22 Ultimate Football Appetizers for Any Game Day (2024)

FAQs

What is a good football game snack? ›

With pretzel bites, jalapeño poppers, chicken wings, and pizza cups, these football appetizers will score with your fellow fans. And don't worry; our best game-day snacks aren't all savory—we have sporty brownies and cookie dough pops to satisfy your sweet tooth.

When it comes to game day, you really can't go wrong with the classics like Buffalo wings, baked spinach & artichoke dip, nachos supreme, mini cheeseburger sliders, pigs in a blanket, loaded potato skins… If you do, however, want to change things up a bit, we've got some solid recipes for you here too.

Burgers, Hot Dogs, and Bratwurst. We know that most people associate these three foods with baseball, but they are also a perfect football food. We think that as long as you can fire up the grill, you should fire up the grill as far into football season as you can.

Football players tend to eat foods rich in carbohydrates during halftime to keep their energy levels up. Items like granola and pretzels are great options. But more importantly, they often consume sports drinks throughout the game. High activity levels require a ton of hydration and electrolytes.

Sausage balls, Cream cheese with hot pepper jelly and crackers. Hawaiian ham sliders if you have some ham to use up. Crock pot of co*cktail sausages and bbq sauce. Or frozen meatballs and bbq sauce.

Potatoes, pasta, rice, bread (ideally wholemeal unless just before a game), oatmeal, cereals, vegetables, and fruit are healthy carb options. Footballers should aim to consume at least 70 grams of carbohydrates as part of their pre-game meal and around 30 grams as part of a snack.

Chicken wings are the most popular game day food in NFL cities during the season — with a 25% increase in average order volume on Sundays in the season compared to Sundays out of the season.

Generally, a variety of whole grain pasta, breads and rice along with fruits and vegetables like potatoes not only provide the carbohydrates that players need, but also a variety of essential vitamins, trace minerals and fiber.

What foods are high in energy before a football game? ›

It's important to eat both before and after football. Before playing, consume foods that provide energy and nutrients, like whole grain cereals, bananas, whole grain toast, baked beans, eggs, lean fish, pasta, and rice. These meal options offer essential carbohydrates, protein, and other nutrients to fuel your body.