What to Cook for a Women’s World Cup Party
Everybody’s talking about the Women’s World Cup! If you’re an avid football fan or looking to show your support for women’s sport, hosting a buffet-style party for friends and family is a cracking way to go about it.
Whether you’re cheering loudly for England’s Lionesses, or another world-class team, you’ll want to make sure you’ve got everything you need for the highs and lows of a match day. From family-sized sharing dishes to smaller picky bits and sweet treats, one thing’s for sure – comfort food is on the cards! With our lower-calorie recipe ideas, you can celebrate your team all tournament long, and keep scoring your slimming goals.
Picky bits for half-time and throughout
When you’re glued to a game, being stuck in the kitchen is the last thing you need! With simple, buffet-style bites like our Chicken Satay Skewers waiting in the freezer, there’s no need to take your eye off the ball.
These batch-friendly delights come in at just 38 calories each and can be prepared days or weeks ahead of match day. You’ll want to check that they’re thoroughly defrosted before popping them in the microwave to reheat.
Mouth-wateringly messy, if our Fiery Buffalo Chicken Drumsticks leave you licking your fingers, you know you’ve got a good batch.
The sticky coating on our drumsticks has a kick to it (that’s where they get their name from!), but you can always cool things down by using less hot sauce if you’re after a family-friendly level of spice.
There’s no need to pop to the shop for extra sauce – our recipe shows you how to prepare a lower-calorie blue cheese dip at home!
You can pick at our Air Fryer Cauliflower Hot Wings from kick-off until the final whistle blows, and you’ll never get bored. Ready in a flash in the air fryer (you can make them in an oven too!), these crispy little cauliflower delights take next to no effort to make.
When they’re golden brown and crunchy, you know they’re ready to dunk in our sriracha-infused yoghurt dip.
It’s true that everything’s better with feta, including a Women’s World Cup Party spread. Our eye-catching Sweet Potatoes with Feta and Harissa will add some colour to your table, but it’s their bold, Middle Eastern inspired flavours that’ll have everyone coming back for more.
They make for a terrifically tangy feta-topped treat as part of a buffet spread, or they’re hearty enough to enjoy on their own for lunch.
If you’re a fan of feta, you can take a scroll through our favourite feta-tastic recipes here.
Crowd-pleasing sharers
Win or lose, it’s easy to keep spirits up with our Cheeseburger Nachos at the centre of the table. A combination of two delicious treats in one, we’ve borrowed the best burger toppings and given them an irresistible oven-baked crunch.
We’re talking nachos, beef, cheese, shredded lettuce and gherkins, all topped with an extra-special, homemade burger sauce. Our top tip for this recipe is to move fast before it’s all gone!
These Tear and Share Cheesy Garlic Dough Balls are well worth the extra time and effort to make. Not only are they drizzled in garlic butter, they’re also stuffed with gooey mozzarella cheese – for just 74 calories per dough ball!
To keep things light without compromising on flavour, we’ve made our garlic-infused ‘butter’ using reduced-fat spread. Just imagine tearing and sharing them at half-time!
Our Loaded Fries with Katsu Curry Sauce taste almost too good to share. With tender chicken pieces, tortilla chips and a veggie-filled sauce, there should be plenty to go around.
We’d always recommend making more Katsu-inspired sauce than you need – add a drizzle to your dinner another day for takeaway-style flavours in an instant!
Thinking of ordering a pizza to arrive when the match starts? Make our Cheesy Chilli Pizza at home and it’ll be ready when you are, for a fraction of the calories and cost.
We’ve topped our Naan Bread base with a sweet chilli-infused sauce and a gooey layer of Gouda cheese. There’s nothing to stop you adding more toppings, if you fancy (just be sure to make a note of any additional calories, if you’re counting!).
Winning World Cup dinners
Sometimes you’re not in the mood to share, and that’s totally okay! It’s nice and simple to make enough Pulled Pork to divide evenly between hungry football fans.
This tender fall-off-the-fork recipe comes coated in a sweet and sticky BBQ sauce that’s too good to miss. The only question left is…will you enjoy it with rice, chips, flatbread or salad?
It’s not a match day without a burger van on standby. For something a little bit different, you can always rustle up our Enchilada Sliders.
They’re full to the brim with fiesta-worthy flavours for only 341 calories per bun. We’ve stacked them high with pulled chicken, black beans, spices and a tomatoey salsa.
If you like the look of their cheesy filling, turn to pages 114-115 of our newest cookbook, Pinch of Nom: Budget, for the full recipe. You can order a copy to fill the gap in your collection here.
If there were a tournament for mega midweek dinners, our Chicken Kyiv Pasta Bake would be world champion. Finished with an impressive golden-breadcrumb topping, it’s tough not to be instantly obsessed.
Inspired by the flavours in a classic Chicken Kyiv, we’ve bathed our chicken filling in an oh-so-creamy, garlic-infused pasta sauce. Grab a forkful and prepare to be amazed that it’s as light as 406 calories per portion.
When you’re watching the game at home, there’s no need to miss out on pub grub. While the ‘fish and chips’ inside of our Fish and Chip Wrap isn’t beer-battered and deep-fried, it’s tasty enough to give the restaurant version a run for its money.
With tender pieces of cod, homemade chips, mushy peas and tartare sauce bundled in a low-calorie tortilla wrap, it’ll keep you full enough to cheer on the Lionesses for a full game – stoppage time included!
Turn to page 54 of our Family Meal Planner for the full recipe (or order a copy here).
For when the final whistle blows
It’s always a good idea to gather up post-match treats. Whether you’re toasting a victory or trying to forget a loss, our Biscoff Cheesecake has your back. It’s decadent enough for a celebration and delicious enough to make everyone at the table feel like a winner.
Loaded with the same buttery, caramelised deliciousness that makes Lotus Biscoff Biscuits so popular, we’ve kept the calories down by using reduced-fat ingredients to whip up our creamy base.
To save yourself some time on match day, refrigerate your cheesecake the night before. Add the warm, melty Biscoff drizzle and crumbled biscuits right before serving, and you’ll hit the back of the net every time.
Speaking of celebratory showstoppers, get yourself into the ‘Come on, England!’ spirit with our Coronation Strawberry and Ginger Trifle. With layers of sticky ginger cake, strawberries, low-sugar jelly and zingy ginger-infused custard, it looks and tastes far more luxurious than it is.
It’s so easy to personalise the low-fat aerosol cream topping. Add a sprinkling of red, white and blue hundreds and thousands (or any colours to suit your chosen team!) for a World Cup worthy dessert.
Sometimes, low-fuss frozen sweet treats are the order of the day, and they don’t come much easier than our FABulous Lollies. A retro-inspired recipe, you can expect juicy strawberry creamy almond milk layers, coated in a layer of milk chocolate – complete with sprinkles!
At just 37 calories per lolly, they’re well worth making in a bulk batch and storing in the freezer ready to curb pre, mid or post-match cravings.
Are you ready to cook up a World Cup feast?
We’d love to see which of our tasty dishes you’ll be tucking into while you’re cheering for England’s Lionesses. You can share your photos in our Facebook group, where we have almost 1 million lovely community members waiting to support you on your slimming journey – we LOVE scrolling through your posts!
It’s well worth taking a sneaky look in our Gallery when you’re on the lookout for inspiration. You’ll want to sign up to a free website account to upload and share your photos (it’s really easy, we’ve got a step-by-step guide you can follow here!).
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