Perfect Kansas City-themed dishes for your Super Bowl party spread (2024)

If you’re a Kansas City Chiefs fan, you should be a savvy veteran by now when it comes to hosting a Super Bowl party. While there is no need to reinvent the wheel, sometimes it’s nice to add the food equivalent of the iconic Jet Chip Wasp play to your spread— something that will leave your partygoers talking about the food as much as they talk about the game itself.

When it comes to KC and football, it all starts with barbecue — last year we suggested these delicious burnt-end sliders — this year we’re going with ribs.

Country-style ribs

While spare ribs are more traditional, if you’re hosting a large group of people, country-style ribs are easier to prepare and much more friendly on your wallet, while still packing tons of flavor.

Spice rub:

• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 2 tbsp salt
• 2 tbsp paprika
• 2 tbsp onion powder
• 2 tbsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tbsp cumin
• 1 tbsp dry mustard
• 1/2 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tbsp white pepper

Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.

Ribs:

• As many country-style ribs as you want to cook
• Texas toast or white bread
• Yellow mustard
• Your favorite KC BBQ Sauce (I like LC’s, Arthur Bryants Sweet Heat, or Danny Edwards)

Rub the outside of the country-style ribs with yellow mustard. Coat the entire outside of the ribs with the rub mixture. Let sit at room temperature for 20 minutes. Preheat your smoker to 225 (If you don’t have a smoker, you can use your oven, but try replacing the salt in the rub with smoked salt to still get that smokey flavor.) Place ribs directly on the smoker and close the lid.

Country-style ribs have a decent amount of fat on them that needs to be rendered, so an ideal internal temperature for them is between 205-210 degrees— depending on the consistency of your heat source, this usually takes a couple of hours, but I’d start checking them every 15 minutes, starting at around 1 1/2 hours.

Once you remove the meat from the heat, Let it rest for at least 10 minutes. Chop ribs into whatever size chunks you want, and serve over white bread with sauce (because if it’s not on white bread it’s not real barbecue.)

Knockoff version of The Peanut’s hot wings

If you’re an OG Kansas Citian and you’re getting wings, then there’s only one place to go and that’s The Peanut. So if you’re making wings for a party, there is only one wing to mimic.

Buffalo sauce:

• 1/2 c. butter
• 1/3 c. Frank’s Red Hot Sauce

Melt butter on a low heat. In a very large bowl, whisk butter into the hot sauce a little bit at a time until hom*ogeneous.

Blue cheese dressing:

• 1 lb blue cheese crumbles
• 1 lb sour cream
• 1/2 bunch of cilantro
• 3 cloves of garlic
• Half of a red onion

Blend cilantro, garlic, and onion on high until extra fine consistency. Add sour cream and blue cheese and blend on low just until mixed.

Chicken wings:

• 1 large package of whole wings
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Vegetable oil
• Celery sticks

Prior to cooking, pat the wings dry with a paper towel, making sure to remove as much moisture as possible from the skin. Salt and pepper the wings and set aside. Heat oil in a large pot or Dutch oven to 375 degrees. Carefully add wings to the oil and fry until cooked thoroughly (one sign they are done is when they start floating.) Remove wings from the oil, and let the excess oil drain of f— place wings in a large mixing bowl with sauce and toss until completely coated. Remove the wings and place them on a plate still dripping with sauce. Serve with celery sticks and blue cheese dressing for dipping.

NOTE: If you don’t want to fry your wings, try coating them in baking powder, air drying them in the fridge overnight, and then baking them in the oven. The baking powder and drying will change the PH balance in the skin on the wings and help them crisp up.

Texas caviar

The best thing to ever come out of the state of Texas is Patrick Mahomes II. The second best thing is Texas caviar. This southwest staple is like if beans and pico de gallo had a baby, and it’s sure to be as big of a crowd-pleaser as a no-look pass to Rashee Rice. If you’re pressed for time you can buy tortilla chips at the store. If you want to stop people in their tracks, you will make chips from (almost) scratch.

• 2 cans of black beans (drained)
• 1 can of pinto beans (drained)
• 1 can of red beans (drained)
• 2 cans of white sweet corn (drained)
• 1 can of Rotel
• 1 green bell pepper— cored and finely chopped
• 1 red bell pepper— cored and finely chopped
• 1 red onion finely chopped
• 1 bunch of cilantro leaves finely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• 1 tbsp of garlic powder
• 1 tbsp of onion powder
• 1/2 c. of olive oil
• 2 tbsp of honey
• 1/4 c. white/red wine (or apple cider) vinegar
• 1 tsp of cumin
• 1 lime squeezed
• 3 avocados pitted and chopped up
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp white pepper

Add everything into a large bowl and stir until evenly mixed. Serve with chips.

Tortilla chips:

• One large package of corn tortillas
• Vegetable oil
• Salt

Heat your oil to medium-high heat in a large pot. Cut the stack of corn tortillas into quarter triangles and add a handful of them to the oil. Fry until brown and crispy. Remove and let excess oil drain off the chips. Place in a large bowl and salt liberally.

NOTE: If the chips burn or cook too quickly, lower your heat— they shouldn’t take long to cook, but you don’t want to burn them. They will continue to brown once removed from the oil.

GOAT mac and cheese

Between Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, and Travis Kelce, there are a lot of GOAT’s walking around the Chiefs facilities, so why not celebrate them with a mac and cheese fitting their stature?

• 1 small block goat cheese
• 1/4 c. of milk
• 1/2 c. shredded cheddar
• 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella
• 1/4 c. of butter
• 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tbsp onion powder
• 1 tsp mustard powder
• 1 tbsp dried parsley
• 1 box of elbow macaroni
• Panko bread crumbs
• Olive oil
• Salt

Fill a large pot 3/4 of the way with hot water. Add a few tablespoons of olive oil to the water and enough salt to make it taste like the ocean. Bring the water to a boil. Add the pasta to the boiling water and stir occasionally— cook until al dente. Drain the macaroni and rinse with cold water.

In a large skillet add the butter, garlic, onion, and mustard— melt on low heat stirring with a wooden spoon to incorporate everything together. Once the butter is melted add the milk to the pan, as well as the goat cheese, cheddar, mozzarella, and parsley, stirring constantly until all of the cheese is melted and the mixture is creamy. It’s important not to overcook the cheese, once everything is melted and combined, remove the skillet from the heat.

Add the pasta and cheese sauce back into the large pot and stir together. Place mac and cheese mixture into a glass baking dish, sprinkle more shredded cheese and bread crumbs on the top, place in the oven and bake at 350 degrees until golden brown on top.

LaMar’s Donuts

Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes have both talked about how LaMar’s donuts basically fuel this team throughout the season. While there are a lot of recipes out there to help you make awesome homemade yeast donuts, to do it right takes over eight hours and a lot of prep work— plus there is no replacement for LaMars, so why not just pop into your local shop on game day and pick up a couple dozen so you can have breakfast beers and pregame right?

But if you want to make donuts for your party, these simple cake donut holes are really easy to make and addictively good.

Donut holes:

• 2 c. flour
• 1/4 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 c. melted butter
• 3/4 c. milk
• 1/2 c. powdered sugar
• Vegetable oil for frying.

In a large pot, heat about three inches of oil to 350 degrees. Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, vanilla, and egg. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and stir until just combined. Add melted butter to the mixture and stir until a thick batter forms. Use your hands or a cookie scoop to add desired-sized balls to the oil. Cook until brown all over (usually a couple of minutes on each side.) Remove and let cool on a paper towel. Once the donut holes have cooled, roll them in powdered sugar and enjoy.

co*cktails

Kelce libre:

This one is a take on the classic rum refresher with a distinct Travis Kelce twist.

• 2 oz. dark rum
• Wild Cherry Pepsi
• 1/4 lime cut into a wedge

Fill a highball glass with ice— add rum, squeeze a lime wedge, and toss it in. Fill the glass the rest of the way with Wild Cherry Pepsi and enjoy.

French Blonde:

The French Blonde is reported to be Taylor Swift’s go-to drink when she is out on the town— it’s a refreshing and light co*cktail that is bright enough to keep your wits about you so you can achieve whatever CIA-mandated mission you are on to ruin football.

• 2 oz Lillet Blanc
• 2 oz grapefruit juice (freshly squeezed)
• 1 oz Hendricks gin
• 1/2 oz St-Germain (elderflower liqueur)
• 3 dashes of lemon bitters
• Twist of lemon for garnish

Fill a co*cktail shaker with ice, add ingredients, and shake for about 20 seconds or until the outside of the shaker is cold all over. Strain the mixture into a chilled coupe glass, run lemon around the rim of the glass, and then add it to the drink as garnish.

Kansas City old fashioned:

• 1 orange slice
• 2 dashes of Angostura bitters
• 1 tsp brandied cherry juice
• 1 tsp simple syrup
• 2 oz of J. Rieger Straight Rye Whiskey
• Orange peel

Run an orange slice around the inside of an old fashioned glass to coat the interior. Stir ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Strain contents into the glass with a large ball of ice, and garnish with orange peel.

Beer:

Boulevard Brewing Company Unfiltered Wheat

KC Bier Co. Dunkel

Casual Animal Memory Fade Hazy IPA

Torn Label House Brew

Alma Mader Look West: Marie Ménard - Single Varietal Dry Cider

Wine:

Red: KC Wineworks 2017 Chambourcin

White: Amigoni Urban Winery 2020 Barrel Aged Chardonnay

These are just a couple of ideas to make sure your Super Bowl party is a smashing hit and that everyone has a full belly while they’re screaming their faces off and cheering the Chiefs to their second straight Lombardi Trophy.