Windy City Grilled Doughnuts
Chicago Bears fans are a hardy bunch, tailgating in sun, wind, rain and even snow, thanks to the city's famously volatile weather. They also set a high bar, with extravagant tailgating spreads and tricked-out team-themed trucks, vans and RVs customized with TVs, portable grill setups, minibars and sound systems. The parking lot at Soldier Field is filled with the aroma of traditional grilled favorites: brats, burgers and hot dogs. Fans are also known for a unique specialty you'll want to try: grilled glazed Krispy Kreme doughnuts. It's perfect for chilly game-day mornings and one of the easiest, most impressive tailgating tricks you'll ever do. It's a great way to add an easy dessert, which you'll want to balance all the other salty tailgating fare.
Preheat grill to medium. Grill glazed plain or chocolate doughnuts (and/or doughnut holes on skewers) 1–2 minutes per side. Extra Point: Drizzle your grilled doughnuts with icing dyed with your team's colors.
Saints Muffaletta Sandwich
The New Orleans Saints' home turf is the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and, Falk notes, the stadium's massive capacity (seating more than 73,000 fans) and prime location in one of the country's most-visited cities have also led to it hosting seven Super Bowl games. The Big Easy is known for great fare and music, so fans pull out all the stops with tailgating setups. You'll see big pots of gumbo and jambalaya bubbling away, "krewes" of fun-loving fans bedecked in Saints-themed black-and-gold regalia and partying to the local soundtrack: live jazz, of course. Another game day favorite is the New Orleans muffaletta sandwich, an old-school, mile-high Crescent City classic, created by a Sicilian immigrant, that's perfect for today's Instagram generation of fans. It's also a great make-ahead addition to your tailgating spread.
"Big Tex" Frito Pie
Dallas Cowboys fans' tailgating feast-ivities overflow the parking lot at the 80,000-seat AT&T Stadium to take over parking at nearby Rangers Ballpark and private lots. They form a sea of blue and white, dotted with the Lone Star motif, in the heart of what some believe is the most football-mad state in the union, with big barbecue spreads, vats of chili and 20-gallon cowboy hats. Frito pie—a Southwestern specialty of Frito chips smothered in chili, cheese and whatever other toppings suit your fancy —is a fan favorite. Chef Jason Dady, proprietor of Two Bros BBQ Market in San Antonio, is an avid Cowboys fan and shared his big-as-Texas pie with us. Dady smokes his own brisket as the topper and constructs his pie in a 4-foot paella pan to feed 30. Our version scales that down a bit, but still scores a touchdown. Of course, nothing says "Texas" like smoked brisket, but this also works with pulled pork, pulled chicken or your favorite chili. Go big or go home, as they say in the Lone Star State.
Go Dawgs! Sailgate Salmon Dip
For University of Washington Huskies fans, tailgating is truly unique. They take to Lake Washington for "sailgating" in Husky Harbor sandwiched between the Olympic and Cascade Mountains in what's arguably one of the prettiest game-day settings. Vessels range from luxurious private yachts to chartered party boats to canoes in a sea, literally, of Dawgs purple and gold. (Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and the University of Tennessee in Knoxville are the two other schools where fans take their tailgating fun to the water.) When it comes to food, it's no surprise that menus would be inspired by the water. And this being the Pacific Northwest, salmon is a particular favorite—grilled on a cedar plank, in burgers and smoked. This easy dip lets you bring a taste of the Northwest to your tailgating spread.
Italian Meatball Sliders
Penn State's fans are big in every way. Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania, is one of the largest in the world, accommodating more than 106,000 fans. And that means a whole lotta revelers, many of whom don't just tailgate for game day but for the whole weekend, transforming Happy Valley into "Nittanyville" and making RVs the top vehicle of choice. It's a raucous scene that lands Nittany Lions (a kind of mountain lion, if you're wondering) fans on many best-of college-tailgating lists, including our own. Nittanyville tailgaters favor traditional comfort-food classics to feed fans all weekend long. You'll see lots of wings, burgers, chili, chips and dip, nachos, pierogi, grilled kielbasa and the like. Fans also love Italian flavors and sliders, which inspired this oh-so-good mashup.
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As football season prepares to kick off, there’s one thing fans may be anticipating even more eagerly than the action on the gridiron: tailgating. Win or lose, they’re still guaranteed some great food and drink, says Daina Falk. She’s the author of The Hungry Fan’s Game Day Cookbook, coming out this week, just in time to help fuel all the crazy football fun, from face- and body-painting in team colors to friendly corn hole and beer pong games.
The daughter of legendary sports agent David Falk, she grew up around professional athletes but didn’t discover the joys of tailgating until she was a student at Duke University in the early 2000s. “It was the fun thing to do on a Saturday, because Duke football was just so bad,” she recalls. “We weren’t going to win the game, so the fun to be had was actually in the parking lot before, during and after the game.”
FUN FACT: 95% of tailgaters prep food at the stadium.
She caught the tailgating bug, big time, and went on to make a career creating — and chronicling — the food by fans of all sports. They’re raising the bar on their eats, she notes, as new trends joining beloved tailgating classics like burgers, hot dogs, wings, chili and brats. “On the one hand, you have a growing number of people who are more concerned about the quality of the food they’re eating,” she notes. That may, for example, translate to tailgaters grilling and barbecuing with grass-fed beef and pasture-raised chicken or pork.
On the flip side, thanks to Instagram, there’s also this growing trend of completely outrageous foods,” she adds, “where you’ve got, like, 10 burger patties stacked on top of each other and sandwiched between donuts.” She credits that craze to younger millennial fans, who love showing off their tailgating creations on social media. “Whether or not people are actually eating these crazy, outrageous foods, it draws a lot of attention and a lot of eyeballs when they post it,” says Falk.
FUN FACT: 59% of tailgaters use a combo of grills, smokers and stoves to cook. Just 39% rely on a grill alone.
Whether you’re feasting in a stadium parking lot, on a college quad or in your own back yard, Falk brings it all into the tailgating tent—or what she calls “fangating.”
Daina’s Tailgating Tips
- The early bird gets the best location. Whenever you think you should arrive, plan to get there even earlier. “I went down to a Houston Texans game in October last year, and people literally were lined up around the side of the highway,” says Falk. “They’d been there since 2 or 3 in the morning.”
- Get an accurate head count. “One of the worst things you could do is not have enough food for everybody,” says Falk. So find out who’s really planning to show up, and factor in a little extra food and drink for “drop-ins.”
- Appoint a point person. For many fans, tailgating means a potluck, and you’ll want someone to coordinate setup, food and drink.
- But share the cost. Between the food and booze, the cost of tailgating adds up quickly. Apps like Venmo and PayPal make it easy for tailgaters pay their share right in the parking lot.
- Celebrate the other team, too. “I’m a big fan of celebrating the food cultures of both teams that are playing,” says Falk. It’s a fun—and delicious—way to add variety to your usual tailgating lineup.
Get the Gear!
- “A portable grill is a must,” says Falk. We’re fans of the Blue Rhino CrossFire ($89), which can use charcoal or gas.
- Keep those beers cold in the sturdy, classic Coleman 54-Quart Steel-Belted Cooler ($81) will last many seasons.
- Your guests will have it made in the shade with SportsUnlimited’s 9-foot square Tailgating Tents ($200), available with NCAA and NFL team logos.
- Have a seat. Folding chairs are fine, but we’ve got our eye on the WooHoo Inflatable Lounger ($50), which inflates in seconds into a 7-foot couch.
- Woolrich’s Cedar Spring and Hudson’s Bay 100-percent wool blankets ($149-$395) are perfect to lay down on the grass — or snuggle under when the weather turns cool.
- La Tienda’s Extra-Large 26-inch Traditional Steel Paella Pan ($50) is perfect for our “Big Tex” Frito Pie.
- Keep chili, gumbo—or our sliders—warm in Black + Decker’s new 7-Quart Chalkboard Slow Cooker ($40).
- No electrical outlet? Falk’s collapsible Hungry Fan Portable Slow Cooker 3-in-1 Fangating Bag ($57) acts like a soft-sided Thermos to keep hot food hot or cold food cold.
![hungry fan]()
- Is glass banned at your favorite tailgating spot? Decant your favorite brew into the stylish copper 64-ounce Asobu G2G Stainless Steel Growler 2 Go ($30).
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Serve drinks in Camerons’ Deco Stainless Steel Party Cups ($23 for a set of 6), an eco-friendly version of the iconic red Solo cup.
