Easy Tailgate Recipes

The best season of all, football season, is here, and it's time for tailgating or game parties. Put on your team jersey, practice the fight song, and then secure the best parking spot or seat in front of the TV. It's time to enjoy the company of friends and family.

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🥣Chili Recipes
🌮Tailgating Nachos and Tacos
🐓Wings and Dip
🍔Pulled Pork, BBQ Chicken, or Brisket Sandwiches/Sliders
🍮Sweet Endings
Food Safety Tips

Let the games begin. Whether tailgating, having a game party, or enjoying the game at home, you deserve great food without all the work.

Start with finger foods like potato chips or corn chips, cubes of cheddar or other cheeses, vegetable trays, and dips are always favorites.

While grilling, traditional hot dogs, brats, and burgers are a must. Here are a few other suggestions.

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🥣Chili Recipes

I have 13 chili recipes, but these three are my favorites.

Easiest White Chicken Chili

Perfect for tailgating, this delicious chili will stay hot for a long time and keep you warm to the bone during the game. Make it with only five ingredients in your crock pot in a few hours.

5 Ingredient White Chicken Chili

Small Crock Pot Chili

A small recipe that is easy to scale to crowd size. A wonderful All-American ground beef chile that is easy to make ahead in any size slow cooker.

All-American Ground Beef Chili

And lastly, a wonderful change of pace recipe.

Salsa Verde Chicken Chili

It is the perfect change of pace chili everybody will love. A mildly spicy white chicken chili made with chicken, white beans, green salsa verde, and a few pantry ingredients: a simple dump-and-go crock pot or fast stovetop recipe.

Salsa Verde Chicken Chili

spoonful of salsa verde chili over a bowl.

🌮Tailgating Nachos and Tacos

The Best Taco Meat

The best nachos start with the best ground beef taco meat. Make it in 25 minutes with ground beef and an easy homemade taco seasoning. Make it spicy or make it mild; you're in control. You will never use packaged taco seasoning again.

Spicy Taco Meat

Ground beef nachos with cheese, tomatoes ,and onion.

Crock Pot Chicken Tacos

With only three ingredients, a crock pot, and 5 minutes of prep, you can make delicious shredded chicken tacos or nachos. So simple, cheap, and healthy, you will repeat this recipe over and over.

Crock Pot Chicken Tacos

Chili Cheese Nachos

Chili Cheese Nachos with shredded beef chili smothered in melted cheese is perfect for tailgating and game-day parties. Easy to make ahead and serve both chili and nachos at the party.

Chili Cheese Nachos

plate of cheese chili nachos topped with tomatos and sour cream

🐓Wings and Dip

Extra Crispy Baked Chicken Wings

The perfect Oven Baked Wings recipe for all wing events. The crispiest chicken wings are baked, not fried—no greasy frying mess, and it is so easy to make at home.

Crispy Baked Chicken Wings

Blue Cheese Dipping Sauce for Chicken Wings

This Blue Cheese Dipping Sauce for Chicken Wings is the perfect complement to buffalo wings and veggies. A 5 minutes dipping sauce recipe that's creamy and irresistible.

Blue Cheese Dipping Sauce for Wings

🍔Pulled Pork, BBQ Chicken, or Brisket Sandwiches/Sliders

These are the classic tailgate dishes. I'm just giving you the meat since you can handle the serving.

Oven Pulled Pork Butt—Low and Slow

Oven Pulled Pork from pork butt is cooked in the oven low and slow. Our best-pulled pork recipe is tender and moist with delicious bark. Super easy, with almost no work—you rub, bake at 250° for 8 to 9 hours, shred, and eat.

Pork butt in the oven

Easiest Crock Pot BBQ Chicken

This is one of the easiest recipes ever—tasty BBQ chicken in under 4 hours. Great for family gatherings and parties or just when you want to be lazy for an easy family dinner.

Crock Pot BBQ Chicken

a shredded BBQ chicken sandwich on a white plate

Easiest Oven Baked BBQ Beef Brisket

Learn how simple it is to make smoky and tender Oven Baked BBQ Beef Brisket with this never fail brisket recipe—just two ingredients and 5 minutes of prep time—everybody deserves great BBQ.

Oven Baked Brisket

Oven Baked BBQ Brisket from 101 Cooking for Two

Crock Pot Pulled Pork Loin

Moist and tender pulled pork from pork loin is easy to make using your slow cooker. You can use this healthy, low-fat shredded pork for BBQ pulled pork or change the seasoning to make great Mexican shredded pork for tacos, nachos, quesideas, and more.

Crock Pot Pulled Pork Loin

🍮Sweet Endings

Dessert bars are a great addition to any tailgate party. Some easy cook-ahead bars will make you look like the hero.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bite (or whole cheesecake)

Easy and delicious make ahead for the party. Real cheesecake bites with Oreo crust that is easy to make at home.

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bites

slice of chocolate chip Philadelphia cheesecake

Easy Lemon Bars

Easy lemon bars are delicious and simple to make in under an hour. These homemade lemon squares are a perfect dessert treat with a crispy, buttery shortbread crust and tangy and sweet lemon filling—a small batch 8X8 recipe you can scale to your needs.

Lemon Bar Recipe

Easy Cheesecake Bars

These Easy Cheesecake Bars are creamy and delicious with a Graham cracker crust and lemon—the quick small-batch recipe you need with great tasting cheesecake bars.

Cheesecake Bar Recipe

Food Safety Tips

These gatherings are ready-made for food safety issues and leftovers at the party. Let's plan for food safety and get it right. Check out the USDA Food Safety recommendations.