Gluten-Free Superbowl Party Food and Ideas: Buffalo Chicken Dip

My house is not a professional football watching house. I know in some parts of the country, that is sacrilegious. Not that we don’t like a good football game–we spend every weekend in the fall watching 8-10 year olds kick a ball around the field and love our Alma Matter (Go Dukes!). The professional football weekly games and playoffs are kind of a ‘meh’ affair for us…but Superbowl? We are endlessly entertained by the commercials, half-time debacles, and the mounds of comfort food that come with watching games on TV. I spent some time thinking about what to serve my gluten-free family for the big game this year and think I picked a couple of winners!

Our Gluten-Free Football Superbowl Party Menu:

• Buffalo Chicken Dip (a.k.a. Crack)
• Savory Baked Chicken Wings
• BBQ Pulled Pork Tacos
• Bacon-wrapped stuffed dates
• Popcorn
• Veggies
• Cheese tray

I’m going to split the recipes into two posts, because there are a few of them, click here to see the chicken wing and bbq taco recipes. Here, you’ll see my favorite of the bunch and a few ideas to decorate your game day celebration.

Buffalo Chicken Dip (a.k.a Buffalo Chicken CRACK)

After eating an entire bowl of this myself and having to run WAY too many miles to work it off, I can vouch for how purely addictive this dip is. Hot or cold, it’s good either way! When I was making chicken for dinner early in the week, I cooked up a couple of extra chicken breasts to put in this dip. Use a rotisserie chicken if you’re short on time to make chicken. It’s quick to put together and makes perfect football food! Be sure to check your sauce labels for gluten ingredients, and of course, forget the bread bowl to make this gluten-free.

Ingredients:

• 12 oz cream cheese (that’s 1.5 blocks)
• 1/3 cup ranch dressing
• 1/2 cup buffalo wing sauce
• 2 cups chopped cooked chicken

Microwave the cream cheese in a medium sized bowl for 1 minute 20 seconds, or until it is extremely soft.

Pour the ranch dressing, wing sauce and cooked chicken over top of the cream cheese and stir until thoroughly combined. You can heat this up further in the microwave to serve as a hot dip, or stick it in the fridge for a few hours to serve cold. It’s great both ways! Serve with chips or carrot sticks and celery for dipping.

How to Make a Bread Bowl

For us breadless heathens, I had a separate gluten-free bowl of Buffalo Chicken Dip set to the side, but if you’d like to make a neat presentation for this (or any!) dip, start with an extra large can of croissant rolls.

Basically all you have to do is fan the pieces of dough around your ovenproof bowl with some overlapping the sides until the entire dish is covered. Bake the bowl according to the directions. After you remove it from the oven (and if necessary, let the bread cool), pour your dip into the bowl and garnish for serving.

No-Cook Superbowl Food

The key to being able to get any party together on time without pulling out your hair is balancing the things you make and the things you buy. Personally, less stove time = happier hostess. Pop popcorn and serve it in fun containers, like these little buckets I found at the dollar section of Target. Serve pre-cut veggies and pre-made dip. Corn chips and salsa. Spiced nuts. Cheese cubes. Fruit! There are lots of gluten-free things you can buy and throw on the table to eat that doesn’t require work, that everyone will be thrilled to nosh on while watching the Superbowl.

Superbowl Party Decorating

There are approximately 1.2 bajillion ideas for party decorating out there. There are times when you want to go 80 extra miles and make everything spectacularly beautiful, and there are times when you want to focus on the food. Personally, I feel Superbowl is a time to focus on the food. Everyone will be looking at the TV anyway!

You can catch the tutorials to make a Foam Finger and Mini Megaphone here on my site, and the directions to make your own easy Football Centerpiece here. These are inexpensive and easy to make and will definitely add a hint more fun to your party, especially if there are kids!

To keep things easy, skip the fancy backdrops. Use a big table to lay out your spread; preferably close to the TV.  I like tablecloths and runners and table coverings of all sorts because it cuts down on clean-up time. This Superbowl table covering is the best. Go to the dollar store, buy a roll of brown craft paper. Roll it out on your table. Measure out some equidistant lines, and roll on some white electrical tape or whatever white tape you can find to make yard lines. Add stick on numbers and your team names if you want to make it a bit fancier. When you’re done, roll it up and put it in the trash! Game over.

Click here for another batch of gluten-free Superbowl party recipes and ideas!

Related Ideas

Gluten-Free Superbowl Party Food: Savory Baked Chicken Wings and BBQ Tacos

A Gluten-Free Thanksgiving: Gluten-free side dishes

Football Craft: Mini Megaphones and Foam Finger for Superbowl Parties

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