Whether you're going to a youth, high school, college or professional football game, tailgating is about fun food for friends. Many traditional tailgating menus feature high-fat, high-calorie and high-cholesterol foods. There's no need to skip traditional parking-lot favorites if you want to serve healthy tailgate food. A few ingredient substitutions will let you score big points with your family, friends and fans.
Burgers
Cut the fat, calories and cholesterol in burgers by serving sliders made with lean meats. If you'll be serving appetizers, sides and desserts with your main course, your group won't miss quarter-pound burgers. Use ground turkey for a sweet burger, and add moisture to the sandwich with fresh lettuce, pickles, onions, avocado slices or other favorites. Mayonnaise and cheese cause the saturated fat and cholesterol content of burgers to soar, so be creative with sauces. Try a jerk, hoisin, black-bean and garlic or other marinade you brush on during the last minute of cooking.
Mock Wings
Serve spicy chicken using leaner breast meat, rather than wings, and grill it rather than frying to let everyone have mock hot wings. Skewer slices of chicken onto wooden sticks to create finger food. Marinate your chicken in a hot-wing sauce overnight. Let it reach room temperature before you put it on the grill, but don't let raw chicken sit in the sunlight to prevent food-borne illness. Grill the chicken without pressing down on it to keep it moist. Cook the mock wings for three to four minutes on one side, turn them over, and then cook them another three to four minutes or until the meat is completely white on the inside. Baste the chicken one more time during the final minute of cooking.
Meatball Subs
Skip the egg-yolk-and-milk binding and use lean ground beef or turkey to make your meatballs. Use egg yolks or skim milk and oatmeal to bind your meat. Fry the meatballs in a cast-iron skillet on the grill, using olive oil to coat the pan. Use very little oil -- a cast-iron pan should have a nonstick surface and even lean ground beef and turkey will contain some fat. Use low-fat cheese and a meatless marinara sauce, and serve your sandwiches on whole-grain bread.
Sides
Focus on flavor while reducing fat by adding spices to traditional side dishes. Add kick to vegetarian baked beans with dry mustard. Use fat-free mayonnaise to make potato salad, and sprinkle in curry powder for a savory flavor. Mac and cheese will taste great made with skim milk and low-fat cheese if you add tarragon, making it reminiscent of a béchamel sauce.
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