Superbowl Party Ideas (2024)

Superbowl LV will take place on February 7, 2021, in Tampa, Florida… get excited! Whether you’re an avid fan of either team or just a general football fan, the super bowl has something for everyone. From enjoying time with family & friends, to laughing through all the best commercials of the year, to of course watching a great football match-up. Given our current environment, this is a great opportunity to host a game watch for a smaller group of your closest family and friends. Read along for some great ideas and tips to take your viewing party up a notch with our Superbowl Party Ideas!

If you’re located in the Los Angeles or Chicago area and interested in having some tailgating equipment (i.e. tents, folding tables, tailgate chairs, bags games, etc.) at your game watch, reach out to the team at [emailprotected], we may be able to help!

Create a Tailgate Type Experience – at home!

One of, if not, the best parts of watching football, is the pre-game tailgate… so we suggest bringing as much of that atmosphere to your event as possible.

For those who have a backyard, or access to your building’s rooftop or common space, you can create a tailgate-style party, or what we like to call a homegate. Pop-up some 10’x10’ tents with team flags, set-up some tailgate-style chairs, put out some bags (cornhole) games and speakers for music. If you’re an avid fan, you may even have a whole portable TV set, that’d be great to set-up to allow for multiple viewing locations at your party, especially if you have a big(ger) turnout. Given our current environment, being outside would also be ideal for any size gatherings outside of a household (but we know rules/guidelines are different based on location, so please apply our recommendations accordingly!). This is a great opportunity to utilize all your tailgate gear in a different setting and bring something extra to your event.

If you don’t have space, or desire, to do the above, there are much simpler ways to decorate your home, apartment, etc. to give it the right atmosphere. A trip to Party City should do the trick, they have a great assortment of colored tablecloths, napkins, cutlery, and much more. They typically will also supply team balloons during the Superbowl, so you can pick up a few of those the day of.

If you’d like more team-specific items, I’d suggest hopping on either Fanatics or Amazon now and snagging some team flags, cups, etc.

P.S. if you’re reading this blog before the teams are announced, be sure to save the link and check back on 1/24 for an updated version with specific links to products for the teams that make the Superbowl!

Gameday Eats

When it comes to food at viewing parties, you want to keep it simple and easy to eat while standing, very similar to the type of foods you’d serve at a tailgate when seating and tables are limited. The point of a game watch is to spend time with family, friends and enjoy the game, not be in the kitchen, so keep it simple! Read along for some great recipe ideas to add to your Superbowl Party.

Appetizers

When it comes to apps, it’s always great to have a variety of options. A good place to start is with the fan-favorite go tos: veggie tray + dips, fruit bowls, charcuterie board (make sure it’s insta worthy), watermelon slices, and grilled chicken wings. If you want to spice things up a bit, here are a few recipes I’ve made in the past –

Guacamole
3 Cups l Total Time: 15 mins

You can never, I mean literally never, go wrong with guac and chips! If you’re trying to understand how much guac to make, typically recipes say ½ avocado per attendee, but if you have a bunch of different apps, I’d shoot for half of this. Typically, game day parties involve A LOT of food, so you don’t need a full portion of everything for each attendee.

Ingredients:
1/2 small yellow or 1/4 red onion, minced
2 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 ripe Hass avocados
1 lime, juiced
2 to 3 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 ripe plum tomato, cored and diced
1/4 to 1/2 jalapeno (with seeds), minced

Directions:
1 – Soak the onion in cold water for 15 minutes. Drain and transfer to a large bowl.
2- On a cutting board, lightly sprinkle the garlic with 1/4 teaspoon of salt and smash it into a paste with the side of a cook’s knife. Transfer the paste to the bowl with the onion.
3 – Using a knife cut the avocados in half, rotating around the seeds. Remove the seeds and discard. Using the knife, carefully make several slashes in the avocado flesh. Using a spoon, scoop the avocado flesh into the bowl with the onion and garlic. Repeat with the remaining avocado.
4 – Add the lime juice, cilantro, tomato, and jalapeno, to taste, to the avocados. Using a rubber spatula or large fork, mix until just combined, keeping the guacamole chunky. Season with salt, to taste. Serve immediately.

Buffalo Chicken Dip
12 Servings l Total Time: 35 mins

This is a big hit with the guests, and super simple to make!

Ingredients:
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 c. sour cream
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/3 c. Buffalo hot sauce (we used Frank’s Red Hot)
3 c. finely shredded white-meat rotisserie chicken
8 oz. Monterey Jack cheese, coarsely grated
2 scallions, finely chopped
2 oz blue cheese, crumbled
Potato chips and celery sticks, for serving

Classic Hot Wings
4 Servings l Total Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:
Canola oil, for frying
24 chicken wing parts (12 wings separated into 2 pieces)
One 12-ounce bottle of cayenne hot pepper sauce, such as Frank’s
1 stick butter
Several dashes of Worcestershire sauce
Several dashes hot sauce, such as Tabasco
Blue cheese dip, for serving
Celery sticks, for serving

Directions:
1 – Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Heat 3 inches of canola oil in a heavy pot to 375 degrees F.
2 – Add half the chicken wing parts to the oil and fry them until they’re golden brown and fully cooked, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove and drain on paper towels. Repeat with the other half of the wing parts. In a saucepan, heat the cayenne sauce and butter over medium-low heat. Add the Worcestershire and hot sauce. Let it bubble up, and then turn off the heat. Place the wings in an ovenproof dish and pour the hot sauce over the top. Toss to coat, and then bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
3 – Serve with blue cheese dip, celery sticks… and your favorite cold, fizzy beverage.

Main Dishes

Pull-Apart Garlic Bread Pizza Dish
8 Servings l Total Time: 75 mins

Ingredients:
3 c. shredded mozzarella, divided
2 (8-oz.) blocks cream cheese, softened
1 c. ricotta
1/3 c. plus 2 tbsp. freshly grated Parmesan, divided
1 tbsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
Kosher salt
3/4 c. pizza sauce
1 c. mini pepperoni
2 (16-oz.) cans refrigerated biscuits (such as Pillsbury Grands)
1/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. freshly chopped parsley

Directions:
1 – Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, mix 2 cups mozzarella, cream cheese, ricotta, ⅓ cup Parmesan, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes. Season with salt. Transfer mixture to a 9″-x-13″ baking dish then spread pizza sauce on top. Top with remaining 1 cup mozzarella and pepperoni.
2 – Halve biscuits and roll into balls, then place on top of the dip.
3 – In a small bowl, whisk together oil, garlic, and parsley. Brush on biscuits and sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan.
4 – Bake until biscuits are golden, and cheese is melty, about 45 minutes, then cover with aluminum foil and bake until biscuits are cooked through, another 15 to 20 minutes.
5 – Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

Desserts (obvi the most important…)

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
3 Dozen l Total Time: 40 mins

When it comes to gameday desserts, keep it simple and make something that’s easy for people to grab, eat while standing, and doesn’t make much of a mess! Great options are cookies, rice krispie treats, brownies or toffee bars, and cake pops.

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups rolled (old-fashioned) oats
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1 – Set 2 racks in the middle and upper thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
2 – In a medium bowl, stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, oats, and pecans together with a whisk or fork.
3 – In a large bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together for 30 seconds until blended. Beat in the egg until smooth and barely fluffy. With the mixer running on medium-high, drizzle in the maple syrup, and vanilla until incorporated. Turn the mixer down to its lowest setting and gradually add the flour-oatmeal mixture. Blend just to combine, then mix in the chocolate chips.
4 – Drop walnut-sized balls of dough onto a nonstick or parchment-lined cookie sheet at 3-inch intervals. With moistened fingers, flatten and round out the cookies a little. Bake for 9 minutes, turning the pan once for even baking. The cookies are done when they are lightly browned on top. Set the cookie sheets on a rack to cool.

Superbowl Beverages

When it comes to beverages, you need to first start with the basics, water, some selection of sodas (e.g. Diet co*ke, co*ke, Sprite), a bubbly water option is always nice, and La Croix tends to be a favorite. From there, we can start getting into the fun stuff, BOOZE.

You don’t want to go crazy here and have 14 different co*cktail selections, but I think having a good assortment of beers, white and red wines, some seltzers, and two select co*cktails are a great mix.

If you have a heavier hard alcohol drinking group of friends/family (guilty), you can always stock your kitchen with vodka, tequila, whiskey option, and make sure to have some tonic/soda water, some limes, and they should be good to go.

When it comes to the specialty co*cktail, here are some recipes for my favorites:

Spicy Mezcal Margarita… I mean, come on.
Servings: 1 l Total Time: 5 mins

Ingredients:
2 Jalapeño slices seeds removed
Ice
1.5 oz Mezcal
1.5 oz Triple Sec or other orange liqueur
1 oz lime juice
2 teaspoons Agave nectar
Coarse salt
Lime wheels and additional Jalapeño slices for garnish

Directions:
1 – Rub a lime wedge around the rim of a rocks glass, then roll the rim in coarse salt to coat. Fill the glass with ice and set it aside.
2 – In a co*cktail shaker, muddle the Jalapeño slices, then add the ice, mezcal, triple sec, lime juice, and agave nectar.
3 – Shake until frost starts to form on the co*cktail shaker, about 30 seconds.
4 – Pour into the glass through a strainer and garnish with a lime wheel and a jalapeño slice.

Moscow Mule Punch
Servings: 8 l Prep time: 5 min l Total Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:
4 c. ice
4 c. ginger beer
3 c. vodka
1 c. freshly squeezed lime juice
1 c. mint leaves, plus more for garnish
2 limes, sliced, plus more for garnish

Directions: In a large punch bowl, combine ice, ginger beer, vodka, lime juice, lime slices, and mint. Ladle punch into glasses or copper mugs and garnish with more mint.

Superbowl Potluck

Hosting a Superbowl party and providing food and drinks for a handful of folks can quickly become a big task. A great idea to help alleviate some of this is to turn the F&B into a potluck style event, where all attendees bring their favorite dish, or go to football drink, to the party. You can either take the risk and put no requirements on what folks bring – you may end up with desserts for days, or beer in your fridge until the next Superbowl, but it’s a lot of fun! Or establish a sign-up sheet that covers all your basics – using google spreadsheets is a great way to have all your guests sign-up for an item ahead of time. It also gives them visibility into what everyone else is bringing in case they have any dietary restrictions or special requests.

If you need some more food & drink inspiration, check out some of these great blog posts full of more Superbowl friendly recipes (linked):

1 – Super Bowl Food Menu

2 – Super Bowl Food Recipe Ideas

3 – Super Bowl Desserts

4 – Super Bowl co*cktail Drinks

Additional Entertainment

SUPER BOWL SQUARES
AKA the best Superbowl game of all time

How to play:
1 – pick-up a large poster board, and create a 100-square grid
2 – set an amount to purchase each square, typically I’ve always done $1 per square, but if you and your friends are in a gambling mood, there’s no limit.
3 – sell off all the squares – i.e. if Megan purchases 10 squares, she’ll write her name in 10 random squares that are still available
4 – set a payout structure of all the funds (see below for an example)
5 – Assign each side to a team, this can be done with a coin flip, or just having a random person say a team name
6 – Assign numbers, I typically pick a random person and have them count off the numbers 0-9 in a random order

If you’ve done everything correctly to this point, your board should look like this:

Example Payout Schedule – $100 board (here’s a simple one, but feel free to make as complicated as you’d like!)

Q1 Score – $10
Half-time Score – $25
Q3 Score – $10
End of Game Score – $55

Drinking Games

This is a fun way to keep people engaged during the game, set rules before kick-off of all the things you need to take a sip of your beverage for when it happens (e.g. every time a flag is thrown, if someone runs into a ref, etc.), and make sure to set ‘penalties’ for those who miss a drink!

I’d suggest being a bit careful with this one, could get a bit rowdy, but hey we’ve had a tough year!

Cornhole Tournament

This one does require some outdoor space, so space permitting, a cornhole tourney is a fun side event for folks to do, especially those who may not be avid football fans! We’d suggest setting a lower threshold of points to win – e.g. 11pts, instead of 21, to keep the turnover going, and keep more people engaged in the tournament. There’s nothing worse than having a SUPER long game that causes everyone else involved to lose interest.

If you need some new cornhole sets, here’s a great neutral option – there’s also another ~10 print options you can choose between if you’re not feeling the flag version. It’s only ~$60 (which is a steal!) depending on which print you get. Item linked here!

Evite

To help manage your guest list, we suggest utilizing evite! They have a ton of great templates for Football and Tailgate Themed Party Invites! To get started with Evite, check out this link.

Also, depending on when you go to sign-up, Evite seems to always have some cashback via Rakuten!

How it works – brands offer Rakuten a commission for referring them business, Rakuten shares that commission with consumers (you and me) in the form of cashback via PayPal or a check to your house! What’s there to lose? No fees to sign up, no inputting of credit card, just cashback, no strings attached. Typically, you’ll find cashback ranging from 1-5%, but over the last few months, I’ve seen up to 15% at major retailers like Dicks Sporting Goods, Walmart, Target, and more!

Use the following link to sign up with a bonus – SIGN-ON BONUS LINK!

Other Relevant Blogs

Superbowl Party Drink Ideas

2021 Superbowl Party Recipe Ideas

16 Fun Facts about the Superbowl

HEALTHY Superbowl Party Recipes!

The Best Tailgate Grills of 2021

The Best Tailgate Tents of 2021

The Ultimate Bloody Mary Bar for a GameWatch

We’re here to help!

Do you have any other Superbowl Party Ideas? If so, let us know! We can be reached via the comments below or at [emailprotected]. We’d love to add your feedback to this article to help other fans.

This is our first blog in our Superbowl 2021 series, be sure to follow us on social to know when we post the upcoming blogs! We’ll be writing about the best Superbowl beverages, fun facts, and healthy gameday recipes! Here are our social links: Facebook,Instagram,LinkedIn,andPinterest.

Tailgate on,
Team Tailgaters