January 30, 2024

How to Host the Best Super Bowl Party

How to Host the Best Super Bowl Party – Ever!

Super Bowl Party – is it important? You betcha! Here in the good old U S of A, we love to throw elaborate watch parties for a game that most people at the party don’t care about. The food is SUPER fun though, and the company is always divine.

This menu can be easily adapted for any two teams playing on any Sunday of the year – it does not have to be Super Bowl Sunday. It doesn’t even have to be football. As always, here are the standard entertaining strategies:

Seating Alert for the big game:

One additional requirement for a Super Bowl Party is that you need to have enough chairs around the TV for all the guests to be able to sit down. You can do it with additional folding chairs, or big pillows on the ground or turning the TV on in two rooms. Everybody won’t want to be sitting down at the same time, but it’s a good idea to have seating like they will.

Tips and Tricks ~

If ever there was a better time for paper plates, napkins and plastic glasses, I don’t know when it could be. Buy some fun assorted paper goods in team colors to trick out your table. (Affiliate links follow – see Disclaimer Page for details.) Here’s a fun three pack of Football Tablecovers to make the place a bit more festive.

Grill the steak and or vegetables, and prep the sammies, dogs, chili, pork and/or chicken to be ready for everyone to put together on their own just before Half Time. No one wants to miss Half Time – it’s the best part. The dips, sides and desserts should be ready before the festivities begin, and keeping warm (for the dips) until you want to put them out. I like cute casserole dishes to cook and serve in.

Super Bowl Din Din Details~

This year we’re leaning into the drink selection for the match-up. Why? Because this same match up (Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers) played in Super Bowl LIV in 2020. So that menu (far, far below) works this year too. I made a new menu up this year for shiz and giggles, and thought the drink selection was fun.

A very big deal in San Francisco is the “Mission Burrito”. If you do any reading up on it, and you have a Chipotle in your neighborhood, you’ll note that they are basically the same thing. If you are in a bind (or just don’t feel like cooking), buying several that can be cut in half and shared would be a fine hack. Take the help where you can get it!

We’re going with shredded/pulled chicken sliders with a delightful BBQ sauce this year. Your crockpot is the best deal going for cooking the chicken. Put skinless, boneless chicken breasts or thighs in a 4 quart slow cooker with 1/4 cup of the BBQ sauce and a tablespoon of butter, and cook for 2-3 hours on high. Then shred and serve with more sauce. Some Cole Slaw (store bought or homemade) makes a nice crunchy bed for the chicken.

Wondering about the dessert selection this year?

Ghirardelli Chocolate is famous nationwide now, but it started as a single confection shop in San Fran. They were well known for the hot fudge sundae, and is it any wonder? What could go better with a cold one.

Years and Years of menus…

Last year (2023) we took advantage of a remarkably mild winter by using an outdoor griddle pan on the outdoor gas grill to cook the Steak ‘ums while the veggies charred a bit for both sandwiches. We’re skipping the barbecue pork this year – because no one here really adores it. If your crowd insists, try the Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork by the Pioneer Woman and add your favorite BBQ sauce.

We’re starting with a couple easy dips and some popcorn to get everyone in the mood. We’ll have the dips and ‘corn on the table in front of the tv so everyone can help themselves. Our trusty beer bucket will be pulled into play so everyone can help themselves with this too.

The menu was a little lighter last year – we added a meatless option to help us keep our girlish figures. And a non-alcoholic punch will add a little lightness along with some sweet.

Hot Dogs go with any menu we’ve got ~

We use our stove top grill/griddle pan to prep the HOT DOGS on the stove – and leave the hot dogs right on there to serve. Just leave the heat set to “warm” and turn the dogs occasionally. We’re channeling gas station dogs here.

There’s a menu for last year and the year before that below…

If you’re using one of those, prepare the chili for Super Bowl LVI (2022) well before the big game and pop into the crock pot on low to keep marrying the flavors while the game is on, and so it will be at the right temp when it’s time to eat.

Non-Italian sanctioned method for precooking the spaghetti: fully cook the pasta and drain well before drizzling with a tablespoon or so of olive oil. Toss well and place the treated noodles in a serving bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and leave out at room temp. Ideally, the chili will be hot enough that it will warm up the noodles.

Don’t like Dr. Pepper? Here’s another ridiculously easy pulled pork idea:

Prepare a PORK SHOULDER in your crock pot for both the sammies on the Super Bowl 2021 Menu. Pop the shoulder in, fat side up, and salt and pepper copiously. Add in two or three chipotle peppers, and a can of lemon-lime pop. Cook for 10 – 12 hours on high. When the pork is falling apart, remove any visible fat, remove bones, and shred it using forks or a hand mixer.

Or, make a couple of sheet pans full of Pop’s Crispy Chicken early in the day if you’re having the CHICKEN SLIDERS from Super Bowl 2020. Leave them in the fridge until it’s time to cook them at the start of the second quarter. Once they’re crispy and cooked through (check with your trusty instant read meat thermometer – they should be at least 160 degrees F) keep them warm on the stove top until everyone eats.

I love leaving the drink of the day in a big plastic party pitcher or this fun Beverage Dispenser . That way everyone can take care of themselves.

Is it even a game without betting?

In order to keep everyone involved, we always set up a super simple “Pool” that everyone bets on. When the boys were little, and any money they had came from us, we used to bet a quarter for a chance. Last year it was up to $5 per slot, and everyone was really involved.

Take a sheet of paper and draw 4 even horizontal lines and one vertical line down the middle. Prep 8 chances – one for each team for each quarter, and fold them up so no one can see what’s on them. Put them together in a hat. Everyone gets to pick a chance when they pay the entry fee. Write down who has each team for each quarter on the sheet of paper and keep track of that while the game goes on. Whoever has the most points in a single quarter wins the pool. Easy Peasy.

If you have more than 8 people, double up on the chances.

If you have fewer than 8 people, let the heavy hitters buy another chance, or leave that quarter empty.