Tailgating Recipe Ideas

The kickoff of football season always makes me think about tailgating recipes. We actually refer to appetizers as "football food" in my house. We have football food pretty much year-round in my house, because we follow major league baseball as well as both professional and collegiate football. (How ‘bout dem Saints?, Geaux Tigers, War Eagle, and Go Braves!)

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Details on how to make many of the tailgating recipes that are big around my house are published in other hubs. Check out these all-star treats:

Chicken Wings: What is more perfect for tailgating than spicy Buffalo wings?

Create Your Own Quesadillas: Chicken with cheddar quesadillas, topped with sour cream and salsa are great football food.

Crock Pot Barbecue: Serve this on seeded burger buns for the best barbecue sandwiches ever.

Homemade Sloppy Joes: This easy sandwich filling is sure to be a hit during Monday Night Football (or Saturday, Sunday, etc.)

Easy Mexican Dishes: There's nothing like Mexican food with a side of margaritas when you're watching the big game.

Three Great Dip Recipes: There's someone for everyone: man dip, warm seafood dip, and dip for fresh fruit.

Tortilla Rollups: These keep for several days, so I make a big batch on Saturday mornings during football season, with several different kinds of filling. If we don't eat them all during the weekend, they make great lunches for the coming week.

Boiled Crawfish: Okay, I admit, we don't cook these at home. We get them fresh from our local seafood market, and enjoy them with boiled corn and new potatoes during New Orleans Saints and LSU games.

More Resources for Tailgating Recipes

A few years ago, my husband and I were in Washington, D.C. during football season. Our hotel was across the street from ESPN Zone on Redskins game day, so we decided to go across the street to watch the game. The atmosphere was a great one for enjoying sports on the big screen, and the food was awesome.

I was really excited to find some great recipe ideas for sports viewing snacks on the ESPN zone website. Click here for tasty tailgating recipe ideas including spinach and artichoke dip, zone queso chips, queso sauce, and blue cheese chips.

Another terrific resource for tailgating recipe ideas is The Ultimate Tailgater. There are a ton of great ideas on this site. Some of the recipes are video and audio Podcasts and some are available to download as PDF files. I can't wait to try the Queso de Salsa Sausage Soup! This site even offers nutritional information on tailgating foods, but I'm thinking there are some things I'm just better off not knowing!