Credit: Caitlin Bensel

Serve this tasty dip with pita chips, radishes, or fresh broccoli for a surefire crowd-pleaser. This recipe is heavier on the artichokes than many, so we used frozen for the best flavor. The leftovers are great on a baked potato or chicken, too.

Credit: Photography: Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Torie Cox

Simplicity is key in this tasty make-ahead recipe. It comes together with just five ingredients in less than 20 minutes. You’ll love the classic flavor, and you can spice things up with a jar of hot sauce.

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Victor Protasio; Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Stylist Shell Royster

Hard choices aren’t to be made on game day, so get the best of both worlds with this recipe that combines the sweet outer crunch of a cookie with the rich decadence of a brownie. Oh, and did we mention it all starts with a box of brownie mix? Chill the dough before baking so the cookies stay in cookie form.

Credit: Jennifer Causey

Cooked low and slow, these tender wings are sure to be a hit at your next tailgate feast. The fragrant, orange-hued rub is predominantly due to paprika, enhanced with a few other spices. It comes from pitmaster Wade Reich of Butts To Go in Alabama, so you know it’s good.

Credit: Hector Manuel Sanchez; Styling: Katie Jacobs

This munch mix is filled with cereal, bite-size pretzels, candy-coated peanut-butter candies, mini marshmallows, and a yummy butter mixture with brown sugar and honey. What can go wrong? Keep it in an airtight container and serve it in waffle cones during the game.

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Victor Protasio, Food Stylist: Chelsea Zimmer, Prop Stylist: Matthew Gleason

We first debuted this recipe in the ’90s, and we’re still fans today. Classic deviled eggs get a festive spin from cilantro, serrano peppers, diced green onions, and cheese. Sprinkle on chili powder to taste.

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Smoked paprika gives all the flavor to this hummus recipe made with black-eyed peas instead of chickpeas. Top with extra olive oil, lemon zest, and paprika for an extra zing and pop of color. Serve with pita chips.

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This easy snack is always a crowd-pleaser at a Southern tailgate. Make the nuts in a slow cooker and haul it over to the tailgate to keep the boiled peanuts warm all day. They go down especially well with an ice-cold beer.

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Hector Manuel Sanchez

Need we say more? It’s not a Southern daytime party without at least one batch of pimiento cheese. Hot tip: Serve with crackers and a jar of Wickles on the side.

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Jen Causey; Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn; Prop Stylist: Josh Hoggle

This reader-favorite won in a bake-off between the wives of presidential candidates. Filled with all the most delicious ingredients like chocolate chips, oats, coconut, and pecans, this cookie recipe makes a big enough batch to feed your crowd all day long.

Credit: Caitlin Bensel

We know that you know this dip because it might be the most popular game-day dip of all time. This recipe gives you the perfect ratio of cheese, meat, chiles, and tomatoes, which are all cooked and served warm in your slow cooker. Tortilla scoops will come in handy for this one.

Credit: Hector Manuel Sanchez

Stuffed with a cream cheese mixture and wrapped in thick-cut bacon, these jalapeño poppers are guaranteed to get the party going. Just make sure to remove the seeds and membranes before you fill your poppers—unless you’re looking to heat things up.

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Robby Lozano; Food Stylist: Emily Nabors Hall

Say hello to the most popular, swoon-worthy pasta salad around. Everyone loves the simple combination of broccoli, grapes, pecans, and bacon. The result is a perfect balance of sweetness, tartness, and crunch.

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Hannah Zimmerman

Serve up fall’s favorite pie without any fuss. These chewy, bite-size bars are baked in a casserole dish and require just 20 minutes of prep time. The easy crust is simply patted into place.

Credit: Antonis Achilleos; Prop Styling: Kay E. Clarke; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall

We upped the ante on this popular dip by using dry mustard, Gruyère, Cheddar, Worcestershire sauce, and a lager beer. Keep your fondue pot over a Sterno to keep the dip from clumping. Serve with sliced cooked bratwurst for extra fun.

Credit: Photo: Jennifer Davick; Styling: Amy Burke

You can easily make these mini muffuletta sliders the day before the party. Just assemble, place in zip-top plastic freezer bags, and refrigerate overnight. Store-bought craft paper and simple twine create clever sandwich wrappers.

Credit: Greg Dupree; Food Styling: Anna Hampton; Prop Styling: Ginny Branch

What’s a party without salsa? If you have a smoker, make yours one to remember. Pair it with our homemade guacamole and warm chips and you’re set.

Credit: Hector Manuel Sanchez

Let your slow cooker be the star of the tailgate by filling it with this creamy corn dip. Simply stir together seven ingredients and cook, then top with crumbled bacon and scallions. Tortilla chips will do, but extra-salty corn chips are even better.

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Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox

Texas caviar has been a hit at dinner parties since the 1950s. Something like tangy salsa, the veggies are dressed with a bottle of Italian dressing. We like adding green tomatoes for their bright, citrusy flavor.

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Caitlin Bensel; Food Stylist: Torie Cox

Enjoy everything you love about the classic sandwich, without the bun. This cheesy, meaty party dip is started on the stove and finished in the oven. There’s no such thing as too much cheese, so we’ve doubled up with melted provolone slices over top.

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Antonis Achilleos; Prop Stylist: Lydia Purcell; Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn

Does this look like a game-day dip or what? Baked pretzel bites nestle in beer cheese made with sharp Cheddar and creamy Havarti. Serve extra pretzels on the side.

Credit: Photographer: Jennifer Causey Food Stylist: Melissa Gray Prop Stylist: Christina Daley

This no-fuss dessert has a crust of graham cracker crumbs and crushed pretzels. That’s topped with layers of cheesecake batter, apples tossed in cinnamon and sugar, and a crunchy oat mixture. The bars become downright decadent when you drizzle caramel sauce over top.

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