Across the country, living rooms are turning into mini sports bars, and the menu is getting almost as much planning as the plays on the field. New data shows a clear pecking order for what Americans actually eat on game day, with one old-school favorite still sitting comfortably on top. Around that champion, though, the rest of the spread is shifting fast, from regional obsessions to budget hacks and even a few healthier curveballs.
Put simply, Super Bowl Sunday has become a national food holiday, and the numbers behind it tell a very specific story about how people like to snack. From Buffalo wings and bubbling queso to guacamole that is suddenly cheaper to make, the most popular picks say a lot about what fans value when they crowd around the TV: big flavor, easy sharing and a table that looks full all night long.
Wings Still Rule the Field
Start with the obvious: Chicken wings are still the star of the show. Using consumption estimates from the National Chicken Council and retail and delivery data, analysts peg Super Bowl demand at a staggering 1.48 billion pieces for Super Bowl LX alone. One ranking of game day dishes, built from that same mix of National Chicken Council, National Retail Federation, Instacart and DoorDash data, puts wings at No. 1 and describes Chicken wings as the undisputed king of Super Bow spreads, a status that retail numbers back up across America.
That dominance shows up in smaller snapshots too. A breakdown of how people snack on Super Bowl Sunday finds that Buffalo Wings are the top choice nationally, accounting for 26 percent of preferences and leading in 36 states in the Key Findings. Another analysis of the broader menu on The Stars of the Menu notes that Chicken wings, especially Buffalo style, sit alongside other favorites like Guacamole but still anchor the table. Local coverage of Classic game day foods reaches the same conclusion, pointing out that Chicken wings and chips remain the most purchased items ahead of the Super Bowl, with Buffalo flavors in particular defining the modern spread.
Chips, Dips and the Big Game Crunch
If wings are the main event, chips and dip are the constant background noise, the crunch that never really stops. Instacart’s Key Highlights for Big Game Snack Data show that Chips and dips are the undisputed Big Game MVPs, with their share of orders sitting well above other categories in the run up to kickoff. The same Big Game analysis notes that classic pairings like tortilla chips with salsa or queso rank among the top game day pairings, confirming what most coffee tables already know.
That demand spikes sharply as fans stock up. The Brief on pre game shopping patterns, based on Instacart orders ahead of the Super Bowl, reports that tortilla chips jump by 106%, salsas climb 96% and shelf stable dips surge an eye catching 227 percent. Earlier Instacart research on When Americans argue about the great dips debate around the Big Game found that dip purchases spike during game week, with clear regional differences in what people scoop up, from queso to French onion and beyond.
Buffalo Everything: From Dip to Biscuit Bombs
Buffalo flavor has broken out of the wing bucket and now shows up in almost every corner of the table. A nationwide snack index notes that There is a clear national favorite on Super Bowl Sunday, and While Buffalo wings dominate, a handful of states lean into niche preferences like Buffalo chicken dip instead of whole wings. Regional breakdowns of state favorites back that up, with Vermont, for example, gravitating toward Buffalo chicken dip as its signature choice, a detail highlighted as As the Super Bowl approaches and fans lock in their menus.
Recipe roundups are leaning into that obsession. One list of must cook dishes for game day singles out Buffalo Chicken Biscuit Bombs as a standout, pointing out that this recipe is not the only one built around buffalo chicken, but it is a special one that lets You tuck spicy filling into flaky dough. Broader coverage of The Stars of the Menu on Super Bowl Sunday also calls out Chicken wings, especially Buffalo style, as a defining flavor, while flavor trend analysts looking at Super Bowl snacks talk about sauce mashups and spicy profiles that keep Buffalo inspired dishes feeling fresh instead of repetitive.
Regional Quirks: From Processed Cheese to French Onion Dip
Zoom in from the national picture and the map starts to look delightfully weird. A state by state rundown of favorites shows Alabama leaning into Processed cheeses, Alaska going straight for Chicken wings and Arizona putting French onion dip at the center of the coffee table. That same breakdown lists dozens of other quirks, from canned diced tomatoes in Arkansas to queso in Wisconsin, underscoring how much local taste still shapes the Super Bowl menu even as a few staples dominate.
Search behavior tells a similar story. An interactive map Based on Google search data across all 50 states, analyzed by Coffeeness, lets fans Hover over each state to see its most searched Super Bowl snack, revealing both hyper local obsessions and dishes with broad cross regional appeal. A separate look at the most popular Super Bowl snacks across the US, built from Instacart order data, highlights similar regional splits, with Key Points noting that Instacart customers in different parts of the country favor very different items even when they are all shopping for the same Super Bowl party.
Guacamole’s Big Year and the Dip Economy
Guacamole is having a moment, and not just because it looks good on social feeds. A breakdown of The Stars of the Menu on Super Bowl Sunday notes that Among the many dishes served, Guacamole leads the list by volume, with an estimated mountain of avocados being mashed for parties. That same analysis points out that Chicken wings, especially Buffalo style, share the spotlight, but the sheer amount of Guacamole being scooped up shows how central dips have become to the modern spread.
This year, the economics are lining up in guac’s favor too. Market coverage reports that Avocados have seen a steep drop in prices, making Super Bowl Sunday guacamole dip the cheapest it has been in decades, and chip prices are down as well, a rare bit of good news for hosts watching their budgets. Instacart’s Key Highlights for Big Game Snack Data reinforce that Chips and dips are already the Big Game MVPs in terms of order share, so cheaper avocados and corn chips are likely to push even more people toward big bowls of Guacamole and salsa at the center of the table.
What Surveys Say Fans Actually Want
Beyond sales data, surveys offer a clean look at what people say they crave most. One national poll asked Over 3,000 People Were Asked to Name the Best Super Bowl Food, and the results showed There is a Clear Favorite that lines up neatly with what retailers are seeing. A companion breakdown of those findings, framed around Over 3,000 People Were Asked to Name the Best Super Bowl Food, notes that respondents across regions converged on the same top pick, even as they split on side dishes and desserts.
Those preferences are echoed in rankings built from hard numbers. A list of the most popular Super Bowl foods in America, ranked using data from the National Chicken Council, National Retail Federation, Instacart and DoorDash, again crowns Chicken wings as the top choice and explains how other Supe snacks like pizza, nachos and burgers stack up behind them. Another version of that ranking, focused on Super Bowl foods in America, emphasizes that Chicken wings remain the undisputed king of Super Bow parties, with retail data backing up what the survey respondents already made clear.
Delivery Apps, Budgets and the Cost of Feeding a Crowd
All of this food has to get to the living room somehow, and increasingly that means tapping a delivery app instead of a grocery cart. The North American delivery market is Dominated by the United States, with the region accounting for about 27 percent of global food delivery revenues right now, and Here platforms like DoorDash, Uber Eats and Instacart dominate both downloads and engagement. That same ecosystem feeds into the Super Bowl rankings that rely on Instacart and DoorDash order data to see which snacks are actually being bought in America, not just talked about.
For hosts who still shop and cook themselves, price is a growing part of the planning. A recent look at party budgets notes that Wings dominate Super Bowl game day food and will not break the bank, even as overall Super Bowl costs rise about 2 dollars to roughly $140 for 10 people. That report points out that Wings can take up a big share of your Super Bowl budget but still look like a value compared with high beef prices, which helps explain why poultry heavy menus are so common. With Avocados and chips trending cheaper at the same time, hosts can stretch that $140 further by leaning into dips and wings instead of steak heavy mains.
Healthier Twists and Chef Driven Trends
Even on the most indulgent food day of the year, some fans are looking for lighter options that still feel like party food. At least one chef, Kathryn Neidus, an executive chef at the StoneW, has noticed hosts shifting from heavy, cream laden dishes to more balanced spreads, swapping some fried items for grilled skewers or air fried vegetables. In her view, people still want the comfort of familiar flavors, but they are more likely to mix in a platter of crisp vegetables or lean proteins alongside the wings and queso than they were a few years ago.
Flavor developers tracking Super Bowl trends see the same push and pull. Analysts looking at the top Super Bowl snacks for 2026 point to sauce mashups that layer heat with sweetness or tang, and to snacks that can satisfy a group without sacrificing flavor, whether that means baked versions of old favorites or plant forward twists. Broader Instacart reporting on what Americans are craving for the Big Game notes that Chips and dips still dominate, but that shoppers are also adding more fresh produce and better for you items to their carts, a sign that the modern Super Bowl table can handle both Buffalo wings and a big salad without anyone blinking.
How Hosts Can Read the Data and Plan Their Menu
For anyone in charge of feeding a crowd, the data offers a pretty clear playbook. Start with wings, since every ranking and survey points to Chicken wings as the safest bet, and consider offering both Buffalo style and a milder option to keep everyone happy. Add a serious chip and dip station, leaning into tortilla chips, salsa and queso, since Instacart’s Key Highlights for Big Game Snack Data and the massive Big Game spikes of 106%, 96% and 227 percent around chips and dips suggest those bowls will empty fast. With Avocados cheaper and Guacamole leading many lists, a big batch of guac is both on trend and relatively kind to the budget.
From there, it pays to sprinkle in a few regional or personal favorites. State level rundowns of popular snacks show everything from Alabama style Processed cheese plates to Arizona style French onion dip, so there is room to nod to local tastes or family traditions. Hosts can also borrow ideas from Buffalo Chicken Biscuit Bombs and other creative recipes that remix Buffalo flavors into new formats, or from healthier trends that Kathryn Neidus and others are seeing, like air fried vegetables that still feel snackable. However they mix it, the numbers make one thing clear: as long as there are plenty of wings on the platter and enough chips and dip to last until the final whistle, most guests will walk away convinced they just ate exactly what Super Bowl Sunday is supposed to taste like.
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