Tailgating Food Ideas & Recipes

By Food & Wine
Updated October 08, 2019
These delicious recipes include perfect chicken wings and superstar chef Bobby Flay's over-the-top nacho burgers.
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Grilled Philly Cheesesteaks

Credit: Marcus Nilsson
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Butcher Tom Mylan uses a cast-iron skillet on the grill to prepare his steak, onion, pepper and cheese hoagies.

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Herb-Roasted Pork Subs with Garlicky Spinach

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To create this outstanding sandwich, Matt Neal rubs pork shoulder with an herb-and-garlic mixture and then slow-roasts it for hours ("Forever," he says). He piles the meat high with pickled peppers and spinach sautéed with garlic. One key to the sandwich is to slice the pork very thinly; to do so, be sure the pork is very cold and use a deli slicer or a thin, sharp knife.

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Smokin' Sweet Chicken Wings with Cherry Barbecue Glaze

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Cherry preserves with habanero chile create a fabulously sticky, sweet and spicy glaze for grilled chicken wings. Glaze them just before serving so the sugars don’t burn.

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Sausages with Grilled-Onion Chowchow

Credit: TINA RUPP
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Chowchow is a sweet-and-sour relish. The chowchow here is studded with pieces of charred and crunchy onions, which have a smoky flavor that's delicious with grilled sausage. The chowchow is perfect with all types of grilled meator poultry or as a hot dog relish.

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Nacho Burgers

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Of all the burger recipes F&W has run (more than 100), and of the six from chef Bobby Flay, this one is the over-the-top best, with juicy meat, gooey cheese, salsa and tortilla chips.

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Grilled Chicken Breasts with Grapefruit Glaze

Credit: Karen Mordechai
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Simply prepared yet special, these chicken breasts are grilled and basted with a bitter, tart, and sweet glaze.

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Bacon-Bourbon Brownies with Pecans

Credit: FREDRIKA STJÄRNE
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Kat Kinsman tops her rich brownies with bacon and pecans. To enhance the smoky flavor, she mixes some of the bacon fat into the batter.

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Game-Day Pork and Black Bean Chili

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Grilled Skirt Steak with Green Sriracha

Credit: DAVE LAURIDSEN
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“So many cultures have some version of a pesto or chimichurri,” says Susan Feniger, who uses southeast Asian coconut, chiles and kaffir lime leaves to create a green Sriracha, a Thai-style hot sauce.

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Chile-Cheese Yucca Chips

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Yucca, sometimes called cassava, is a starchy root that grows in very warm climates and makes supercrunchy chips. To remove the tough outer skin, use a sharp, heavy knife rather than a peeler.

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Grilled Merguez Sandwiches with Caramelized Red Onions

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A North-African lamb sausage flavored with the spicy pepper spread harissa, merguez is delicious in sandwiches like these (fresh Mexican chorizo or another spicy sausage will also work well in this recipe).

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Grilled Oysters with Spiced Tequila Butter

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Blaine Wetzel grills oysters, then drizzles them with butter flavored with sage, oregano, lemon juice and tequila. He prefers oysters from Samish Bay in the northern Puget Sound, where some food historians say the first Pacific oysters grew in 1919.

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Crosshatch Hot Dogs on Grilled Croissants

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These sweet-savory glazed hot dogs were inspired by a dish Marcia Kiesel discovered at a Manhattan Chinatown restaurant. They're cut in a crosshatch pattern, which makes the franks cook even faster, and served in a grilled mustard-brushed croissant.

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Hellfire Club Bloody Mary

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Black pepper, Tabasco and fresh chile give this delicious Bloody Mary a fiery kick.

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Grilled Lamb Ribs with Chimichurri

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Chef Santiago Garat grills these lamb ribs at outdoor barbecue parties at the farm so they’re crispy on the outside. The tangy, extra-herby chimichurri is a perfect partner for the rich meat.

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Grilled Vegetables with Roasted-Chile Butter

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Fresno chiles are similar in shape and heat to jalapeños, but they’re red and a little less meaty. Roasting them over a flame tames their spice and brings out their natural sweetness. Grace Parisi likes folding them into softened butter, then melting a little on grilled vegetables or steaks or spreading some on bread.

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Grilled Shrimp with Oregano and Lemon

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The sauce for this shrimp is a simple version of Italy's salmoriglio, typically made with lemon and herbs in a mortar. The sauce is also delicious spooned over grilled swordfish or any other meaty fish.

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Quick-Aged Grilled Rib Eyes

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In this brilliant trick from the book Modernist Cuisine at Home, Nathan Myhrvold simulates the taste of weeks-old, dry-aged beef by marinating fresh steaks in fish sauce for three days, then air-drying them for three more.

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Black Pepper Jerky

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This classic jerky gets a double dose of peppery flavor from both cracked peppercorns in the marinade and coarsely ground peppercorns on top.

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