Half-time Snacks For Hungry Football Fans

For players, half-time is a chance to grab a much-needed drink, and an energy-boosting snack. For viewers, it can go either way: it can be a chance for celebration, popping open the champagne early (if you’re feeling especially confident), or it can be time to put the champers back in the fridge and dial the local takeaway ready to eat your feelings after the game.

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At the match itself, you’d probably tuck into a pie – or a prawn sandwich, if you’re part of a certain brigade… – but there’s going to be a lot of sofa-based football-watching during the FIFA World Cup this summer if you’re not travelling to Russia to support the England boys.

And that means a lot of potential takeaways, depending on England’s performance, but you probably don’t want to be ending the World Cup feeling sluggish and like you’ve put on a tonne of weight.

Instead, try to get into some pre-match habits. While the players are getting into their kits, prepare your ingredients. When Jamie Vardy, Ashley Young, Raheem Sterling and co are tucking into their lemon slices, or whatever footballers actually do during half-time, plug in your Tefal gadget.

Then, before the whistle goes for the second half, you’ll have a tasty snack ready to fortify you for the next 45 minutes. All that running around can make you hungry – even just watching it.

Sometimes you just need a steak. Is there anything more satisfying? Probably not, tbh.

With the Tefal OptiGrill, you can grill a steak to perfection in just minutes, meaning it’s the perfect snack to prepare during your 15-minute break from the match.

Pre-kick-off, all you need to do is slice some really good crusty bread and butter it or spread it with mustard, and then you just need your grilled steak to complete it. Added cheese and fried onions will take your sarnie to a whole other level.

You don’t get that if you actually go to the match, do you?

If you fancy some chips, you don’t have to make a mad dash to the chippy during half-time, risking missing the second half as you get stuck behind someone in the queue who’s ordering fish and chips and battered sausage and curry sauce and ‘oh, have you got any scallops?’.

Instead, slice some potatoes into chip shapes – thick wedges or skinny fries are both fine, it’s completely up to you. Next, place them in your Tefal ActiFry health fryer along with just a smidgen of oil, and turn it on just before the match starts or a couple of minutes into it. Pint? Check. Football shirt? Remote control? Check. ActiFry? Check.

Then, at half-time, you’ll have chips waiting for you, and healthy ones at that! Cover them in ketchup, dip them in mayo or go crazy and mix the two. Madness.

If you’re having a few people over to watch the match, you might want to get into the spirit of the occasion with some themed snacks. Obviously, you can go down the ball-themed route with stuff like arancini balls, like in this recipe from Cook it With Kids, or chocolate and coffee truffle balls – see The Petite Cook for a recipe for these.

Or you can be even more specific and take inspiration from the kit colours of whichever teams are playing, and incorporate these into your spread.

For instance, when England are playing, make roasted halloumi and pepper skewers – again quickly prepared in your Tefal OptiGrill during half-time. When it’s Brazil, go for yellow and green peppers; when it’s Spain, tomatoes and turmeric-coated diced potatoes – you get the idea

A toastie’s always a good idea, and when you can simply stick all your bread and filling in a gadget and have it do all the work for you without any swapping from the toaster to the grill, it’s even better, and perfect for half-time. Well, that’s exactly what the Tefal Snack Collection allows you to do.

Prep your bread and filling beforehand and all you need to do is switch it on at half-time. Will you keep it traditional with classic ham and cheese, or are you going to go for something like prawn and avocado because there’s no one around to see and judge you? You never know where Roy Keane could be lurking…

Snack stands at football stadiums have come a long way in recent years, and treats like doughnuts and churros are now often available alongside the usual meat and potato pies and styrofoam cups of Bovril.

You can also use your Tefal Snack Collection to make really good waffles – and we highly recommend these amazing cinnamon sugar churro waffles from Chef de Home, which blend two of the best desserts to create a mouth-watering treat.

After a tense first half, you deserve this.