Holidays & Entertaining
Game Day
Recipes
Eleven game day recipes I actually make when people come over. Wings, dips, sliders, a few appetizers that take ten minutes, and one dessert that looks like you tried. Filter by what you need, scale any of them to your crowd, and print the ones you’re bringing.
Showing all 11
Dill Pickle Cracker Bites
Four ingredients and ten minutes. This is the one I make when somebody says they’re coming over and it’s already the afternoon.
Ingredients
- 12 almond flour crackers
- 12 dill pickle slices, patted dry
- 3 oz dill Havarti, or your favorite melting cheese
- 1 tsp everything bagel seasoning
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
- Place the crackers on the sheet. Top each with a pickle slice and a small square of cheese.
- Bake about 10 minutes, until the cheese is melted and starting to bubble.
- Sprinkle the everything bagel seasoning over the hot bites and serve.
Pigs in a Blanket Footballs
Regular pigs in a blanket, except you pipe little mustard laces on top so they look like footballs. My kids do that part and it takes them approximately forever, which is sort of the point.
Ingredients
- 1 can crescent rolls
- 1 package little smokies
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp yellow mustard, for piping
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Roll out the crescent triangles, cut into smaller triangles, and wrap each smokie.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment and place the wrapped smokies on top.
- Whisk the egg with the Dijon and brush over each one.
- Bake 25–30 minutes, until golden brown.
- Transfer to a platter and pipe football laces with the yellow mustard.
High Protein Smashed Potato Pizza Bites with Hot Honey
Crispy and cheesy, with protein from the cottage cheese and mozzarella. I finish them with parmesan, basil and hot honey, and skip the honey on the kids’ half.
Ingredients
- 1½ lbs baby potatoes, small gold or red
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- ½ cup marinara sauce
- ½ cup cottage cheese
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella
- 20 turkey pepperoni, quartered
- Parmesan and fresh basil
- Hot honey, optional
Directions
- Microwave the baby potatoes about 4 minutes, until tender.
- Smash into discs on a parchment-lined sheet pan using the back of a glass.
- Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, flip to coat both sides.
- Broil about 4 minutes until they start to crisp, then flip.
- Top with marinara, a dollop of cottage cheese, mozzarella and quartered pepperoni.
- Broil 3–4 minutes more, until crispy and golden.
- Finish with parmesan, basil and the hot honey.
Sweet Potato Nachos
Nachos, except the base is roasted sweet potato rounds instead of chips. They get crispy at the edges and stay sturdy under the toppings, and they feel like slightly less of a free for all than a tray of chips.
Ingredients
- 2 sweet potatoes, sliced ¼ inch thick
- 1 cup refried black beans
- ½ lb ground beef, turkey or diced chicken
- Taco seasoning, or your own blend of paprika, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, salt and pepper
- 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack or cheddar
- Optional: diced onion, bell pepper, tomato, jalapeños
- Hot sauce, cilantro, Greek yogurt, guacamole
Directions
- Bake the sweet potato slices at 425°F for 20 minutes, flip, and bake another 20. An air fryer works too.
- Layer with the beans, meat, cheese and toppings.
- Bake 5 minutes, until the cheese melts.
- Top with cilantro, jalapeños and hot sauce.
Honey Dijon Party Sandwiches
Ham and Swiss on Hawaiian rolls, baked in a pan with a buttery honey dijon sauce poured over the top. They are cheap to make, they feed a lot of people, and they are always the first tray that empties.
Ingredients
- ½ stick butter
- 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp brown sugar, or substitute
- 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 12 Hawaiian rolls
- ¾ lb sliced ham
- ½ lb sliced Swiss
- 1 tbsp poppy seeds
Directions
- In a saucepan, melt the butter, Worcestershire, brown sugar and Dijon. Simmer until caramelized.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Pour a few tablespoons of sauce into a 9×13 dish.
- Place the bottom halves of the rolls in the dish, add the ham and cheese, then the tops.
- Drizzle the remaining sauce over the rolls and sprinkle with poppy seeds.
- Bake 15–20 minutes, until golden and melty.
Honey Garlic Chicken Wings
One tray of wings, split into two sauces at the end, so half come out sweet and garlicky and half come out classic buffalo. Nobody has to agree on anything and you only wash one pan.
Ingredients
- 1½ lbs chicken drummettes
- Salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- 1½ tbsp red chili paste
- 3 tbsp soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 1½ tbsp rice vinegar
- 1½ tbsp minced garlic
- 2 tbsp honey
- Optional: sweet chili sauce or buffalo sauce
Directions
- Preheat oven to 450°F. Toss the wings with the oil and seasonings.
- Bake 20 minutes, flipping halfway.
- Mix the chili garlic sauce in one bowl and the buffalo sauce in another.
- Toss half the wings in each and return to the oven for 5 minutes.
- Toss again after baking and serve with ranch and veggies.
Buffalo Chicken Dip
The one everyone asks for. A rotisserie chicken turns it into a ten-minute assembly job.
Ingredients
- 2 cups shredded chicken
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella
- ¾ cup shredded cheddar
- ½ cup buffalo sauce
- Optional: green onion
- Crackers, chips or veggie sticks
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Mix everything together, saving half the cheddar for the top.
- Spread into a baking dish and top with the remaining cheddar.
- Bake 30–35 minutes, until bubbly. Broil 2 minutes for a crispy top.
Potato Skin Bites
All the potato skin toppings, but on rounds instead of halves so they are actual finger food. They also hold up sitting out on a table for a while, which most hot appetizers do not.
Ingredients
- 2 russet potatoes, sliced ½ inch thick
- ½ cup cheddar
- ¼ cup chopped bacon
- 2 tbsp green onion
- ½ cup Greek yogurt, for dipping
- Olive or avocado oil, salt and pepper
Directions
- Preheat oven to 450°F. Brush the potato slices with oil, season, and bake 15 minutes per side.
- Add the cheese and bacon, bake 5 more minutes.
- Broil 1–2 minutes for crispiness.
- Top with green onion. Serve with the Greek yogurt dip, mixed with hot sauce for a kick.
Photo credit: Delish
Caramelized Onion Dip
Caramelizing three onions takes about thirty minutes of standing there stirring, and it is worth every one of them. Make it the day before, it genuinely gets better sitting in the fridge overnight.
Ingredients
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 tbsp butter or ghee
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 yellow or sweet onions, thinly sliced
- Optional: green onion
Directions
- Melt the butter and oil in a pan, add the onions, and caramelize about 30 minutes, stirring often.
- Let cool slightly, then mix with the cream cheese and yogurt until fluffy.
- Serve topped with green onion, with chips or crackers.
Photo credit: Delish
Football Brownies
A boxed gluten free brownie mix baked in muffin tins, with white icing piped on in football laces once they cool. Three ingredients, and nobody has ever guessed they were gluten free.
Ingredients
- 1 box brownie mix (Simple Mills works great)
- Eggs and oil, per the box
- White icing, store bought tube or homemade
Directions
- Bake the brownies in muffin tins or a tray.
- Once cooled, pipe football laces with the icing.
Photo credit: Amy’s Healthy Baking
French Fry Board
This is barely a recipe, it is just several bags of frozen fries baked off and dumped on one big board with a bunch of dipping sauces in little bowls. It looks like way more effort than it is and it is always the thing people hover around.
Ingredients
- 3–5 bags assorted fries: waffle, curly, crinkle, sweet potato, steak cut, tots, onion rings
- Dips: ketchup, honey mustard, BBQ, buffalo, sriracha mayo, queso, ranch, guacamole
Directions
- Bake the fries according to the package directions.
- Arrange everything on a large board with the dips in small bowls.
Nothing matches that combination. Tap Everything to start over.
Game day questions I get asked
How much food do I need per person for a game day party?
Plan on six to eight bites per person for a two to three hour game, and more if you are running through both an early and a late game. Two dips, three handhelds and one sweet covers about ten people comfortably. Use the servings stepper on any recipe here to scale it to your actual headcount.
What game day food can I make ahead?
The caramelized onion dip is better made the day before. Buffalo chicken dip can be assembled the night before and baked when people arrive. The honey dijon party sandwiches can be built ahead and held in the fridge until they go in the oven. Filter by Make ahead above to see all three.
What are the easiest game day appetizers?
The dill pickle cracker bites take four ingredients and ten minutes. The french fry board is barely a recipe, you bake bagged fries and set out sauces. Football brownies are three ingredients. Filter by 10 minutes or less to see those.
What game day food travels well to somebody else’s house?
Both dips travel well in the dish you baked them in, covered with foil. The party sandwiches hold up in the pan. Wings are best finished at home right before you leave. Skip the potato skin bites and the pickle crackers if you have a long drive, they are best straight out of the oven.
Are any of these gluten free?
The dill pickle cracker bites use almond flour crackers. The smashed potato pizza bites, sweet potato nachos, potato skin bites, caramelized onion dip and wings are naturally gluten free. The football brownies use a gluten free mix.
What should I make if kids are coming?
Pigs in a blanket footballs, football brownies and the french fry board. All three are things my kids will actually help make, which is half the reason they get made. Filter by Kids can help.
More game day recipes on the blog
Save this one. It works for football, the Super Bowl, and every last-minute “what are you bringing” text between now and February.
Hi, I’m Erin. I have two little kids and a full time 9-5 that I am not leaving, and I spend most of my time figuring out how to get dinner on the table and the week to hold together without holding all of it in my head. That’s basically all I post about. I’m over on Instagram at @kee_to_wellness if that sounds like your situation too, and everything I cook ends up on my Pinterest eventually.
