A Last-Minute Guide to Super Bowl Entertaining

The whole “two kinds of people” trope sticks around because it’s true! Either you like football, or you don’t. Either you like hosting parties, or you don’t. Either you already have Sunday, February 2nd penciled in as the date to throw your neighborhood-famous Super Bowl bash, or… you don’t.

But good news: If you’re reading this, it’s not too late to get your act together and put something, anything together for the big game day. You just have to start from a place of introspection (we’re getting deep here—football parties are serious business where I’m from).

Step one: Figure out where you fit on the matrix above, taking into account both your enthusiasm for watching big men crash into each other on television and for crudités. Then scroll down to discover some Super Bowl entertaining ideas that match up with your game day party style.

You can use the game as an excuse to whip up all of those cheesy, breaded comfort food recipes you’ve been pinning all year. Plan an inspired menu of twists on classic tailgate bites like buffalo chicken dip, lemon-pepper wings, and jalapeno bacon poppers.

Order a pizza and put together some quick print-out party games. You’ll need something to keep your fantasy league busy now that the season’s smack talk is over, so have everyone fight it out over something else equally competitive. Squares is a classic game for Super Bowl Sunday, and you don’t even have to know much about football to play. Or you can print out some $3 Super Bowl Bingo cards from Etsy that will keep everyone at the party busy watching for fumbles and beer commercials.

You’ll need a shortcut that lets you put out a great spread, but also have plenty of time outside the kitchen to enjoy the game. Luckily, there are a whole bunch of simple recipes that you can cook in a crock pot and still feel like you’re doing the big game right. Like this slow-cooker root beer pulled pork—just grab some buns, plug it in, and enjoy the game!

Consider this your Get-Out-of-Super-Bowl-Weekend pass. If you need an excuse, explain that you have an important conflict: February 2nd is also World Play Your Ukulele Day.