Game Day Eats: Top Appetizers and Snacks to Elevate Your Football Experience

Updated for the 2025-26 Football Season!

Football season is here! Even if you aren't a big football - or fall sports - fan, you gotta love the gatherings and THE FOOD that comes along with this time of year. And let's face it, some foods are just better served in while the game is on.

Personally, I love this kind of thing. A theme, a party and all our usual foods tossed out the window to make room for yummy dips and other fun favorites. Below are some of the Babble Panel's Game-Day Go-To's!

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Jalapeno Popper Dip- Brooke

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. block of cream cheese

• 3 Tbl. mayo

• 1 1/2 C. parmesan cheese (pre shredded from the store)

• 1 lg. can diced green chiles, drained

• 1 sm. can diced jalapeno chilies, drained or 1-2 fresh jalapenos

Mix all ingredients together and put into an oven safe dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes until bubbling and browning on the top. Serve right away with tortilla chips. Also be great on burgers!

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Easy Chili Chip Dip - Jamie

Ingredients:

• 8 oz cream cheese

• 1 can of chili, no beans (not sure why no beans, maybe preference of the original recipe creator!?)

• 1 can of diced green chilis

• Tortilla chips for serving

Throw the first three ingredients in a pot over low to medium heat until everything is melted and blends, then turn down the heat to low. Throw it in a small crockpot if you're having a party and need to keep it warm. Serve with the chips. Delicious! (Kinda looks like poop but tastes awesome!)

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Crispy Oven-Baked Buffalo Wings- Erin

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. chicken wingettes and drumettes

• 2 Tbl. baking powder

• 1 tsp onion powder

• 1 tsp garlic powder

• ½ tsp paprika

• ¼ tsp black pepper

• ¼ tsp kosher salt

Buffalo Wing Sauce:

• ⅓ c. butter

•  1 c. Frank’s Red Hot Sauce

Preheat to 425 degrees. Line baking sheet with foil and place cooling rack on top. Pat chicken to remove excess moisture. Add baking powder and spices to chicken and coat pieces evenly in a large bowl. Add coated wings to rack and bake in oven for 20 min (or more). After 20 min, flip, bake another 20 min. Drain grease and return to the oven on broil to brown and crisp wings (both sides). Whisk butter and sauce and toss over wings. Serve immediately.

**Wings take longer to cook than expected! Start earlier so there is time to brown and crisp them!

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Beef Brisket Nacho Bar- Anissa

I love me a good shredded beef brisket nacho bar! You can buy precooked shredded pulled pork, or brisket, or even shredded chicken and then have all the fixings for nachos! Easy and everyone can make it how they want.

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Velveeta Hamburger Cheesy Dip- Tiffany

Our family’s favorite! This is an easy and delicious dip recipe to whip up while we watch a game. We call it Cheesy Hamburger Dip. We all make it just a little bit differently based on our tastes, but below is the rough simple recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb hamburger

• Onion, optional

• 1 can Rotel tomatoes with chilis

• Velveeta

• 1 can of pinto beans, optional

Brown your hamburger and onion, drain and add your Rotel tomatoes, and Velveeta until warm and melty. Option to also put all ingredients in a crockpot to keep warm.

It’s also equally delicious, and even easier, if you go with the vegetarian version and just mix up a can of @roteltomatoes with Velveeta. You can even do that in the microwave.💃🏼

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Chipped Beef Dip- Anissa

Ingredients:

• 2 pkgs. chipped beef

• 2-4 green onions

• 1 C. sour cream

• 1/2 C. mayonnaise

Chop chipped beef and green onion. Add all 4 ingredients together. Chill in refrigerator for a few hours. Serve with crackers.

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Tortilla Pinwheels- Angie

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. cream cheese

• 8 oz. sour cream

• 1 small can dice chopped green chilies (drained)

• 1 small can diced black olives

• 1/2 C- 1 C. shredded cheddar cheese

• 1/2 C. green onion (chopped)

• 5 (10 inch) flour tortillas

• Salsa

Mix cream cheese, sour cream, green chilies, black olives, cheese and onion in a bowl. Spread about 1/3 cup of the mixture on each tortilla. Roll up tight, place seam down and refrigerate in an air tight container for 1 hour. Before serving, slice into one inch thick slices. (Tip: you can microwave the tortillas for a few seconds to soften to make the rolling easier.).

Serve with your favorite salsa for optional dipping.

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Pickle Wraps (aka Iowa Sushi)- Erin

Ingredients:

• 1 jar of dill pickles (if you want them super pickley- do whole pickles, otherwise do spears. They won't be as symmetrically pretty, but they will be damn delicious)

• 1 pkg. cream cheese, softened

• 2 pkgs. of Carl Budding corned beef or ham

Take two pieces of corned beef and spread with cream cheese, wrap them around the pickle (you can use 4 pieces if you like more meat). Repeat this step until all pickles are used. Cut the pickles into 3/4 inch slices, refrigerate and serve!

➡️ Check out the IG video tutorial here

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Buffalo Chicken Dip- Erika

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened

• 1/2 cup blue cheese or ranch salad dressing

• 1/2 cup FRANK'S REDHOT Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce or FRANK'S REDHOT Buffalo Wing Sauce

• 1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese or shredded mozzarella cheese

• 2 cans (12.5 oz. each) SWANSON White Premium Chunk Chicken Breast in Water, drained

HEAT oven to 350°F. Place cream cheese into deep baking dish. Stir until smooth. Mix in salad dressing, Frank's RedHot Sauce and cheese. Stir in chicken. Bake 20 min. or until mixture is heated through; stir. Garnish as desired. Serve with crackers, chips, chunks of artisan bread or vegetables.

*This dip is yummy leftover. Reheats well in microwave.

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Easy Homemade Jalapeño Poppers

A jalapeño popper is so fun to whip up for a crowd. A little more unexpected and special!

Ingredients:

• 12 jalapeños

• 6 oz cream cheese, softened

• 1 tsp. garlic powder

• 4 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

• 2 Tbl. chopped fresh chives

• 1/4 c. Panko bread crumbs

• 1 Tbl. melted butter

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Wearing gloves, slice the jalapeños in half lengthwise. Using a small spoon scoop out the seeds and membranes.

In a bowl mix cream cheese, garlic powder, cheddar cheese and chives.

In a separate bowl, combine Panko crumbs and melted butter.

Fill jalapeños with the cream cheese mixture and top with crumbs. (Don't forget to wear your gloves again!)

Place on baking pan and bake for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown.

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Turkey Chili (Soup or Dip)- Heidy

I have been making a really great turkey chili lately. Like every week. I've just been winging it, but it goes something like this...

Ingredients:

• 1 yellow onion, diced

• 3 stalks of celery, chopped

• 3 carrots, chopped

• 4-6 cloves of garlic, smashed and chopped

• 1 orange bell pepper, chopped

• 1 red bell pepper, chopped

• 2 lbs ground turkey

• 1 can of tomato sauce

• 1 can of diced tomatoes or 4-6 whole tomatoes

• 1 cup chicken broth

• 3 tsp cumin

• 1 tsp chili powder

• 1 tsp chili flakes

• 1 tsp paprika

• 2 tsp thyme

• salt and pepper

Coat the bottom of a dutch over cooking pot with olive oil, once warmed to medium heat, add first four ingredients. Salt liberally and pepper to your liking. Let cook until fragrant then add the ground turkey. Cook until browned.

Add the spices, bell peppers, tomato sauce, chicken stock and a little more salt and pepper. If using whole tomatoes, quarter them and then sort of smash them with your hands into the pot to turned them into crushed tomatoes. I like chunks, but realize that not everyone does. If using a can of smashed or diced tomatoes, add them now.

Stir this all up really well. bring to a simmer, and cover for 15-30 minutes or until the fresh tomatoes breaks down and reaches your desired consistency. Ready!!

I like to add a little sour cream or greek yogurt, some shaved parmesan and avocado. I also like to eat with tortilla chips.

If you wanted it more like a dip, you could simmer down further until it's more dip-y and less chili-y.

So good. My kids (4 and 6) will even eat it.

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Sausage Dip (Crockpot)- Erika

Ingredients:

• 1 12oz pkg Jimmy Dean sausage – SAGE

• 1 12oz pkg Jimmy Dean sausage – HOT

• 3 pkgs cream cheese

• 16oz sour cream

• 1 sm can jalapenos – diced

• 1 sm can green chilies

• 1 lg can diced tomatoes AND

• 1 reg can (or 3 reg cans; 42-45oz total)

• ½ c. diced onion

• Salt & Pepper to taste

Brown sausage, small pieces, drain. In crockpot, mix cream cheese, sour cream and sausage – cook for one hour. Add jalapenos, chilies and onions. After warm, add tomatoes (don’t drain). Simmer until serving.

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Not Your Average Snack Mix- Brooke

Ingredients:

• 16 oz. Frito BBQ Twists (2 bags) - didn't know these existed before, but now love them.

• 11.5 oz Toffee Peanuts (1 container or 2 1/3 C.) - you can use Mixed Nuts if you can't find the Toffee ones.

• 11oz. Butter Snap Pretzels (1 bag)

• 6.6 oz Goldfish (1 bag)

• 1 C. Butter

• 3/4 C. Brown Sugar

• 1 Tbl. Garlic Powder

• 1 Tbl. Chili Powder

• 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder

Place top four ingredients in a bowl. Bring butter, brown sugar, garlic and chili powders to a boil. Stir in baking powder. Pour over dry mixture and stir to coat. Bake on cookie sheets at 250 degrees for 20 minutes.

➡️ Watch the IG video tutorial here

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Black Bean & Corn Salsa Recipe

A Babble favorite!

Ingredients:

• 1 (16oz) bag of frozen sweet white corn

• 1 (15oz) can black beans, drained

• 1 red bell pepper, diced

• 1 green bell pepper, diced

• 1 small red onion, chopped

• 1 bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped

• 1 (or more) jalapeno, diced

• juice of 1 lime

• 2 tsp chili powder

• 2 tsp. cumin

• 1 Tbl. sugar (can use 1 tsp. Agave)

• 1/4 C. apple cider vinegar

• 1/2 C. vegetable oil

• 1 tsp. salt

• Garbanzo beans (optional)

• Avocado (optional)

Mix everything together and enjoy with tortilla chips! This is also great to pour over grilled chicken or steak.

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