Football season in the south is a sacred time. Everyone gathers together for a time of support and celebration for their favorite team. With football comes food. If you’re at the game, you have limited food choices at the stadium, but for those of us who can’t go to every game, there are tons of great options to make at home. I personally love to invite friends over and make Saturdays an event. Providing enough food for a group can often be difficult. Early games tend to fall right around lunchtime, so it’s hard to gauge how hungry everyone will be and if your food will be adequate enough. The best thing to do is to make appetizers and snack foods.
Here’s a few that I recommend making that are quick and crowd pleasers:
Pigs in a Blanket
These are SUPER easy and cheap to make. One of my favorites
Ingredients:
• Crescent rolls
• Cocktail wieners
Directions:
1. Take the crescent rolls out of the packaging. You don’t have to follow the pre-cut triangles, so take a cocktail wiener and roll it in the dough. I personally like mine to have more dough so I tend to add a little extra. Take off a small piece of dough and wrap it around the wiener.
2. Place the rolled wieners on a baking sheet and pop in the oven for 10-15 minutes on 350. Just keep an eye on them and when they start to brown take them out.
4-Layer Deep Dish Pizza Dip with Flatbread (phemomenon.com)
This is great because it’s a dip that has a little bit more substance to it. For those hungry fans that want “real food” this is close enough to a pizza to satisfy them, but so much better.
Ingredients:
• 6 ounces ricotta cheese?
• 6 ounces finely shredded Italian cheese blend (I used provolone, mozzarella and Parmesan)?
• 3/4 cup pizza or marinara sauce?
• Pepperoni slices to cover the top
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. Spread ricotta cheese in an even layer in a baking dish with high sides (for deep dish version it should be no more than 6-inches across approximately).
3. Pour pizza sauce over ricotta cheese and spread evenly.
4. Layer shredded cheese over pizza sauce.
5. Layer the top with the pepperoni slices.
6. Bake for 30-35 minutes until cheese is browned and bubbly.
7. Serve with flatbread
Buffalo Chicken Bites (plainchicken.com)
Here’s another snack food that has substance to it. These are pop-able and an easy finger food.
Ingredients:
• 3 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup hot sauce (or more to your taste)
• 3 1/2 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups sharp or medium shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 – 4 cups Corn Flakes cereal, crushed
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350?F.
2. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. In a large bowl, mix the chicken, cream cheese and hot sauce until combined.
4. Stir in the cheddar cheese and onion powder.
5. Using a small cookie or ice cream scoop, spoon out the chicken mixture and roll into about 1 1/2 inch balls.
6. Place on a plate or separate baking sheet until ready to dip.
7. In three separate bowls, set out the flour, eggs and Corn Flakes.
8. Dip each chicken ball first into the flour, then the egg and ending with the Corn Flakes.
9. Place on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
10. Serve warm with ranch or blue cheese dressing.