When you pack 80,000 people into an NFL stadium, you’re bound to get different tastes and opinions when it comes to food. And every year, football teams roll out surprising new menu items in hopes of enticing fans. And by “surprising,” we mean a cotton candy burrito full of candy and ice cream and a pizza burger with a patty sandwiched between two pepperoni pizzas. Here are the wildest, most unique new food items at NFL stadiums this year.
Cotton Candy Burrito
Arizona Cardinals | State Farm Stadium
If you’re talking about extreme NFL food, you have to start in Phoenix, where the Arizona Cardinals will break out a cotton candy burrito on the club level. The insides of this monster features cotton candy-flavored ice cream mixed with Fruity Pebbles, Foot Loops, marshmallows, Skittles, mini-M&M’s, gummy bears and sprinkles. It all gets wrapped up in a cotton candy shell. Yeah, surprise.
The Pizza Burger
Dallas Cowboys | AT&T Stadium
This thing is huge. The pizza burger offers up a 16-ounce Angus patty sandwiched between two pepperoni pizzas. Add in the lettuce, tomato, marinara, and melted mozzarella cheese and this concoction is part burger and two parts pizza. It’s not just a clever name.
The Ringer
Indianapolis Colts | Lucas Oil Stadium
Okay, so a footlong corn dog isn’t going to strike anyone as super fantastical. But let’s add just a touch to the recipe and coat it in honey and then roll the entire thing in blue Taki crumbs. That’s The Ringer, now served in Indianapolis, where blue dominates the color scheme throughout the stadium.
Spaetzle
Cincinnati Bengals | Paycor Stadium
Take spaetzle (not exactly known as stadium food in the U.S.) and give it even more German influence with a Cincinnati-centric addition. The Bengals did that with a spaetzle topped with goetta bites, beer cheese, red cabbage, apple cider vinegar, and whole grain mustard. This one’s not going to be found anywhere else.
Turducken Loaded Potato
New Orleans Saints | The Superdome
Sure, you can get a nacho burger or even a crawfish-stuffed baked potato at the Superdome, but those just don’t sound quite as intriguing as the turducken loaded potato. This item takes a normal baked potato and gives it a real meaty mashup with turkey, duck, and chicken all loaded onto the base. Of course, plenty of cheddar cheese and green onions top it off. This one’s even available outside of the Thanksgiving season.
Stuffed Turkey Leg
Houston Texans | NRG Stadium
We might have been fine with just the smoked turkey leg coming from the Houston Texans and Aramark, but then they stuffed it. They added dirty rice and topped it all off with Cajun brown gravy and green onions to really give this turkey a twist.
Bear Paw Donut
Chicago Bears | Soldier Field
Take what you know about a bear claw donut and give it a bear paw twist. This bear paw-shaped chocolate-ice donut has vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce, toffee pieces, orange and blue chocolate candies and whipped cream. And if you enjoy shaped dough, check out the bear claw pretzel in Chicago that features beer cheese, whole-grain mustard and cinnamon cream cheese icing, a jumbo horseshoe-shaped pretzel in Indianapolis to play off the team’s logo, and a crab-shaped pretzel in Baltimore that comes in a crab cage box.
Vienna Beef Jalapeño Cheddar Dog-a-Dilla
Arizona Cardinals | State Farm Stadium
Let’s go back to Phoenix, where now you can get your quesadilla and hot dog as a two-for-one. The new Vienna beef jalapeño cheddar dog-a-dilla takes a flavored sausage and tops it with sharp cheddar cheese, crema, and scallions and then rolls it all inside a pressed tortilla. There are other versions too, if you fancy a different taste in your dog-a-dilla repertoire.
Raising Hail Nachos
Washington Commanders | Commanders Field
Sure, every stadium has nachos of some sort, but this version comes in a “stadium-sized container.” The bed of chips features smoked brisket, cheese, jalapeños, onions, and barbecue aioli.
Footlong Dog
Seattle Seahawks | Lumen Field
This footlong hot dog has a bit of a surprise when it comes to the toppings: pickled shimeji mushrooms. Native to East Asia, these slender mushrooms fit the slenderness of the Fletchers footlong hot dog, which also comes topped with braised short rib and crispy onions.
S’mores ‘Load In’ Fries
Indianapolis Colts | Lucas Oil Stadium
This dish starts as expected, with a bed of sweet potato fries. But instead of a ketchup, fry sauce, or some other traditional condiment, this treat gets a chocolate hazelnut drizzle, toasted marshmallow, and graham cracker crumble. Think s’mores without the fire, and with sweet potatoes.
Oops! All Berries Waffle
Dallas Cowboys | AT&T Stadium
Start with a waffle and then drizzle it with house-made berry syrup. That’s just the start of the sweetness. Top it all off with whipped cream and Cap’N Crunch Oops! All Berries, and you have the Dallas Cowboys’ wild new dessert.
Blackbird Spice Popcorn
Baltimore Ravens | M&T Bank Stadium
The concessions company Levy teamed up with Maryland’s McCormick to create a proprietary Blackbird Spice blend, described as salty and peppery with a subtle heat, that the Ravens are putting on both a chicken dish and popcorn.
Nacho Duo
San Francisco 49ers | Levi’s Stadium
There’s an entire Tostitos stand inside Levi’s Stadium, so they better come up with a new concoction each year. Fresh for 2024 is the nacho duo with a combination of Tostito nacho chips and Frito corn chips, all topped with chipotle chicken, guacamole, lime chicharrones, Tabasco cream, and jalapeños.
Strawberry Cheesecake Dessert Pretzel
Houston Texans | NRG Stadium
The Texans took a gourmet twist pretzel and then went in a sweet direction for this one. The pretzel gets topped with cream cheese icing, graham cracker crumbles, a drizzle of strawberry syrup, and strawberry Pop Rocks. We especially appreciate the added Pop Rocks.
The Fritos Sundae
Dallas Cowboys | AT&T Stadium
It doesn’t get more Texas than using Fritos in any way possible. The Dallas Cowboys have made it happen by turning fans of sweet and salty into the same dish. The Fritos get topped with a scoop of Blue Bell vanilla ice cream, cinnamon and sugar, caramel and chocolate syrup, sprinkles, and a maraschino cherry. It’s a classic ice cream sundae paired with another Texas staple.
Tom & Jerry’s Walk Off Corndog
Kansas City Chiefs | Arrowhead Stadium
The Kansas City Chiefs decided to celebrate last year’s Super Bowl win with a new dish named after the play that won them the game. The play, called Tom & Jerry, now has a corndog to match. It’s a bacon-wrapped brisket dog skewer, battered and fried with sweet and spicy cream cheese and finished with spicy cotton candy.
Tim Newcomb is a journalist based in the Pacific Northwest. He covers stadiums, sneakers, gear, infrastructure, and more for a variety of publications, including Popular Mechanics. His favorite interviews have included sit-downs with Roger Federer in Switzerland, Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles, and Tinker Hatfield in Portland.
