Ready or not, football season has arrived in all its glory. And while we may root for different teams, we can all agree that with great football comes a great tailgate party with mouth-watering food.
So whether you’re gathering with friends or family in a stadium parking lot or huddling up at home in front of your flat screen, we hope you’ll enjoy these tailgating recipes from our readers.
And remember, you can share a recipe of any kind with us. Seethegood.com would love to feature it on the site. And if you have a special story to share about the recipes, please let us know that as well.
JALAPEÑO POPPER PIZZAS
Malori Fulgham – Mississippi
Ingredients
- 1-11 oz. package thin pizza crust, refrigerated
- 4 slices bacon
- 1 small red bell pepper, about 1/2 cup, finely diced
- 2 jalapeño peppers
- 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded and divided
- 1 cup corn chips, crushed
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place dough onto a cutting board. Do not unroll dough. Using a sawing motion, slice dough into 24 disks. Place disks on a cookie sheet; press to flatten and seal seams. Bake 11-13 minutes or until golden brown.
Slice bacon into 1/4 inch pieces. Cook over medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes or until crisp. Remove bacon from pan and drain on paper towels. Drain pan, leaving 1 teaspoon of drippings in the pan. Add finely diced bell pepper. Chop jalapeños. Add bell pepper and jalapeños to pan. Cook over medium heat 2-3 minutes or until tender.
Combine cream cheese, ½ cup of the cheddar cheese, peppers and bacon in a bowl. Mix well. Divide cream cheese mixture evenly over crusts. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and crushed chips.
Bake 4-6 minutes or until cheese is melted and crusts are golden brown. Remove pan from oven to cooling rack. Serve.</p>
CAPTAIN’S CHEESE BAKE
Tammy Cagle – Georgia
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 8 oz. cream cheese
- 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 6 Ritz crackers, crushed
- 8 bacon slices, cooked & crumbled (can use bagged bacon pieces)
- 1/2 cup Captain Rodney’s Pepper Glaze (can substitute pepper jelly that has been thinned slightly)
Mix mayonnaise, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and onions together with mixer and spread into greased quiche pan or pie plate. Top with crackers and bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Top with bacon and Captain Rodney’s Glaze (or substituted pepper jelly). Serve with assorted crackers.
CORN SALSA
Catherine M. Klingelhoefer – Illinois
Ingredients
- 2 10 oz. cans RoTel diced tomatoes with lime juice and cilantro, not drained
- 1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 15 oz. can yellow and white corn, drained
- 1 15 oz. can petite tomatoes, diced and drained
- 1 small green pepper, chopped
- 1/2 red onion, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Mix all of the ingredients well. Refrigerate overnight to let flavors blend. Serve with tortilla chips.
NAVAJO GREEN CHILI
Bobby J. Garrison – Tennessee
Novices are too green for this chili. It is a favorite of the Navajos, and they like it cooked hot. Go light on the peppers when starting out; you can always adjust and add more.
Ingredients
- 3 lbs. of pork shoulder (can substitute spicy sausage)
- 3 cups flour
- 3 medium onions, coarsely chopped
- 4 medium cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 16 oz. cans whole green chilies, drained and seeded
- 2 16 oz. cans whole tomatoes
- 1 6 oz. can tomato paste
- 3 cups of water
- 2 & 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
Cut chilies into 2 inch slices and set aside. Remove fat and bone from pork shoulder. Cut into half-inch cubes; and reserve fat. Melt the pork fat in a heavy skillet over medium high heat. Coat the pork cubes and add to the flour by shaking them in a heavy paper bag. Add the cubes to the skillet a few at a time, stirring to brown evenly. Remove the cubes to a five quart Dutch oven or other heavy pot. Continue browning the pork cubes in the skillet until all are browned. (If you use the sausage instead of pork, skip the flour coating instructions.)
Add the onions and garlic to the skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally until the onions are translucent. Add to the pot with the pork. Stir the remaining ingredients into the pork and onion mixture. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 1/2 hour.
Taste, adjust seasonings, and cook for 1/2 hour longer.
Serves 6-8 hungry tailgaters.
FIRE CRACKER WINGS
Denice Andrews – Lousiana
Ingredients
- 15-20 chicken wings
- 1 bottle BBQ sauce
- 2 tablespoons onion powder
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 2 tablespoons pepper
- 1 can chipotle peppers, finely chopped
- 2-3 tablespoons sugar
Set aside 1 Tupperware (or like) bowl with a lid. Cut tips off of wings then cut wings in half. Season wings with onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Then fry the wings in a deep fryer at 350 degrees until brown. Drain wings on a paper towel. In large Tupperware bowl, combine BBQ sauce, sugar and finely chopped chipotle peppers. When all wings are cooked and drained, put wings into bowl with sauce and place lid securely on top. Vigorously shake bowl until all wings are covered with sauce. Pour wings onto platter and serve.
OYSTER ROCKEFELLER
Patricia Leger – Florida
Ingredients
- 2 pints select oysters
- oyster shells (can substitute clam shells)
- rock salt
- 1 box frozen spinach, chopped
- 1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup spring onions, finely chopped
- 2/3 cup melted butter
- 5 to 6 drops of Tabasco sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon garlic salt or power
- 1 package mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 1/3 cup breadcrumbs, toasted
Cook spinach first. Then add all the other ingredients to spinach except rock salt, oysters, and cheese. 15 minutes before serving, place oysters on half shell in shallow baking pan that has been layered with rock salt. Place a spoonful of spinach mixer on each shell and sprinkle cheese on top. Bake at 450 degrees for about 8 minutes or until cheese is melted.
COWBOY CAVIAR
Myrna Rodgers — Tennessee
Ingredients
- 3 ripe avocados
- 1 onion
- 1 can whole kernel corn or Mexican corn
- 1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained (can substitute with cooked black-eyed peas)
- 1 can of diced and peeled tomatoes, drained
- 1 teaspoon garlic, chopped
- 3 limes, juice only
- bell pepper, chopped
- 1 bunch cilantro, leaves only
Brown corn with a small amount of onion and garlic until the onion starts to change to clear. Cool. Peel and seed avocados, then cut in chunks. Add chopped onion and the rest of the garlic. Chop cilantro, removing stems. Drain all the vegetables. Mix everything together. Squeeze lime juice over all and stir. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir again. Do not over stir as this will make it too juicy. Refrigerate overnight if possible to mingle flavors. Serve with blue tortilla chips or your favorite chips. This has a Southwest flavor. Also, it goes great with burgers and cheese fries. Use pepper jack cheese on the fries.
CHEESE STEAK SANDWICHES
Kate Blinn — Alabama
Ingredients
- cup vegetable oil, divided
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 2 pounded top rounds, sliced paper thin
- 2 tablespoons seasoned salt
- 6 hoagie rolls
- provolone cheese, sliced
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, warm half of the oil. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally until they are soft. Season the meat with the seasoned salt. Set it aside. In another large skillet over high heat, warm the remaining cup of oil. Add the meat, and cook it for about 10 minutes. Place provolone cheese on the hoagie rolls. Divide the meat among them, and top with the onions. Makes 6 sandwiches.
WHITE CASTLE DIP SANDWICHES
Pamela Thurston — Illinois
Ingredients
- 1 lb. hamburger meat
- 1 packet of French onion soup mix
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- 1 block of Velveeta cheese
Mix it all together, form into patties, and you’re ready to grill. It tastes just like a White Castle burger!
CRABMEAT DIP
Alita K. Jaqua — Florida
Ingredient
- 1 loaf rye or pumpernickel round bread
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 cup onions, chopped
- 1 cup crabmeat
Hollow out a loaf of round bread to make a bowl. Use bread from center to cut into cubes for dipping. In a bowl, combine cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, onions and crabmeat. Mix together and put into bread bowl. Place in 350 degree oven for approximately 45 minutes to an hour (make sure top is nice and browned).
Place on a serving platter with bread cubes surrounding it, and watch it disappear.
For 10 to 15 people, double the recipe.
BLESS YOU BOYS BUFFALO CHICKEN DIP
Anne Marie Hepting — Louisiana
Ingredients
- 4 pieces of chicken breast
- 1 bottle of Louisiana Wing Sauce or Frank's Red Hot Sauce
- 1 bottle of blue cheese dressing
- 2-8 oz. blocks of cream cheese
- 1 package of cheddar cheese, shredded
Boil chicken about 30 minutes. Shred the chicken and mix in the wing or hot sauce. Spread the mixture into a 9 x 13 pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a separate bowl, mix the blue cheese and the cream cheese together. (Melt the cream cheese slightly so that it is soft and easy to mix.) Spread this mixture on top of the chicken. Top the dip with shredded cheddar cheese. Bake for 20 minutes.
Editorial note: The recipes featured have not been tested by doingmoretoday.com