How to Make the Ultimate Game Day Snack Table to Feed a Crowd
Feed a ton of people with minimal effort with our over-the-top snack spread.
Serves15
Prep1 hour 30 minutes
Want to serve up the ultimate game day snack board to feed a crowd? Skip the cheese board and snack stadiums and make this fun and easy spread instead. It serves 15 guests for two hours of game day revelry — and takes less than two hours to pull everything together, homemade queso for dipping chips, cheesy pizza pinwheels, and Texas caviar included.
Here’s everything you need to know about which foods to make and which to buy, plus tips for keeping the warm food warm and the cold foods cold.
Tips for Building a Game Day Snack Table
“Plan your work and work your plan” is one of my favorite tips for meal planning and party prepping. Here’s what that means when it comes to building a snack spread for game day.
- Don’t be a hero. Focus on making about half of your snack table spread and buying the rest. Choose 5 to 7 snacks to make from scratch and fill the rest of the table with chips, crackers, pretzels, or cheeses and fruits and vegetables.
- Prep your serving area. Before you start prepping the food, cover your serving area with a tablecloth or butcher paper. Don’t be afraid to set snacks directly on top of the paper, too.
- Think hot and cold. Designate a zone for warm foods and another for cool or cold foods, and place your serving platters and slow cookers on the table.
- Work backwards: Think about which foods can sit out safely the longest (chips, cut vegetables, cookies) and work backwards from there.
- Make dessert first. When it comes to the order of operations, prep the desserts first, followed by the fruits and veggies, the chilled snacks, and finally the warm snacks. It’s more than okay if warm snacks are still coming out of the oven as guests arrive.
Ready to get We’ve included our favorite combination of snacks, but feel free to switch it up as your please. Happy hosting!
How to Make the Ultimate Game Day Snack Table
Feed a ton of people with minimal effort with our over-the-top snack spread.
Prep time 1 hour 30 minutes
Serves 15
Nutritional Info
Ingredients
Sweets:
- 1 recipe
Cake Mix Cookies, made with sprinkles in the team colors
- 1 recipe
Store bought cookies for dipping, such as graham crackers
Room temperature snacks:
Popcorn
Mini pretzel twists
Tortilla chips, for the queso and guacamole
Crackers or crostini
Fruit, such as berries, seedless grapes, apple, and pear slices
Fresh veggies, such as carrot sticks, sliced cucumbers, sliced bell peppers, sugar snap peas
Chilled snacks:
- 1 recipe
- 1 recipe
- 1 to 2
larger cheese blocks, such as sharp cheddar and brie
Warm snacks:
- 1 recipe
- 1 recipe
- 1 recipe
- 1 recipe
Instructions
Prep the table. Cover a 3x5-foot table or surface with a tablecloth or brown paper. Designate a zone for warm foods and another for cool or cold foods on either side of the surface. Place your larger serving platters, slow cookers, and cake stands on the table.
Prep the desserts. Bake the Cake Mix cookies with sprinkles in your team colors. Mix up the edible cookie dough to use as a dip.
Rinse and chop the fresh fruits and veggies. Wash all fruit and veggies. Use scissors to cut the grapes into small bunches. Slice strawberries, apples, and pears. Peel carrots and cut into sticks, slice cucumbers and peppers.
Make the chilled snacks. Mix up the guacamole, if making from scratch. Make cowboy caviar. You can also slice or cube the cheeses at this time.
Start the queso and bake other warm snacks. Assemble the queso ingredients in the slow cooker and set to high. Assemble the Hawaiian roll sliders and bake. Assemble the pig in a blanket and bake. Roll the pizza rolls and bake. You can keep these snacks warm in an oven set to 200ºF.
Arrange the food on the table. Set out desserts and room temperature foods first — arranging crackers, chips, and fruit directly on the table around the platters and slow cookers. Arrange cheese and cool snacks on the table just before pre-game show and add the warm food as guests arrive.