On Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will face off in Super Bowl LV in Tampa and fans will gather around their TVs to watch.
While parties may be more subdued due to the coronavirus pandemic, Sports Editor Grant Egger and Managing Editor Leeanna Ellis give their favorite foods for their Super Bowl spreads.
Super Bowl parties have long been a tradition for me and my friends.
For many years, my husband, Brett and I, and a group of our friends would gather at another couple's house to watch the big game. Our friend, Dee, would make chili, while the rest of us would bring side dishes, snacks or desserts.
To me, chili is the perfect Super Bowl party food. Typically, the weather is frigid so it will warm you up. There are so many different kinds of chili that you can make — from spicy to thick or I've even tried some with chocolate in it.
Chili is a meal on its own so you wouldn't necessarily need anything else with it. However, it's also easy to pair with other snacks.
Our Super Bowl spread usually consists of cheese and crackers, pretzels, chips and dip, tortilla pinwheels, shrimp cocktail, little smokies, among other items. Add in a few adult beverages and you're ready for the big game.
While this year we won't likely gather with friends, I'll still probably whip up a batch of chili for Brett and me. I'll park myself on the couch, watch the game and enjoy the commercials, too.
I tried to explain to Leeanna that I have no friends and, therefore, haven't eaten a Super Bowl party meal in ages, but she wasn't having any of it.
So, I guess I'll just have fill my space here on this page by picking foods I feel would pair well with football. Chinese cuisine doesn't seem right and neither does a nice salad and soup combo, so I'll go with a full rack of ribs.
When football is on the screen in front of your face, who cares about matters of manners and cleanliness? Some people out there wouldn't dare eat barbecue ribs in public, but if there was ever a time its Super Bowl Sunday.
Think about it. We're watching a sport where grown men barrel into one another in the dirt (I hate artificial turf, by the way), so we might as well get our hands dirty and rip pork — or beef — from the bone with our teeth, you know?
In addition, let's think of the possibilities. Much like there's more than one way to customize a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, not every barbecue rib is the same as the next.
If film pig Babe is for dinner, we can go for baby back ribs, spareribs, St. Louis Style or country style. Then, if the Chik-fil-A cows' mission fails, we could eat up baby back beef ribs, short ribs and flanked-style ribs.
But that's just a start. Sauce and seasonings will also come into play. Delish.com suggests that Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue Sauce, Stubb's Original Bar-B-Q, Bull's-Eye Original, Kraft Hickory Smoke, King's Hawaiian Smoked Bacon, Bone Suckin' Sauce and King's Hawaiian Original Sweet Pineapple are our best options.
But you don't have to make your own ribs for the big game either. There's plenty of options nearby. Omaha is no Kansas City, Mo., or Memphis, Tenn., but there plenty options there, too.
