5 Healthy Twists on Classic Superbowl Snacks

Super Bowl parties don’t have to be unhealthy. Check out these 5 ways to have your super bowl snacks, and eat healthy too.
healthy food

Nothing gives a struggling new-year dieter more anxiety than these three simple words: Super Bowl Party. 

It’s hard enough to stick to a clean, healthy diet during the normal days of the week, but when you come face to face with a table full of chips, chili dip, hot wings, and beer, it can feel impossible to stick to your guns.

Fortunately, there are some super easy ways to enjoy all the taste of a party without the guilt. 

Dip, crunch, nibble, and cheer your way through a guilt-free, flavor-filled super bowl this year with these healthy alternatives to traditional super bowl party food.

Finger Foods

Finger foods are the cornerstone of any living room centered party. Anything complicated and messy is going to turn into a disaster as soon as you need to leap to your feet and cheer for your team in a hurry. 

Enter the finger food. 

The best finger foods are easy to stuff in your mouth with one hand, so you don’t even have to put down your super bowl party beverage of choice to make the delivery. Bypass the standard BBQ chicken wings and cheese sticks this year and opt for a more sophisticated menu that will still make a crowd-pleasing splash.

1. Chicken Strips with Honey Mustard Sauce

Protein helps you stay full, so if you want to avoid overeating at a get-together, be sure to include plenty of belly pleasing lean protein that will fill you up and keep you lean. 

Chicken breast is especially lean, and mustard is low in sugar, so you can snack all the livelong day on the simple combination of chicken and mustard without feeling a bit guilty.

Most dieters like to skip the breading to avoid over-carbing their snack, but pecan crusted chicken strips will give you the same crunchy satisfaction as breading for almost no carb impact. 

2. Kale Chips

You can buy kale chips at most grocery stores now, but if you want to go for it at home and bake your own, they are easy to make (and probably cheaper too).

Ingredients:

1 head of Chopped kale (washed and dried)

1 tbsp olive oil

pink Himalayan sea salt

What to do:

Preheat oven to 230 degrees. In a bowl, toss chopped kale with one tablespoon of olive oil. Spread out the dressed up kale pieces on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with salt. 

Bake for 10 minutes or so, then flip the pieces over and bake for another 5-10. You’ll know they’re done when they shrivel up and don’t bend when you pick them up with a spatula. 

3. Caprese Skewers

Caprese skewers are a vegetarian and keto-friendly game day snack that will please every palate. The bright flavors of basil and tomato are the perfect complement to bites of creamy mozzarella. Serving your caprese “salad” on a stick makes eating (and clean up) fun and easy.

Ingredients:

1 container of cherry tomatoes

1 small package of mozzarella cheese

1 bunch of fresh basil

toothpicks

What to do:

Cut the mozzarella cheese into ½ inch cubes. Separate the basil leaves from stems and set aside. Wrap one basil leaf around a cherry tomato and stick a toothpick through it. Follow that with a piece of mozzarella cheese so that there is one piece of cheese and one basil wrapped cherry tomato on the toothpick. Repeat until the desired number of mini-skewers have been created.

Healthy Dips

Dips constitute about ⅓ of every party platter offering. This is a scientific fact. 

Just grab some of your favorite dips (like the healthy greek ranch below), some crudites, and a few napkins for wiping the drool off your neighbor’s shirt, and you’ve got yourself a delicious fitness-friendly snack.

4. Greek Yogurt Ranch

Think creamy, savory, rich, fattening ranch dressing—without all the fattening. You can get the same tangy goodness of traditional buttermilk ranch dressing dip in a low-fat, figure-friendly version by merely swapping out greek yogurt for mayo. Not that there’s anything wrong with mayo, in the right setting, but if we’re honest here, it doesn’t have much nutritional value. Protein is a major benefit of using greek yogurt, so swap away and enjoy as much ranchy goodness as you want this super bowl Sunday.

Ingredients:

6 oz of low-fat greek yogurt

1 package of ranch dressing mix

1 tbsp water (or milk)

Method:

Mix the dressing packet with the greek yogurt and thin to desired consistency with water or milk. Chill until ready to serve.

5. Smoked Avocado Hummus

Creamy avocado mixed with tangy tahini and the protein-packed punch of chickpeas gets a bit of an upgrade with some smoked paprika. This is a recipe with all the flavor of a party dip and none of the sin:

Ingredients:

2 avocados

1-15 oz can garbanzo beans

3 tbsp tahini

1 squirt of lemon

Pinch of salt 

1 tsp olive oil

Smoked paprika

What to do:

In a mixer, blend avocado, tahini, garbanzo beans, lemon, olive oil, and salt. Scoop into a bowl and insert one of the avocado pits in the middle to keep it looking fresh. Sprinkle the top with smoked paprika and enjoy with sliced veggies or pita chips.

Cara Steinmann
Cara Steinmann is a business development and strategic partnership consultant for purpose-driven female founders. She's also a longtime health and wellness writer, former personal trainer, and certified meditation & mindfulness instructor.