Built on a mishmash of home-grown recipes and culinary influences from all over the world, American cuisine has endless regional specialities. And, while every state has its famous dishes, there are some foods that you need to have grown up with to truly understand. From Alaskan ice cream made with reindeer fat to a Southwestern 'pie' thrown together inside a packet of Fritos, these are the most unusual delicacies you'll find across the USA. Remember: just because some people might see them as weird, it doesn't make them any less delicious!
Click or scroll through our gallery to discover the strangest foods in every US state. How many have YOU tried – or even heard of?
A little salad and seasoning always helps to give a sandwich some extra pizazz – but how about a sandwich made with just mayo and tomato? In Alabama, this simple snack is much more than a last resort when there’s nothing left in the refrigerator; it’s a decades-old tradition that’s still hugely popular today. To make it, there are two rules you need to follow: the tomatoes must be super-fresh, and the bread must be of the white, no-frills variety. However, whether you use Duke’s or Hellmann’s mayo is up to you…
Pronounced ‘a-goo-duk’, and translating to ‘mixed together', Alaskan Natives have been tucking into this frozen delicacy – sometimes called Inuit ice cream – for thousands of years. But with ingredients traditionally consisting of anything Inuit hunters could get their hands on, including reindeer fat, seal oil, berries and fresh snow, it’s quite unlike any sweet and sugary ice cream treat you may have tried before. The dish can be eaten as a dessert, snack or spread, and is still a staple food at many Alaskan celebrations today.
Thought mesquite was only good for barbecue fuel? As tasty as smoked brisket may be, there’s another part of the mesquite tree that’s equally delicious, but often gets overlooked: the pods. Perfectly edible, these legumes can be eaten straight from the tree (just grab a pod, chew it up, then spit out the seeds) – but in Arizona they’re more commonly milled to produce a sweet, nutty flour that can be used both as a barbecue seasoning and in baked goods. Nonprofit organization Desert Harvesters, which runs workshops on the ingredients of the Sonoran Desert, uses it for treats like these pancakes, pictured.
Don’t be alarmed: no marsupials are harmed in the making of this classic Arkansas dessert. Consisting of layers of chocolate custard and cream cheese (or vanilla pudding), all held together by a pecan shortbread crust, possum pie is an indulgent, whipped cream–topped treat that can be found all over the Natural State. There are a few theories about how it got its name. One story goes that it comes from the phrase ‘playing possum’, meaning pretending to be asleep, alluding to the fact that the whipped cream topping conceals hidden depths of chocolatey goodness.
This extravagant recipe is said to date back to the California Gold Rush. After striking it lucky in Placerville (then known as Hangtown), a prospector went to a local hotel and demanded the most expensive dish money could buy: an omelette filled with bacon and oysters. The eggs had to be carried carefully to the remote mining town, the bacon was shipped from the East Coast, and the oysters were sourced from more than 100 miles away (160km). You can still order variations on the legendary dish at a handful of San Francisco and Placerville restaurants today.
Don’t be fooled by the name; Rocky Mountain oysters aren’t from the sea at all. In fact, they’re – brace yourself – deep-fried bull testes, and they usually come served with a range of spicy dipping sauces. While they may sound like an acquired taste, they’re surprisingly tasty, with a flavor that could be described as a slightly sweeter version of fried chicken. They can be found at restaurants and bars around the state and are often suggested by locals hoping to prank unwitting tourists.
Connecticut is famed for its thin-crust ‘apizzas’, which come topped simply with tomato sauce and a sprinkle of grated pecorino cheese – but while it shares the same charred and chewy crust, New Haven’s white clam pizza is even more curious than its doughy brethren. Garlicky and tomato-free, this salty, seafood-scattered delicacy was created by pizza pioneer Frank Pepe at his restaurant, Pizzeria Napoletana, in the 1960s. These days, you can get your hands on a slice at plenty of joints across the city, but the original is still the best.
There are many adjectives that can be used to describe food in an evocative, appetizing way, but ‘slippery’ isn’t usually one of them. This hearty, comforting Delaware dish consists of baked chicken served with doughy, rectangular noodles in a rich, soup-like chicken gravy – and though it might not make much sense to those not from here, it’s undeniably delicious. Slippery dumplings can be found everywhere from family-style restaurants and diners to church suppers and fundraising dinners across the state, usually with succotash (a salad with sweetcorn with lima beans) on the side.
A Southern staple that was once a preferred food of Florida’s Seminole people, gator tail is mostly served cubed, seasoned, and deep-fried these days – though you can also find gator burgers, gator gumbo, gator meatloaf, and even gator sushi on restaurant menus throughout the state, if you know where to look. Packed with protein, it’s a tender, juicy, and versatile meat, and those who’ve tried it describe its flavor as a little like a slightly fishy version of chicken (hence its nickname, ‘swamp chicken’).
As the country’s most prolific producer of peanuts, Georgia is the place to go if you want to try one of the Southern states' most unusual flavor combinations: salted peanuts and Coca-Cola. This snack may sound fairly run-of-the-mill to the uninitiated – that is, until you realize that the idea here is to mix the two ingredients together rather than enjoy them separately. For the most satisfying taste sensation, purists say that you should always pour your peanuts into a classic glass bottle of the sweet stuff.
A cheap and tasty breakfast or light lunch, Spam musubi is a Hawaiian favorite that’s mostly found in convenience stores and at no-frills mom-and-pop shops. This classic East-meets-West dish consists of a slice of grilled Spam on a block of sushi rice. Just like Japanese onigiri, the whole thing comes wrapped up in a strip of nori (dried seaweed). The snack came to prominence during the Second World War, when the canned meat was ubiquitous throughout the Hawaiian Islands – but no one knows for sure who invented it.
A frosty sweet treat masquerading as a savoury dinnertime staple, the ice cream potato is a tongue-tingling dish that’s totally unique to the Gem State. Invented by Lou Aaron of the Westside Drive-In in Boise, the dessert - a tasty tribute to Idaho’s official state vegetable – consists of vanilla ice cream moulded into a potato shape, then coated with cocoa powder to achieve that golden tater-skin look. To complete the illusion, it’s then topped with a mouth-watering combo of whipped cream, chocolate syrup and chocolate shavings.
Illinois' most iconic food may be its Italian beef sandwich – thin, perfectly cooked slices of roast beef in a rich jus, crammed into a white bun, and topped with hot giardiniera relish – but did you know that this hearty handheld has a less well-known (but equally delicious) sister? Gravy bread is a dish that's as simple as it is satisfying. It's just like it sounds: a hunk of white Italian bread (the same kind used to make the beef sandwich) is drenched in the meaty jus sauce, then served warm. Get your hands on one at Buona restaurants across the state.
If you weren’t born a Hoosier, this one might sound a little strange. Deep-fried dough loaded up with a pork sausage, cream cheese, mustard, and fermented cabbage filling, sauerkraut balls are classic state fair snacks that have also come to be associated with the Indy 500 automobile race. Salty, tangy, and creamy, with a pleasingly crisp exterior, they’re a yummy savoury treat to enjoy when the sun is shining – but they also make great appetisers or party food, if you feel like making them at home.
Another state, another ball-shaped foodstuff. One of Iowa’s stranger signature dishes, think of ham balls as a Midwestern alternative to classic meatballs. They’re made by mixing ground beef and ground ham with blitzed-up graham crackers, forming them into spheres, coating them in a sweet, sticky tomato and brown sugar glaze, and baking them to perfection in the oven. A fail-safe choice for family mealtimes and potluck dinners, they’re juicy, tender and always go down a treat.
A Sunflower State institution, bierocks are savoury pastry pockets that traditionally come filled with cabbage, ground meat (usually beef) and onions – and they’re as fantastic for warming up cold hands as they are for eating. Originally an easily portable meal for men to eat while working in the fields, the recipe was brought to the Great Plains by German Russian Mennonites in the late 19th century. They’re still incredibly popular today and can be found at bakeries, cafés and restaurants across the state.
Benedictine was invented at the beginning of the 20th century by Louisville restaurateur Jennie Carter Benedict, who mixed cream cheese and cucumber for fancy British-style sandwiches. These days it's a must-make recipe for any Kentucky Derby watch party, typically slathered on sandwiches loaded with meaty fillings, or served up as a dip with a selection of vegetables or crackers. Some add hot sauce, while others stir through some eye-catching green food coloring. It’s so ubiquitous in Louisville that you can buy it pre-made at a handful of grocery stores around the city.
There’s regular roast turkey, and then there’s turducken: a mega poultry masterpiece made by stuffing a chicken inside a duck, then packing both into a turkey, often with cornbread dressing or pork stuffing between the layers. Some say that the dish was created at Hebert’s Specialty Meats in Maurice in the 1980s, though others insist it was invented earlier at former New Orleans restaurant Corrine Dunbar’s. Either way, the recipe was brought to the American masses by celebrity chef Paul Prudhomme, a master of Creole and Cajun cuisine.
Fiddlehead harvesting is a Maine tradition that dates back centuries – and the staple springtime ingredient is still so popular today that there’s a yearly food festival celebrating the crop. But what are fiddleheads, exactly? Rich in vitamins A and C, they’re the coiled tips of young ostrich ferns, and they have a taste that’s a little bit like a mash-up of asparagus, mushrooms, and spinach. They’re often served as a side dish in restaurants throughout the Pine Tree State, either boiled and slathered in butter, or fried.
Popular in 1950s and 1960s Baltimore (when they were famously cheap, and available everywhere from drugstores to bowling alleys), coddies are a mid-Atlantic take on codfish cakes. Sometimes referred to as ‘poor man’s crab cakes’, they’re traditionally made by forming salt cod, mashed potatoes, eggs, onions, and crushed-up saltine crackers into patties, then deep-frying to perfection. Usually served spread with mustard and slotted between two saltines for easy portability, they’re the ideal snack while strolling one of the city’s seafood markets. Attman’s does some of the best coddies around.
A New England favorite that first shook up Massachusetts’ foodie scene back in the mid-20th century, the chow mein sandwich is still one of the most satisfying fusion foods in the state. The recipe, created by Fall River resident Frederick Wong in the 1920s, goes a little like this: combine deep-fried noodles with pork, beansprouts, onions, and celery, drench in brown gravy, then stuff between two halves of a hamburger bun. You can order it ‘strained’ – without vegetables – or ‘unstrained’, in its full, vegetable-packed, crunchy glory.
In Michigan, one tasty burger topping reigns supreme. Say hello to the olive burger, a beef patty crowned with Swiss cheese, chopped green olives and mayo, all crammed into a bun. First served in 1923 at Flint’s Kewpee Hotel Hamburg – a joint that went on to spawn one of America's first fast food chains, Kewpee – the briny burger has gained such popularity over the past century that it now stars on restaurant menus across the state. See what all the fuss is about at Weston's Kewpee Sandwich Shoppe in Lansing, a spot that's kept its olive mayo sauce recipe a secret since 1925.
Tater tot hotdish may not be the prettiest or most sophisticated of meals, but boy, is it delicious. The epitome of comfort food, this cozy Minnesotan casserole sees leftovers like beef, green beans, and corn doused in cream of mushroom soup, topped with a layer of tater tots and cheese, then baked in the oven until bubbling. It’s not just a low-effort dinner to make at home, either; many restaurants around the state take their hotdishes very seriously, adding their own tasty twists on the classic recipe.
Love pickles? Love Kool-Aid? Then you’ve got to try Mississippi’s most divisive dish: Koolickles. A taste bud–twisting, eye-watering combination of sickly sweet and seriously sour, these unusual snacks are made by pouring out half the juice from a jar of dill pickles, adding Kool-Aid powder, sugar and water, then leaving the potent mixture to stew for a week in the fridge. It might sound like a recipe for disaster, but somehow it works; the briny, tangy, fire truck–red morsels have legions of fans and can be found at convenience stores all over the state.
You’d never guess from the name, but the St. Paul sandwich is a notoriously cheap Chinese-American fusion dish that really hits the spot when you’re hungry. To make it, a savory egg foo young patty is sandwiched between two slices of white bread along with plenty of dill pickle slices, onions, lettuce, and mayo. Though its exact origins are disputed, one story goes that it was created in the 1940s by Steven Yuen of Park Chop Suey in St. Louis. It proved the perfect way to increase his restaurant’s appeal to Midwestern American palates.
The crescent-shaped Butte pasty is an enduring symbol of Montana’s mining heritage. Originally from Cornwall in England, these flavourful pies arrived in the Treasure State during the 19th-century Gold Rush, brought over by immigrant workers from Ireland and the UK. A wonderfully hearty portable snack, they’re traditionally made with beef, potatoes, onions and spices, all wrapped up in a pastry crust. From Helena to Missoula, there are still plenty of excellent places to get your hands on one today.
Some flavours go hand in hand – peanut butter and jelly, pork and applesauce, cookies and cream – but chili and cinnamon rolls? If you’re not from the Midwest, this sweet-and-savory combo could be a little tricky to wrap your head (and taste buds) around. Fluffy, frosting-topped buns have been served alongside bowls of rich, flavorful chili in Nebraska since the 1960s, when the dish featured on school cafeteria menus across the state. These days, it’s a retro favorite that’s still guaranteed to warm you from top to toe.
Created in Las Vegas (where else?), the cotton candy burrito is a hyper-sweet, hyper-colorful snack that’s sure to appeal to lovers of all things unicorn-inspired. Packed to bursting with your choice of ice cream, as well as tasty toppings like sprinkles, gummy bears and M&M’s, the frosty burrito comes wrapped up in layers of blue, pink, and yellow–hued cotton candy, making it the most Instagrammable treat around. For the mother of all sugar rushes, head to Creamberry, the ice cream parlour where it all began.
Neither made from grapes or nuts, Grape-Nuts is a subtly sweet and nutty breakfast favorite that Americans have been waking up to for well over 100 years. In New Hampshire (and throughout New England), however, it’s not just for mornings. When the sun is shining, Granite Staters like to level up their regular serving of cereal by stirring it into vanilla ice cream, then freezing it overnight to ensure the crumbly clusters soften up. The flavor is so popular that you can buy it from ice cream parlors across the region.
New Jersey’s answer to Canadian poutine, disco fries burst onto the scene in the 1970s, when they were the meal of choice for diners spilling out of nightclubs in the early hours of the morning. Made by layering up a huge pile of crispy fries with melted cheese and ladles of thick brown gravy, they’re comforting, satisfying, and sure to prevent a next-day hangover. The recipe is slightly different at each diner – your fries may be thick-cut or waffle-shaped and could come topped with American cheese, Cheddar or mozzarella.
Amping up the flavor in everything from classic enchiladas to pizzas and burgers, green chiles are ubiquitous in New Mexican cuisine – so much so that these days, they can be found in sweet treats as well as savory ones. Enter the green chile sundae, a specialty of Las Cruces hot dog and ice cream joint Caliche’s Frozen Custard. Consisting of vanilla frozen custard smothered in green chile topping (in the same manner you’d expect strawberry sauce to be served) and sprinkled with salted pecans, it’s the perfect marriage of spicy and sugary.
A menu staple at Rochester spot Nick Tahou Hots, which opened in 1918, New York’s weirdest home-grown dish is simple, yet effective: ground beef, sausage, steak, or chicken (your choice) is crumbled over a hefty pile of home fries, French fries, macaroni salad, and baked beans, then topped with a drizzle of hot sauce. The story goes that it was renamed from hots and potatoes in the 1980s, when a group of hungry college students wandered in and asked for the plate "with all the garbage on it".
Brought to America's shores centuries ago by German settlers, livermush is a dish that’s become deeply ingrained in North Carolinian culture – so much so that it can be found everywhere from home kitchens to high-end restaurants. The city of Shelby even holds a Mush, Music & Mutts festival dedicated to the hearty breakfast food every October. Usually served with eggs and grits or sandwiched neatly in a biscuit, it’s made by combining pork liver with scraps of pig’s head and cornmeal, forming it into rectangles, then frying.
Also known as kase knepfla, cheese buttons are small, cottage cheese-filled dumplings with European roots – and they’re so popular that many North Dakotans believe they should be named their state’s official food. A little like a German take on ravioli, they’re surprisingly easy to make; just flatten your noodle dough, cut it into circles, add a mixture of cottage cheese, egg and chopped onions, pinch your parcels shut, then boil. The result is cheesy, warming, and totally delicious. Try them at LaVonne’s Cheesebutton Factory Plus in Bismarck.
A little bit like a cross between North Carolina’s livermush and Pennsylvania’s scrapple, goetta (pronounced ‘get-ah’) is a type of breakfast sausage that’s super-popular in Southwest Ohio. A meaty combination of pork, beef, steel-cut (pinhead) oats, and spices, it’s formed into a loaf, sliced, and fried until crispy – and it usually comes served with eggs on the side. That said, if you head to Cincinnati, you can find it in a whole host of taste bud–tingling forms, from pizza and nacho toppings to GLT (goetta, lettuce and tomato) sandwiches.
You could be forgiven for thinking that lamb fries might be similar to steak fries (French fries served alongside a cut of perfectly cooked meat). However, there’s no potato involved in this Oklahoma staple, and the specific part of the lamb used to make it is… interesting, to say the least. Lamb fries are actually made with lamb testes. Don’t be afraid to try them, though – cut into strips, breaded and deep-fried, they have a tasty flavor similar to chicken.
Expensive and dangerous to harvest, gooseneck barnacles – unusual-looking crustaceans that cling to sea rocks and other hard surfaces lining Pacific Northwestern shores – are an under-the-radar Oregon delicacy. Don’t be fooled by their slightly scary appearance (they kind of resemble dinosaur or dragon toes); they have a unique, delicious flavour, almost like a sweeter version of lobster, that seafood lovers will simply adore. Pull the skin off the stalk to uncover the meat within, then dip it in a bowl of melted butter. Delicious!
A traditional Pennsylvania Dutch recipe that’s also known as panhaas (‘pan rabbit’), scrapple is a staple breakfast food that’s popular throughout the Mid-Atlantic United States – but the Keystone State will always be its true home. This unique kind of meatloaf is a mushed-up mixture of cornmeal, wheat flour, spices and pork trimmings like liver, tongue and heart. Don’t think it sounds all that tempting? Just try and resist a plate of crispy fried scrapple and eggs or a scrapple sandwich loaded with cheese.
Nope, we’re not talking about cute animal plushies here. A Rhode Island speciality, stuffies are stuffed quahog clams flavoured with onions, celery and green peppers – and though they’re not the prettiest of foods to look at, they make a truly delicious appetiser or bar snack. The Ocean State isn't shy about singing the seafood dish’s praises, either: in 2023, a tourism campaign saw a 200-pound Styrofoam stuffie travel across the USA in an attempt to draw more visitors to Rhode Island. Now that’s one way to get people’s attention!
The perfect dish for an outdoor get-together, mouth-wateringly messy Frogmore stew is a one-pot meal consisting of shrimp, corn on the cob, smoked sausage and new potatoes. The whole caboodle is boiled in beer, seasoned with hot sauce, then served up on a table spread with newspaper (so guests can really get stuck in). Why the strange name? Turns out it’s nothing to do with frogs: the story goes that the crowd-pleasing dish was invented in the fishing community of Frogmore on South Carolina’s Saint Helena Island.
Chislic is such a big deal in South Dakota that it has its own annual festival, held in Freeman – the epicenter of the magic-sounding Chislic Circle (the dish’s homeland). A variation on the classic Turkish shish kebab, the meaty favorite is said to have been brought to the US by German-Russian immigrant John Hoellwarth in the late 19th century. The recipe is satisfyingly simple: cubes of lamb or mutton are deep-fried until crispy, seasoned with garlic salt, skewered, then served up with crackers and dipping sauces on the side.
The slugburger may have been invented by John Weeks in Mississippi in the early 20th century, but Tennessee is where the thrifty handheld treat really became popular. Thankfully, this classic burger doesn’t contain any slugs; it really consists of a beef or pork patty that’s bulked up with soybeans (a cheap, protein-rich filler), deep-fried, then slotted into a bun with plenty of pickles, onions and mustard. It’s called a slugburger because it used to cost a nickel to buy – and back in the day, ‘slug’ was the slang term for a nickel.
A staple at college and high school football games across the state, Frito pie is a cheap and hearty dish that always hits the spot. Not only that, but it’s so simple to make, most Texans could do it in their sleep: split a bag of Fritos down the front with a pair of scissors, spoon in a healthy scoop of chili, then top with plenty of cheese and onions. Like yours fancy? Feel free to customize your pie with refried beans, salsa, sour cream, jalapeños… anything you might usually cram into a taco.
Despite its melancholy name, this unique and supremely comforting Utah creation is anything but depressing. Traditionally served up to grieving families after Mormon funerals, this carb-loaded casserole – a combination of frozen hash browns, canned soup, cheese and sour cream, topped with a sprinkle of crunchy cornflakes – is a must-have dish at gatherings across the Beehive State. Homemade funeral potatoes are always delicious, but if you’re after a modern twist on the recipe, you can find plenty of tasty takes at hip Salt Lake City eateries like Fat Jack’s Burger Emporium and Garage on Beck. Funeral potato burger, anyone?
It isn’t just a cute name – this sweet and frosty dish really does contain snow. In early spring, you can find sugar on snow at sugar houses across the state, but you can easily make it at home: just heat up maple syrup (a Green Mountain State delicacy) to a blistering 112°C (235°F), then pour it over a bowlful of the freshest of freshly packed snow. When the syrup collides with the snow, it’ll rapidly cool down to form soft maple caramel. Serve with a donut for dunking, and a dill pickle palate cleanser for the full experience.
A warming dish with West African roots, peanut soup has been loved by Virginia families for generations – though these days, it’s most famous for gracing the menu of the King’s Arms Tavern at Virginia’s Colonial Williamsburg village, an immersive museum experience. Rich, creamy, and smooth, it’s usually made by stewing ground peanuts (or peanut butter) with chicken broth, onions, celery, garlic and tomatoes. Taste-wise, it’s a little like a slightly thinner, more savoury version of Thai satay sauce and it’s delicious served with a slice of crusty bread.
Pronounced ‘gooey-duck’, geoduck’s name derives from a native Puget Sound word meaning ‘dig deep’ – and, if you want to get your hands on one of these enormous burrowing saltwater clams, that’s exactly what you’ll need to do. Native to the Pacific Northwest Coast, these hulking molluscs may look pretty unappetising, but don’t judge a book by its cover; firm and chewy (a bit like a scallop), they have a pleasantly mild, salty-sweet taste. You can try them cooked up in a wide variety of delectable seafood dishes across the state.
Hot dogs are delicious, coleslaw is delicious… but together? Take one bite of a classic West Virginia slaw dog and you’ll wonder why you never thought of combining these ingredients before. Legend has it that this fast food was invented at the (now gone) Stopette Drive-in near Charleston back in the 1920s or 30s, and purists insist you shouldn’t mess with the old-fashioned recipe. A true West Virginia slaw dog should consist of a hot dog topped with chilli, coleslaw and onions, all stuffed into a bun. To this day, pickles and ketchup are a no-no.
Brought over to America by Danish settlers in the mid-19th century, the flat, ring-shaped kringle is such a big part of Wisconsin’s culinary heritage, it was named the state’s official pastry in 2013. Buttery, flaky, and covered in sweet white icing, kringles are eaten by the slice, and can be found stuffed with a variety of fruity or nutty fillings – though the most traditional flavours include pecan, raspberry and almond. Like their namesake, Kris Kringle, these irresistible treats are especially popular at Christmas.
Some people might find the idea of an elk burger a little strange. In Wyoming, though, no one will bat an eyelid if you order this meaty dish from a restaurant menu. Juicy and flavourful, ground elk patties taste delicious served in a bun loaded with plenty of oozy, melty cheese. Burgers not your thing? Across the state, you’ll find lots of other ways to enjoy this versatile game meat, from elk chilli and meatloaf to jerky and elk steaks: a true taste of the American West.
Now discover the most-loved dish in every state – and where to eat it