Spice Up Your Sunday Football With These Recipes

Football fans, the long wait is over. The NFL preseason is winding down, and we’re about to go into our last full weekend without NFL football until February. We get to return to our regularly-scheduled hours on the sofa on a Sunday afternoon watching the best players in the world battle it out on the gridiron for months.

Do you know what the only thing better than watching football on a Sunday afternoon is?

It’s a Sunday afternoon watching football while munching away some of your favorite snacks. Sure, you can crack open a bag of chips and scoop up some premade dip with them, but that doesn’t do the greatness of football season justice.

Instead of spending a fortune on having food delivered to your house, you can easily fix some delicious snacks that will take your football watching to the next level. Whether you’re watching the games by yourself or hosting your friends, these recipes for football Sundays are sure to be a hit.

Buffalo Chicken Wings

When you think of watching football, you probably think of scarfing down some wings while you cheer your team on to victory. What you may not have realized is that you can make your own buffalo wings at home, which is not only more affordable but also means that you can make them as spicy or as mild as you want.

You can grab some wings at any grocery store. Grab boneless or bone-in, or get both! Making your sauce is as easy as following this simple recipe.

Mix some garlic powder, salt, pepper, hot sauce, and butter together in a large bowl. If you want to break a sweat while you’re watching the game, put in some extra hot sauce. If you’re going for a mild flavor profile, use just enough hot sauce to provide the wings with a little bit of heat.

Add your wings to the bowl that has your sauce mixture and make sure that every part of each wing is thoroughly coated. While you’re doing all this, preheat your oven to 375 degrees. When your wings are coated with your sauce, put them in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes. You’ll be ready to sit down in front of your TV with all the wings you can eat.

Loaded Nachos

When you think of easy recipes to make while you’re watching the big game, you may not think of loaded nachos, but they deserve a spot on the list. You don’t have to dump some fake cheese out of a jar and onto your tortilla chips and try to pass them off as nachos with this recipe for football Sunday.

Start by cooking your meat, whether you want ground beef or chicken. Be sure to season the protein that you choose with some taco seasoning to give it the right flavor. Once your meat is done and you’ve drained the grease, you’re ready to put the loaded nachos together.

Start by putting a generous layer of tortilla chips on a baking sheet before covering them with shredded cheese. Now you’re ready to put the meat that you just cooked onto the pan. When that’s in place, you can add black beans, jalapenos, or any other ingredients you’d like.

Put the baking sheet into the oven for 10 or 15 minutes at 375 degrees. With the initial layer of cheese bubbling away, you can add another layer to the top of the nachos, along with salsa, guacamole, sour cream, and anything else you enjoy.

Potato Skins

This method of making your own potato skins is not only incredibly easy but also one of the best recipes for watching football on our list.

If you and your friends don’t want to sit in a crowded sports bar but also don’t want to share a bag of chips while supporting your team, you can bring the sports bar to your living room with this easy recipe.

With your oven preheated to 400 degrees, take four to six russet potatoes and rub them down with olive oil and salt. You can use more potatoes if you’re hosting a huge crowd for gameday. With your potatoes prepped, put them in your 400-degree oven for 45 to 60 minutes.

At that point, your potatoes should be thoroughly cooked, so you’re ready to turn them into your favorite appetizer. Once they cool down, cut your potatoes and scoop out the inside. Be sure to leave a thin layer of potato attached to the skin before brushing the skin with more olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Stick them back in the oven for about 10 minutes, careful to put the cut side of the potato down. When you get them out, you can add cheese, bacon bits, chives, sour cream, and any other toppings you enjoy. Serve with ranch, blue cheese, or your choice of dipping sauce.

Meatball Subs

If you and your football-watching friends want something with a little more substance, you can make your own meatball subs. Sure, you can buy some frozen meatballs at the grocery store, but you can use this easy recipe to make your own, and they’ll taste much better.

Start by making your meatballs by mixing a pound of ground beef (we recommend 80/20 ground beef) with ¼ cup of breadcrumbs and ¼ cup of Parmesan cheese. You can also add a single teaspoon of Italian seasoning along with salt and pepper. Mix everything together well and then roll out some one-inch meatballs.

Put your meatballs in a skillet over medium heat until they’re browned. Then, put the meatballs in a saucepan that has marinara sauce in it and let them simmer for about 20 minutes. They’ll soak up the marinara and get a nice coating on the outside.

Split your sub rolls and put the meatballs in with a generous amount of marinara. Drizzle some shredded mozzarella on the sandwiches and put them in the oven to broil just long enough to melt the cheese. You’ll have some delectable meatball subs that will keep everyone feeling full for hours.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Sure, you can call in an order and have a pizza place bring you something to snack on while you’re watching the game. Or you can put together a simple recipe for BBQ chicken pizza that will leave everyone’s mouth watering.

Work with your pizza dough until it's at your desired thickness. There’s no right or wrong answer here. With your dough prepped, spread a layer of BBQ sauce over it, again, choosing your own thickness.

Some people like a messy, saucy pizza while others prefer just a hint of sauce. Spread some shredded chicken over the sauce (you’ll want to cook your chicken before starting on your pizza). Top things off with some cheese and maybe some onions, peppers, and other toppings that you like.

With your oven heated to 475 degrees, stick your pizza in to bake for 10-12 minutes. When you get it out, you’ll have a gameday meal that blends the worlds of BBQ and pizza perfectly.

Enjoy These Football Recipes

With the NFL regular season just days from kicking off, it’s time to start thinking about how you’re going to enjoy the games.

If you don’t want to spend a fortune on food delivery and you don’t want to go pick up food and miss the action, these recipes can definitely help. Invite some friends over, kick back, and enjoy the season.