The Game-Day Food Guide

Sports-bar classics survived for good reasons. They hold up in a crowd, they eat with one hand, and they taste right next to a cold glass and a close game. I spent years on a pub fryer and flat-top, and most of what made that food work translates to a home kitchen. Here are the categories in roughly the order they hit the table, with the temperatures that matter and a note wherever something can be made early, because the best game-day cook is the one who gets to watch the game.

Dips and Starters

Starters give people something to reach for during warm-ups. The good ones keep their texture for half an hour, can be eaten standing up, and do most of their work the day before.

Spinach and artichoke dip

A great version and a greasy one differ in water and fat. Thaw a 300 g (10 oz) block of frozen spinach and wring it out in a clean tea towel until nothing more drips; that liquid is what turns a dip watery by halftime. Mix it with chopped artichoke hearts, full-fat cream cheese (low-fat splits into an oily slick as it sits), a little sour cream and mayonnaise, parmesan, mozzarella and plenty of garlic. Bake it in a shallow dish at 375°F (190°C) for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges bubble and the top freckles brown. Assembled a day early, it needs 10 extra minutes from the fridge. A small slow cooker on warm holds it through four quarters.

Soft pretzels and beer cheese

A pretzel's chew and glossy crust come from an alkaline bath. Stir about 2/3 cup (150 g) of baking soda into 10 cups (2.4 L) of simmering water, poach the shaped pretzels for 30 seconds a side, salt them and bake at 425°F (220°C) for 12 to 15 minutes, until deep mahogany. For the beer cheese, whisk a lager or amber ale and some milk into a butter and flour roux, then melt in sharp cheddar grated off the block, since pre-shredded cheese carries starch that turns the sauce grainy. Skip hoppy beers, whose bitterness concentrates as it cooks, and never let it boil. Baked pretzels freeze for a month; the cheese keeps four days.

Potato skins

Bake russets at 400°F (200°C) for about an hour, let them cool, halve them and scoop out the flesh, leaving a wall about 6 mm (1/4 inch) thick. Thinner shatters; thicker stays soft. Brush both sides with melted butter or bacon fat, salt them and roast at 450°F (230°C) for about 10 minutes a side, until the edges turn brittle. Fill with cheddar and bacon for 3 or 4 more minutes. Sour cream and green onion go on afterward. The first bake can happen two days ahead, and the scooped potato makes the next morning's hash.

Garlic bread

Garlic bread fails two ways: harsh raw garlic, or garlic that burns before the bread is hot. Fix both by warming 113 g (1/2 cup) of butter with four to six grated cloves over low heat until it smells sweet, then adding parsley and parmesan. Spread it to the edges of a split loaf, wrap it in foil and bake at 400°F (200°C) for 10 minutes. Open it and broil for 1 to 2 minutes, watching the whole time. Broilers do not negotiate. A buttered, wrapped loaf also bakes straight from frozen in about 20 minutes.

Mozzarella sticks

The trick is the freezer. Bread sticks of low-moisture mozzarella twice (flour, egg, panko, egg, panko) and freeze them for at least an hour, so the cheese melts just as the coating turns golden. Skip the freeze and the cheese escapes first, leaving an empty breadcrumb tube. Fry at 350°F (175°C) for 1 to 2 minutes in small batches, or air fry at 400°F (200°C) for 6 to 8 minutes, turning once. Frozen, they keep a month, which makes them the easiest last-minute starter there is.

Wings

Wings get their own article, a side-by-side test of fried, baked and smoked wings. The short version:

• Dry skin crisps. Salt the wings and leave them uncovered on a rack in the fridge overnight.
• Fried: 375°F (190°C) for 10 to 12 minutes, in batches.
• Baked: add about a teaspoon of aluminum-free baking powder per 450 g (1 lb) with the salt, then roast on a rack at 425°F (220°C) for 45 to 50 minutes, flipping halfway.
• Smoked: 250°F (121°C) for about 90 minutes, then crisp the skin over a hot grill.
• Safe at 165°F (74°C), better at 175 to 185°F (79 to 85°C), when the meat pulls cleanly off the bone. Check the drums, which lag behind the flats.
• Sauce at the last second: hot sauce and melted butter, between equal parts and two to one, tossed in a big bowl.

I count 8 to 10 pieces a person when wings are the main event and half that when they share the table.

Nachos and Tex-Mex

Nearly every nacho argument comes down to soggy chips, and the fix is a method: thick chips, cheese in two layers, nothing wet in the oven. The full version is the layering method for loaded nachos that stay crisp. In short, spread one overlapping layer of chips on a half sheet pan, add cheese and any hot meat, repeat once, and bake at 400°F (200°C) for 8 to 10 minutes. Salsa, sour cream and guacamole go in bowls on the side.

Quesadillas

Made one at a time in a skillet, quesadillas work for two people and trap you at the stove for twelve. Use the oven. Fill flour tortillas with cheese to the edges plus chicken, black beans or leftover pulled pork, fold them, lay them on an oiled sheet pan and set a second pan on top. Bake at 425°F (220°C) for 10 minutes, flip, and give them 5 more uncovered. Monterey Jack with a little sharp cheddar melts best.

Fajitas for a crowd

Marinate skirt steak or boneless chicken thighs for a few hours in lime juice, oil, garlic, cumin and chili powder. Sear in cast iron or over the hottest part of the grill; chicken needs 165°F (74°C). Meanwhile, broil sliced peppers and onions on a sheet pan until charred at the edges, 8 to 10 minutes. Slice the meat thin across the grain and pile it on top. Warm foil-wrapped tortillas in a 300°F (150°C) oven for 15 minutes, keep them in a towel, and let people build their own.

Salsa and guacamole

Salt chopped tomatoes for pico de gallo and drain them for 15 minutes before adding onion, jalapeño, cilantro and lime, or they flood the chips. A blended salsa of charred tomatoes, onion, garlic and chilies keeps a week and improves overnight. Guacamole is the opposite: make it within an hour of serving, keep it chunky, salt it more than feels polite, and press plastic wrap onto the surface to keep it green.

Burgers and Sandwiches

Smash or thick

A smash burger and a thick pub burger are two dishes that share a bun. The smash burger is about crust. Roll 80/20 ground chuck into loose 85 to 115 g (3 to 4 oz) balls, heat a cast iron pan or griddle as hot as it goes, and press each ball flat within 30 seconds under a stiff spatula and a square of parchment. Salt it, wait about 2 minutes for lacy brown edges, scrape under the crust, flip, add cheese and stack it 30 seconds later.

The thick burger is about juice. Form 170 to 225 g (6 to 8 oz) patties loosely and press a dimple into the centre so they don't puff into meatballs. Health Canada and the USDA both give 160°F (71°C) as the safe internal temperature for ground beef. A smash patty gets there almost instantly; check a thick one with a thermometer, not a knife.

The bun is half the burger

Toast every bun. Butter or a thin swipe of mayonnaise on the cut sides and a minute on the griddle give a golden face that holds back juice, so the bottom bun survives to the last bite. Soft potato buns and brioche are the usual picks. A crusty roll fights the burger and wins.

Sliders for a crowd

Sliders answer the problem of twenty people and one pan. Press about 1 kg (2.2 lb) of ground beef into a thin sheet on a parchment-lined half sheet pan, season it and bake at 400°F (200°C) for about 15 minutes. Drain, add cheese and return it for 2 minutes. Split two 12-roll slabs of soft dinner rolls without pulling them apart, toast the cut sides, add pickles and sauce, slide the meat on, butter the tops and cut along the seams. Under foil, they hold an hour at 200°F (93°C).

Wraps

Wraps turn leftovers into a second meal. Warm the tortilla so it bends instead of cracking, keep the filling to a strip across the lower third, fold in the sides and roll it tight. A minute seam side down in a hot pan seals it. Buffalo chicken from leftover wings and steak with grilled onions are the classics. Cut them on a sharp diagonal.

Pizza and Pasta

Sheet-pan pizza for a group

One thick square pie, close to what New Yorkers call grandma pizza, beats a stack of rounds. Oil a half sheet pan generously, stretch 700 to 900 g (1.5 to 2 lb) of dough toward the corners, let it relax for 30 to 60 minutes, then press it again; this time it reaches. Lay low-moisture mozzarella on the dough first and spoon sauce over it in stripes to keep the crust dry. Bake on the lowest rack at 475°F (245°C) for 18 to 22 minutes, until the underside is golden and almost fried. Cut 24 squares.

Bar-style thin crust

The other classic is cracker-thin, rolled out with a pin and cut into small squares, often called tavern-style. Sauce goes on thin, cheese runs to the rim so it crisps into a lacy edge, and toppings stay sparse. Bake on a preheated steel or stone at 500°F (260°C) for 8 to 10 minutes. The square cut sends soft centre pieces to the people who like them and crunchy edges to the people who fight over them.

Baked pasta trays

Baked ziti and macaroni and cheese are the most forgiving dishes of the day. Undercook the pasta by 2 to 3 minutes and use more sauce than looks right, since the pasta keeps drinking in the oven. Bake a 9 x 13 inch (23 x 33 cm) dish covered with foil at 375°F (190°C) for 25 minutes, then uncovered for 10 to 15. Assembled a day ahead, it needs 15 to 20 extra minutes covered. Rest it 10 minutes before cutting.

Smoke and Grill

Live fire suits a warm afternoon start or a long playoff night when somebody is happy to stand outside. If it's new to you, begin with charcoal grilling for beginners and its two-zone fire: coals banked on one side for searing, the other side empty for gentle cooking.

Pulled pork

A bone-in pork shoulder, sold as pork butt, is the best crowd food there is: hard to overcook, and patient. Rub it with salt, pepper, paprika and brown sugar the night before, smoke it at 225 to 250°F (107 to 121°C), and pull it at 195 to 203°F (91 to 95°C), when a probe slides in with no resistance. A 4 kg (9 lb) shoulder can take 10 hours or more, with a long stall in the middle; wrapping it in foil or butcher paper at around 165°F (74°C) pushes it through. Wrapped in towels in an empty cooler, it stays hot for hours.

Sausages and brats

Sausages split and flare over high heat. Cook them on the cool side with the lid down to 160°F (71°C), then brown them over the coals for a minute or two.

Choosing a smoker

A pellet grill holds a set temperature for hours on a thermostat, which suits a host who would rather watch than tend a fire. An electric smoker is simpler still and fine for a first shoulder or rack of ribs. Put corn on any of them; rolled in butter, chili powder and lime, it beats most salads.

Salads and the lighter side

Something cold and sharp makes the heavy dishes taste better. Choose salads that survive sitting out.

• Wedge: iceberg, blue cheese dressing, bacon and cherry tomatoes. Its only rule is cold.
• Chopped: romaine, cabbage, chickpeas, cucumber and salami, cut small, with a red wine vinaigrette. Sturdy greens hold for hours where tender ones wilt in twenty minutes.
• Vinegar slaw: cabbage and carrot in cider vinegar, a little sugar and celery seed. It outlasts mayonnaise slaw and doubles as a pulled pork topping.
• Raw vegetables beside the ranch and blue cheese you already made for the wings.

Cold food should stay at 40°F (4°C) or below. Set the bowls inside larger bowls of ice and swap in fresh ones at halftime.

Planning the spread

A good spread is mostly a schedule. Make whatever you can the day before, save the fryer and broiler for food that must be eaten right away, and give hot dishes somewhere to wait. The watch party planning checklist covers the rest of the night.

Hot food belongs at 140°F (60°C) or above, and nothing perishable should sit out longer than two hours, a guideline Health Canada and the USDA share. In practice that means an oven left on at 200°F (93°C) all night and a probe thermometer next to the bottle opener. By the fourth quarter you'll have reached for each of them about as often.