How to Throw a Tom Brady-Approved Super Bowl Party
With the Patriots participating for the third straight year, your annual Super Bowl party might be feeling a little blah. Fear not, we have the perfect idea to spice things up this year. Get inside the mind of Tom Brady himself by throwing a Super Bowl party that abides by the TB12 Method!
For the uninitiated, the TB12 Method is Brady’s doctrine of personal wellbeing laid out (at extreme length) in a 2017 book of the same name. It tells you how to eat, hydrate and work out like Tom Brady, because you are also hoping to play in a Super Bowl at age 41, or something.
One thing that becomes clear from flipping through the book is that Tom Brady’s Super Bowl party (if there ever is another Super Bowl he doesn’t play in) couldn’t possibly feature the pizza and wings that are staples around the country.
So if you wanted to throw a Super Bowl party worthy of being attended by Brady (or just your most Brady-obsessed friends), this is how it's done.
Courtesy of The TB12 Method
Pasta with creamy sauce
This isn’t pasta with cream sauce. It’s creamy sauce. Dairy is on Brady’s list of no-nos, so instead we’re making a sauce out of blended cashews, red pepper and water. Delicious! Another substance forbidden by TB12 is gluten, so this recipe calls for brown rice pasta.
Guacamole
Avocados feature heavily in the TB12 lifestyle. Brady says they’re an example of a “warm-weather food” that “cools the body.” There’s even a recipe in the book for an avocado-based chocolate ice cream (more on that later). So guac is definitely fair game, as long we make some TB12 adjustments. Brady cautions against consuming “nightshades” (dark-shaded vegetables like peppers and tomatoes) because they can cause inflammation, he says. That means no tomatoes or jalapeños in our guac. Cilantro, limes and garlic are included on Brady’s personal shopping list, so we’re good there.
But then there’s the issue of what to eat the guacamole with. Brady cautions against consuming too much salt and says corn in all forms should be avoided, so don’t even think about buying tortilla chips. For grains, Brady is a big fan of quinoa and lentils, meaning any low-salt chips made of those would work. Brady also endorses an alkaline diet (based on questionable science) and says carrots are great for alkalizing your insides, and thus could make suitable guac-delivery vehichles. Or, you could always be like Tim Tebow and eat your guac straight from the container.
Courtesy of The TB12 Method
Green risotto with lemon cream
The issue with Brady’s recipes is that many of them aren’t conducive to sharing in a party-type setting. Maybe the $200 Brady cookbooknutrition manualthat the TB12 brand sold in 2016 contains more recipes for party foods, but it’s out of stock so we’ll have to settle for the few shareable items here instead.
This brown rice risotto is loaded up with spinach, basil and peas to give it that bright green hue Brady seems to be so fond of.
Courtesy of The TB12 Method
Green juice
You’re going to need to serve your guests something to drink and since alcohol is strictly forbidden by Brady (with rare exceptions), beer is not going to be an option. Instead we’re going with the simply named “green juice,” composed of broccoli stems, celery, cucumbers, kale, lemon, a green apple (optional), lemon, tumeric and ginger.
Be very careful about how you serve the juice, though. “Drink within 15 minutes (on an empty stomach) for best results,” Brady says.
Courtesy of The TB12 Method
Water
Hydration is a key tenet of the TB12 Method, with eight pages of the book dedicated to lessons about water and electrolytes (official TB12 electrolytes, available for purchase, of course). Brady even says drinking water can keep him from getting sunburned. If your Super Bowl party is going to be TB12 authentic, you’re going to need to have plenty of water on hand.
But this is isn’t as simple as making sure you have an ample supply of glasses and offering your guests unfettered access to the tap. Brady says it is “important to recognize that not all waters are created equal.” The TB12 book lays out the pros and cons of various types of water. Carbonated water, for example, can be dehydrating, Brady says, and tap water should always be filtered. When it comes to H2O, Brady is partial to purified water, but always adds his own electrolytes.
Courtesy of The TB12 Method
Avocado ice cream
Around halftime you might be hankering for some sweets. Too bad. Brady thinks sugar causes inflammation and there’s nothing as bad as inflammation. This avocado ice cream might be close enough, though.
It’s made of avocado, cashews, young coconut meat, dates, raw cacao powder and water. Be warned, though, it’s pretty tough to make. Back when the book came out a couple of SI staffers tried to make this recipe and it didn’t exactly work out great. (You can see their effort in the video at the top of the page.)
And that’s how you throw a Super Bowl party befitting the most accomplished quarterback in the history of football. If you’ve done everything right, you’ll wake up Monday morning feeling ready to tackle the day, and do some pliability exercises.
