It’s football season! If you need kid-friendly game day food options that please the whole crowd for those big games, you’re in the right place.
I always love football season, but I’m extra excited for it this year. Why?
- My University of Miami Hurricanes are looking good at the beginning of the season. I’m not holding my breath, though, as I am a proud, long-suffering alumna who has been down this road before. Let’s just say I’m hopeful.
- Professional football holds some promise for us this year too. After a couple of years on the upswing, the Miami Dolphins no longer reliably stink. They won their first game of the season (we are going to ignore the result of the second game and the QB’s injury)! I’m looking forward to being able to watch the one or two nationally televised Dolphins games this year (I’m out of market and not interested in paying for extra channels). The Pittsburgh Steelers have a new QB this year and might not be terrible too. They also won their first game, even without that QB. That means my husband should be a bit happier this Fall, so that’s a huge win for our household!
- My 4-year-old is majorly into sports these days. He’s always been interested in playing sports, but this year after watching the Olympics and Paralympics, he’s also becoming interested in watching sports on TV. It’s only been a few weeks of football being on TV again, but it’s so fun to watch him learn the game. He asks approximately 1 million questions per minute, but he’s catching on quickly.
One aspect of football season that I am always excited for is the food! I love game day food. We almost always have a game day dinner each week, either on Saturday or Sunday for college or professional football game watching. Some weeks we even have two game day dinners! Before kids, we tried a whole bunch of snack-y type foods for our game day dinners, but now that we have two littles in our lives who also need to eat dinner, I’ve had to make sure that our game day dinners are kid-friendly so everyone gets a full belly.
It’s been a bit of a trial-and-error experience to find the best kid-friendly game day food. Whether you want to have a weekly game day dinner or having people (including kids) over to watch a big game, boy do I have some good kid-friendly game day food ideas for you. Pick a few to try and get ready to chow down and cheer on your team!
Kid-Friendly Game Day Food
Cheese & crackers
Yes, I know that recommending cheese and crackers as kid-friendly game day food is extremely basic. But, don’t sleep on cheese and crackers when you’re feeding children. Sometimes cheese and crackers is the only thing kids will eat, even when presented with a delicious spread of supposedly kid-friendly options. It’s so easy to have available, either by buying a cheese tray straight off the grocery store shelf or putting a plate together yourself. Don’t skip the cheese and crackers!
Nachos/tacos
I love a build-your-own situation for game day. Everyone loves to be able to customize their food, especially kids who are trying to exert some power over their lives. In fact, one of my biggest tips for getting through any dinner with kids is the build-your-own dinner. That makes build-your-own dinner options perfect kid-friendly game day food.
One of the best build-your-own options for game day is the nacho/taco bar. I like to offer both options. My 4-year-old prefers to roll up his toppings in a tortilla, but my 2-year-old is obsessed with tortilla chips and will take any opportunity to consume them. Along with your base options, whip up some taco meat, shred up some cheese, chop up the veggies of your choice, stick a spoon in some sour cream and other in some guacamole, and grab a couple of salsa options. Voila! Perfect kid-friendly game day food.
Pretzel bites
Perhaps this big kid’s favorite game day food is pretzel bites. I love soft pretzels and take every opportunity to eat them that I can. And I don’t think I’m alone. Whenever I serve pretzel bites, I never have any leftovers.
They are a great kid-friendly game day food, especially if you serve them alongside a good cheese dip. When I have time, I love to make homemade pretzel bites, but there is no shame in buying pretzel bites from the grocery store. They’re delicious too!
Jalapeno poppers
You might be a bit surprised to find jalapeno poppers on a kid-friendly game day food list, but hear me out! They aren’t actually spicy. When they’re smoked and then broiled, they mellow out into just a delicious vehicle for cheese and bacon. In my experience, the kids love them. My 4-year-old will sit down and eat several in one sitting, and even my pickiest nephew will eat a bite or two.
I don’t really use a recipe to make my jalapeno poppers (no-recipe food is kind of my thing), but they’re easy so you don’t need one. Grab about a dozen jalapeno peppers. Cut them in half lengthwise and remove the ribs and seeds. Wash your hands! Take an 8-ounce block of softened cream cheese, mix with a heaping cup of shredded cheddar cheese, a few cloves of minced garlic, a few shakes of onion powder, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stuff the cheese mixture into each pepper half. Wrap each stuffed pepper half with a half slice of bacon. Stick the delicious bundles on the smoker (or the grill if you don’t have a smoker available) until the peppers are tender. Right before you want to serve, baste them with BBQ sauce and stick them in the broiler to crisp the bacon. You’re welcome.
Sliders
I love to make sliders on game day. They are super easy to make, great to feed a crowd, and infinitely customizable. They’re also the perfect size for kids to eat, making them a fabulous kid-friendly game day food.
Because they are so customizable, sometimes it’s overwhelming to decide what kind of sliders you want to make on game day. You can obviously choose the variety that most appeals to you and your kids, but some of our favorites include cheeseburger sliders, pizza sliders, and buffalo chicken sliders. But seriously, you can’t go wrong with sliders.
Pizza
When all else fails, choose to serve pizza on game day. Seriously, could there be a more kid-friendly game day food option? Kids love a basic cheese pizza, but you can also serve pizzas with some fancier toppings for the adults.
I love pizza as a game day food because you can make homemade pizza (including the dough!) if you have some time to spare, but you can also just call up your local pizza joint for delivery if you don’t. All pizza is good pizza!
Chili
Chili is another great build-your-own, kid-friendly game day food. Every family has its own favorite chili recipe, so you do you in terms of the chili itself. If you have some bean haters in your family and are unsatisfied with simply removing the beans from your classic chili recipe, I will suggest adding sweet potatoes. My husband is a bean hater, and I was so happy when I found this sweet potato chili recipe. It makes bean-less chili a little heartier so now everyone is happy.
When I serve chili for game day dinner, I like to set up a chili bar with lots of options for bases and toppings. The classic base is, of course, corn bread, but you can also choose to offer hot dogs, baked potatoes, or go Cincinnati-style with spaghetti. You can go ham on the toppings you offer, but make sure you include shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, and diced white onions as a minimum.
Hummus board
Similar to the cheese and crackers with which I kicked off this list, hummus doesn’t sound like an exciting option for game day food. Hummus is a great kid-friendly game day food option, though, so I don’t think you should dismiss it. Every kid I’ve ever met loves hummus and also eats vegetables when provided with a hummus dip. Do you know what this means? A hummus board can get your kids a healthy protein source AND vegetables in a single sitting. Sign me up!
BBQ meat
My kids are not big meat eaters, despite my urgings that they can be like T. rex if they eat meat. I think it has something to do with the texture. A great way to solve this texture problem is to add BBQ sauce. My kids are more likely to eat some sort of BBQ meat than any other meat, including chicken nuggets. Good thing BBQ meat is a great kid-friendly game day food option.
Don’t limit yourself here. You can go with BBQ pulled pork or chicken in the slow cooker. Or bust out the grill to BBQ some chicken breasts. How about using that smoker that’s collecting dust in the garage to smoke some pork ribs or a brisket? Whatever you like to eat and have time to make works here.
You can also get creative with how to serve your BBQ meat. I like to make sandwiches, stuffed baked potatoes, or offer the BBQ meat as another protein option for nachos. Kids and adults will be happy campers (at least until their team throws an interception).
Sweet treats
No game day is complete without a sweet treat on the buffet, especially when you are feeding kids. There isn’t one specific type of sweet treat that is inherently better than another for game day, but I like to go with something that’s hand-held. Think cupcakes, cookies, or brownies. They’re just easier to eat and you don’t have to worry about extra utensils. You can, of course, rely on pre-made options here (Sam’s Club makes a really delicious chocolate chip cookie if you’re in the market), but these are also not incredibly difficult or time-consuming sweet options. If you need some homemade inspiration, here are my current favorite cupcake, cookie, and brownie recipes. Thank you, Sally’s Baking Addiction!
Other posts
If you need help with other kid-friendly gatherings, check out these posts:
Enjoy your football season and your game day gatherings, friends. What kid-friendly game day food are you serving this Fall? Share what you’re serving in the comments below or over on Instagram @sarainseason.