A Make-Ahead Super Bowl Menu, From Dips to Drinks!

These are the rules of game food: Classic Super Bowl snacks must be easy to eat with your hands — and easy to prepare ahead of time, so you can watch the action, too. The recipes here score big on both counts, playing up salty and sweet flavors that make the spread as exciting as the touchdowns. Tequila — baked into the chicken and poured as shots — doesn’t hurt, either.

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Amp Up the Flavor with Tequila-Lime Chicken Drumsticks

3/4 cup silver tequila
3/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (from 6 to 8 limes)
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
4 1/2 pounds chicken drumsticks (about 20)
3 tablespoons safflower oil
Clementine or orange wedges, for serving (optional)

1. Combine tequila, lime juice, honey, salt, pepper, chicken, and oil in a large resealable bag. Place in a baking dish and let stand at room temperature, turning bag occasionally, 1 hour.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove chicken from marinade, allowing excess to drip back into bag; pat dry. Reserve marinade. Place chicken on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Bake until cooked through and golden brown, about 40 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, transfer marinade to a saucepan and boil over medium-high heat until thickened and reduced to 1/3 cup, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer chicken to a serving platter and immediately brush with glaze. Serve warm or room temperature, with clementine wedges.

See More: Quick, One-Pot Meal Ideas To Feed the Whole Family

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Flavorful Pigs in Blankets
Pigs in blankets can be frozen until firm, then stored in freezer bags up to one month ahead.

All-purpose flour, for surface
2 sheets puff pastry (about 1 pound), preferably all-butter
Honey Dijon mustard
18 fully cooked sausages (each about 5 inches long), such as frankfurters, Andouille, or chicken sausages
1 large egg, beaten
Poppy seeds, for sprinkling (optional)
Flaky sea salt, such as Maldon, for sprinkling (optional)
Mustards, such as brown or whole-grain, for serving (optional)

1. On a lightly floured work surface, roll each pastry sheet out into a 12-inch square, then cut into 4-inch squares. Lightly brush lower half of each square with mustard, center a sausage on mustard-coated edge, and brush top inch with egg. Roll sausages in pastry, pressing seams to tightly seal. Brush tops with egg, then sprinkle with poppy seeds or flaky salt. Cut each at an angle into thirds. Freeze pigs in blankets, uncovered, on a parchment-lined baking sheet until firm.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place frozen pigs in blankets 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until pastry is puffed and golden brown, about 25 minutes. Serve warm with mustards.

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Tequila-Shot Pilsner

Lime wedges
Flaky sea salt
Pilsner
Shot of silver tequila

1. Run a lime wedge around the rim of a rocks glass; dip rim in flaky sea salt. Fill with Pilsner. Serve with a lime wedge and a shot of silver tequila (poured into the drink or served alongside).

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What You Can Do Ahead Of Time

Weeks Before
Form Pigs In Blankets; Freeze Until Firm. Seal In Heavy-duty Resealable Bags; Store In Freezer.

1 Day Before
Juice Oranges For Cocktails And Limes For Chicken Marinade; Refrigerate. Chill Beer And Sparkling Wine.

When Guests Arrive
Bake Pigs In Blankets. Mix Shandy.

3 Days Before
Shop For Pantry And Fresh Ingredients, Beer, And Liquor. Make Cookie Bars; Store In A Cool Spot.

2 Hours Before Guests Arrive
Marinate And Bake Chicken. Mix Dip. Cut Vegetables For Crudites. Cut Oranges And Limes For Garnish. Set Up Food Buffet And Beer Bar.

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Everybody Wins with This Dessert
These Chocolaty Pretzel-and-Peanut Cookie Bars are where dessert meets snack mix: Crunchy, savory favorites are baked right into chewy, caramelized condensed milk and chocolate.

1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan
5 1/2 cups salted mini pretzel twists
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1 1/3 cups lightly salted cocktail peanuts
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, preferably 61 percent cacao, coarsely chopped (about 1 cup)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan and line with parchment, leaving a 1-inch overhang on long sides. Butter parchment.

2. Place 4 1/2 cups pretzels in a food processor and pulse until texture resembles coarse cornmeal. Transfer to a bowl and stir in sugar and butter until well combined. Transfer to pan, spreading evenly, and pack down flat with the bottom of a measuring cup. Drizzle condensed milk evenly over crust. Sprinkle evenly with peanuts, chocolate, and remaining 1 cup pretzels, gently pressing them into milk.

3. Bake until chocolate melts and condensed milk bubbles and becomes golden, 20 to 22 minutes. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack, then refrigerate until chocolate is set, about 30 minutes. Run a paring knife between bars and short sides of pan. Using parchment overhangs, transfer to a cutting board. Cut into 20 squares.

More from Martha Stewart:
20 Classic Comfort Food Recipes from Martha Stewart
36 Dinners You Can Make in Just 15 Minutes!
42 Slow-Cooker Recipes Worth the Wait
DIY Dried Fruit Granola Bites
Very Green Cucumber and Pear Juice