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Football Food Lineup: 25 Wings, Dips, and Chili Recipes

BySheila ThigpenPublished: August 24, 2026

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Good football food is what makes game day special for my Tennessee family. As UT alumni and big SEC football fans, we’re hosting a full tailgate spread or a living room full of fans yelling at the TV most Saturdays, and the food has to keep up. Our lineup includes wings (air fried, smoked, or baked), sauces to go with them, make-ahead dips, finger foods people can actually eat while standing, and a few chilis for anyone who wants something warm. Twenty-five recipes, all tested and all from my kitchen. Pick a few or make the whole spread.

Collage of football snacks with a text overlay.
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Wings And Sauces To Go With Them

Whether you fry, bake, or smoke them, wings need a good sauce standing by, so this section covers both.

Air Fryer Chicken Wings

No brine, no deep fryer, no mess. A dry rub and the air fryer get you crispy skin in under 30 minutes, and there’s no oil to deal with after.
Check Out the Recipe
A platter of crispy Air Fryer Chicken Wings with a bowl of ranch dip to the side.

Crispy Smoked Chicken Wings

If you’ve got a smoker going anyway, this is how to get real smoke flavor into your wings without losing the crispy skin. My tips here cover the temperature and timing that keep them from turning rubbery.
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a plate of smoked chicken wings with carrots and celery in the background

Sticky Baked Chicken Wings

Oven wings, no special equipment required. The sauce caramelizes right onto the skin under the broiler for that sticky, glazed finish people go back for seconds on.
Check Out the Recipe
sticky baked chicken wings piled on a white plate garnished with sesame seeds and cilantro.

Buffalo Chicken Wing Sauce

Butter, hot sauce, a little vinegar. This is the sauce that turns any of the wings above into buffalo wings, and it takes about five minutes on the stove.
Check Out the Recipe
Jar of buffalo wing sauce on a plate next to two wings with buffalo sauce on them.

Alabama White BBQ Sauce

A mayonnaise and vinegar based sauce that’s a completely different direction from buffalo. If you haven’t tried white sauce on chicken, this is the one to start with.
Check Out the Recipe
a bowl of Alabama white BBQ sauce on a table with a checked napkin and wooden spoon.

Homemade Buttermilk Blue Cheese Dressing

Thin enough to drizzle, but you can hold back the buttermilk if you want it thick enough to dip wings straight into. Either way, it’s better than anything from a bottle.
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Blue cheese dressing in a bowl with blue cheese crumbles on top on a platter of carrot and celery sticks.

Dips For The Snack Table

These are the dips that make people forget they’re supposed to be watching the game, and most of them can be made ahead.

Easy Cowboy Caviar

Black-eyed peas, corn, peppers, and a tangy dressing, all scooped up with tortilla chips. It’s the dip that makes people feel better about the rest of the spread, and it’s just as good the next day.
Check Out the Recipe
Cowboy Caviar garnished with cilantro leaves in a bowl.

Three-Cheese Hot Mexican Corn Dip

Corn, three cheeses, and enough spice to keep it interesting. This one disappears fast, so plan on a double batch if you’re feeding a crowd.
Check Out the Recipe
A bowl of cheesy corn dip on a platter with tortilla chips.

Creamy White Queso

Real melted cheese, not the block of orange stuff, and it stays smooth as it cools. Keep it warm in a slow cooker on low and it’ll hold through the whole game.
Check Out the Recipe
white queso dip and chips on a platter on a table.

Slow Cooker Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Set it and forget it. This one’s built for the slow cooker so it’s ready when your guests are and stays hot without you standing over it.
Check Out the Recipe
slow cooker spinach artichoke dip in a small crock pot on a table.

Slow Cooker Jalapeño Popper Dip with Bacon and Three Cheeses

All the flavor of a jalapeño popper without wrapping and frying each one individually. Bacon and three cheeses do the heavy lifting here.
Check Out the Recipe
jalapeno popper cheese dip in a bowl garnished with bacon and green onions.

Homemade Pimento Cheese

A Southern staple that belongs at every gathering, football included. Serve it with crackers or celery, or spread it on crostini for something a little more filling.
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a bowl mounded full with homemade pimento cheese with crackers on a plate.

Blue Cheese Dip with Bacon, Chives, and Walnuts

Thicker and chunkier than the dressing above, built to hold up to a chip or a wing. The walnuts add a little crunch you don’t usually get in a dip.
Check Out the Recipe
Blue Cheese Dip with Bacon, Chives, and Walnuts on a tray with crackers and fruit.

Caramelized Onion Dip

Real caramelized onions instead of a packet of soup mix. It takes some time on the stove, but you can make it a day ahead and the flavor’s even better after it sits.
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a bowl of caramelized onion dip garnished with rosemary and more caramelized onions on a table.

Handheld Football Food

Everything here is meant to be eaten with one hand while the other one’s holding a drink or pointing at the TV.

Air Fryer Jalapeño Poppers

Bacon, cheddar, and cream cheese stuffed into jalapeño halves, cooked in the air fryer so you skip the deep fryer and the extra oil.
Check Out the Recipe
bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers on a white plate garnished with sliced green onion tops.

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp

Just shrimp, bacon, and a quick broil. These come together fast and they’re always the first thing gone off the tray.
Check Out the Recipe
a platter filled with skewers of bacon wrapped shrimp with a bowl of barbecue sauce to the side.

Homemade Chex Mix

The classic, made from scratch with real butter and seasoning instead of the store-bought bag. Make a big batch and set it out in bowls around the room.
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a bowl of Chex Mix on a table.

Pepperoni Pizza Rolls

Pizza in a handheld, dippable form. Kids and adults both go for these, and they reheat well if you make them ahead.
Check Out the Recipe
baked pepperoni pizza rolls sprinkled with parmesan cheese in a cast iron skillet.

Chick-fil-A Nuggets Copycat

The pickle juice brine is the trick here, and it’s the difference between these and an ordinary nugget. Worth making a double batch.
Check Out the Recipe
Chick-fil-A Chicken Nuggets on a white plate with a side of dipping sauce.

Crescent Roll Veggie Pizza

A cold appetizer with a crescent roll crust, cream cheese base, and fresh veggies on top. It’s a nice break from all the fried and cheesy options above, and you can make it well ahead of kickoff.
Check Out the Recipe
Two square pieces of Cold Veggie Pizza Appetizers on a plate.

Game Day Chili

If your crowd wants something to eat with a spoon instead of their hands, one of these will do it.

Easy Ground Beef Chili

The classic version, made on the stovetop with simple pantry ingredients. This is the one to make if you want something familiar that everybody already knows they like.
Check Out the Recipe
ground beef chili in a white bowl topped with cheese and jalapeno slices

Instant Pot White Chicken Chili

A lighter, different-from-the-usual chili that comes together fast in the Instant Pot. Good option if you want variety on the table without spending all day cooking.
Check Out the Recipe
A bowl of food on a plate, with white chicken chili

Black Bean Sweet Potato Chili

A vegetarian chili with real body to it, thanks to the sweet potato. Works as a full meal on its own if you’ve got guests who don’t eat meat.
Check Out the Recipe
top down view of a soup mug filled with black bean and sweet potato chili sitting on a white plate with a spoon laying to the side.

Slow Cooker Southwest Chili

Set it in the crockpot before kickoff and it’s ready by halftime. One less thing to think about while everything else is happening.
Check Out the Recipe
a bowl of slow cooker southwest chili garnished with shredded cheese sitting on a plate.

Homemade Hot Dog Chili

Not a chili you eat from a bowl, but a topping for your hot dogs. If you’re serving dogs alongside everything else, skip the can and make this instead.
Check Out the Recipe
Homemade hot dog chili in a white bowl.

Tips For Serving A Crowd

Set the dips out first. People will graze on those while everyone’s arriving and getting settled before kickoff.

Save the heartier stuff for halftime. That’s when people actually want to eat (wings, pizza rolls, sliders) instead of just picking, and it gives you a natural break to refill and reheat.

Keep the hot dips in a slow cooker on low so they don’t turn into a cold, congealed mess by the second quarter.

If you’re not sure how much to make, plan on 2 to 3 wings per person and a heaping spoonful of each dip. With this many options on the table, nobody’s going hungry.

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Sheila Thigpen, blogger

Recipe Developer, Food Photographer, Food Writer

Sheila Thigpen is the publisher of Life, Love, and Good Food and the author of Easy Chicken Cookbook and The 5-Ingredient Fresh and Easy Cookbook. After 20+ years in the publishing industry, she retired in 2018 to focus on her own creative endeavors full time. She and her husband live near the beautiful Smoky Mountains and have five precious grandchildren who have stolen their hearts. As an influencer, Sheila has collaborated with brands like Creamette, Kroger, HERSHEY’S, Hamilton Beach, Garafalo Pasta, OXO, Smithfield, Valley Fig Growers, and more.

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