Committed fans across the country are packing up their trucks for a time-honored tradition: tailgating. They all know that the best way to make game day a truly enjoyable event is to get there early and gather around the grill for something tasty. But in order to pull off a fantastic meal served out of your vehicle, you will need some pre-game prep.
The tastiest tailgate needs a well-supplied mobile kitchen, travel friendly food, and easy clean up. Read on for the detailed game plan!
Gather Supplies
You do not want to show up to a crowd full of appetites and no spatula for the burgers! Make sure to pack everything you will need into containers the night before the game. You can use lidded plastic containers or even a small set of drawers to organize your mobile kitchen for maximum efficiency. Here is our quick list of supplies, but they will vary with what you are cooking.
- Paper Products – plates, cups, utensils, napkins, paper towels, trash bags, etc.
- Hand Washing Supplies – The cook especially should keep his or her hands clean when touching raw meat, so make sure to bring hand sanitizer, wet wipes, or bottled water and soap.
- Canopy – Don’t be a fair weather fan! If you come prepared, you can stay rain or shine.
- Grill – All those burgers, dogs, wings, and other tasty snacks will need to be cooked. Look for an easily portable version. See our post for tips on choosing gas or charcoal (portable gas grills are pricier, but easier).
- Slow Cooker – When the weather turns cool, you might want chili, soup, or hot dips. Plug your slow cooker into your car or an external power source for steaming goodness all day! If you won’t have access to electricity, warm up the food before you go and store it in a thermos.
- Grill Tools – Make sure you have the fuel (gas or charcoal), lighter, etc. But also make sure you have spatula, tongs, grill brush, and anything else you need.
- Cooler – Make sure that all of your food (and drinks) stay safely chilled. You do not want anyone to go home sick.
- Serving Plates, Bowls, and Utensils for Cooked Food – For food safety, make sure to keep these separate from your prep tools. You may even want to color code them.
- Of course don’t forget about seating, weather gear, and decor in your team colors!
There are so many other fun and frankly genius inventions out there on the internet for setting up your perfect game day party, so be sure to check them out. But this is our basic list for making sure your food is the star player.
Prepare Travel Friendly Food
Freezer foods are surprisingly travel friendly! With once a month cooking or batch cooking, you don’t have to wait until the night before the big game to prep all of the food. You could prep a whole season of game day chow in just one cooking session! All you will have to do is pull out what you want and pack your cooler. If you have never freezer cooked before, you can prep almost anything and freeze it (take a look at our recipe archive).
- Burgers, hot dogs, and sandwiches
- Soups and Chili
- Cold and Hot Dips
- Wings and other marinated meats
- Side dishes (Yes, you can even freeze things like coleslaw and pasta salad!)
- Consider something less traditional like Walking Vegetarian Tacos or breakfast burritos for an early game.
We have several meal plans that will help you create the tastiest tailgate, but our Members can also create custom meal plans with their favorite recipes. Be sure to check out our favorite game day and grill recipes.
- Appetizer Freezer Recipes Volume 2
- Spring Lunchbox Mini Volume 4
- Summer Camping Mini Volume 1
- Summer Lunchbox Mini Volume 2
- Spring Grilling Mini Volume 3
- Summer Traditional Volume 1
- Snack Freezer Recipes Volume 1
- Appetizer Freezer Recipes Volume 1
- Sides Freezer Recipes Volume 4
- 16 Sizzle Worthy Freezer Meal Recipes for the Grill
- Best Backyard BBQ Tips
- Make Ahead Game Day Recipes
- National Hamburger Day Recipes
All of our meal plans come with step-by-step instructions for your cooking day as well as labels with serving day instructions to put right on the bag – perfect for tailgating!
Packing the cooler is a cinch because everything is already bagged and portioned, and typically it will still be frozen or partly frozen. See this post for more tips on how to safely pack your food into a cooler.
Clean Up with Ease
If you have followed our first two tips, you should be able to do this no problem!
- Simply toss your paper products, freezer bags, and foil pans into a big trash bag for disposal. Recycle glass and cans as appropriate.
- Bring an empty lidded plastic container (like those in the list above) to transport any reusable items back home to be washed.
- If you chose charcoal, make sure you dispose of your coals safely in a metal container like this one.
All that is left is for you to enjoy the party and hopefully a victory. Go team!