Recipes for March Madness

No hot dip recipe has ever been more ready for March Madness than this Basketball Pizza Dip! Good luck keeping any of the cheesy goodness around until halftime—your guests won't be able to stop dunking.

You don't have to go to a sports bar to enjoy saucy, bold chicken wings with a creamy dipping sauce. Serve with an ice-cold beverage and extra napkins.

Everyone loves mozzarella sticks, but THIS mozzarella stick recipe is a game changer! We stuffed all the creamy deliciousness of crab rangoons inside with the mozzarella for this all-star appetizer.

Add this popper recipe to your appetizer starting lineup, and no matter who wins everyone at your March Madness party will feel like a winner. Keep the appetizer recipe strictly salty by omitting the optional jalapeno jam, or use it and add a bit of sweetness to your appetizer table.

Make our showstopping jersey cake in the colors of your favorite NCAA team.

Cut a 13x9-inch cake in the shape of a basketball jersey, as shown. Frost the entire cake with your frosting color of choice. Create stripes along the armholes with candy-coated milk chocolate pieces. Use candies to write "All Star" (or your favorite team name) and a player number in the center of the jersey.

Decorate the bottom edge of the jersey with Yellow Cutout Stars (below) and red shoestring licorice.

Yellow Cutout Stars: In a small bowl combine 1/3 cup white frosting, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, and a few drops of yellow food coloring. Add additional powdered sugar until mixture is firm enough to roll out. On a surface lightly dusted with powdered sugar, roll the frosting mixture to a 1/4-inch thickness. Use a small star-shape cookie cutter to cut out stars from the frosting mixture.

A jalapeno popper recipe that feeds a crowd! A simple filling of cheeses, sour cream, and chilies is stuffed into each pepper and baked all at once in a bundt pan perfect for serving out of! Make the jalapeno poppers up to 3 days in advance so they're ready for tip-off.

These little gems take the ball to the hole—the donut hole, that is. You'll need a referee to keep guests away from these tasty basketball cupcakes.

Place green decorating frosting in a pastry bag fitted with a star tip or multiopening (grass) tip. Pipe frosting onto cupcakes to resemble grass.

In a small microwave-safe bowl, microwave orange candy coating disks on 100 percent power (high) for 1 minute. Stir; microwave for 30 to 60 seconds more or until melted, stirring once more.

Using a fork, dip donut holes, one at a time, into melted candy coating, turning to coat completely. Place on waxed paper until set.

Use a tube of chocolate icing to pipe lines onto coated donut holes to resemble basketballs. Place a decorated donut hole on each cupcake, pressing into frosting grass.

Caramelized onions mixed with smoky Gouda cheese make an irresistible topper for beefy, restaurant-worthy sliders. With these mini burgers on your buffet table, guests will be happy regardless of what team wins.

Score a three-point play with three types of peppers—red, pepperoncini, and jalapeno—alongside beans and melted cheese in these fully-loaded nachos. They're so tasty, no one will ever know our nachos can easily fit into a healthy eating plan. Score!

Let your slow cooker be the MVP of your March Madness party. Cook pulled pork in our sweet and savory root beer and hot pepper sauce. It'll be ready to serve atop a hearty bun with lettuce and tomato just in time for tip-off.

Our easy, make-ahead snack mix features shoestring potatoes, rice cereal, and cheese crackers baked to savory perfection in our Parmesan-garlic seasoning mix. It's the perfect clutch snack when the game goes down to the wire.

Our spinach and artichoke dip belongs in the party food hall of fame. We added in star players bacon and blue cheese, and cooked them in a slow cooker for easy cleanup. According to one fan of this recipe, "This is the best dip I've ever had!"

Get your party poppin' with our rice- and beef-stuffed peppers. One reader suggests serving with a dipping sauce made by stirring together one 8-ounce carton of sour cream, a little milk, 1/2 cup ground toasted almonds or pecans, a squeeze of lime juice, and a pinch of cinnamon.