Sub in These Slim Dishes For Your Super Bowl Spread

Updated on 2/2/2020 at 7:20 AM

POPSUGAR Photography | Sheila Gim

Will you be tuning in to watch the Super Bowl this year? If so, you might want to avoid the pitfalls of typical pigskin party fare. Chips and dip, pizza, loaded nachos, wings, and beer can pack in around 2,500 calories — more energy than you need in an entire day. You'd have to jog around 20 miles or walk for more than 10 hours to burn all those calories off.

Here's what to bench and what to start to slash hundreds of calories off your game-day menu. These all-star substitutions have all the flavor, minus the fat of traditional football party fare.

Bench: Fried Potato and Tortilla Chips
Start: Fresh Veggies, Baked and Bean Chips

You can count on a blitz on chips at every Super Bowl party. To be prepared, look for baked chips that shave about 30 calories per ounce (15 to 20 chips) compared to fried chips. For a healthier tortilla chip, I like lentil or bean-based options because they provide more filling fiber and protein.

High-crunch, low-cal veggies like carrots, cauliflower, celery, sugar snap peas, broccoli, and bell pepper are also a great alternative to fried chips. They’re loaded with filling fiber and have less than 30 calories per cup.

POPSUGAR Photography | Anna Monette Roberts

Bench: Creamy or Cheesy Dips
Start: Black Bean Dip, Hummus, and Slimmed-Down Guac

Black bean dip and hummus are low in saturated fat and provide filling protein and fiber. Since it’s not a Super Bowl party without guac, I lighten up traditional guacamole by infusing more veggies to balance out the fat from the avocados. Here’s my favorite skinny guac recipe, which contains an extra dose of tomatoes.

Bench: Greasy Pizza
Start: Pasta Salads

Pizza can pack in more than 300 calories a slice, so for something Italian that’s lighter, make a Mediterranean pasta salad or my favorite Pasta Caprese Salad Skewers for an appetizer. They’re a delicious twist on a Caprese salad that are sure to be the MVP of your party. Pasta is also a good choice because it’s a low-glycemic complex carbohydrate that helps keep blood sugar levels steady and helps keep you fuller longer.

Bench: Meaty and Cheesy Nachos
Start: Vegetarian Loaded Nachos

Beef- and cheese-rich nachos can be a waistline wrecker, with nearly 600 calories and half of all the saturated fat you can have in a day! In place of beef, I’ll make nachos with a meat replacer (i.e., soy- or bean-based crumbles) instead of ground beef. Here’s one of my fan-favorite loaded nacho recipes that uses black bean crumbles from MorningStar Farms and has half the calories of traditional nachos. And, if you skip the cheese, the dish is vegan-friendly.

Bench: Regular Beer
Start: Light or Ultralight Brews and Sparkling Water

Since beer is considered an official food group of Super Bowl, opt for light beers that have 95 to 100 calories per bottle compared to 150 calories in a regular beer. There are even several options that have around 50 to 60 calories, or about 100 calories less per bottle than a regular beer. Better yet, skip alcohol altogether and opt for refreshing sparkling water dressed up with citrus, berries, or mint.