Aside from football, the most crucial part of the Super Bowl is the snack spread. Rather than your usual snack table, why not create an Eagles snack stadium to take your Super Bowl hosting to the next level?
Haven’t heard of a snack stadium? Let us introduce you to this culinary architectural masterpiece. While its origins are murky, its form is clear: Dips, chips, deli meats, sandwiches, and more are arranged to create an edible football stadium. You can make it as elaborate or as simple as you like. A field of five dips? Why not. Little pretzel-encrusted hot dogs with players’ names piped in Cheese Whiz? No one’s going to stop you.
No matter your ambitions, we’re here to help you build the Philly snackadium of your dreams. Go Birds.
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Where to start
Map it out. A layout of your stadium will help you stay organized for grocery shopping and construction.
Think of the stadium as a large rectangle — you have the field, then the bleachers surrounding it. Start with dips to create the bed of grass for the field (we’ve included three great recipes below). Fill the bleachers with a variety of chips, veggies, deli meats, condiments — whatever you love to dip. Set up hoagies as the seats high in the back of the bleachers. Top it off in with festive decorations for some extra pizzazz.
Where to shop
For trays, structures, and other decorations
You could go all out and invest in an inflatable snack stadium structure from Party City, or nab one of these stadium structures from Etsy. But you can also make a snack stadium with foil pans and trays from your local Dollar Tree, Walmart, or Acme Markets.
To decorate your snack stadium, you can use tiny football helmets, Eagles skewers, and more Birds gear. Pick those up at Oasis Supply in Bensalem, Sweet Creations Unlimited Inc. in Wissinoming, or Cannon’s Cake and Candy Supplies in Clementon, N.J. Party City also carries Eagles party gear, including 16-inch football goal posts to make it all that more realistic. Etsy also has Eagles signs, football helmets, and LIVII toppers on picks and matching table confetti. If you’re looking for fun ice molds to keep your beverages cold, try Kitchen Kapers in Center City and Chestnut Hill for their football-shaped ones.
Pack the stands with Philly snacks
Head to Reading Terminal to nab Tastykakes from the Philadelphia General Store, crunchy pretzels and dried sweet corn from Kauffman’s Dutch Market, and deli meats and cheeses from Riehl Cheese Shop and Deli to fill the bleachers. Grab a box of salty, sweet Mitica Moka Pecans or a bag of crostini from Di Bruno Bros. We also strongly recommend Haitai Honey Butter Chips, Nongshim Shrimp Crackers, and Joeun Korean Style Popcorn at H Mart to sprinkle some sweet and salty through the snack bleachers.
Of course, we can’t forget about Herr’s potato chips. Snag a bag of their first flavor, BBQ, which debuted in 1958. If you want to get wild you can also grab a bag of cheese fries or ketchup-flavored ones.
» READ MORE: How Herr's are made
If you’re looking for premade trays of foods to add to your stadium, try the cookie trays at Termini Brothers Bakery, assorted hoagie trays at Campo’s Deli, the broccoli florets tray at Spasso Italian Grill, or the baklava tray at Manakeesh Cafe, Bakery & Grill. For more options, check out our guide to party trays and platters.
Get your hoagie defensive line together
After more than 7,500 completed our Italian hoagie brackets, Angelo’s Pizzeria at Ninth and Fitzwater Streets was named the best. Inquirer food critic Craig LaBan complimented its fresh-baked rolls, ultimately naming it his personal winner, and Hoagie Dom cited Angelo’s roll as “the best in the entire city.” If you’re a purist, you’ll want to head there for your snack stadium hoagie row.
But of course, there’s no lack of good hoagies to choose from. Fink’s Hoagies came in second place and Mi-Pals Deli, third. Castellino’s and Lil’ Nick’s Deli in fourth and fifth place, respectively.
Add a little extra, why not?
You don’t have to stop at chips and dip for your snackadium. You could make a sushi-adium with trays from Bleu Sushi in Center City, a whole lumpia cheerleading section straight from Manila Cafe & Asian Mart in Mount Laurel, or a faction of cheering dumplings from Dim Sum Garden in Chinatown. Maybe even add a samosa section catered from Indeblue in Cherry Hill, or empanadas from Jezabel’s in West Philly to pack the bleachers.
» READ MORE: The Super Bowl is all about the snacks. Here are recipes to up your game.
You could also take a play out of Silver Linings Playbook, the 2012 film starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, and add crabby snacks.
Philadelphia-born, South Jersey-bred writer Matthew Quick wrote about crabby snacks in the best-selling novel that inspired the film, wrote Inquirer reporter Lauren McCutcheon. To make them, you “take crabmeat from a can” and “orange cheese that comes in a jar,” then “melt it up in a saucepan, put it in a bag, let it sit there,” Quick told The Inquirer. “Take English muffins, half them, and then quarter them, and you cover them with this delicious mixture.” Quick’s mother, Doreen, shared her recipe, which calls for cheese spread, English muffins, butter, mayo, and garlic powder.
Field of dips
Keep the green with a field of guacamole and pipe lines to make it realistic or go avant-garde with an array of dips. Below, we’ve got three recipes to help you lay down the turf — tangy, creamy goat cheese dip, taco in dip form, and guacamole with a bacon twist.
