Party food and snack recipes for the big game

It's almost time for the biggest football game of the year. Keep your game day party guests happy with a full spread of snacks. We're featuring a few of our favorites for you here. For more snack and party food ideas, see our complete Super Bowl Recipes Collection.

Corn Chip Strips

Photo: Lara Ferroni

Fritos are one of the few packaged products out there made from real food: they're just corn, corn oil, and salt. These corn chips are almost as simple, but have a slightly more complex flavor. Look for masa harina in the Mexican food aisle of most well-stocked grocery stores. To refreshen day-old chips, simply toast them for five minutes in a 350°F oven. These chips are naturally gluten-free and vegan. - Lara Ferroni

Spanish Pork Skewers

Photo: Gentl and Hyers

For casual entertaining, the tapas experience translates well to the small home kitchen. One delicious hot tapas classic easily made at home is called pinchos Moruños, or Moorish skewers, essentially small kebabs of pork marinated in Arabic (Moorish) spices and grilled, usually on a hot steel plancha. Because most Muslim Arabs wouldn’t eat pork, one presumes the original dish was lamb. It’s anyone’s guess how it evolved into this ubiquitous tapa selection in Christian Spain. Nevertheless, now it means pork seasoned with garlic, cumin, coriander, pimentón and sometimes oregano. Once skewered, they need only about 5 minutes on a hot griddle. - David Tanis

Cheeseburger Tot Sliders

Photo: Matthew Benson

Why have a burger with some tots on the side when you can just build a burger with tots as the bun! These mini tot sliders are first and foremost insanely cute. Believe it or not, they are actually pretty easy to make, too. But most important—they are extremely delicious. If you serve your friends these sliders when they come over for the big game, they will lose their minds! - Dan Whalen

Caramelized Onion Dip with Feta, Spinach and Walnuts

Photo: Dave Katz / Tasting Table

I'll fully admit that party food is my favorite of all the food groups, and a good dip is the lynchpin of the spread. Imagine my delight when our food editor Andy Baraghani not only made one of my favorites (the classic onion), but gave it a raised pinky by ditching the soup packet for caramelized onions and shallots, with toasted, crushed nuts to mimic that familiar texture. Greek yogurt, rather than mayo and sour cream, makes it vaguely more virtuous -- which I really just take as an excuse to dive deeper into the dip bowl. An update on the onion dip you know and love - Kat Kinsman (for The Tasting Table Test Kitchen)

Curried Cheese Ball

Photo: Jason Wyche

Some people think they don't like curry powder; they assume it's spicy--but it's spiced, not spicy. If you have those kinds of guests at a party, just call this a cheese ball and don't mention the curry until after they've eaten a whole bunch and want to know the source of the unbelievable flavor. - Michelle Buffardi

Pennsylvania Dutch Hard Pretzels

Photo: Pretzel Making at Home

A happy culinary accident, hard pretzels are one of America's first salty, crunchy snack foods. Traditional recipes for hard pretzels are fat-free, but I find that a few pats of butter added to the dough lend the pretzels an extra-special crispiness and a savory flavor. If you prefer the drier crunch of the traditional style, omit the butter. For pretzel rods, see the variation at the end of the recipe. - Andrea Slonecker