To many Americans, the Super Bowl has turned into quite the holiday where we gather together to watch football, funny commercials and most importantly, eat delicious and fattening foods! This year marks the 54th Super Bowl against the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs, and let’s be honest I only know that because I Googled it. 

For me, the Super Bowl was never about football but the entertainment of the funny commercials, people around me, the halftime show and again, the delicious food. Now, being a student has made my finances low for the big game (or as I should call it the “big eats”) and has left me pondering-‘what should be on the menu?’ So, after asking around to my fellow college students, here are some ways I found we can all enjoy “Super Bowl on a Budget.”

Keeping things inexpensive can be difficult, however, here are a few tips to stretch out your dollar. First- keep the food light, as in finger foods. Having big meals can get rather expensive. Next, try and keep things homemade. The ingredients for something are usually less expensive than buying the item premade!  

Hot wings seem to be a Super Bowl staple but sometimes they can just be plain expensive. This cost can be cut down by making them homemade! With this recipe from the food network the prep and cook time is only 30 minutes! That’s like the amount of time it takes to cook frozen wings, and let’s be honest homemade is always better! http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/classic-hot-wings-recipe.html 

What’s a Super Bowl without tortilla chips and hot queso?! There are many different ways to make queso, but my favorite, and what I found to be the most delicious and cheapest, includes two easy ingredients: cans of chili and a block of cheese. This cheese can vary anywhere from cheddar to (my personal favorite) Velveeta! Simply mix in a crock pot or even on the stove top and melt together. This dip is about $6, depending on the cheese you buy, and will last the whole game! 

Deviled Eggs! This is a super inexpensive food that makes a ton! Heck an 18 pack of eggs will make 36 deviled eggs and you only need mayo and mustard! They are super easy and very delicious! How to make them festive? Cut up small pieces of chives and add them to the top of the deviled egg like the laces of a football, and if you wanted to go all out, add just a drop of food coloring would make them your favorite team’s colors.  

Another great choice at an inexpensive price is chili cheese dogs! Yum! A can of chili and an eight pack of hotdogs these days at Winco is less than a dollar! In fact, I was in Winco today and a pack of eight hotdogs was $0.88! They are easy to assemble and a total hit at every party, not to mention, one of the cheapest items on the menu.

Nachos are always, always, always a good choice! I mean, who can pass up chips and cheese? YUM! Nachos are awesome because they are already pretty inexpensive, but to bring them up a notch you can add chili, refried beans, guacamole, sour cream and even salsa. 

Well, now that you have all the delicious recipes to have the best party on the block, without spending a ton of money- now you can enjoy eating too many calories and laughing too hard at the commercials. Oh, and I guess you could watch the game too, there is that I guess. Super Bowl doesn’t have to be expensive, but it does have to be fun! 

One last tip, before you throw the cheapest and funnest Super Bowl party of all time: don’t put all your food out at once, then at halftime surprise your guests with more cheesy hot goodness and you will be the host of the year! Because everyone hates going to a Super Bowl party only to find that all of the yummy food is gone by halftime and all that’s left is the fruit and veggie trays (which are also pretty expensive by the way).