Last Updated on October 5, 2025 by Mandy Tyler, M.Ed., RD, CSSD, LD
What to Eat Before a Football Game: Fuel Like a Pro
Wondering what to eat before a football game to fuel optimal performance?
Check out these ideas for what football players should eat in the days leading up to a game as well as on game day to ensure they are fueled to compete at their best.
What to Eat Before a Football Game
I commonly remind athletes that fueling-up for a football game starts in the days leading up to the competition. Football players who want to perform at their best, should make sports nutrition part of their daily game plan.
Key strategies to support football players with staying on top of their nutrition needs during the week include:
- Make hydration a daily priority: Carry a water bottle to hydrate during the day, drink nutritious beverages with meals and snacks, hydrate before, during, and after activity
- Fuel your workouts: Don’t workout on empty, fuel your training with carbohydrates
- Prioritize recovery nutrition: Rehydrate, refuel with carbohydrates, build and repair with protein
- Fill your plate with anti-inflammatory foods: Berries, cherries, leafy greens, avocado, fatty fish, nuts, and seeds
- Get adequate, quality sleep: Sleep is essential for optimal health and performance, create a consistent sleep routine that supports getting adequate, quality sleep each night
What to Eat the Night Before a Football Game
When planning what to eat the night before a football game, I encourage football players to center their meal around carbohydrate-rich food items. Carbohydrates provide football players with the energy needed to perform at their best on the field.
In addition to carbohydrates, athletes should include a moderate amount of protein in their meal, a variety of fruits and veggies, as well as a nutritious beverage.
Some of my favorite dinner ideas for football players the night before a game include:
- Spaghetti with lean meat sauce, salad, fresh sliced fruit, breadsticks, low-fat milk
- Grilled chicken breast, sweet potato, green beans, fresh sliced melon, dinner rolls, water
- Salmon, rice, asparagus, chicken noodle soup, fresh berries, dinner rolls, 100% fruit juice
- Chicken and vegetable stir fry with steamed rice, wonton soup, water
- Breakfast for Dinner: Pancakes, scrambled eggs, chicken sausage, fresh fruit bowl, low-fat milk
Pro Tip: if planning dinner for a football team, make sure to check out my blog with 25 team dinner ideas. In the blog I share a variety of easy meal ideas to help ensure the team is fueled and ready for game day.
What to Eat Before a Football Game: Fuel-Up on Game Day
On game day, football players should aim to stick to their normal eating routine. I encourage football players to fuel consistently throughout the day and to avoid skipping meals.
In addition, football players should prioritize hydrating throughout the day. Dehydration can impact an athlete’s health as well as sports performance (1). Thus, starting the game in an optimally hydrated state is important.
Tips to help football players stay on top of their hydration needs during the day include:
- Drink a glass of water first thing in the morning
- Enjoy a nutritious beverage with meals (water, low-fat milk, 100% fruit juice)
- Carry a water bottle throughout the school day as a reminder to hydrate
- Enjoy produce and foods that have a high-water content, such as: smoothies, soups, yogurt, watermelon, cantaloupe, strawberries, cucumbers, and celery
What to Eat Before a Football Game: Pre-Game Meal
A well-planned pre-game meal can help ensure football players start the game fueled to perform at their best.
When possible, I encourage football players to eat their pre-game meal 3-4 hours prior to the start of the game. This allows time for football players to digest and go to the bathroom before the start of the game if needed.
Carbohydrates should be at the foundation of a football player’s pre-game meal. In addition to carbohydrates, football players should include a moderate amount of protein in their meal.
Pre-Game Meal Ideas for Football Players
Some of my top pre-game meal ideas for football players include:
- Turkey sub sandwich, pretzels, apple slices
- Grilled chicken wrap, granola bars, fresh fruit cup
- Fruit smoothie, bagel with peanut butter and jelly
- Pasta with tomato sauce, sliced grilled chicken or turkey meatballs, breadsticks
- Grilled chicken breast, roasted potato wedges, green beans, dinner rolls
- Roasted salmon filet, rice pilaf, fresh mixed berries, dinner rolls
Football players should make sure to hydrate with the pre-game meal, aiming to drink ~2-3 cups of fluid (5-7 mL/kg of body weight) with the meal (1).
Pro Tip: If football players have less time to eat before the start of the game, they should reduce the size of the meal and enjoy a high-carb mini meal (pair a food high in carbohydrates with a food containing protein).
Pre-Game Meal Ideas for a Football Team
Since many high school football games happen on Friday night, it can be helpful to have ideas for meals to provide to the team after school.
Easy catered meal options may include:
- Italian Food (Maggiano’s, Olive Garden): Pasta buffet with marinara sauce, grilled chicken, salad, and breadsticks
- Sandwich Shop or Deli (Jimmy John’s, Subway, Jason’s Deli): Turkey, chicken, ham, or roast beef sandwiches, pretzels, fresh fruit
- Mediterranean Food (CAVA): Build your own grain bowl with grilled chicken, rice, roasted corn, veggies, pita bread, hummus
- Fast-Food (Chick-fil-A): Grilled chicken sandwiches and wraps, berry parfaits, fresh fruit tray
- Breakfast (Panera Bread): Egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches on ciabatta bread, Greek yogurt with berries parfaits, assorted bagels, fresh fruit bowl
Pro Tip: In addition to the catered meal, consider providing additional items such as bananas, grapes, granola bars, and pretzels that athletes can enjoy along with their meal.
What to Eat Before a Football Game: Fuel-Up with a High-Carb Snack
As it gets close to game time, football players can fuel-up with a high-carb snack that will provide them with quick-energy for the field. Along with the snack, football players should continue to hydrate as well.
High-carb snacks football players can enjoy in the hour leading up to the game include:
- Applesauce squeeze pouch
- Banana, orange wedges, grapes
- Fruit leather, fruit snacks, dried fruit
- Pretzels, snack crackers
- Low-fat granola bar, carbohydrate-based sports bar
- Sports drink, chews, gels
Pro Tip: If a football player gets a nervous stomach prior to the game, I suggest choosing a sports drink close to game time. Taking several gulps of a sports drink will provide the football player with carbohydrates, fluid, and electrolytes.
Foods to Limit Before a Football Game
In addition to sharing ideas for what to eat before a football game, it can also be helpful to provide athletes with guidance on foods to limit.
In the hour or two leading up to the game, I recommend football players limit foods that are high in fat, fiber, and/or protein. These foods slow digestion, thus consuming them too close to the start of activity may lead to GI distress during the game (2).
This includes foods such as:
- Fried or greasy foods, high-fat meats
- Heavy cream, cheese, or buttery sauces (alfredo)
- Dessert foods (ice cream, brownies, fudge)
- Whole grains (high-fiber)
- Beans and legumes
- High-fiber vegetables (cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage)
In addition to the foods listed above, I find that many athletes also prefer to limit spicy foods as well as acidic foods close to activity.
Football Game Day Nutrition Plan
A key concept I frequently share with football players is the importance of sticking with familiar foods on game day. Game day is not the time to try new foods, sports drinks, or supplements.
I encourage football players to practice their pre-game fueling strategy in advance to determine what foods they feel best competing on. This will provide them with confidence on game day that they are fueled to perform at their best.
What to Eat Before a Football Game: Fuel Like A Pro
You are now set with ideas for what to eat before a football game to ensure athletes are fueled for optimal performance.
For additional sports nutrition tips for football players, make sure to check out my blog with weight gain strategies for athletes.
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About the Author
Mandy Tyler is a Sports Dietitian Nutritionist in the San Antonio, TX area. She is a Registered and Licensed Dietitian, a Board-Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics, a Licensed Athletic Trainer, and is a Certified Exercise Physiologist through the American College of Sports Medicine. Mandy has experience working with athletes at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels. She believes the key to reaching one’s full potential, both in everyday life and in sports performance, relies on a healthy nutritional foundation.
If you are looking to take your performance to the next level, make sure to check out my new Sports Nutrition Game Day Guide. This downloadable guide is written to help athletes develop an individualized plan to achieve peak performance on game day.
