Paleo Super Bowl Party Game Plan

It’s pretty obvious which team we’ll be cheering for in our living room on Super Bowl Sunday.

patriots

I will be wearing all the Patriots gear, eating paleo snacks, and yelling myself hoarse. For those of you not fortunate enough to join me on my Football Couch — that’s what I’ve been calling our new sofa since we got it in July — my football narration usually goes like this…

When the Pats are playing offense: “Come on, Tommy! Come on, TOMMY! … Oh,  Julie! Go! Gooo! GOOOOO! RUN! RUN! RUN!” (Fact: Tom Brady lets me call him Tommy, and Julian Edelman loves when I call him Julie.) Then I lunge from lounging on the couch to standing up and stomping my feet. If there’s a touchdown scored, I kind of lose my mind.

When the Pats are on defense: “Get ‘im! Get ‘im! Get ‘im!” at a gradually escalating volume, or “Will somebody PUH-LEASE sack the f*cking quarterback.” This is usually accompanied by banging an open palm against a throw pillow in frustration. And if the Pats D forces an interception? Pure elation.

I should also mention there’s nothing I love quite as much in a Patriots game as a slick quarterback sneak. Like this one!

All football fans are welcome at our house, however, so whatever colors you’ll be wearing on Super Bowl Sunday, you’re invited to chow down on some delicious paleo grub.

 

The Menu

This is what we’ll be stuffing in our faces between bouts of yelling at the TV on Super Bowl Sunday. I’ve included some tips below so you can easily recreate this menu for your own party. If you’re just not feelin’ the recipes I’ve picked out for my menu, there are lots more suggestions at the bottom of this post.

Pre-Game Snacks

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERACrudité with Paleo Ranch Dressing
Green & black olives
Deviled Eggs
Savory Paleo Granola

Half-Time Chocolate Chili Bar

halftimeChocolate Chili
Plantain Chips (just the chips from the recipe for Plantain Nachos)
Toppings: lettuce, olives, avocado, jalapeños, onions

Fourth Quarter Dessert

Sliced fruit: apples, bananas, oranges
Pistachios & almonds
85% dark chocolate

Prep on Saturday

I’m planning to be a lazy bum on Super Bowl Sunday, so I’m doing as much prep as I can on Saturday. I encourage you to do the same. On game day, you can go for a walk in the morning, toss around the football in the yard in the afternoon, and spend the evening on the couch watching the game, instead of mucking around in the kitchen all day.

1. Cook the hard-boiled eggs so they can cool while you’re making the other goodies.

2. Make the Chocolate Chili so it can have a nice long simmer.

3. Make the Paleo Ranch Dressing. (Do you need to make mayo first?)

4.  Cut up the raw veggies for the crudité and for the chili toppings; put them in storage containers.

5. Make the Savory Paleo Granola.

6. The eggs should be cool by now, so prep the deviled eggs. (I just mix the yolks with homemade mayo, a pinch of dry mustard, lots of salt, and a little paprika.)

7. This is super nerdy, but it makes pre-party time much easier: Decide which bowls, plates, and trays you’re using for serving and pile them in the corner of the kitchen. Then when it’s time to eat, just load up the dishes and go (like LeGarrette Blount bashing through the line).

You’re done for the day. Take a knee.

Final Touches on Sunday

The only cooking task left is to make the Plantain Chips  — everything else is just reheating and plating. Game on!

1. It’s never too early to start re-heating the Chocolate Chili; it tastes even better when it simmers a long time so you can put this one the stove mid-day on very, very, very low heat. If you want to make it even easier on yourself, you can put the already-cooked chili in a slow cooker to keep it warm all day. Then your guests can serve themselves. YAY!

2. Before the game, prep the Plantain Chips for the oven so you can pop them in to bake about 30 minutes before you want to eat. (These should be made on game day because they don’t hold up well overnight.)

3. During a commercial break in the third quarter, slice the fruit and break out the nuts.

More Game Day Recipes

Here’s my list of crazy-delicious, 100% paleo, mostly Whole30-approved football watching eats. I selected recipes that can mostly be made in advance so you don’t have to fuss with cooking when you should be cheering or cussing out the refs or ogling Katy Perry. Enjoy! (The ones with a red asterisk are not Whole30 approved; everything else is good to go for Whole30.)

plantain_nachosPlantain Nachos (from Well Fed 2)

Buffalo Chicken Chopped Salad (from Well Fed 2)

mexican_meatza-e1326835111538Mexican Meatza (from Well Fed)

deconstructedgyroDeconstructed Gyro Salad (from Well Fed 2)

citruscarnitasStovetop Pork Carnitas (from Well Fed)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERARiceless, No-Soy Sushi (from Well Fed)

cevapciciCevapčići

 

Nibbles & Sides

finalfriesCrispy, Oven-Baked Sweet Potato Fries

ricesalad2Herb “Rice” Salad* (replace peppadew peppers w/ roasted red peppers for Whole30)

muffaletta2Muffaletta Salad

spicednuts1Spiced Nuts* (omit coconut sugar for Whole30)

coconutchipsCaramelized Coconut Chips (from Well Fed)

pearandbaconbitesPear & Bacon Bites (from Well Fed 2)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAStuffed Grape Leaves (from Well Fed 2)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERARaw veggies dipped in: Sunshine Sauce | Creamy Italian Dressing | Tahini Dressing

 

 A Little Something Sweet

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERASweet & Salty Fudge Bombs*

 OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAFruit Crisp* (from Well Fed)

 

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Comments

  • Susan Leach says:

    I’ll be trying some of these for our own party, thanks.

    I am much like you, but the names are different. I yell things like: run Russell run! Grab him Richard! Beast Mode!!!! Wilson to Willson – Touchdown!

    Win or lose it is going to be a game for the ages.

  • Judy says:

    Go Hawks!

  • Hillary says:

    We’ll be eating your food over here in Seattle, while we root on the Hawks!! Sorry, but Tommy is going down with his deflated balls! Sorry :P! but we definitely LOVE you and your site!!! 🙂

  • Cami says:

    I have faith in my boys, GO SEAHAWKS!!!

  • kristin says:

    You are my favorite. That is all! 🙂

  • jennifer says:

    This is such a great help! My husband and I are going to do the Whole30 starting February 1st, and a little bit of panic set in when we realized it was Super Bowl weekend! But the recipes look amazing and I can’t wait to try the buffalo chicken salad. Thank you, thank you!

  • Diane Taylor says:

    Hi Melissa – I’m new to your site and can’t wait to try some of these recipes (Hello chocolate chili!). And I am a fellow Pats fan so I will be a nervous wreck all day Sunday until the game starts, at which point I will turn into a raving/cheering Pats fan woohoo!!! Sorry Seahawks, you will not emerge victorious this year. Let’s hope this latest scandal blows over and our boys can focus on winning :):)

  • Lauren says:

    Thanks for these! I have to bring something to a SB Party and you just gave me plenty of options! I gotta tell you, without your cookbooks, I ABSOLUTELY would have failed at the Whole 30 by day two! Your cookbooks aided in my success! My skeptical BF has been loving the recipes too (so much that I don’t get to have leftovers G*ddammit!:)

    And not ONE other reader is cheering for our Pats!!!! I’m with you! GOOOO PATS!

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