Even if you’re just watching the game from your couch, these delicious snacks will kick the day off right. Of course we’ve included a couple of our most crowd-pleasing wing recipes here, as well as scoop-worthy dips, gooey cheese appetizers, meatballs, sliders, and more. With this crave-able collection of game day snacks, we’re sure the home team will score big in the noshing department.
Crispy Potato Skins with Chorizo
Food & Wine / Photo by Morgan Hunt Glaze / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Josh Hoggle
Crispy potato skins are the ideal vessel for rich, smoky chorizo, gooey cheese, and a lime-spiked crema in this easy appetizer that’s perfect for parties. We bake the potatoes three times for the perfect texture and top with radishes, pickled jalapeños, and scallions.
French Onion Roast Beef Sliders
Chris Simpson / FOOD STYLING by MARGARET MONROE DICKEY / PROP STYLING by AUDREY DAVIS
Sweet caramelized onions are a perfect match for store-bought Hawaiian sweet rolls layered with deli-sliced roast beef and melted Gruyère. The rolls get nicely toasted in the oven for a perfectly crisp bite.
Bacon and Cheese Pigs in a Blanket
Food & Wine / Photo by Morgan Hunt Glaze / Food Styling by Sally McKay / Prop Styling by Abby Armstrong
These next-level pigs in a blanket were practically born for game day noshing. The bite-sized favorites are wrapped in bacon with cheese tucked inside store-bought crescent rolls for a quick appetizer.
Buffalo Wings
Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Amelia Rampe
There’s no substitute for classic Buffalo wings when it comes to game day snacking. These wings are fried, then tossed in a buttery hot sauce and served with blue cheese dip and celery.
Salsa Asada de Aguacate (Avocado Salsa)
Eva Kolenko / Food Styling by Carrie Purcell / Prop Styling by Nidia Cueva
This creamy and spicy salsa blurs the line between guacamole and salsa verde. Tart tomatillos, lightly charred on the grill, are mellowed by buttery mashed avocados.
Bavarian Pretzels
Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Torie Cox / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
Homemade pretzels are a labor of love, but the end result is oh-so-worth it. Mix up your dough the day before the game so you can enjoy fresh, hot pretzels at the watch party.
Sheet Pan Nachos
Jordan Provost / Food Styling by Thu Buser
Baking your nachos on a sheet pan ensures the perfect chip-to-cheese ratio. Serve these straight from the pan along with sour cream, salsa, and guacamole for dipping.
Boiled Peanuts
Matt Taylor-Gross
Peanuts are a time-honored, fun-to-eat snack. You’ll need to allow several hours to soak and boil the raw, in-shell nuts, but the recipe itself is largely hands-off.
Beer Cheese
Food & Wine / Photo by Jason Donnelly / Food Styling by Holly Dreesman / Prop Styling by Addelyn Evans
A blend of sharp cheddar and cream cheese is spiked with a generous amount of pale ale for a tangy, spicy spread that’s terrific with pretzels and raw veggies.
Garlic Butter Chicken Bites
Food & Wine / Photo by Jen Causey / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Christina Daley
Sear pieces of chicken breast before coating with a luscious lemon pepper and garlic butter sauce to serve with toothpicks or skewers and dipping sauce if desired.
Crispy Air Fryer Onion Rings
Chris Simpson / FOOD STYLING by MARGARET MONROE DICKEY / PROP STYLING by AUDREY DAVIS
Onion rings are nothing without their crunchy exterior, but you don’t need to deep-fry to achieve it. Here, we coat sweet onions with crushed cornflakes and use the air fryer to make a lighter version of the classic snack.
Ham, Soppressata, and Two-Cheese Stromboli
Food & Wine / Photo by Jacob Fox / Food Styling by Holly Dreesman / Prop Styling by Addy Evans
Pizza dough gets stuffed with two meats, two cheeses, and two kinds of peppers for this make-ahead snack that can be served warm or cold.
Cheesy Pinto Bean Dip with Chorizo and Chiles
Cedric Angeles
Deliciously savory and hearty, this party-ready dip features creamy pinto beans flavored with three kinds of chiles and packed with Mexican chorizo, crispy bacon, and onions. Gooey Oaxaca cheese ties everything together — feel free to melt even more on top if you’re feeling especially indulgent.
Fried Boudin Balls with Creole Mustard Dipping Sauce
Photo by Fred Hardy / Food Styling by Ali Ramee / Prop Styling by Christina Brockman
A Louisiana signature, Cajun-style Boudin balls are formed with pork, a chicken liver mixture, rice, vegetables, and aromatic seasonings before getting fried to a golden crisp. The Creole mustard dipping sauce completes this Southern delicacy.
Sweet Potato Oven Fries
Matt Taylor-Gross
You can play around with the seasonings for these fries very easily. Sprinkle pimentón (smoked paprika) or Urfa chili powder for a little smokiness to balance the sweet.
Caramelized Five-Onion Dip
Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Rishon Hanners / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
Onion dip is plenty delicious in its own right, and in this recipe from Justin Chapple, five types of caramelized onions bring loads of additional flavor to the party. Cream cheese, mayonnaise, and sour cream provide the dip’s creamy, luscious base.
Pepperoni Rolls with Garlic-Anchovy Marinara
Photo by Jen Causey / Food Styling by Melissa Gray / Prop Styling by Christina Daley
Serve these pepperoni and provolone rolls appetizer-style with marinara sauce on the side that’s been bolstered with caramelized baked garlic and salty anchovies.
Vada Pav (Potato Fritter Sandwich)
Photo by Rachel Vanni / Food Styling by Judy Haubert
Add these fun little sandwiches to your list of ways to love fried potatoes. Here, balls of generously spiced mashed potatoes are battered and fried; to serve, they’re layered with chutney and pan-fried serrano chiles on a soft bun.
Honey-Pepper Coconut Shrimp
Photo by Greg DuPree / Prop Styling by Christine Keely / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer
Perfectly crisp and golden, these tasty shrimp bites are coated in a sweetened shredded coconut and panko breading and glazed with a zesty, peppery sauce. Serve with mango-habanero aïoli.
Buffalo and Blue Cheese Popcorn
Sarah Crowder
Perfectly balanced between spicy and cheesy, half of these savory popped kernels are tossed with Buffalo sauce and the other with blue cheese powder and celery salt, offering a great alternative to standard game day snacks.
Fried Cheese Curds with Buttermilk Ranch Dipping Sauce
Photo by Huge Galdones / Food Styling by Christina Zerkis
A rice flour mixture combined with egg, yellow mustard, and lager beer transforms white cheddar cheese curds into a deep-fried, savory appetizer for game day. We completed this recipe with an herby buttermilk ranch sauce that’s perfect for dipping.
Crispy Chicken Wings
Diana Chistruga
These wings are a lesson in simplicity. Seasoning them with nothing more than salt and pepper enables you to get as creative as you’d like with your game day dipping sauce. Once you master the technique for achieving maximum crispiness, you can build on the recipe from there.
Spicy Lamb Meatballs with Green Goddess Dip
Photo by Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Rishon Hanners / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen
Seasoned with cumin, garlic, and paprika, these plump meatballs make game day a bit more simple and flavorful. Though the harissa — a vibrant North African chile pepper paste — doesn’t skimp on heat, it’s balanced by a creamy herb dip.
Stuffed Jalapeños
Abby Hocking / Food & Wine
Perfect served with beer fresh from the kegerator, these stuffed jalapeños are a great snack for your next game day get-together. Halved jalapeños are packed with a cheddar and cream cheese filling flavored with garlic, cilantro, and scallions.
Crispy Cheese Sticks
© John Kernick
Flattened white bread serves as the wrapper for these quick and simple crispy cheese sticks. Mozzarella, Parmesan, egg, parsley, and crushed red pepper come together to make the gooey filling.
Dining and Cooking