Advice | How to host a winning Super Bowl party (2024)

It’s the one day each year I find myself surrounded by an outlandish spread of chips, dips, chicken wings, chili and several of my closest friends. For the past 15 years, I’ve hosted a Super Bowl party (including a socially distant, pregame, outdoor food swap in 2021), and I always enjoy starting the day by waking up early to prepare a big pot of chili.

Whether you’re hosting or attending a gathering this year, here are a few things to consider:

Make it a potluck. Assign specific dishes or food groups (see below), and invite non-cooks to bring chips, drinks, ice or a favorite condiment. We’ve handpicked our best recipes for wings, dips, nachos and chili to inspire you and your guests. But sometimes the most memorable dishes are the unexpected ones, like the time my friend showed up with moose meatballs made from a moose her dad hunted in North Dakota with a bow and arrow. You never know what might turn up!

Lean into make-ahead options. As with most parties, much of the fun of hosting comes from being able to interact with your guests. During the Super Bowl, you’re also going to want to be free to enjoy the game. Choosing recipes that can be made entirely, or at least mostly, ahead of time, will “allow you to focus on all of the essentials — eating, drinking, and spending time with friends — all while watching a good game,” Eddie Jackson, former NFL cornerback, chef and Food Network host, says in his book, “Game-Day Eats.” “The key is to make food that allows you to spend your time with your guests, not slaving over the stove.”

Be sure to have enough plates, bowls and utensils for everyone attending. Run the dishwasher earlier in the day. Remember that mugs can double as bowls for chili and sturdy tortilla chips make excellent spoons, if/when you run out. This is also the time to use up all that takeout plasticware that you stashed away the past four years.

Encourage guests to bring to-go containers (or give away your takeout tubs). Leftovers are a wonderful thing, but less so when the host has nowhere to put them all. I don’t know about you, but my Tupperware cabinet is basically a bear trap. Spreading the bounty will expedite cleanup, too.

Choose recipes that are easy to scale up or down depending on the size of your gathering. Think dips, sandwiches, wings and chili. Keep in mind that cooking times and temperatures may be affected when you adjust the yield on a recipe, so adjust accordingly.

Store-bought is fine. You should absolutely supplement homemade recipes with store-bought shortcuts. Consult our taste tests of the best store-bought salsas and hummus brands and grab a premade and/or frozen treat or two that can easily be warmed up in the oven. The Super Bowl typically lasts for 3½ to 4 hours, so having sufficient sustenance is key.

Consider your serving surfaces. Piling all the food and drinks onto a coffee table in front of the TV is a recipe for spills and pet pandemonium. Clear off a kitchen counter and/or create space around the dinner table for a buffet line where people can set out their dishes and refuel during the game.

Variety is key on the beverage front. Lagers, crisp pilsners, radlers and seltzers will cut through the heavy foods. It might be a good day for session IPAs rather than boozy doubles and or imperial stouts. Tap into some of the great new nonalcoholic beers on the market. Or make a batch co*cktail. For the home mixologists, give our drink generator a shake and serve up classic or creative drinks, with or without booze. Depending on your latitude, you may be able to skip buying ice and keep beverages cool on a back patio or balcony.

For more inspiration, check out collections of our best recipes for: