The greatness of college football is a short 15 Days away! Tis the season to get your tasty tailgate recipes dusted off and ready to party. That means it is time for a recap of the previous seasons of tasty tailgate treats. We do this so we have all the past favorites in ONE spot and easy to access for this season as we add to the collection. We hope you find some new favorite tasty tailgate treats to add to your arsenal. This week we have seasons one and two in the recap. There were SOME super tasty treats! Y’all Enjoy.
Tasty Tailgate Treats Season One (2021) Recap
Appetizers
Appetizers are always a huge hit at tailgate parties. They are quick bites that are easy to eat. I tried to make them as simple as possible or something that you can make a day or two ahead of time. I started with crockpot meatballs, easy and tasty. It is always fun to have a unique appetizer how about three? Obviously, our multiple dips are crossover appetizers. You can never have too many appetizers.
Dips!
Does everyone grab a bag of chips when they head to a tailgate party? Most people do. They are easy, cheap, and help feed the crowd. So you need a large variety of dips for all those chips. Also, how many corn dips do you need for football season? ALL of them! Here is a smattering of Corn Dips, hot and cold. What is your favorite chip and dip combo during the season?
Family Recipes
Last season we started with several recipes submitted by die-hard college football fans. Our first recipe was my very own Coach Kate’s Kickoff Chili. It is great for large crowds. It is usually better later in the season when it is a little cooler outside but it is tasty nonetheless. We also had a loyal Vanderbilt fan submission of Tailgate Crack. This was a sought-after recipe that is a tasty staple on West End. We had Wayne’s Tortellini Salad from a Florida State fan who travels from Nashville to Tallahassee to tailgate for every home game for the last 20 years. This salad would be great for kickoff weekend it is cold and tasty perfect for the heatwave we have been living in this summer. We had the pleasure of getting a recipe submission from football royalty. Vince Lombardi’s grandson John Lombardi sent me a brat recipe that has changed the way I cook brats forever.
Football Shaped Treats
Everyone loves a good football-shaped treat for a tailgate party. We found some great ones. So many that we had a two-part series. In the first part, we covered the savory treats. For example, there was a pepperoni football, Pigskins in a blanket, a football cheese ball, and a personal favorite football spinach dip breadsticks. Savory football-shaped treat recipes.
Part two was the sweet treats that looked as cute as footballs. Cocoa Krispy Football treats, Game Day Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Ball, Touchdown Brownies, pull-apart football cake a.k.a CUPCAKES! All the football sweet treat recipes. And one more sweet treat is the Kahlua Brownie Surprise, which is easy, a little boozy, and fun.
Sliders & Sammies & Snacks
Need to have a meal during a game not just snacks here are some Spinach and Caramelized Onion Sliders to feed your hungry crowd. How about a chicken sandwich with Alabama White Sauce? I had never heard of Alabama White sauce before this recipe but it is now a staple in my fridge. Another meal option is Root Beer BBQ Pulled Pork easy to eat on the go in a Hawaiian Roll with a little cole slaw… YUMMY. A great snack you make any time the week leading up to the tailgate is War Damn Eagle Spicy Pretzels. Who doesn’t love a good spicy treat to help wash the morning beer down? Alabama Crackers is a simple treat that is the perfect snack for all tailgate parties at the game or at home.
Theme Tailgate Treats
Football season is a theme in itself. However, if you are creative enough you can come up with a new theme every week. You cannot skip the Halloween theme treats that you can easily incorporate with your team’s wins or losses depending on how your season is unfolding. There are the Thanksgiving Leftovers tailgate treats, use up those extra leftovers. As well as the prestigious Army/Navy game-themed treats. That one was fun to add a little history as well as recipes.
Wash It All Down
We like any excuse to do a little day drinking and college football offers us that excuse for just a few short months. You can attempt to Drink Like Champions on gameday. You can celebrate with Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss weekly with a variety of Hot Toddy recipes. Once fall hits and leads into winter you have to stay warm at the tailgate parties you will need some Toasty Tailgate Beverages. Don’t fret all of these beverages can be made to be kid-friendly.
Tasty Tailgate Treats Season Two (2022) Recap
Easy Peasy Treats
Anything quick, easy, and hand-held so you can walk, talk, drink, and the tailgate is a must! In September we featured a Kickoff Weekend of treats broken down by breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The breakfast egg rolls are on the hit list for those ungodly early 11 am kickoff games. We also featured Bites, Bites, Bites! Because, let’s be honest tailgating and bites go hand in hand. The cheesy meatball bites are perfect for any tailgate party even if you are just home alone watching a full day of football by yourself.
Tasty Treats
To celebrate State Fair season we featured Treats on a Stick. Does it get any easier than that? Cheeseburger on a stick. Charcuterie on a Stick. Come on, the combinations are endless. As well as endlessly tasty. As September progressed we had Big Batch Beverages and Wonton Cups, Who knew how much stuff you could put into a Wonton cup and it would make such a perfect tailgate treat? We finished the month strong with sliders of all varieties. We kept them as simple and tasty as possible.
BLTs, Sweets, Bacon, Soup, Spooky Treats, and More Bacon
October kicked off with a big bacon bang. BLT season is a thing, or we made it a thing with our tailgate treats. Breakfast BLTs, BLT Dip, BLT Pasta Salad you get the picture. After all that bacon we had to tackle some Sweet Treats. We may have even added a little adult Brownie Bourbon Bite into the mix. As October progressed and the weather FINALLY started to cool off a teeny tiny bit we dove head first into All Sorts of Soup we even found one named “Tailgate Soup“. We finished October strong with Halloween Treats. You can never go wrong with a Halloween-themed tailgate party!
We kicked off November 2022 with Bacon Wrapped Greatness. There are Bacon Wrapped Mac and Cheese bites. Even some healthy Bacon Wrapped Asparagus treats. Well kind of healthy. As November rolled on and the top teams settled into a rhythm we tried to find the top tailgate treats to match the Top Five at the time. We had Boiled Peanuts to represent Georgia. Some Ohio State Buckeyes, and even some BBQ Ribs thanks to TCU. November rolled on and so did our treats.
Toasty Treats
Is there anything better than a crisp November afternoon full of football, friends, and food? To celebrate the much cooler weather that mid-November delivered Toasty Treats. There was a Louisiana Hot Crab Dip, some Caramel Apple Dip as well as some Polar Bear Hot Chocolate. Then before you know it we were whipping up Tailgate Treats with Thanksgiving Leftovers. Which included Bacon Wrapped Stuffing Bites. Which was a gateway to MORE Bacon and Meatballs.
December Treats
With the first weekend in December full of Bacon and Meatballs. We introduced Slow Cooker Bourbon Meatballs. There are also some low-carb options for those trying to avoid the holiday weight gain. Low Carb Bacon Wrapped Sweet Potatoes. Then for those who love a little holiday weight gain, we had some Glazed Brownies. The World Famous Army – Navy game always has a special Army Navy-themed beverage post. Sometimes we even throw in a little history for those who like a story behind their recipes. Including Navy Grog which was tasty and prevents scurvy. As the year flew by we featured Holiday Tailgate Treats just to make the holidays a little more tasty and fun. Including New Year’s Eve and Playoff treats too. There was even a 4th of July Special edition, because why not?
On The Menu
Next week we will continue to recap the football Friday tailgate treats of yore. It will include breakfast egg rolls, sliders, snacks on a stick, bites, bacon, and some big-batch (adult) beverages. Enjoy and start getting the gameday menus together!
