What to Serve at a 3:30PM Kickoff Tailgate

You might be saying to yourself, geez 3:30PM is specific. And, well, you’d be right. It is specific. Why? Because a 3:30 in the afternoon game requires a specific sort of tailgate. It’s an awkward time. It means that your tailgating will probably begin around noon and the game will play through dinner. As someone whose world quite often revolves around food, this is tricky.

Our answer? A substantial lunch and plenty of snacks.

You’ll want something that’s going to fill you up as a main dish and plenty of hearty and healthy things that will keep you going – maybe even some desserts you can enjoy on your walk to the stadium.

Here’s our menu for a substantial yet healthy(-ish) 3:30PM kickoff tailgate:

Grilled chicken sandwich bar

We set out whole wheat hoagie rolls my parents picked up at a local bakery in Wake Forest, sliced farmer’s market tomatoes (the last of the season), butter lettuce leaves, Dijon mustard, and pickle slices for our tailgating guests to choose from to build their sandwiches. The best part was that since these were smaller rolls, it was easy to have more than one and not feel guilty.

Veggie platter

One of these guys is always on our tailgate food list. It’s the perfect dish to have out so your guests can keep snacking without worrying about calorie counting (yes, I know there are still calories in vegetables, but there are much less in there than in a handful of Goldfish – no offense to Pepperidge Farm).

Fruit platters

Greek orzo pasta salad

A favorite sturdy side dish of ours.

Hummus with carrots, pita chips, and Trader Joe’s chips (last seen in this grazing board post)

Caramel and chocolate football candies (found these at Harris Teeter)

Pimento Cheese dip (a classic)

Kettle corn popcorn

Angie’s Boom Chicka Pop Pumpkin Spice Drizzled Kettle Corn (yes, it was delicious)

My grandmother’s famous spice cake (made into cupcakes) with caramel frosting

Jelly Belly jellybeans in team colors

Get ready for it…for the décor, we triple-layered. I found an inexpensive polyester (ew, I know, but this is a tailgate, guys – I’m not bringing out Matouk) tablecloth on Amazon, layered some VT fabric over top of it, then topped it off with my favorite turf table runner (sourced below).

From there, we added our usual suspects and sprinkled our dishes in here and there. Here’s my source list! If there’s something you’re looking for that isn’t listed, comment below and I’ll see if I can dig it up.