Tailgate Food Ideas for Every Basketball Lover
March Madness, especially the first four days of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, is the best event on the sports calendar. Whether you take Thursday and Friday off or gather at night and over the weekend, college basketball mixes well with party food. Take a look at the list of tailgate food ideas below to uncover crowd pleasers that range from spicy wings to cheese dip, meatballs, and much more.
Queso Dip and Walking Tacos
Queso dip is a big part of party culture. However, these snack ideas should have a little more flavor and versatility.
When you build your queso dip, make sure that it is seasoned with cumin, chili powder, and even cilantro so that you get more than bland cheese in every bite.
Now that you have the cheese dip everyone wants, you can turn it up a notch by adding walking tacos to the mix. It’s easy to purchase small bags of potato or tortilla chips to which you may add just your queso. Now, you have walking queso. Take it to the next level, if you like, and add ground beef, chicken, sour cream, pico de gallo, beans, shredded cheese, or taco sauce.
Your guests can sit on the couch with their queso, chips, and sides without making a whole plate and requiring a ton of extra cleanup. You can also adjust these easy party snacks by using only vegan products, vegetarian alternatives, or adding fried or sautéed tofu and fried onions.
Spicy Wings
Spicy wings are a popular game day appetizer, but they often get overshadowed by just how hot they are—-not their flavor. Spicy wings should mix sweet and hot to make them a bit easier to enjoy.
Maple-chipotle wings are tastier than “blindingly hot wings with 12 hot sauces” that make your guests feel ill. Ginger-BBQ wings are a nice mix of hot, savory, and smoky. Plus, you can try an Italian spin on wings with parmesan, tomato sauce, and red pepper flakes or Calabrian chilis.
No matter what you do, balance is key.
Your Best Chili Recipe
Chili con carne is the original incarnation of the chili that we eat at parties all year long. When you make chili at home, you can take advantage of March Madness food deals to get quality steak, pork, and lamb that will mix in a crock pot to build the world’s best chili without the need for extras.
Traditionalists will tell you there’s no need for beans. However, you can enhance your chili with several types of beans, chili powder, cumin, extra tomatoes, and onions. If you want to put an extra spin on chili, you might build it with chicken and white beans. Vegans or vegetarians might build chili with tomatoes and tofu, or you might add mushrooms for that hint of umami that is difficult to come by.
Meatballs
When you make meatballs for any party, you keep your guests happy and well-fed. However, your meatballs should feature a sauce that helps them stand out. Yes, serving meatballs floating in gravy is a great choice, you might also serve them in tomato sauce along with rolls for meatball sandwiches. Asian-style meatballs with a sweet chili sauce are a definite crowd pleasure, or you could go with barbecue meatballs that feature a mixture of sauces you prefer.
Prepare the Best Food for Your Match Madness Watch Party
No matter who’s coming over, these recipes will keep your guests happy as you sit back and watch March Madness throughout the end of the week and the weekend. Each new recipe is open to interpretation and tweaks. Plus, you can keep the vegans and vegetarians happy with a few clutch changes.