If you’re a fan of sport, you’re no doubt excited for the myriad tournaments coming up this summer, there will be plenty of sport on TV to keep us all entertained. You will surely spend many hours pacing in front of the television, sweat breaking out across your forehead as you root for your favourite team or support those representing your country. What will help keep you calm and relaxed? Some of your favourite, home-cooked foods, that’s what.

If you’re planning on having people over to watch sport, you may want to focus on serving some bite-size and tasty finger foods. Nachos, with tortilla chips piled high with ground beef, cheese, scallions and salsa, are a must. Add sour cream, guacamole and jalapenos if you’ve got an adventurous crowd. If you’d like to step things up a notch, consider serving tea sandwiches. Make cucumber, cream cheese and mint, or salad sandwiches, slice the crusts off and cut them in triangles to make them more elegant.

For those that want a bit more than just appetizers think about grilled sandwiches. You could do a lot of the prep work – slicing tomatoes, cheese, meats and other vegetables, for example – ahead of time. If you’ve got a counter-top grill, use that. Or, use a frying pan to grill up some sandwiches. If you want to get the outside of the bread a bit crispier, simply butter it before placing it in the pan. Another crowd-pleaser is lasagne. Lasagne and other casseroles are perfect to have while watching sport. It’s a great hot and filling meal that you can prepare ahead of time, pop into the oven, and serve an hour or so later.

If you and your friends like home-cooked favourites, check out classic British recipes for ideas on what to serve. You could easily throw some frozen sausage rolls or mini-pies in the oven during halftime. Using frozen food is great because you’ll spend less time in the kitchen, giving you more time to mingle with guests. Shepherd’s pie is another classic meal to consider. Serving one filling meal may be the best option, as you won’t have to continuously pop back into the kitchen to cook or heat up more food.

Now that we’ve given you some food ideas to digest (ha), you can get to the most important thing – willing your team to win!

Fiona Roy writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.