How to Pick Food for a Tailgate Party

Whether you are a football fan or not, a tailgate party is a lot of fun. Gathering with friends to cheer on your team is only better with foods that are chosen and prepared to suit the day's events. Follow the steps below to pick food for a tailgate party.

Things You'll Need

• Choice of meats
• Barbecue grill
• Charcoal
• Charcoal fuel
• Paper plates
• Plastic ware
• Napkins
• Side dishes
• Easy desserts
• Restaurant to-go menus
• Restaurant phone numbers
• Meat thermometer

Instructions

1. Decide if you are going to grill at your tailgate party or if you are going to cook ahead of time so you can choose the menu and pick the food for your tailgate party.

2. Determine the number of people that are going to attend the tailgate party. Are you going to prepare all the food or will it be a potluck meal? Assign dishes to bring if this will be a shared potluck party. This way you won't end up with 10 pans of baked beans and no potato salad.

3. Choose the meats that you are going to eat at the tailgate party. If you are going to grill, you will want to pick meats that cook quickly. These would be hamburgers or hot dogs. If you are going to serve chicken, ribs or brisket, you'd be better off preparing them at home and then just heating them up on the grill.

4. Pick traditional tailgate foods as side dishes to go with the meats that you have chosen. These would typically include potato salad, macaroni salad, baked beans, and corn on the cob for starters. If you have mayonnaise-based salads, keep them covered and cold before and during the tailgate party so the mayonnaise doesn't spoil.

5. Keep the food for the tailgate party very simple by serving sandwiches. These can be made ahead of time and served with pickle spears and chips. Round out the meal with brownies or cookies, and you'll have the easiest of all tailgate menus.

6. Let the experts prepare the food for the tailgate party. Pick up sandwich box meals at a deli. Go to your neighborhood BBQ restaurant and grab everything you need from ribs to corn bread and all the sides. Nearly every restaurant has to-go menus and most cater events so this is another way to have great food at a tailgate party. You may spend a bit more money, but you won't have much work to do. Just pick up the phone and dial.

Tips & Warnings

• Prepare the majority of the food for a tailgate party ahead of time. You can enjoy the party with the rest of the revelers if you take the time beforehand to do some cooking.

• If tailgating is not allowed in the parking lot where the game will be held, have the tailgate party in your driveway and then proceed to the game.

• Do not spoil the party. Use a meat thermometer on grilled meats at your tailgate party to avoid food-borne illness. Internal temperatures of individual pieces of meat should read 165 degrees.

• Make sure that the parking lot that you want to tailgate in allows these parties. Due to security and safety reasons, some universities no longer allow tailgating.

Resources

• Website will direct you to tailgate food ideas