Football Tailgating: Hearty Meal Recipes

When you are tailgating, you'll want to consider recipes that are tasty, but also easy to make. It's the best way to please your crowd and encourage others to want to join you. Here are some great recipes you can put on your grill to make everyone happy.

One of the keys is marinating in advance so you can just grab the food out of the cooler and stick it on the grill.

Zesty Chicken Wings

2 cups currant jelly
2 teaspoons chili sauce
2 tablespoon vinegar
2 tablespoon Worcester sauce
2 teaspoon garlic (I use garlic from a jar)
3-4 drops hot pepper sauce
18-20 chicken wings

You can adjust this if you need more wings. Cook all ingredients, except wings, over stove until jelly melts. Stir as needed. Marinate over night.

Bring container and put wings on the grill. Cook about 30 minutes. These are a really tasty treat, and they're perfect for tailgating as they are easy to grab.

Spicy Pork Ribs

4 lbs pork ribs
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon five spice powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 celery seed
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup ketchup
2 tablespoon light molasses
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon soy sauce
3-4 dashes of hot pepper

Cut ribs into pieces so people can pick up one at a time easily. In advance, boil ribs for 30 minutes and let them cool.

Then combine brown sugar, five spice powder, paprika, salt, celery seed and pepper. Rub cooled ribs with seasoning and refrigerate until morning.

Then combine ketchup, molasses, lemon juice, soy sauce and hot pepper. Keep it in a separate container and brush on meat when cooking on grill at the tailgate. Ribs need to cook about 30-40 minutes.

Big Juicy Burgers

If your group likes big beef burgers, this is the recipe you must try.

1 large egg
2 1/2 ounces of corned beef chopped
1/4 finely cut cabbage
1/4 cup soft rye bread (1 slice of bread cut up into crumbs)
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 slices rye bread
3 tablespoons horse radish
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
Lettuce
Tomato slices
Swiss cheese
Sliced mushrooms

The night before, mix the first 7 toppings and then fold into the ground beef. Shape into 4-6 patties. Cut up all the condiments to put on burgers.

When it's time to eat, cook for 20-25 minutes and add condiments as desired. These are very big, and I haven't met anyone who has thought these weren't special.

Cheese-Stuffed Sausage

6 sausages (you can also use bratwurst if you wish)
2 ounces sliced Monterey jack cheese
1 small onion diced
5 slices of bacon
5 French style rolls or hot dog rolls
Ketchup
Relish
Mustard

This one takes a little bit more work but it's still fairly easy. Cook the sausage thoroughly and then slit down the center. Insert 1/4 a slice of cheese in the center of the sausage and a little bit of diced onion. Wrap bacon around each sausage. Insert toothpicks to keep the bacon still and cook for 10-15 minutes.

Remove the toothpicks. Put in buns and add condiments as desired. You will never cook sausage the same after trying these.

Greek Pasta Salad

This recipe can be prepared the night before and brought with you for serving when you want it.

6 ounces mostaccioli
4 tomatoes chopped
1/2 medium cucumber sliced into squares
3 onions
1/2 cup pitted black olives
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 lemon juice
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon oregano
3 garlic cloves minced
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1/2 cup of feta or bleu cheese

Cook the mostaccioli pasta and drain it. Let it cool. Mix the mostaccioli with tomatoes, cucumber, onions and olives. Mix oil, lemon juice, and spices. Drizzle the mixture over the pasta and refrigerate up to 24 hours. Add feta just before serving. This is a perfect side dish to add to any other tailgate specialty.

For dessert, it is much easier to make your favorite brownie or cookie recipe. Usually by the time people munch on all the other food, they only want a small dessert they can pick up with their fingers. But remember to also bring chips, pretzels and other snacks while waiting for the main course to be served.