Game day food, ready at kickoff

Feeds 8 to 10. Fried wings, meatballs, jalapeño poppers and pigs in a blanket, with nachos at halftime. Everything in the oven bakes at 375°F (190°C), so one oven does the lot. The same plan works for a playoff game or the World Series: just count back from the first pitch.

Four pounds of wings is four batches, so the wings start first: tap Start all when the first wings go in, 80 minutes before kickoff. All three timers are 80 minutes long and the other two buzz when it is their turn to go in the oven.

Add "Game day spread" to Kitchen Timer

How to start: tap a button on this page, then Add. A meal goes to Meals: tap Load, then Start all on the board. A single timer goes to Presets: tap Start. The clock times below count from the moment you tap Start, not from when you open the link. If a timer stops and waits at a step, tap ✓ when you have done it: the next step counts from your tap, so a late tap moves that dish later.

Cooking times at a glance

You need

• 4 lb (1.8 kg) chicken wings, patted dry, and oil for frying
• 2 lb (900 g) meatballs, homemade or frozen, and a jar of sauce
• 12 jalapeños, halved and seeded, filled with cream cheese and cheddar
• 1 tube of crescent dough and 1 pack of cocktail sausages
• Tortilla chips, shredded cheese, salsa and toppings for the nachos

Schedule, counting back from kickoff (6:00 pm here)

This plan fries the wings 1 lb at a time in a heavy pot filled no more than half full of oil: 12 minutes a batch plus 3 minutes for the oil to come back to 375°F, so 4 lb takes 57 minutes. The finished wings wait on a wire rack and go back into the oven for the last 8 minutes to heat through, which also keeps them within the USDA limit of 2 hours for cooked food left out.

1. 4:25 pm (95 minutes before). Start heating the oil to 375°F (190°C). Wrap the sausages in strips of dough.
2. 4:40 pm (80 minutes before). First batch of wings into the oil. Tap Start all on "Game day spread". It buzzes for every batch: out, drain on a rack, let the oil come back to 375°F, next batch in.
3. 5:05 pm. Heat the oven to 375°F. Stuff the poppers, set the meatballs on a tray.
4. 5:15 pm (45 minutes before). Meatballs and poppers into the oven on two racks when "Meatballs and poppers" buzzes.
5. 5:37 pm. The fourth batch of wings comes out. Leave all four on the rack.
6. 5:40 pm (20 minutes before). "Meatballs and poppers" buzzes: take them out; check a meatball reads 160°F (71°C), or 165°F for chicken or turkey. Move the meatballs into warm sauce. Pigs in a blanket go in when "Pigs in a blanket" buzzes (at 60 minutes).
7. 5:52 pm. The wings go into the oven for 8 minutes.
8. 5:55 pm. Pigs in a blanket out.
9. 6:00 pm. Toss the wings in sauce. Put everything out for kickoff.

A different kickoff time, or a late tap? Everything moves with your Start all: the wings start 80 minutes before kickoff.

Halftime nachos

Spread chips on a lined baking sheet in one layer, cover with cheese and any cooked toppings, and bake at 375°F for 8 to 10 minutes, until the cheese melts. Add salsa, sour cream and jalapeños after baking. Add "Halftime nachos" to Kitchen Timer (then Start in Presets)

No fryer?

Bake the wings at 400°F (204°C) for about 45 minutes, flipping halfway, or air fry them at 380°F for about 24 minutes. Check they reach 165°F (74°C).

Questions

More: Thanksgiving dinner · Roast chicken dinner · All cooking timers
Run several timers at once