The Most Famous Food In Every State

When it comes to really experiencing all that a place has to offer, it's about the famous food, isn't it? Whether it's moving to a new city, visiting friends and family out of state, or heading off to a whole new country, there's always regional favorites that you just have to try.

It's about more than food: It's a shared identity, a source of pride, and sometimes, it even gives you a glimpse into an area's history. And that's important — food brings us together, but it also gives us a way to identify ourselves. (Just ask people if it's "soda" or "pop," and you'll see just how important our regional foodie identity is!)

So, let's talk famous state foods ... after a bit of a disclaimer. We put together a list of some of the dishes and ingredients that each state is most famous for, and sometimes, it was tough picking just one of a slew of delicious creations. Here's what made the final cut.

Heading to Alaska? You'll have to look to the ocean for one of their most iconic famous food: king crab. They're pretty amazing creatures, ones that can walk up to 100 miles a year along the seafloor, grow up to 24 pounds, and eat pretty much anything they crush with their huge claw (via NOAA Fisheries).

And they're delicious, so it's no wonder that this delicacy is known worldwide. To get the real thing, a trip to the source should be on every crab-lover's bucket list.

Honorable mention: Salmon, snow crab, and oysters.

Every year, Atkins, Arkansas holds Picklefest, and every year, they sell thousands of orders of Fatman's Original Fried Dill Pickles. That isn't really surprising, because fried pickles are amazing. 

The famous food festival was the brainchild of Bernell "Fatman" Austin, who perfected his recipe in 1963 (via the Encyclopedia of Arkansas). You'll see fried pickles on menus across the country today, so you should thank Mr. Austin. And if you're ever in Arkansas, definitely stop and pick up some of the originals, which are still made using his top-secret recipe.

Want to torpedo a dinner conversation in Colorado? Suggest the state's famous food chiles might be inferior to New Mexico's.

The Denver Channel says the rivalry is very real, and Colorado takes its green chiles very seriously. And here's the thing: The "chile" is a pepper with just the right amount of heat and all the flavor you could possibly want to go along with it. We don't want to get into a fight with New Mexico, but we can't deny: We love the famous Colorado green chile, and we wish it was available everywhere.

According to Delmarva Now, scrapple goes back to a time when people used every scrap. When it came time to use the last of the pig bits, those bits were ground up, mixed with cornmeal and spices, and turned into a breakfast dish. Think of it as sausage filling in patty form.

Delaware may not be credited with inventing scrapple (that honor goes to Pennsylvania), but Delaware chefs that have gone above and beyond in reinventing this old food into new, famous food recipes. So congratulations, Delaware: Scrapple is yours.

Of course Georgia's famous food is the peach! The state is almost synonymous with their peach production, and according to NPR, peaches — which are native to Asia — weren't successfully farmed in the U.S. until 1856. That's when a pair of Belgian horticulturists named Louis and Prosper Berckmans became determined to introduce the peach as an environmentally friendly alternative to cotton.

With the end of the Civil War, peaches became the new flagship crop of the south, and Georgia's climate was perfect for them.

Idaho is synonymous with potatoes. It's estimated (via the Idaho Potato Commission) that 97 percent of Americans eat potatoes regularly. Who knew?

And Idaho produces the vast majority of them, growing around 13 billion pounds of potatoes each year. The Idaho Potato Museum says the state's climate is ideal for the famous food, with warm days and cool nights throughout the growing season, the summer snowmelt for watering, and the rich, volcanic soil for growing. It's a potato lover's dream come true!

Honorable mention: Finger steaks

There's sugar. There's cream. It's pie. What more do you need to know?

The sugar cream pie is Indiana's official state pie, and this famous food deserves the title. What's Cooking America says that it's also been called a "desperation pie," which means it was created using standard ingredients found in most kitchens. It's been around since the 1800s, and it was a dessert that could be made at times of the year when the apples and other fruits were gone. Still, it's pretty amazing.

Honorable mention: Pork tenderloin sandwiches

Here's one that might have those outside Kansas scratching their heads. Bierocks are essentially bready rolls filled with meat, onion, and cabbage. Today, the famous food is served at diners across the state, but their history goes back much farther.

According to Kansas Farm Food Connection, bierocks originated in Eastern Europe, with wives who would bake their husbands portable meals to take with them when they headed into the fields. When German Russian Mennonites settled in Kansas, they brought their bierocks with them, and they remain an important link to the area's heritage.

There are few famous foods that have more stories associated with them than Louisiana's Po-boy. NOLA.com says that there's no consensus on how they were invented, but once they hit the scene in New Orleans, they helped define Louisiana cuisine.

The name "po-boy" first showed up in print in 1929 (in conjunction with a murder case that was being tried at the time — the trial paused for a lunch of po-boy sandwiches). These often seafood-filled sandwiches are a must for natives and visitors alike!

Honorable mention: Gumbo, jambalaya, red beans and rice

Maryland is known for its seafood and its blue crab, but no famous food seafood platter is complete until there's Old Bay added.

This Maryland staple has spread nationwide, but it's still treasured in the state that developed it. And it's not as old as you might expect: We found that it was created by a happy accident. Gustav Brunn fled Nazi Germany and brought his spice mixer with him, settling in his new country and accidentally creating a seasoning mix that would become a state — nay, national — treasure.

While there might technically be no right answer to the question, "How do you like your hot dogs?" Michigan natives might disagree. There, it's not only a Coney dog all the way, but according to the Encyclopedia of Detroit, there's even the ongoing and famous rivalry between Lafayette Coney Island and American Coney Island when it comes to the restaurant with the best.

Either way, this Michigan famous food features a beef dog on a steamed bun, covered in an all-meat chili, yellow mustard, and white onions. Simple. Straightforward. Classic.

Just try to imagine southern famous comfort food without those soft, pillowy, buttery biscuits. Can't do it, right?

Of all the southern states, it's Mississippi that takes its biscuits the most seriously. Natchez is known as the biscuit capital of the world, and it also holds an annual Biscuit Festival, according to The Manual, complete with bake-offs and biscuit-making demonstrations. If you ever doubt how serious they are, you should know that some of their most iconic recipes contain both butter and margarine. The nation thanks you, Mississippi!

Huckleberries grow wild throughout the Rocky Mountains (and yes, they're where Mark Twain got the name Huckleberry Finn from), but it's in Montana that huckleberries are considered a famous food. According to What's Cooking America, they only grow wild and have to be foraged.

They have a long history going back to Lewis and Clark and the earliest interactions between white settlers and native peoples, and while you can substitute them for any recipe that calls for blueberries, USA Today says huckleberry pie is tops when it comes to Montana desserts.

Nevada is a true melting pot, with people from all over the country drawn to the hot, sunny climate and the chaos of Las Vegas. You'll find famous food galore, but when it comes to a Nevada classic, look no further than the shrimp cocktail.

According to the Lazy Gastronome, the shrimp cocktail made its Vegas debut in 1959 at the Golden Gate Casino, and until 1991, you could get one for just 50 cents! While Boston lays claim to inventing the dish, it's Vegas that's made it famous — and it's still a casino staple.

Whether you call it pork roll or Taylor ham, it's a famous food New Jersey staple. What is it?

It's a processed pork product that Eater says is rumored to go back to the Civil War. Rumors aside, it was made official in 1856, and what's with the two names? While it was first called "Taylor's Prepared Ham," it didn't actually meet guidelines for being called "ham." That never stopped anyone from enjoying anything delicious, and since then, this classic New Jersey sandwich (pork roll, egg, and cheese) can be found in pretty much any deli.

New York City is known for a lot of things, but for this famous food, we're going to go to the other side of the state. That's where Buffalo is, the home of a nationwide favorite, a staple at football games, and the simple food that's spawned entire chains.

That is, of course, the Buffalo wing. (And in Buffalo, they're just "wings.") There are a few different versions of the story of the dish's creation according to Time, but we feel like the details don't really matter. What does matter is how you like them: hot, medium, or mild?

Honorable mention: New York-style pizza, bagels, and cheesecake

It's likely that anyone who's never been to North Dakota might be wondering what the heck "knoephla" is, and the answer to that is simple: HPR says it's a famous food hearty soup made with chicken stock, dumplings, potatoes, celery, and carrots. It's German in origin and was brought to North Dakota by those who settled there in the 1800s, and it's spelled a whole bunch of different ways. Whichever way it's spelled, it means a filling, comforting sort of soup that's perfect for those long, cold winter nights ... or anytime, really.

Where on earth would American famous food cuisine be without chicken fried steak? Culture Trip says that even though it originated in Texas with its large population of German and Austrian immigrants who were inspired by the wiener schnitzel of their homeland, it's Oklahoma who can lay claim to some of the best-known recipes for it. The state takes it super seriously, too: In 1988, they named the fried meat-and-gravy dish the official state meal. This state definitely has its priorities in order.

Hot beef. Melted cheese. On a roll. It's seriously that simple and that good, and Pennsylvania has been the home of the truly famous Philly cheesesteak since it was invented by a hot dog vendor in the 1930s.

Visit Philadelphia says that we can thank Pat Olivieri for coming up with this magical creation, and here's some good news for onion lovers or haters: Whether you like it "wit" or "witout," neither way is wrong. Actually? Either is oh-so-right.

Boiled peanuts seem like a weird famous food at first glance. After all, why would you want to boil a nut? But according to Southern Living, they've been around since before the Civil War but didn't become super popular until South Carolina newspapers started advertising them as the snack of anyone who was someone in Southern society. That was around the start of the 20th century, and since then, they've become a snacking staple ... and we wouldn't have it any other way.

Famous American BBQ, says the Smithsonian, evolved into separate styles from Caribbean roots. Those styles include the Memphis version, which features a sweet, tomato-based sauce that developed in part because of the readily-available ingredients — including molasses — that were traded along the Mississippi River.

Memphis is also where BBQ diverged from being something strictly pork-related into using other tasty meat products as well, to make something that's as uniquely Tennessean as the Grand Ole Opry.

Utah, says History, is home to more than two million Mormons, and it's their love of the famous food Jell-O that pushes this wiggly, jiggly dessert to the top of Utah's favorites list. After all, residents of Utah eat more Jell-O per capita than anywhere else in the country.

Thrillist took a look at why Jell-O is so popular among the Mormon community and says it has to do with the marketing campaigns of the 1980s. Jello-O was the family dessert that just happened to be perfect for large gatherings — like church functions. And the rest is, as they say, history.

What is it about ham in Virginia that's so good that it takes the name of the state?

WAMU says that to be the real famous food Virginia ham, it has to come from a pig that's only eaten foods it can forage ... and peanuts. It's cured, spiced, hung, and smoked, then allowed to grow a layer of mold. It's so iconic because they've been doing it for a long time — since the colonial era, when Smithfield, Virginia was at the center of an industry that fed the new colonies.

WV Tourism provides a history of the famous pepperoni roll, which is essentially pepperoni wrapped in rolled dough then baked so the bread absorbs all that pepperoni deliciousness ... but it's also so much more.

It goes back to the state's coal mining past and an Italian immigrant named Giuseppe Argiro. When he saw coal miners heading off to work with a lunch of bread and a stick of salami or pepperoni, he decided he could combine the two into a portable pocket. It was an immediate hit with miners and West Virginians everywhere.

Nope, they're not oysters — they're battered and deep-fried bull testicles that have been a try-it-if-you-dare part of Rocky Mountain cuisine.

Reported to be aphrodisiacs, this questionably cringe-worthy famous food even has its own festivals, like the Testicle Festival in Evanston, Wyoming (via King FM). Wyoming Public Media says they're surrounded by some fascinating cowboy lore (some stories tell of ranch hands throwing huge parties and frying up some newly harvested Rocky Mountain Oysters), and that kind of explains their popularity. Who doesn't want to be a cowboy?