Super Bowl Food

Super Bowl Food and recipes abound! Game day is a wonderful chance for friends and family to get together, indulge in snacks, and cheer on their favorite football team. Packaged chips, high-fat dips, "Little Smokies," and almost any other high-fat food that catches your eye can seem like necessities.

You have been doing a great job keeping up with your New Year's weight loss tips and diet resolutions, so you might think that rules are just meant to be broken on game day. Not so!

True health is about developing long-term "Lifestyle Solutions" for the social event days that we all face in life. There are many delectable, healthy snack ideas worthy of a premier football party that will delight everyone without sabotaging your hard work. After all, who really wants that Monday morning food coma hangover anyway?

Produce Tray above made by Leigh 

As with any other big holiday meal plan, a great produce tray filled with lots of seasonal fruits, vegetables, and homemade dips will go a long way! The more great, healthy foods you eat, the less room you will have for all the greasy Super Bowl snacks on the table. I always have to laugh because, for every family party I have ever attended, I have never been allowed to bring anything except for a produce tray, as everyone eagerly awaits what creative design I will show up with!

Super Bowl Food and... Unhealthy Diet Habits to Avoid

Healthy diet tips co-curated by my sister, Kerry, from Healthy Diet Habits

• Avoid Store-Bought Dips: Be sure to check the nutrition labels. Most commercial dips are loaded with calories, and it is easy to accidentally consume an entire day’s worth of calories in just a few servings. If you love dips, make your own at home using healthier ingredients!

• Avoid Endless Bags of Chips: Say no to the trap of chips, chips, and more chips.

• Avoid Heavy Appetizers: Most finger foods are incredibly calorie-laden but tiny. Because they don't fill you up quickly, it takes a massive amount of them to actually curb your hunger.

• Avoid Serving Food Right by the TV: Move the snack table away from the television screen to prevent mindless eating. Watching TV while snacking is a dangerous combination that almost always leads to overeating.

• Avoid Too Much Variety: Try not to serve a massive, overwhelming variety of different food types. Food indecision naturally causes people to sample everything and overeat.

• Avoid Grazing on Nuts: Even though nuts contain healthy fats, they are extremely calorie-dense and far too easy to mindlessly grab by the handful.

• Avoid Heavy Desserts: By the time the game ends, everyone is usually so full from snacking that desserts aren't truly appreciated anyway.

• Avoid High-Calorie Processed Foods: Always check the calorie counts before buying. If a processed snack is exceptionally high in calories, slowly put it back on the shelf! Your waistline and your friends will thank you.

• Avoid Buying Giant Warehouse Bags of Appetizers: Steer clear of giant bulk bags from places like Costco. If you have massive amounts of leftovers, you will feel forced to eat them all week long.

• Limit Alcohol Consumption: Alcohol adds empty calories and lowers your eating inhibitions. Enough said!

Pictured above, was my favorite Super Bowl Food picture that I found on Pinterest!  This would be pretty easy to make, although it is harder to find great watermelons during this time of year than in the summer.  Having some healthy options like fruits and vegetables, and a crockpot full of soup or chili, is the way to go!

Super Bowl Food...
and Healthy Diet Habits to Practice:

• Start with a Hearty Base: Start your guests off with a bowl of healthy chili or soup to fill them up first. Check out Kerry's healthy options on the Healthy Diet Habits Website for some fantastic ideas! Her Slow Cooker Chili recipe is a perfect choice for game day.

• Lighten Up the Dips: Serve crisp, chopped vegetables paired with a light, low-calorie dressing instead of heavy creams.

• Go Fresh with Salsa: Serve a fresh, homemade salsa packed with finely chopped garden vegetables.

• Bake Your Own Chips: Opt for home-baked corn tortilla chips or toasted pita chips. (You can learn how to make crispy corn tortilla chips on the Healthy Diet Habits Tostada Recipe Page—just bake them and break them into smaller pieces. They are absolutely wonderful dipped into homemade chili!)

• Swap Chips for Veggie Scoops: Use large, thick-cut chopped vegetables (like bell pepper scoops or cucumber slices) as your dippers rather than standard chips.

• Get Creative with Kebobs: Serve refreshing fresh fruit kebobs or savory, colorful grilled vegetable kebobs.

• Roast Your Appetizers: Serve warm, oven-roasted vegetables as savory finger food appetizers.

• Upgrade Your Sandwiches: Offer whole-grain artisan breads paired with lean, nitrate-free sandwich meats. High-quality artisan breads taste so much better and are far more satisfying.

• Serve Gourmet Popcorn: Make a big bowl of air-popped popcorn spritzed lightly with olive oil and sprinkled with a bit of fresh parmesan cheese.

• Keep the Buffet in the Kitchen: Set up your main food spread in the kitchen or dining room. People naturally eat much less when the snacks are not sitting directly in front of them on the coffee table.

• Offer a Light Dessert Bar: If you want to offer dessert, set up a colorful yogurt bar with fresh fruits, granola, and dried fruits, or serve up ready-made individual sample portions like the ones pictured below.

Throw in a small piece of angel food cake, homemade whipped cream, and a few pieces of fresh fruit in small plastic cups that are pre-portioned as a light dessert option!

You can also use similar cups to serve single-serving dips to help your guests avoid double-dipping. This quick dessert setup works beautifully for your Fourth of July meals as well!

Crazy Super Bowl Sunday Food Statistics

To put our game-day eating habits into perspective, here is a look at the staggering amount of snacks Americans smash through during the game:

• The Great Guacamole Wave: Americans eat an estimated 8 million pounds of guacamole on Super Bowl Sunday alone!

• A Mountain of Chips: To scoop up all that dip, football fans consume over 14,500 tons of chips during the broadcast.

• The Second Largest Feast: Thanks to non-stop grazing, Super Bowl Sunday ranks as the second-largest day for food consumption in the United States, sitting right behind Thanksgiving Day.

Super Bowl Party Food & Healthy Recipes on Pinterest

Please follow our Holidays and Observances Super Bowl Sunday Food board on Pinterest! Below is a sampling of our 30 most recent pins, loaded with healthy game-day recipes, creative party snacks, and light appetizer ideas.

To see our full collection and follow the board for constant updates, simply click the "See on Pinterest" button below or at the bottom of the block. The link will open directly in a new window on Pinterest, where new food inspiration is being constantly added!