These salads for football food recipes are great make-and-take pasta salad recipes for a tailgating party or if you want healthy party foods for a football party at home.
I’ve even thrown in a couple of dessert salad recipes that are perfect for sweet game day party treats, too!
11 Best Salads For Football Food Recipes and Tailgate Recipes
List of Salad Recipes for Football Party Menus
- Orzo Salad
- Wheatberries Salad
- Corn & Bean Salad
- Apple Spinach Salad with Cranberries
- Cold Asparagus Salad Recipe
- Classic Taco Salad
- Chicken Pasta Salad with Bacon
- Greek Pasta Salad
- Italian Pasta Salad Recipe
- Candy Bar Apple Dessert Salad
- Creamsicle Orange Salad Recipe
Get all the full salad recipes below.
Healthy Salads for Football Party Foods
Orzo Salad Recipe
This is one of my favorite salads EVER!
This salad recipe uses grilled chicken, but if you want vegetarian salads it’s also just as good if you leave out the chicken.
To make orzo salad, you’ll need:
- Orzo pasta
- Grilled chicken (optional)
- Spinach
- Arugula
- Cherry tomatoes
- Toasted pine nuts
- Sun dried tomatoes
- Capers
- Kalamata olives
- Green olives
- Lemon juice
- Dijon mustard
- Olive oil
- Honey
- Garlic
- Basil
- Shaved parmesan cheese
GET THE FULL ORZO SALAD RECIPE
Wheat Berry Salad Recipe
This salad with wheat berries is one of the go-to recipes for my daughter and me and it makes a great side salad or even a vegetarian dish if you need vegetarian recipes.
If you’ve never cooked with wheatberries (or eaten wheat berries), they’re somewhere between the texture of rice and orzo.
(They are chewier than rice and not as soft as pasta.)
Wheat berries make a really hearty fall salad!
To make this wheat berries salad, you’ll need:
- Cooked wheat berries
- Onion
- Cucumber
- Tomatoes
- Bell peppers
- Balsamic vinaigrette
- Feta
- Salt
- Pepper
GET THE FULL RECIPE FOR WHEAT BERRY SALAD
No Cook Corn And Black Bean Salad Recipe
This cold side dish is way more flavorful than you think and it makes an easy addition to your football party side dishes because there is no cooking (so it’s a low-prep recipe that can be made last minute).
And, it’s a super versatile dish because you can serve it as a side salad or with tortilla chips for a party dip!
To make black bean and corn salad, you’ll need:
- Black beans
- Sweet corn kernels
- Red bell pepper (or other bell peppers)
- Garlic
- Green onion or red onion
- Fresh Cilantro leaves (optional)
- Salt
- Cayenne pepper or chili powder
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Limes (fresh lime juice)
- Avocados (optional)
- Sea salt
- Pepper
GET THE FULL RECIPE FOR BEAN CORN SALAD
Spinach Salad with Cranberries & Apples Recipe
We love this green apple salad and it’s one of our go-to easy salad recipe for football party salads for fall recipes.
This is one of those crowd pleaser recipes that I never have any left when I make it for parties. (I think it’s because it’s one of those unique salad recipes that you don’t see on every party buffet.)
Get the Easy Cranberry Apple Salad Recipe
Easy Asparagus Salad Recipe
This asparagus vegetable salad drizzled with an easy balsamic vinaigrette is another easy cold salad for tailgating recipes or football party buffets.
To make asparagus salad, you’ll need:
- Asparagus
- Olive oil
- Balsamic Vinegar (or favorite store bought vinaigrette)
- Fresh parmesan (shaved parmesan or grated parmesan)
- Nuts (optional, sometimes we make asparagus salad with walnuts, pecans, or toasted pine nuts, but you can leave them out and it’s just as good)
- Salt
- Pepper
GET THE FULL RECIPE FOR ASPARAGUS SALAD
Classic Taco Salad Recipe
I probably don’t have to tell you, but taco salad is STILL one of the most popular salad recipes for party foods.
I like to assemble the vegetables and then keep the taco meat, cheese, dressings / salsa, and tortilla chips separate and assemble them once we get to the football party or right before the party starts.
You can also set up it up as a DIY salad bar and let party guests assemble their own taco salad to their liking.
To make a classic taco salad, you’ll need:
- Ground beef
- Taco seasoning mix (plus, ingredients as listed on packaged recipe)
- Iceberg lettuce
- Shredded cheddar cheese (or shredded Mexican cheese blend)
- Green onions
- Tomatoes
- Salsa
- Tortilla chips (or Doritos chips)
- Sour cream (optional)
- Salad dressing (optional)
Get the Full Taco Salad Recipe
Pasta Salads for Easy Football Party Foods
Cold Chicken Bacon Pasta Salad Recipe
This chicken bacon pasta salad is an easy football party recipe because it’s ready in just 15 minutes using pre-cooked grilled chicken. (I keep frozen grilled chicken strips in the freezer for dishes like this.)
You can add any dressing you like to this pasta salad with Ranch dressing or Italian dressing (which is what we used).
I’ve also made this rotini pasta salad with Caesar dressing for a creamy pasta and it was yummy.
Ingredients for Chicken Bacon Pasta Salad
To make this quick and easy pasta salad, you’ll need:
- Rotini pasta
- Pre-cooked grilled chicken strips
- Real crumbled bacon
- Red onion
- Bell peppers (colors of choice)
- Cherry tomatoes
- Shave parmesan
- Ranch dressing, Italian dressing or creamy dressing of choice
- Salt
- Pepper
Get the Recipe for Cold Chicken Bacon Pasta Salad
Mediterranean Greek Pasta Salad Recipe
I love the tanginess of this cold pasta salad recipe paired with the feta cheese, but what I love most is that you can add any kind of different vegetables that you want!
Ingredients for Greek pasta salad:
- Rotini pasta
- Tomatoes
- Red onion
- Black olives
- Cucumber
- Feta cheese
- Greek dressing
- Salt
- Pepper
Get the Recipe for Mediterranean Greek Pasta Salad With Feta Cheese
Italian Pasta Salad Recipe
This is another salad recipe that I use as an easy dinner side dish for Thanksgiving because everyone loves this salad.
If you need a make ahead Thanksgiving dish, this easy recipe is it!
RECIPE TIP: Make this ahead and refrigerate it. It becomes more flavorful as it sits!
To make this cold pasta salad with pepperoni, you’ll need:
- Penne pasta – or any short to medium pasta — even bow tie pasta, fusilli spiral pasta, or tri color tortellini (or, honestly, any shaped pasta you have in your pantry!)
- Pepperoni
- Tomatoes
- Red onion
- Mozzarella
- Black olives
- Zesty Italian vinaigrette (the dressing for this pizza pasta salad can be any favorite Italian dressing!)
- Parmesan
GET THE FULL PASTA SALAD RECIPE
Dessert Salads for Football Desserts
Apple Snickers Dessert Salad Recipe
This sweet salad (aka: dessert fluff) is an easy dessert for a football party.
It is a mix of crunchy apples and chocolate and caramel from the candy bars, but the whipped cream makes it a light dessert for packing and taking for your tailgate party (be sure to leave it in the cooler until ready to serve!) or for your game watching party dessert table.
This dessert salad is another family favorite recipe at our house!
GET THE FULL RECIPE FOR THIS CANDY BAR DESSERT SALAD
Dreamsicle Orange Fluff Dessert Salad Recipe
This orange salad dessert fluff has a secret ingredient that I’m not even going to tell you about yet. (You’ll have to click over to the recipe to see.)
BECAUSE… it sounds really gross, but TRUST ME when I say this is a really good dessert salad!
It’s an easy no-bake to make and take for tailgating recipes or a refreshing light dessert for your football party buffet at home.
RECIPE TIP: I like to make it ahead of time and get it good and chilled before the party!
Ingredients for Orange Fluff:
- Frozen whipped topping (like Cool Whip in a container)
- Orange gelatin mix (like orange Jello powder)
- *Secret ingredient* (see recipe)
- Crushed pineapple
- Mandarin oranges
- Mini marshmallows (optional)
Get the Orange Salad Fluff Old-Fashioned Dessert Recipe
I hope you enjoy these salads for football food recipes and tailgate recipes for your sports viewing party or game day tailgating!
