Stretch-It Kitchen

Cheap Game Day Food for a Crowd: A Tailgate Menu for 20 Under $90

A chili dog tailgate for 20, with coleslaw, dill pickle pasta salad and sausage cheese dip, rang up at $86.58 at a Greer, SC Harris Teeter at regular shelf prices. A big pot of chili and a pulled pork menu priced the same way, dish by dish.

A tailgate for 20 does not need a caterer. It takes a pan of chili dogs, two big bowls of cold salad and a pot of dip, and at regular shelf price at the Harris Teeter at Hudson Corners in Greer on October 22, 2026, that came to $86.58 at the register. That is $4.33 a person, buying every package from scratch.

Counting only what goes into the food, it is $61.32. The rest of the money stays in the pantry as the leftover mayonnaise, mustard, sugar and pasta.

Three tailgate menus for 20

Every dish is scaled to 20 servings from the recipe’s own yield, and the dip is a half batch, which the recipe says is still 32 servings. “At the register” buys whole packages for that menu; “in the food” counts the share used. Chips for the dip, drinks, ice, plates and charcoal are not included in any of these.

The chili and the chili dogs cost almost the same. The pulled pork menu costs about $45 more at the register, and most of that is the baked beans, which use two and a half pounds of bacon.

Baked Chili Hot Dogs: $29.41 for 20

Baked Chili Hot Dogs (4.6 stars, 75 ratings) is the easiest crowd main there is: hot dogs in buns, lined up in a 9x13 pan, covered with canned chili and cheddar, and baked under foil. The recipe makes 6, so for 20 we priced it 3 1/3 times. The list below is the recipe as written.

The franks are the biggest line, $13.73 for 2 1/2 eight-count packs at $5.49. Store-brand buns were $1.49 for 8. One change for price: the recipe names Hormel chili with beans, $2.69 a can here; we priced Wolf Brand chili with beans at $2.59.

• 6 hot dogs
• 6 split hot dog buns
• 1 (15 ounce) can HORMEL Chili With Beans (we priced Wolf Brand chili with beans)
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
2. Heat the hot dogs following the package directions. Set the buns in the dish cut side up and put a hot dog in each. Top with the chili and sprinkle with the cheese. Tent the pan with foil.
3. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until hot and the cheese melts.

Twenty dogs is a little more than three pans. Bake them at home and carry them in an insulated bag, or bake one pan at a time if you have an oven nearby.

Easy Chili: $38.36 for 20 bowls

Easy Chili has 419 ratings and a 4.7-star average, the best-proven recipe on this page. Ground beef, onion and green pepper, canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, jalapeños and chili beans, simmered for an hour and a half. It makes six bowls, so for 20 we priced it 3 1/3 times: about 3 1/3 pounds of ground beef at $5.29 a pound, which is $17.63 of the pot. The list is the recipe as written.

Two package notes. The 29-ounce can of tomatoes is a 28-ounce can at this store, and the 16-ounce can of chili beans is 15.5 ounces. We priced the fresh jalapeños, about a tenth of a pound.

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 2 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 (29 ounce) can diced tomatoes (we priced 28 ounce cans)
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 4 teaspoons finely chopped jalapeno chile peppers
• 1 (16 ounce) can chili beans, undrained (we priced 15.5 ounce cans)
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook the beef, onion and bell pepper in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring, until the beef is browned, about 5 minutes. Drain the fat.
2. Season with the chili powder, garlic, cumin and bay leaf.
3. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato sauce and jalapeños, bring to a boil, and turn it to low. Cover and simmer, stirring now and then, for 1 1/2 hours. Stir in the beans and heat through.
4. Season with salt and pepper.

Ground beef should reach 160 degrees F, the USDA’s safe minimum for ground meat. A triple batch needs a big stockpot or two pots. For a different big pot, our big-batch chili stretches a pound of beef across the week.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork with buns: $35.14 for 20

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Roast (4.4 stars, 79 ratings) rubs a pork butt with spices, cooks it in ketchup, cider vinegar, molasses and mustard for 8 to 10 hours, then thickens the juices into a sauce. It makes eight servings from a 3 1/2-pound butt, so for 20 we priced 2 1/2 times: about 8 3/4 pounds of bone-in Boston butt at $2.49 a pound, $21.79. That much pork will likely take two slow cookers.

The recipe lists “soft rolls” with no amount. We added 20 store-brand hamburger buns, $3.73. The molasses is the surprise line at $3.99 for 2 1/2 batches.

• 1 (3 1/2) pound pork butt roast
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons pepper
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons coriander
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups Heinz Tomato Ketchup (we priced store-brand ketchup)
• 1 cup Heinz Apple Cider Vinegar (we priced store-brand cider vinegar)
• 1/2 cup fancy molasses
• 1/3 cup Heinz Mustard (we priced store-brand yellow mustard)
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• Soft rolls (we priced 20 hamburger buns)

1. Take off any string and trim the extra fat from the roast.
2. Mix the chili powder, oil, garlic, pepper, cumin, coriander, paprika, allspice and salt and rub it all over the pork. Refrigerate 30 minutes to overnight.
3. Put the roast in the slow cooker. Stir the ketchup, vinegar, molasses and mustard together and pour it over. Cover.
4. Cook on Low until very tender, 8 to 10 hours.
5. Move the roast to a big bowl, throw out any visible fat, and pull the pork into strands with two forks. Put it back in the slow cooker and stir it into the juices.
6. Strain 1 1/2 cups of the cooking liquid into a saucepan, whisk in the cornstarch, and boil, stirring, until thick. Serve the pork on rolls with the sauce.

Creamy Coleslaw: $13.00 for 20

Creamy Coleslaw has a 4.9-star average from 211 ratings. It is a bag of slaw mix folded into a dressing of mayonnaise, sugar, vinegar, lemon and horseradish. It serves 12, so for 20 we priced 1 2/3 times. The list is the recipe as written.

The slaw mix came in 14-ounce bags at $2.69, so the 28-ounce package is two bags, and for 20 servings about 3 1/3 bags. The mayonnaise is the second big line, $3.70. We did not count the horseradish, rice vinegar or spices.

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons seasoned rice wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 (28 ounce) package coleslaw mix (we priced two 14 ounce bags)

1. Whisk the mayonnaise, sugar, vinegar, lemon juice, horseradish, onion powder, dry mustard, celery salt, salt and pepper in a big bowl until the sugar dissolves.
2. Fold in the slaw mix until it is well coated.

Dill Pickle Pasta Salad: $9.66 for 20

Dill Pickle Pasta Salad has only 5 ratings (4.6 stars), so it has less proof behind it than anything else here. It is plain enough to judge: rotini, mayonnaise, chopped dill pickles and mustard. It makes six, so for 20 we priced 3 1/3 times, a little over 2 pounds of dry rotini. The list is the recipe as written. We priced a jar of store-brand dill chips for the pickles.

• 3 cups rotini pasta, uncooked
• 2/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup chopped dill pickles, or more to taste
• 1 tablespoon mustard
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon celery salt
• 1 pinch garlic powder, or to taste

1. Boil the pasta in lightly salted water until tender but firm, about 8 minutes.
2. While it cooks, mix the mayonnaise, pickles, mustard, vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper, celery salt and garlic powder in a bowl.
3. Drain the pasta and rinse it under cold water until cold. Put it in a big salad bowl, stir in the dressing, and add more pickles if you like.

It is the cheapest of the salads at 48 cents a serving, and the mayonnaise is half of that.

Sausage Cheese Dip: $9.25 for a half batch

Sausage Cheese Dip (4.5 stars, 36 ratings) is browned sausage stirred into melted processed cheese with sour cream, diced tomatoes with green chiles and green onions. The full recipe says 64 servings. We priced half, which the recipe’s own count makes 32 servings, more than enough for 20.

One change: the recipe calls for a 2-pound loaf of processed cheese. No loaf showed up in our price pull, so we priced the half batch’s pound of cheese as store-brand American cheese slices by weight, $4.25. The list is the recipe as written; halve it.

• 1 pound ground pork sausage
• 1 (2 pound) loaf processed cheese, cubed (we priced American cheese slices by weight)
• 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
• 1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, drained
• 2 green onions, chopped

1. Brown the sausage evenly in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Melt the cheese in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
3. Drain the sausage and stir it together with the melted cheese, sour cream, tomatoes with green chiles and green onions in a bowl.

Tortilla chips are not in the price. A slow cooker on warm keeps the dip soft if the tailgate has power.

Simple Baked Beans: $42.54 for 20

Simple Baked Beans (4.7 stars, 111 ratings) dresses up canned baked beans with bacon, onion, brown sugar, ketchup and mustard on the stovetop. It is the priciest side here, because the recipe uses half a pound of bacon for four servings. Scaled five times for 20, that is 2 1/2 pounds of bacon, $19.97, almost half the pot.

The 15-ounce cans of baked beans were 28-ounce cans of store-brand hickory brown sugar baked beans at this store, so we priced 150 ounces from those. The list is the recipe as written.

• 1/2 pound bacon, chopped
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 (15 ounce) cans baked beans (we priced 28 ounce cans of store-brand baked beans)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup prepared mustard

1. Cook the bacon in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat until browned. Add the onion and cook until tender. Drain the extra fat if you want.
2. Stir in the beans, brown sugar, ketchup and mustard and cook, stirring now and then, until hot and bubbly.

Using half the bacon is our suggestion, not the recipe, and it would take about $10 off the pot.

Keeping it safe in the parking lot

Mayonnaise salads and dip sit out longer at a tailgate than at a kitchen table. The USDA’s danger zone guidance says perishable food should not sit between 40 and 140 degrees F for more than 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90 degrees F. Keep the slaw and pasta salad in a cooler on ice until you serve, and keep the chili and dip hot.

Keep going

For a game-day sandwich that beats the sandwich shop, chicken Philly cheesesteaks are priced the same way. Honey BBQ chicken and rice is the weeknight version of tailgate flavors.

What is the one dish that has to be at your tailgate, no matter who is playing?

Recipes: Allrecipes, linked in each section, followed as written except the changes we name, and scaled to 20 servings. We priced every recipe; we did not test-cook this menu. Prices: regular shelf prices at Harris Teeter Hudson Corners, 2145 Old Spartanburg Rd, Greer, SC 29650, pulled October 22, 2026 through the Kroger Products API. Sale prices left out. Spices, salt, horseradish, rice and red wine vinegar are not counted. Your store and week will vary.

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