The best part of March Madness is that it’s a true celebration for basketball enthusiasts. With 68 teams competing, we might not always be cheering for our top picks aside from our bracket choices. Instead, it’s a chance to relax and witness emerging talent battle it out on the court, especially during the Final Four when these players truly showcase their skills.
They’ve worked hard to be the best teams in the league and have to really bring it to get to the championship game. It’s the perfect game to host a homegate party. To help you get started planning, here is our starting lineup of 10 appetizer recipes for the final four.
1. Basketball-Themed Snack Stadium
We’re going to kick off our final four recipes with this absolutely awesome spread. Set up to look like a stadium, it covers all your appetizer bases. The center is a pizza made to look like a basketball court. Then it is surrounded by the tastiest, most over-the-top tailgating food. You have everything from bagel dogs to parmesan-herb tater tots to baked hot wings.
There are dips like fiesta ranch, healthy options like Caprese bites, and even a little bit of sweetness with caramel corn. They even show you how to construct the serving stadium from simple items you can buy anywhere. Check this Basketball Themed Snack Stadium option out for sure!
2. Basketball Bean Dip & Tortilla Chips
Chips and dips are really where it’s at when it comes to final four snacks. They’re easy to make and serve, they don’t create a mess, and everyone loves them. This bean dip is just a blend of queso and beans but with a fun twist. It’s decorated to look like a basketball.
If that wasn’t cool enough, our friends at Hungry Happenings also show us how to make matching basketball tortilla chips. Is it extra? Probably. Are we making them anyway? Definitely. If you’re not into bean dip, you can also just make this basketball queso.
3. Basketball Cheese Ball
Another basketball party food idea is a cheese ball. Served up with your favorite crackers, breadsticks, or vegetables, it’s an ideal tailgating food for snacking throughout the game. This is a pretty classic cheese ball recipe, but it has a twist.
Basketball grooves are simply painted on with ketchup, though you can use any of your favorite condiments. If you really want to make things easy, you can do this same thing on a store-bought cheese ball. So simple, yet still very impressive.
4. Beefy Basketball Empanadas
Taking our basketball themed food to another level, we’ve got beefy basketball empanadas. We’ve always loved this Spanish appetizer as a tailgating food. The spicy filling wrapped in a flaky pastry and dipped in chimichurri is heaven. They’re also pretty easy to whip up and are impressive when served. These empanadas are cut into circles and use strips of dough to mimic the grooves on the basketball. They’re tasty, adorable, and your team will have fun dunking them. If beef isn’t your thing, you can use this technique on any flavor of empanada.
5. Basketball Pizza Snacks
It’s probably the most popular tailgating food among college kids. So it has to be featured at your Final Four homegate. Rather than serving a whole pizza, try making these round basketball-shaped pizza rolls. They’re stuffed with your favorite toppings and baked using a cake pop pan. Then the grooves are painted on with some food coloring and they are dunked into marinara.
6. Blackened Turkey Basketball Sliders
This is a cool technique that can be used with any slider recipe. Basically, you just paint your slider buns with food coloring to look like basketballs. However, we definitely recommend this recipe. Roasted red peppers, caramelized onions, and chipotle mayo take a simple turkey sandwich and make it gourmet. Delicious and fun!
7. March Madness Mini Cheeseburger
We’re really loving the creativity on these fun sliders. Just a little bit of food coloring really takes a standard mini cheeseburger and makes it a fun-themed appetizer. In this recipe instead of the bun, you cut out cheddar or American cheese slices and paint on the grooves with a little black food coloring. You make the mini burgers as usual and voila! Another basketball-themed slider. So easy!
8. Buffalo Potato Basketballs
If a recipe uses potatoes and cheese, it will always get our attention. Covered in Buffalo hot sauce, even more so. These basketball snacks are potatoes wrapped around cheese, chicken, and spices. Then they are rolled in tortilla chips, deep-fried, and smothered in buffalo sauce. Then the basketball lines are painted on with Sriacha and the whole thing is dipped in ranch. This recipe is madness, tasty March madness.
9. Oreo Basketball Pops
Now for something sweet with these Oreo basketball pops. These easy desserts only require four ingredients and some popsicle sticks. They are made by dipping Oreo cookies into orange candy melts and painting the lines with chocolate. They’re served on sticks for easy snacking and cleanup. They’re simple, delicious, and frankly, who doesn’t love an Oreo cookie?
10. Basketball Cookies
The cookies are simple sugar cookies made to look like basketballs with frosting. Your team will love them. We recommend doubling the recipe because you definitely can’t only have one!
These ten appetizers are perfect for serving up at your Final Four tailgating party. Let us know in the comments what tailgating food you’re whipping up for your Final Four party and we’ll see you courtside!
