We had our Bold Tailgate Awards kick-off party this past weekend at Triona’s in New York City. Sarah of @NYCFoodieFinder created 10 original Wheat Thins tailgate recipes and everyone enjoyed her culinary brilliance. If you have a tailgate party coming up check out the recipes below. They are easy to make and will win your crowd over.
Buffalo Chicken Dip
Make 160 1-tablespoon servings
Ingredients
- 1 24 oz can of shredded chicken (drained well)
- 2 8 oz packages of cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 cup of hot sauce
- 1 cup of blue cheese dressing
- 2 cups of cheddar cheese
- Ranch Wheat Thins
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
- In a large bowl, mix the blue cheese, cream cheese, half a cup of the cheddar, and the hot sauce.
- Mix in the shredded chicken and transfer to a 9”x11” baking dish or disposable aluminum baking tin. Top dip with the remaining cheddar cheese.
- Bake the mixture uncovered for 25-30 minutes until the mixture is bubbly, heated through and golden brown on top.
- Scoop with Ranch Wheat Thins and enjoy.
Bacon Wrapped Ranch Chicken Bites with Cheddar
Makes 46 bites
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 oz packet of powder ranch dressing mix
- 1 pound bacon, strips sliced into thirds
- Sharp cheddar cheese cut into 15 small squares (to fit on top of Wheat Thins)
- Ranch Wheat Thins
- Tooth picks
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
- Cut chicken breasts into 1-inch cubes and toss chicken in ranch dressing mix.
- Cut each strip of bacon into thirds.
- Wrap the chicken in bacon and use a toothpick to secure.
- Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes until chicken is cooked and bacon is crispy.
- Top each chicken and bacon with a slice of cheddar cheese and either bake in the oven until the cheese is melted or put in the microwave until cheese starts to melt.
- Serve chicken, bacon and cheddar bites with Wheat Thins and enjoy.
Nachos Grande
Makes 176 1-tablespoon servings
Ingredients
- 2 boxes of Zesty Salsa Wheat Thins
- 2 pounds of ground pork sausage (we used hot Italian sausage removed from their casing)
- 16 oz jar of salsa
- 2 15 oz cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 tablespoon of taco seasoning, to taste
- 16 oz Mexican blend cheese
- Zesty Salsa Wheat Thins
Additional toppings, optional:
- Sour cream
- Sliced jalapeños
- Sliced olives
- Chopped red onions
- Diced avocado (dressed in lime or lemon juice to prevent it from browning)
- Fresh cilantro or green onions
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
- In skillet add oil and sausage to the pan and cook until browned and done. Drain off extra fat. Add salsa to skillet and mix to incorporate into sausage. Add in drained and rinsed black beans.
- Add contents to bowl and sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese on mixture.
- Serve with bowl of Wheat Thins for dipping.
Mexican Zesty Guacamole
Makes 96 1-tablespoon servings
Ingredients
- 1 12 oz can of sliced black olives
- 2 sliced jalapeños
- Guacamole (See below for easy recipe for fresh guacamole)
- Zesty Salsa Wheat Thins
Instructions
- Mix guacamole together adding salt and pepper lightly.
- Use Wheat Thins to scoop and dip.
- Present during a fiesta.
Recipe for Guacamole
- 3 ripe avocados peeled, pitted and diced
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1 tomato, diced
- 1 small red onion, diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, diced
- Fresh cilantro, chopped (to taste, optional)
- Makes 2 cups
Instructions
- Mash the avocados then mix in the diced red onion, garlic, tomato, and cilantro. Add the lime juice and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Pizza Bites
Makes 58 1-tablespoon servings
Ingredients
- 6 oz package of pepperoni slices, diced
- 6 oz package of sliced provolone cheese cut up into thinly sliced 1 inch squares
- 12 oz jar of favorite pizza sauce
- 5 oz grated Parmesan cheese
- Red pepper flakes (optional on how hot you like it)
- Sundried Tomato Basil Wheat Thins
Instructions
- In a bowl, add sauce, diced pepperoni, provolone cheese and microwave until cheese is melted. Dip with Wheat Thins and sprinkle a little parmesan cheese on top or red pepper flakes for spice.
Caprese Salad
Makes 36 1-tablespoon servings
Ingredients
- 7 oz jar of pesto sauce
- 1 container of fresh cherry tomatoes, sliced into rounds
- 7 oz container of fresh mozzarella balls in water (Cherry sized balls of whole milk mozzarella). If you can’t find this type of cheese, fresh mozzarella will do, just cut into thin 1 inch cubes
- Olive oil, balsamic vinegar & cracked black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Slice cherry tomatoes and mozzarella balls into thin slices and mix into a bowl with the pesto, a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar and add salt & cracked cracked black pepper to taste. Mix and dip with Wheat Thins.
Bruschetta Bites
Makes 136 1-tablespoon servings
Ingredients
- 6 ripe tomatoes, diced
- ½ cup fresh basil, chopped
- 3 cloves of fresh garlic either minced finely or grated
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Dice tomatoes. Mix in basil, garlic and balsamic vinegar. Mix together. Add salt & pepper to taste and refrigerate a couple hours before using so flavors can marinate. Take a mammoth scoop using Wheat Thins and enjoy.
BBQ Pork, Coleslaw & Fried Pickle
Makes 160 1-tablespoon servings
Ingredients For Pork:
- 1, 2-4 pound Boneless Pork Loin
- 16 oz bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce
- Smoky BBQ Wheat Thins
Ingredients for Slaw
- Package of shredded coleslaw mix in a bag
- For the dressing
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp celery salt
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- Salt & pepper to taste
Ingredients for fried pickles
- 2 cups Canola of vegetable oil to cook this in your pot
- 1 jar of pickles (dill chip slices instead of spears)
- 1 can of beer (favorite light beer type)
- 3 cups of flour, 2 cups for the batter one cup for additional dreding of pickles before frying
Instructions
- Prep and cook the pork loin according to directions. Brush BBQ sauce on the pork loin before it goes into the oven. Once it’s done take out the pork loin cover it with aluminum foil and let it rest. Once it’s finished resting slice the pork loin into pieces that would fit on top of the Wheat Thins.
- Mix the coleslaw dressing ingredients. Add the shredded slaw and salt and pepper to taste and refrigerate the slaw so the flavors can develop.
- Drain your jar of pickles. Pat them dry between paper towels to make sure they’re completely dry. Heat the oil in a skillet.
- Make batter: Take 2 cups of flour and begin to pour in one cup of beer whisking until a batter forms. Eyeball how much beer is needed depending on the consistency of batter – keep stirring until batter is loose enough (think pancake batter).
- Once pickles are patted dry dip each pickle into the remaining one cup of flour to coat them and dip them into the beer batter. Once they’re covered in the beer batter fry them in the canola oil until golden and crispy.
- Drain them on paper towels & season with salt to taste.
- To assemble, dip Wheat Thins into BBQ sauce then eat with pork loin slice, coleslaw and fried pickle.
Blue Cheese Dip
Makes 48 1-tablespoon servings
Ingredients
- 8 oz of softened cream cheese
- 4 oz blue cheese, crumbled
- 4 oz sour cream
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 8 chopped chives
- 3 oz milk to loosen the dip up if it’s too thick (if necessary)
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 10 celery sticks to serve with it
- If you are using bacon in the dip: 1 pound bacon cooked & crumbled into pieces
- Spicy Buffalo Wheat Thins
Instructions
- Mix cream cheese and sour cream together. If dip is feeling too thick, add a little bit of milk to thin it out and continue mixing until the right consistency.
- Stir in blue cheese crumbles being careful not to break them up too much. Add chives, fresh lemon juice and salt & pepper to taste.
- If adding in the bacon crumbles you can add them now. Top dip with additional bacon crumbles & chives. Chill until ready to serve.
- Eat with Wheat Thins and enjoy.