Game Day Appetizers that hungry football fans will love!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Tyson Foods, Inc. The opinions and text are all mine.

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 Italiano Subs, Chicken and Cheese Quesadilla Footballs, 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 Tyson^® Any’tizers^® Popcorn Chicken and Tyson Grilled & Ready^® Fully Cooked Frozen Grilled Chicken Breast Strips and Refrigerated Chicken Breast Strips.

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. You can find all the Tyson products at Meijer. Check the Meijer store locator here to find Tyson products near you.

Chicken and cheese quesadillas are always a big hit at a party and these football shaped quesadillas are so easy to make using Tyson Grilled & Ready Fully Cooked Grilled Chicken Breast Strips (frozen).

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.

How to make Chicken and Cheese Quesadilla Footballs

• Cut 6-inch round flour tortillas into football shapes.
• Heat the frozen Tyson Grilled & Ready Fully Cooked Grilled Chicken Breast Strips according to the package instructions. I used a non-stick griddle and heated them over medium heat on the stove, but you can use the microwave if you prefer.
• Sprinkle about 1 ounce of shredded cheddar cheese over each football shaped quesadilla.
• Top with 3-4 Tyson Chicken Strips.
• Sprinkle a small amount of cheese on top of the chicken (this will help your tortillas to stick to the chicken).
• 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.
• Heat the quesadillas until the cheese melts and the tortillas become golden brown.
• Alternatively, you can bake these in a 400 degree Fahrenheit oven for 5-6 minutes until the cheese melts.
• While they cook, fill a small zip top bag or pastry bag with some sour cream and snip off the tip of the bag.
• Pipe sour cream laces onto each quesadilla football.
• Serve warm!

I only made four quesadilla footballs but there should be enough of the Tyson Grilled Chicken Breast Strips in one bag to make eight of the football shaped quesadillas.

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.

All of the Tyson Chicken Breast Strips, whether frozen or refrigerated, are made with 100% real, simple, all-natural* ingredients (*minimally processed and no artificial ingredients) and chicken raised with no antibiotics ever. The flavor is really great. I love the convenience of just opening a package and having fresh chicken to add to a sandwich and these Chicken Italiano Subs are a must for any party or lunch or dinner.

Seriously they are so good!

How to make Chicken Italiano Subs

• Combine 1 Tablespoon basil pesto with 1/4 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 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 also put out Tyson chicken varieties alone to add even more of a dynamic to your spread!

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 snack 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.