Don't be the guy (or girl) who thinks one bag of chips is good enough for your entire Super Bowl party. Someone will passive-aggressively order a pizza, everyone will get hungry waiting for it to show up, and your friends will all go somewhere else next year and mock you behind your back. Don't let this happen.
To avoid the ridicule of your friends and family, here are the foods every worthwhile Super Bowl party should consider:
Guacamole
If you live in a state where avocados are accessible during winter months, guacamole is MANDATORY. Some quick ground rules:
- Guacamole ideally has three ingredients: avocado, lime, and salt. Onions, cilantro or tomato are acceptable if you wanna get fancy, but adding anything else will get your guacamole card revoked by the US government. Don't do it.
- Make more that you think you need. No matter how much you think is enough, it WILL be gone by the time the fourth quarter starts.
- Ideally, you should make the Guacamole yourself - chop up the avocado, mash that bad boy in a bowl, and add lime and salt to taste.
Buffalo Chicken Dip
Guacamole might be the star of the show, but a killer buffalo chicken dip can be the Scottie Pippen to your guac's Michael Jordan. Most excellent buffalo chicken dip recipes have one thing in common - they're stolen from the Frank's Red Hot recipe, which is absolutely phenomenal.
Chips are a solid buffalo chicken dip delivery method, but thick-sliced french bread is even better.
At least two kinds of chips
You aren't eating that buffalo chicken dip straight with a spoon, right? Have some common decency and wait until your guests leave first.
In the meantime, you'll want to varieties of chips - ideally some tortilla chips (we recommend Tostito's Scoops for maximum scoopage) and a potato/BBQ chip are always crowd-pleasers.
Pigs in a Blanket
Finger foods are a must, and there have been zero parties in the history of planet earth that wouldn't have been better with Pigs in a Blanket. Buy 'em frozen or make your own, just don't run out of dipping sauces (ketchup & mustard are mandatory, you can make the call on anything else).
Wings
Wings never go out of style, and they're one of your best options if guests are looking for something more substantial than chips & dip (their loss, but that's an argument for another time). Ordering ahead or buying 'em from the store works, but here's a killer recipe if you're feeling ambitious.
Queso Dip
Ahh, queso dip. Queso might be the highest-maintenance item on this list (ever tried getting it out of a carpet?), but the deliciousness factor makes it worth the trouble. Most supermarkets have perfectly solid queso options you can buy ready-made, but there are also some awesome recipes like this one floating around the internets.
HONORABLE MENTION:
Nachos (delicious for guests, a cleaning nightmare for hosts)
7-Layer Dip (someone will inevitably eat all the good layers first, which is a total bummer)
Veggie Platter w/ Ranch (less exciting than a two-hour press conference on DeflateGate)
Spinach Dip (what is this, TGI Fridays?)
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