Football season is upon us and I'm excited to share with you a simple party spread that will feed a crowd of hungry sports fans. Fill your table with Chicken and Cheese Quesadilla Footballs, Chicken Italiano Subs, and Popcorn Chicken Parmesan Nachos, and your family and friends will cheer!
Football season is the perfect time to invite friends and family to join you to cheer on your favorite teams while enjoying some tasty snacks. When hosting a game day party, you don't have to make a big fuss.
You can easily feed a crowd with snacks created with frozen or refrigerated chicken.
On game day, your party guests will want to focus on their team, not their rumbling stomachs, and having a spread of hot and cold appetizers will keep them focused on having fun.
How to make Chicken and Cheese Quesadilla Footballs
Chicken and cheese quesadillas are always a big hit at a party and these football-shaped quesadillas are so easy to make using chicken breast and shredded cheese.
To make the quesadilla footballs you simply need to cut your tortilla into football shapes using a pizza wheel, kitchen shears, or a knife. I found starting with 6-inch round flour tortillas worked really well to create nicely sized football quesadillas, but you can certainly use any size tortillas to make them smaller or larger.
Printable Recipe
Football-shaped chicken and cheese quesadillas are easy to make using flour tortillas.
- 8 6-inch round flour tortillas
- 6 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
- 16 ounces cooked chicken breast (cut into strips or shredded)
- 1 teaspoon olive or vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons sour cream
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Cut eight 6-inch round flour tortillas into football shapes.
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Sprinkle about 1 ounce of shredded cheddar cheese over each football-shaped quesadilla.
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Top with 4 ounces of chicken.
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Sprinkle a small amount of cheese on top of the chicken (this will help your tortillas to stick to the chicken).
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Heat a teaspoon of olive oil in a non-stick griddle or skillet, then wipe out any excess oil, leaving just a thin film on the pan.
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Heat the quesadillas until the cheese melts and the tortillas become golden brown.
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Alternatively, you can bake these in a 400-degree Fahrenheit oven for 5-6 minutes until the cheese melts.
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While they cook, fill a small zip-top bag or pastry bag with some sour cream and snip off the tip of the bag.
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Pipe sour cream laces onto each quesadilla football.
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Serve warm with the remaining sour cream.
As much as I love chicken quesadillas, I have to admit that my favorite snacks on my game day table were these Chicken Italiano Subs made using Tyson Refrigerated Chicken Strips, pesto mayonnaise, roasted red peppers, tomato slices, provolone cheese, and Italian dressing.
How to make Chicken Italiano Subs
- Combine 1 Tablespoon basil pesto with ¼ cup mayonnaise.
- Spread over the inside of each of 4 soft submarine buns.
- Top with the Tyson Chicken Strips, roasted red pepper strips, tomato slices, and provolone cheese.
- Add a splash of Italian dressing and they are ready to serve.
You can assemble these then wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to a few hours before your party.
My husband agreed that the subs were really good, but he was more excited to dig into these Tyson Any’tizers Popcorn Chicken Parmesan Nachos.
Crispy Popcorn Chicken loaded with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese served nacho style made for a crave-worthy, protein-packed snack that he said was the perfect game day appetizer.
How to make Popcorn Chicken Parmesan Nachos
- Heat the Tyson Any’tizers Popcorn Chicken in a 400-degree oven, according to the package instructions.
- Remove from the oven and place in a single layer on oven-safe plates. I used ceramic football-shaped plates.
- Spoon on some warmed marinara sauce then sprinkle on freshly shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Add another layer of popcorn chicken, sauce, and cheese, if you'd like.
- Place the plates of Tyson chicken back in the hot oven for a few minutes until the cheese melts.
- Serve warm.
NOTE: To make this appetizer recipe even easier use the microwave to heat the chicken (see the package for heating instructions) then top with sauce and cheese and heat again in the microwave for 1-2 minutes until the cheese melts.
All of these appetizers can be created quickly and easily so why not have a little fun decorating your table.
You can simply set your football snacks on your kitchen counter or table, but by adding an inexpensive plastic football field tablecloth and some game-day themed partyware and decorations to the table, you'll make it so much more festive and fun.
Those Football Shaped Quesadillas and the Italian Chicken Submarine Sandwiches look so cute on the football-shaped paper plates and the Chicken Parmesan Nachos looked perfect on the ceramic football dishes.
Serve some chips and nuts with your appetizers and don't forget something sweet like chocolate almond footballs.
If you are hosting a really big crowd and want some other fun football-themed recipe ideas, be sure to check out dozens of other game-day snacks and desserts that I have created for you.
Which of these game-day snacks are you most excited to try? I'd love to hear what you make for your game day parties in the comments below.
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The Partiologist
We always need game day appetizers and it would be a kick to serve the chicken and cheese quesadilla's!
Beth
I'm sure your family will love them!