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If you are a Football Gay, that’s great, love that for you; it just couldn’t possibly be me. But while I haven’t watched the Super Bowl in years, one thing I can get behind is scalable, shareable snacks. You don’t even have to throw a Super Bowl party to partake in the tradition of hearty dips, hors d’oeuvres, and treats. You can throw an anti-Super Bowl party where you watch literally anything else or you can just make a yummy spread for yourself and your partner or your roommates or some friends or even just your own self! There are a lot of rules I still don’t understand about football, but there are no rules when it comes to making snack spreads on a chill and cozy Sunday afternoon! Again, if you are watching the game, that’s great! Let’s all eat some good shit regardless of our upcoming weekend plans.
The following Super Bowl snack ideas are, as aforementioned, easy to scale up and great for sharing. In general, they all skew easy skill level wise and are also intended to be quick — not all-day affairs. I’ve tried to include some options to account for food allergies/sensitivities as well so there’s fun for everyone (searching for the terms “vegan,” “vegetarian,” or “gluten” on the page will bring you where you wanna go). I’ve added some of my own notes beneath each recipe. Pair your snacks with colorful mocktails or a Bud Light.
Buffalo Chicken Dip
This is one of the rare paywalled recipes on this Super Bowl snack ideas list, but it’s such a crowd pleaser every time I make it that I had to include! You can easily use rotisserie chicken or leftover cooked chicken for it, and I liked to serve it with a mix of chips, crackers, and crudités.
Mini Crescent Dogs
Pigs! In! Blankets! They are a classic for a reason! As far as the pigs themselves go, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Go ahead and use store-bought crescent roll dough. But then you can get creative/fun with your dipping sauces. Make a fun and colorful trio: honey mustard, queso, and chimichurri. Sub meatless hotdogs/sausages for a vegetarian option.
Clam Dip
Minced canned clams, cream cheese, and sour cream are the main ingredients here! Simple and delicious! Pair with gf chips or crackers, and you’ve got yourself a fishy gluten-free snack.
Loaded Sheet Pan Nachos
In addition to being super scalable, nachos are extremely customizable. You can make them vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, super spicy, mild, simple, or as fancy as you like!
Baked Brie
You need just two ingredients here: a wheel of brie and honey. If you wanna play around a bit, you can change up the honey for spicy honey, a jam, or a balsamic vinegar.
Grape Jelly Chili Sauce Meatballs
You can really take frozen meatballs to a whole new level with the right sauce. There are a lot of variations of the grape jelly meatball out there, but I like to make mine with grape jelly, chili sauce, and barbecue sauce. The meat’s already cooked, so it’s easy and fast!
Jalapeño Poppers
I am a sucker for these. And I found a bonus recipe for a vegan variation, too!
Sardine Rillettes
It surely would not be a Super Bowl snack ideas list by yours truly without some tinned fish representation! Check out more tinned fish snacking ideas.
Spicy Crab Dip
This is another paywalled recipe, but it’s another one I’ve made many times that people love! I love any recipe that involves Ritz crackers tbh. Here’s an alternative free recipe, and here’s a creative vegan take made with canned hearts of palm (I once had a vegan “ceviche” made with hearts of palm and it was great!) and vegan cheeses.
Dipped Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies
Speaking of Ritz crackers, Super Bowl sweet treats don’t get easier than these! They hit that perfect salty::sweet ratio.
Loaded Tater Tot Bites
We love an individual, toothpicked amuse bouche, especially when we’re being cautious of Covid! In that case, you’ll also wanna put a little spoon in the dip so that people can spoon some onto their own plates instead of it being a dip free-for-all. For more tips on planning safer gatherings, Heather’s Pride guide is easily adaptable for other situations.
Muffin-Tin Chicken Potpies
I am QUITE obsessed with the concept of these mini chicken pot pies, made from store-bought tubed biscuit dough, condensed cream of chicken soup, and frozen veggies! They’d be easy to riff on with different spices, and I personally would drizzle my own with my beloved El Yucateco green chile habanero hot sauce. You could also easily make these vegetarian by upping the veggies and swapping condensed cream of mushroom for the chicken soup.
Spanakopita Pinwheels
Frozen spinach! Frozen puff pastry! I’m prioritizing a lot of frozen ingredients throughout this list, because it cuts down prep/chopping time and keeps things super simple, especially when it comes to any pastry moments.
Tater Tot Hotdish
Shoutout to my Midwestern girlies for bringing hot dish into my life. I personally would add chopped jalapeños to this stripped-down recipe, but that’s just me!!!!
Cheesy Potatoes
It’s pretty much all there in the name! Potatoes! That are cheesy! And specifically, the cheese utilized here is a gorgeous block of Velveeta.
Graham Cracker Cookie Sandwiches
I know I haven’t included many sweet treats on this list, and that’s largely due to my personal bias of just always preferring savory. I def believe that whether you’re watching the Super Bowl or just trying to harness the same energy of a celebratory Sunday, you don’t need to spend a million hours baking to have something sweet. I grew up making these (for American Idol watch parties…lol…our NFL, if you will) with my family, though we did them “open face” rather than as closed sandwiches. But yep, they’re just graham crackers, tub frosting, and sprinkles! That’s it!
Vegan Spinach Dip
Spinach dip has long been a staple of food-centric gatherings like Super Bowl parties, and if you’re catering to a vegan crew, this is the simplest recipe I found for this specific variation on a classic.
Crispy Oven Baked Potato Skins
The best part of these is that you get to save the potato insides for another recipe, like mashed potatoes, potato soup, etc!
Fried Mozzarella Cheese Sticks
One of my favorite snacks of all time! That said, I do want to note that despite what the recipe claims, these are probably one of the more challenging/time consuming things on this list, mainly because deep frying can be trickier than meets the eye (and messy!). The one time I tried to make mozz sticks at home, it was slightly disastrous. So you might be better off just picking up a box of frozen ones or ordering them from your go-to spot. You can always make your own spicy marinara though!
Air Fryer Ravioli
Where my air fryer heads at!
Creamy Lemon Herb Feta Dip
I could dip just about anything into a super lemony, creamy, feta-based dip. And she’s gluten-free folks!
Goat Cheese Board
Look, most viral recipes prioritize aesthetic over taste (and function!), and while I don’t necessarily get behind butter boards, this viral goat cheese board? Yes.
Easy Sausage Phyllo Cups
BIG fan of frozen phyllo dough cups! Easy and versatile! You can fill those suckers with anything!
Cheesy Corn Bites
This recipe is for the laziest of lazy cooks (no judgement!). Much like a phyllo dough cup, Tostitos scoops are a versatile vessel for shareable snacks (and all Super Bowl parties should have at least one bowl of them to dip in the various dips present).
Ridiculously Easy Bean Salad
Filling, easily customizable, and great for vegetarian/vegan needs, bean salads are underrated. I personally would add sardines or tuna to the mix, though that of course transitions it to pescatarian fare.
Citrus Salad
This is for when you want to impress people with something colorful but still put in minimal effort! This salad is gorgeous but ultimately easy to make, mostly requiring access to a diversity of citrus fruits. It’s vegan, too (not all dijon mustards are vegan, but if you stick to Grey Poupon, you’re good).
Classic Deviled Eggs
An all-time fav of mine! And if you wanna make things fun, might I suggest topping them with crumbled Funyons? The current price of eggs may be a deterrent here though! Bon Appetit’s take on vegan devilled “eggs” (made with little golden potatoes!) could double as “eggs are very expensive” devilled “eggs.”
5 Ingredient Instant Pot Mac and Cheese
It requires owning an Instant Pot, but homemade mac and cheese doesn’t get much simpler than this!
Ginger Rice Stuffed Mushrooms
You use already cooked rice for these, so it could be a great way to repurpose leftovers.
Mini Cheeseballs
What’s better than a cheese ball? LOTS OF MINI CHEESE BALLS. And even the “sticks” are edible because they’re pretzels!
