Sliders To Sloppy Joes: 15 Awesome Recipes For Watching Football (2024)

If your Sunday plans involve sitting on the sofa and yelling at the TV, you’ll need some good eats to sustain yourself. From Sloppy Joes to Ham & Cheese Sliders to the best-ever Rice Krispie Treats, these game day recipes will keep you and your fellow football fans satisfied all day long.

These smoky, spicy Sloppy Joes — or “Sloppy Jenns” as we call them around here — are made entirely from scratch (read: no ketchup or mystery seasoning packets). Pile the beef onto toasted buns and serve with my Sweet & Tangy Citrus Slaw. And feel free to double or triple the recipe for a crowd or to freeze for later. GET THE RECIPE

While traditional guacamole is made with raw onions, this updated version is made with roasted garlic, which has just as much flavor and none of unpleasant aftertaste. Always a crowd pleaser! GET THE RECIPE

Thought Rice Krispies Treats couldn’t get any better? Wrong! These are made with browned butter, extra salt, and a secret ingredient that makes them taste toasty and caramel-y. I’ll give you a clue: it starts with “golden” and ends with “grahams.” GET THE RECIPE

Crisp flour tortillas filled with gooey melted cheddar and chicken in a smoky chipotle sauce — these are the ULTIMATE quesadillas. The recipe is adapted from the website of Curtis Stone, one of my favorite chefs and cookbook authors. GET THE RECIPE

Made with a store-bought rotisserie chicken, this is an easy and delicious chicken chili that you can prepare for your crowd in under an hour. GET THE RECIPE

Part cookie, part brownie — who doesn’t love blondies? The best part is that they’re super-easy to make: fewer ingredients than cookies (plus you don’t have to roll the dough into balls) and easier than brownies because there’s no chocolate to melt. This version, made with chocolate chips and pecans, is a family favorite. GET THE RECIPE

This delicious popcorn doused with garlic butter, Parmesan, and spices is adapted from Crazy Good Italian by D.C. Chef and Top Chef All-Stars runner-up Mike Isabella. It’s insanely addictive (yes, crazy good) and exemplifies Isabella’s self-described cooking style: one part old-world Italian, one part old-school Jersey, one part modern Mediterranean — all parts delicious. GET THE RECIPE

Always a crowd pleaser, these Southern-style ham and cheese sliders are doused in a tangy butter, mustard and poppy seed sauce, and then baked until golden and crisp. Bet you can’t eat just one! GET THE RECIPE

Inspired by the famous bar nuts served at Union Square Cafe in New York, these sweet, spicy and salty rosemary nuts are perfect for snacking and wildly addictive. GET THE RECIPE

With fork-tender chunks of beef enveloped in a deep, spicy and smoky sauce, Texas beef chili is essentially a chili-flavored beef stew. GET THE RECIPE

This from-scratch queso is rich, creamy, a little spicy — and dangerously addictive when served warm with tortilla chips. GET THE RECIPE

Sun-dried tomato pesto gives these grilled cheese sandwiches a gourmet twist. My son calls them “pizza paninis” since they taste like hot, crispy pizza sandwiches. GET THE RECIPE

Stuffed with chocolate chips and pecans, these cookies emerge from the oven puffy, gooey, chewy and crunchy every single time. They are so rich and chocolatey, they almost beg for a tall glass of milk. GET THE RECIPE

These drip-down-your-chin sliders are jazzed up with smoky Southwestern spices, jalapeno pepper and Jack cheese. They are phenomenal topped with my Roasted Tomato Peach Jam (which is more of a relish than a true jam), but ketchup and salsa work too. GET THE RECIPE

Dense and creamy with a hint of lemon and a crisp brown sugar-graham cracker crust, these bars are not only a cinch to make, they rival the very best NY cheesecake out there. They also have a high crust-to-cheesecake ratio so if you’re a crust-lover like me, you’ll love them. GET THE RECIPE