Article created by: Dominyka
Every nation has some dishes that are associated with it. Sometimes this can be an entire culinary movement or perhaps a collection of ingredients and techniques. It gets a bit more complicated with massive, multicultural countries like, for example, the USA.
Someone asked Americans “What do you consider to be a cultural food of the United States?” and people shared their best examples. From humble PB&Js to multilayered casseroles, netizens covered the entire range. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorite examples, and be sure to share your own thoughts in the comments section below.
Grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch on a cold winter day.
Biscuits and gravy, but not just any gravy. Sausage gravy.
There are a lot of great American foods, but I don't think anything will ever be as quintessentially 'American' as a cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise, a side of french fries with ketchup, and a milkshake. This meal right here is the heart and soul of American cuisine.
Chocolate chip cookies. I live in the Netherlands now, and they have foods resembling chocolate chip cookies here, but they are mediocre at best. And they call them all 'American cookies' — which I think is hilarious. I once made chocolate chip cookies from scratch and gave some to our Italian neighbors. Watching their faces as they ate them for the first time was amazing. There's nothing like that crispy edge, soft middle, and buttery, chocolaty deliciousness.
Buffalo wings, s'mores, biscuits and gravy, grits, jambalaya, BBQ, apple pie, Chocolate chip cookies, Jerky, meatloaf, cornbread.
Cornbread.
Creole food like jambalaya and gumbo. This cuisine is arguably the most truly 'American.' Aside from a handful of cooking techniques taken from the French, the dishes are really unique. Cajun and Creole cooking. It's a derivative of French cooking, but it's so far removed now that it's a unique cuisine. You're not getting boiled crawfish made properly anywhere outside of southern Louisiana.
Chicken fried steak.
Yes I know some of you are going to say “what about German schnitzel?” … IT IS NOT THE SAME AND YOU KNOW IT.
The size of a dinner plate and served with white gravy.
Tex-Mex - it’s not Mexican food but rather a Texas creation that extends even to fajitas and margaritas
Americanized Chinese food. Even while living in Asia, I would crave General Tso's chicken and honey walnut shrimp because it's just not the same abroad.Americanized Chinese food, and specifically East Coast Chinese food. Stuff like General Tso's chicken, egg rolls, egg drop soup, oily, soy sauce–laden lo mein, beef and broccoli, and fortune cookies. Funny enough, this stuff doesn't exist in Asia. I was so happy to see that an American Chinese restaurant opened in Shanghai, but it closed down.
Chili. It’s based on New World ingredients, every region of the US has its own variation, families have their own recipes, and internet wars have been fought over how to define 'real' chili. (Most of us can agree that Cincinnati is wrong.) We’ve mass-produced it, added it to fast food, and made it even worse for you by adding tons of cheese and pouring it over fries.
Mac 'n' cheese. My non-American wife first thought it was called 'mecan cheese,' which she assumed was short for American cheese. She had never seen the word in writing before, and I'd often talk about how I missed my mom's homemade mac.
Philly Cheesesteak
Tater tots
Fried Chicken. It's a combination of a Scottish cooking style where they fried unseasoned food in Lard and west African seasonings.
Ranch dressing. Anything you dip in ranch dressing is American by baptism.
Clam chowder — specifically, white chowda, and none of this red sauce shenanigans. And lobstah, of course. I know it's a global food at this point, but the best lobster in the world is from New England (mostly Maine), and wow, is it good.
The Cuban sandwich - originated in Tampa Bay.
Barbecue.
Pizza and burgers may be more commonly eaten here, but they're really adaptations of food from Europe. Brisket, ribs, or pulled pork, slow cooked in a pit smoker and smothered in barbecue sauce, are more American in origin, and extraordinarily delicious.
There are lots of regional variations too. Mostly a result of what resources were available (ie, it's smoked with whatever wood is readily available in that region), but now they are a strong point of regional pride, and the topic of endless "which region has the best BBQ" debates. (I'm a fan of Memphis style, myself, but it's all good.)
