Easy Football Party Food Ideas for Game Day

If you’re hosting a football party, the food is what everyone remembers most. From easy appetizers to bite-size snacks, having simple, crowd-pleasing options makes game day feel effortless.

These football party food ideas are easy to prepare, fun to serve, and perfect for keeping guests happy from kickoff to the final play.

Easy Football Party Appetizers Everyone Loves

• cheeseburger sliders (you’ll see a fun, mini, open-face style below too!)
• Rotel Dip
• Slow Cooker Meatballs
• Crockpot Grape and Jelly Little Smokies
• Buffalo Chicken Dip
• Cream Cheese Corn Dip

Best Food for a Football Party

• Cheese boards – See how to style a cheese board
• Finger foods like pinwheel sandwiches, Italian sliders, or these weiner winks
• Popcorn – See how to make homemade microwave popcorn
• Cookies – like these No Bake Cookies or these strawberry cheesecake cookies

Easy DIY Football Party Ideas

Throwing a football party for your friends and family, doesn’t have to be super expensive, or complicated! With a few DIY football ideas, you can turn an afternoon or evening of football, in to a celebration.

First… “Take it to the House,” and score with your biggest friends, by hosting a football viewing party in your own home, instead of footin’ the bill at a public place. Turn a small corner or space in to the center of the party.

Use a table that you already have on hand, (or a dresser, bookshelf, anything that would hold the party snacks!)

A piece of white foam board, can go a LONG way when it comes to creating a DIY backdrop for your party station. Grab inexpensive card stock, a chalk marker, glue dots, and one or two of those super affordable green “grass,” mats at a local store, like I used to cut out the football at the top of the backdrop!
I found my grass mats, for only a couple of dollars, when I was at Walmart buying the ingredients for my “Open Faced Cheeseburger Sliders.”

DIY “Score” Football Banner

With the card stock, you can easily cut a 12×12 piece of card stock, in to 4… and create a banner to say whatever you like! I chose to keep mine small and simple. “Score,” for the green, and I found a sheet of brown that made the perfect little square football “ends,” to the banner. With a chalk marker, I was able to easily & quickly draw the “laces,” on the football. For the letters, I used my Silhouette machine, but you could easily draw those on with a chalk marker as well!

Keeping on with the cardstock theme, my sweet friend Kate, from 300 Ninth, introduced me to how easy it was to create “play book,” signs out of black card stock and a white chalk marker. Talk about easy, and affordable decor! I absolutely love her easy DIY crafts and recipes!

DIY “Astroturf,” Coasters

I couldn’t help myself when I saw the green “grass,” rugs in the store, thinking about how FABULOUS they’d look under each bottle of Coke Zero. This tied in the “astroturf,” look, and gave it a “pop,” of color on the table.
Cutting small squares out of the rug, for the coasters, was as easy as it sounds. Just “cut,” in to squares, and you’re done.

DIY Paper Snack Cones

You won’t BELIEVE how I ended up making these DIY paper snack cones! I had small, square, brown envelopes laying around, that needed put to good use. I simply rolled one bottom corner of the envelope, all the way to the opposite top corner of the envelope, and sealed with glue dots. Then, I grabbed my white chalk marker, drew “laces,” on them, and they were ready for popcorn!

If you’ve been following me on Facebook lately, it’s no surprise to you, that I’ve been a bit obsessed with learning how to decorate cookies with royal icing. The professionals just make it look so easy, and I was determined to give it a try the other day. A football party seemed like the BEST excuse to practice on yet, another batch of cookies, so little football sugar cookies were a MUST.

Now for the MAIN EVENT….

Mini Open Faced Bacon Cheeseburger Sliders

 The cutest and easiest, impressive appetizer for the party, were my Mini Open Faced Bacon Cheeseburger Sliders! These little bite size burgers are stacked with the toppings of your choice! Although, “mini,” the little burgers, leave a BIG impression!

Video Tutorial & Recipe Below…

Mini Open Bacon Faced Bacon Cheeseburger Sliders

(Quantities of ingredients, depend on burger size you choose, and your topping selections.)

• 1 “sleeve,” of RITZ® Crackers
• 1 lb. of Ground Beef
• 5 Slices American Cheese, but in to fourths
• Toppings of your choice. {I used my Smoked Candied Bacon, recipe, and leaf lettuce}

Directions:

Roll out ground beef, like you would to cut sugar cookies. Using a small round circle “cut-out” (I used the opening of a small parfait glass, but a small bowl may work. Just make sure it’s about the size of a Ritz® Cracker), cut out small round burgers.

Cook the burgers in an electric skillet on 350, for 5 minutes, until the juices ran clear. (You could easily cook these mini burgers in a skillet on the stove top too! Cook until browned on one side, flip, and then remove when juices run “clear.”)

When the burgers have finished cooking, place a square of cheese on top, allowing it to melt.

Top a Ritz® Cracker, with mini cheeseburger, and begin layering on the desired toppings.

Insert a toothpick (or party pick, like I used to be a little more festive), in to the top of the toppings, securing the toppings to the burgers.

Mini Open Faced Bacon Cheeseburger Sliders Tutorial:

Photo Guide to Building the Mini Sliders

Adding the Cheese…

Add your desired toppings & serve!

This football party was incredibly fun to put together. I’m actually thinking a Football Viewing Party, will need to become a habit in our home, so I can put together all kinds of cuteness, more often. 😉