Super Game Super Snacks: Nachos, Queso, Guac & Chili

What Super Bowl snacks are you going to serve for the big game this February 13?

Now that you know who the competition is going to star—Rams vs. Bengals, both surprise contenders: it’s going to be quite the face-off, isn’t it?—the next big nail biter is what to serve in your Super Bowl spread.

The super-tricky thing about game-day food is that the dishes have to :

• taste delicioso to all ages.

• loom large in sabor and excitement factor.

• be bold enough to satisfy the crowd.

• go long—the snacks are set out in the afternoon and have to last into the night and even into overtime, as so many of the playoffs did.

And so we turned to our trusted, snack-savvy Familia Kitchen community of home cooks for their recommendations for delicioso dishes worthy of Super Bowl greatness.

Here are our top 5 Familia Kitchen’s crowd-sourced favorite snacks:

We Admit It: Nachos Are Always Our No. 1

Nachos—loaded with shredded beef, refried beans, all the garnishes, extra cheese—are practically synonymous with football. If you like yours con todo—with everything—these are the super nachos for you.

Piled high with browned sirloin, creamy pintos, melty queso, sliced jalapeños, Mexican crema and more, this recipe was specially created for our Familia Kitchen Super Bowl snackathon by Michelle Ezratty Murphy, one of our favorite Puerto Rican-food cooks. Michelle used a sheet tray to make extra sure each bite offers maximum sabor: beef, beans, guac and garnishes in every bite is the goal.

”Come Sunday, Feb. 13, ahead of the game,” she says, ”I’ll have all the parts ready to go—the shredded beef and the refried beans get made the day before. All I have to do that day is melt the cheese over the tortilla chips in the oven and then load them up with all the fixings right before we turn on the TV.”

Did Someone Say: Melted Cheese and Chorizo Dip?

Queso fundido with chorizo—so ridiculously good and melty-cheesy-spicy perfecto—is a go-to weekend and party snack in the home of Belqui Ortiz-Milili, one of our favorite Dominican cooks.

Belqui, who lives in Arizona with her family, though she grew up in both New York City and the D.R., loves the kick in this dip, thanks to its use of Mexican chorizo.

“When I make this dip, it outshines most other snacks or appetizers, so I normally serve it alone with drinks and chips! And it’s sheer perfection,” she says.

And, yes, 100%—she’ll be making this for their Super Bowl-watching party, Belqui adds. This year and always.

Oh, and get ready for everyone to ask you for the recipe. “Every single soul who has tried it loves it and makes it often. It’s delicious, quick and easy—so everyone gravitates toward making it,” says Belqui.

You Gotta Have Guac for the Big Game

Guacamole, that velvety-green salsa we learned from our neighbors to the south, is an addictive mash of avocados, onion, salt, lime, cilantro and jalapeños. Or serranos, the chile of choice for Anjie Villalobos who sent us this recipe. (Thank you, Anjie! It’s made on repeat at Familia Kitchen.)

Her family-famous version of the dip eaten with chips—seen in so many backgrounds of Super Bowl commercials, btw—is the dish Anjie brings to every get-together. It’s also the party snack she makes for her family (and herself: she is its biggest fan, she confesses) once a week—at least.

So we know that this is the snack she will likely lay out when she is watching the game. (We’re also pretty sure this southern California resident and her family will be rooting for the Rams.)

Best of all, serving guac takes the pressure off. This dish comes together in minutes and it’s a safe choice: a sure-bet crowd pleaser. Consider doubling or tripling the recipe!

Want More of a Meal? Check Out This Chili Con Carne

This chili with two kinds of beef is on repeat request in the home of Bex Streeper, one of our favorite cooks of Puerto Rican–Mexican traditional dishes. What makes it different from the other chili recipe submitted to our Familia Kitchen’s Chile con Carne Recipe Contest—which Bex won!—is its use of two kinds of beans (surely breaking all kinds of laws in Texas) and, most surprising, hominy.

”Every fall, my family requests this chili weekly, on what we call our Thursday chili nights,” says Bex, who grew up in Chicago in a Puerto Rican-Polish family and married into a family with a Mexican heritage. She did make one major change to this recipe—which her family loves. ”My chili evolved away from the Texas tradition of no beans. I started adding beans and hominy—which gives my recipe a stick-to-your-ribs feeling,” Bex says.

Stick-to-your-ribs sound about right for your Super Bowl spread? Same here. We’ll be making this beauty.

If You Want a Slim Snack: Try These Healthied-up, Flipped Nachos

Super Bowl foods are loaded with flavor—and calories, tristemente. If you want to keep your game day noshing on the lighter side, check out these Healthy & Delicioso nachos.

We asked our favorite Latina food and wellness coach Naihomy Jerez to do one of her famous food flips on nachos. Naihomy is the founder of her own wellness consultancy, which helps women lose weight without dieting by making nutritious tweaks to their favorite dishes. Having grown up in the Dominican Republic, she is an expert in keeping all the authentic sabor in our favorite Latino and Tex-Mex dishes—while nudging them in the direction of more saludable.

In this Healthy & Delicioso makeover for Familia Kitchen, Naihomy subs 99% fat-free ground turkey for the fatty beef. She uses low-fat cheese, adds roasted brussels sprouts and loads up on tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and cabbage to make these nachos nutritious. This snack both tastes good and is good for us. Check out this recipe and more of FamiliaKitchen.com’s Healthy & Delicioso recipes for your Super Bowl spread.

Find more Super Bowl game day recipes at FamiliaKitchen.com!