Football fans … we made it. The weather is cooling down, and it’s finally time for the best season of the year.
Are you the type of fan that shows up to the tailgating lot at 6 AM on game day with a grill, TVs, and generators in tow? Or do you just need a camping chair, cold beer, and the tailgate of a truck to nail your game day tradition?
Whether you pull out all of the stops or keep your tailgate lowkey, the one thing you need is good food. In preparation for kickoff, check out these fan-favorite tailgate snacks that will fuel you through the fourth quarter.
Rotel Dip
Cheese. Meat. Tortilla chips. Does it get any better?
This crowd-pleasing recipe can be as simple or doctored-up as you like. The core recipe calls for browned ground beef, taco seasoning, Velveeta cheese, and a can of Rotel tomatoes. You can heat these ingredients together in a crockpot, the oven, or on the smoker for another layer of flavor. If you want to take it to the next level, add chopped onions, jalapenos, and even more cheese.
Keep your dip warm all day in the crockpot and serve it with your favorite tortilla chips.
Boneless Chicken Wings
We aren’t here to settle the bone-in vs. boneless wings debate — but we will say that boneless wings are easy to pop into your mouth between downs when you need to stress eat.
If you’re firmly on team boneless, try this easy recipe for crispy bite-size wings. Cut up chicken breasts into small pieces and let them soak in buttermilk, pickle juice, and hot sauce for up to 24 hours (the longer the better). Season a bowl of flour with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika, and in a separate bowl, beat two eggs. Toss your chicken in the flour mixture, then into the eggs, and then back into the flour. Place on a wire rack until you’re ready to fry.
Heat neutral oil in a deep pot — you can test to see if it’s hot enough by tossing in a pinch of flour to see if it starts sizzling immediately. Fry your chicken for about five minutes and remove from heat. Toss a little salt on top as soon as they come out of the oil.
Our trick for keeping the chicken crispy for hours? Wire racks. When you cool your chicken on paper towels, they sit in the grease and inevitably get soggy. Letting your chicken cool on a wire rack instead allows all the leftover oil to drip away.
If this all sounds like too much work, check out our pre-breaded chicken tenders and leave the rest to us!
Elevated Hot Dogs
Nothing wrong with the classic all-beef dog — but we prefer to take things up a notch. Swap out simple store-bought hot dogs for flavorful Italian sausages with all of the toppings.
We like to boil the frozen sausages in beer before searing them on the grill to get that charred, flavor-packed bite. For toppings, you can keep it simple with ketchup, mustard, and relish … or you can lean into Italian flavors by topping it with grilled peppers and onions, or even mozzarella cheese.
T-Bone Steaks
Want to be the envy of the tailgating lot? Take your pre-game meal to the next level by grilling up juicy, thick-cut T-Bone steaks for your crew.
We aren’t here to tell you how to run your grill. When we meet customers at our truckload events, we love hearing about new spice mixes, grilling techniques, and your favorite way to cook up a steak, so we know you know what you’re doing.
Whether you’re hanging out on your favorite college campus on a Saturday or watching your NFL team from the comfort of your back deck, snacking on your favorite tailgate food is half the fun of football season. Get ready for the big game by placing your order from the Prime House Direct today!