Guilt-Free Super Bowl Snacks
The Super Bowl is all about football, booze, commercials, and most importantly, snacks. But don’t worry, just because we say “guilt-free” doesn’t mean we did away with the wings and chili.
To make sure you have enoughhealthy snacks to last through the halftime show, we’ve rounded up 41 of our favorites—from chips and dips to meatballs, quesadillas, and sweet treats to blitz your party-goers.
1. Pesto and Turkey Cucumber Roll Ups
Melding two classic sushi ingredients—cucumber and avocado—these rolls swap the salmon and seaweed for turkey and pesto. While slicing the cukes paper-thin can be pretty tricky (Tip: use a mandoline), there’s no baking, grilling, or sautéing involved in order to get this appetizer to the table.
2. Chipotle Chicken Sweet Potato Skins
This recipe tackles a notoriously unhealthy junk food and morphs it into a snack you can feel good about eating during the big game. With fiber-filled sweet potatoes as the base and chipotle chicken, spinach, and cheese as toppers, these skins perfectly combine sweet and savory. Add chopped roasted veggies to sneak in an added nutrition boost.
3. Zucchini and Ricotta Tzatziki Bruschetta
This recipe puts on a twist on the traditional Bruchetta by using zucchini (a.k.a. courgette, the word this recipe uses), ricotta and Tzatziki. You’ll feel really fancy, but the recipe is just as easy chopping up tomatoes and onions for the typical version
4. Apple and Brie Quesadillas
Quesadillas are a total winner at any sports gathering, but they aren’t exactly guilt-free. We searched the Web for a fun combination of ‘dilla fillings and fell in love with this green and fruity combo. They’re easy to make, gooey, crispy and even have some greens and fruit tucked inside. We don’t have to tell you that an apple a day is a healthy choice!
5. Ginger and Garlic Shrimp
Shrimp cocktails are tasty, but not exactly imaginative. To jazz up the old standby, try this spicy, seasoned version with a tangy tomato chutney for dipping. The appetizer gets its flavor from a mix of parsley, garlic, basil, ginger, lemon juice, and red pepper. Added bonus: Shrimp have a high concentration of the antioxidant astaxanthin, known to reduce inflammation and are packed with protein (1 gram per shrimp!).
While chicken fingers will appear amongst many Americans’ Super Bowl snack spreads, these crispy baked salmon fingers are a fun way to class things up. Both the cornmeal-parmesan crust and the spicy lemon garlic mayo — made healthier with the addition ofGreek yogurt — bring on the heat (but that’s what the beer is for, right?).
7. Herb-Marinated Chicken Skewers With Harissa
The chicken on these easy-to-assemble skewers puts its party dress on with rosemary, thyme, oregano, and cumin. Dip them in spicy (and pretty intense) harissa sauce made from roasted red peppers, chili, olive oil, lemon juice, and other spices. Plan on at least 10 grams of protein per skewer!
8. Spicy Popcorn
Popcorn, which is one of our favorite satisfying low-cal snacks, gets a fancy upgrade with chili powder, cumin, pepper, paprika, and sharp jalapeño cheese (we suggest cutting the recipe to use one cup of cheese). Choose a low-fat, low-sodium pre-packaged variety of popcorn, or pop your own kernels in a small paper bag in the microwave.
9. Cauliflower Pizza Bites
We’ve called upon our friend the mini-muffin tin yet again! Instead of using less-than-healthy white pizza dough, these pizza-esque treats turn to cauliflower for the base. Serve them warm with a bowl of pizza sauce for dipping!
10. Baked Sweet Potato Chips
The only hard part to making this snack is slicing the main ingredient. To save some time (and make your life a whole lot easier) use a mandoline to slice the sweet potatoes. The snack is full of orange-hued carotenoids, necessary for the body to absorb Vitamin A. Feel free to serve these sweet potato chips alongside any of our other favorite healthier chip recipes. Dip them in malt vinegar for a tangy twist.
11. Healthy Rice Krispies Treats
These grown-up treats have only six ingredients. Plus, they’re vegan (no marshmallows!) gluten-free and dairy-free. You can always sub out the peanut butter for your favorite nut butter, or a nut-free alternative, too. If you’re feeling extra spirited, try shaping the treats into footballs!
12. Individual Nachos
Nachos may not be the healthiest snack out there. But adding homemade bean dip, salsa, guac, and some shredded cheese to individual tortilla chips not only makes for even distribution of toppings, but it also helps with portion control.
13. Herbed “Cheese” Crostini
Get ready to have your mind blown. You’re about to make cheese… from yogurt. These simple, spreadable yogurt balls get their flavor from olive oil, fresh herbs, and lemon zest. Since they’re made fromstrained yogurt, they’re packed with protein and calcium. Spread the cheese onto slices of toasted whole-wheat baguette for a simple and healthy snack.
14. BLT Salad in Parmesan Encrusted Cups
Disclaimer: This appetizer takes a little more prep work, but we promise these creative little parmesan BLT cups are worth it. The premise behind the mini BLTs is to use grape tomatoes as a driver for the tiny arugla and bacon pieces. Tomatoes are a good source oflycopene, an antioxidant compound that may lower the risk of heart disease. And let’s be honest: any snack featuring bacon is a winner.
15. No-Bake Brownies
The notion of bake-free brownies may seem to defy fundamental food science, but this version of the go-to party dessert is made mostly from nuts, dates, and cocoa powder, all molded into squares of healthy deliciousness. They’re also gluten-free and have the blood pressure-lowering power of cocoa powder.
16. Bacon Mac and Cheese Bites
These little guys are unreal. There’s no fruit or veggies in this snack, but they’ve got portion control built right in by baking up in a mini-muffin tin. If you use whole-wheat elbows, whole-wheat cracker crumbs, and Greek yogurt you can turn a classically sinful meal into a healthier snack.
17. Strawberry Footballs
Talk about an easy game-day dessert. These chocolate-covered strawberries (one of our favorite healthier ways to satisfy your sweet tooth!) take no time at all and are so cute you might not want to eat them. On second thought, who are we kidding? Added bonus:Strawberries have a ton of immunity boosting vitamin C
