United States: Recipes and Cuisine

Apple cake is popular throughout the United States, especially during the fall when the new apple harvest is coming in. This simple, moist, rich cake really hits the spot. Read more »

Country hams are an old tradition in the American South. Fresh pork legs are salt-cured, sometimes smoked, and then dry aged for several months. Because the meat can be very salty, country hams must be soaked in water for a time to remove excess salt. Baked country ham is the perfect centerpiece for any family celebration. Leftovers are great for breakfast with red-eye gravy or served as a sandwich in buttermilk biscuits. Read more »

Here is an easy, quick recipe for basic American breakfast biscuits. Spread with jam or serve topped with a generous portion of sausage gravy. Baking powder biscuits make a great addition to any Sunday morning breakfast. Read more »

True blue American blueberry pie. Simple, sweet, rich, delicious and chock full of antioxidants. Blueberry pie is the perfect finish to a meal during the summer blueberry season. Try the star-studded crust variation for your next Memorial Day, Fourth of July or Labor Day celebration. Read more »

Also called sweet potato casserole, candied sweet potatoes are a favorite dish in many American households at Thanksgiving and Easter, especially children. They are an extra treat when a layer of marshmallows is baked and browned on top. At Easter, chick- or rabbit-shaped and colored marshmallows called "Peeps" are sometimes used. Read more »

Caramel apples are a traditional autumn treat in the United States, especially popular with children around Halloween. Fresh apples are impaled on wooden sticks and dipped in sticky, sweet caramel. The caramel-coated apples are often rolled in nuts or candies for the ultimate flourish. Read more »

Chicken pot pie is a hearty American wintertime dish that uses produce that is in season during the cold months of fall and winter. Classic recipes have the chicken stew encased entirely in flaky pastry. This simpler version uses a tasty biscuit topping instead. Read more »

Chicken-fried steak, or country-fried steak, is an old farm recipe designed for cheaper, tougher cuts of beef, primarily round, Swiss or cube steak. It is particularly popular in Texas, where it originates. But it is found north into the upper Midwest and east into the old South. A popular truckstop menu item, it is most often served with mashed potatoes and a simple vegetable, often green beans. Read more »

It's a little unclear where chili originated. The combination of powdered chiles and meat is likely an ancient one, familiar to the Aztecs and the Maya. But in its current form, chili seems to have started somewhere along the U.S.-Mexico border. Mexicans generally shun it as American. Most Americans are fine with that and regard it as their own. Read more »

This fun cake originated in the Southern United States. Bake one up when you find yourself stuck with some flat leftover soda. A favorite for birthday parties. Read more »

Corn dogs are American carnival, fair, and amusement park food. They are one of many "foods-on-a-stick" found at such celebrations and venues. A favorite of children, corn dogs are best served with a good amount of ketchup. The beginnings of the corn dog are hotly disputed, and possible places of origin include New York, Minnesota, Texas and Muscle Beach in California. They seem to have appeared sometime in the 1930s or 40s. Known as pogos in Canada. Read more »

This recipe is for Southern cornbread, a drier, crunchier cornbread than its more cake-like Northern counterpart. It is best eaten same day it is baked. Stale leftovers can be used to make cornbread dressing. See the variations to make the Northern version. Read more »

Cornbread dressing is the only dressing there is for many Southerners. It's a favorite for Thanksgiving. The recipe below is a basic foundation for many variations. Each cook has his or her favorite version. Read more »

Corned beef and cabbage is a traditional St. Patricks Day dish for Irish Americans, but not for the Irish themselves. The meal became popular with immigrants from Ireland in the 19th century. The word "corned" comes from the Old English for "grain" or "pellets," and pellets of salt were originally used to cure the beef for this dish. These days corned beef is usually sold brined in vacuum-packed bags with a spice packet for flavoring. A variation of the dish with root vegetables makes up a New England boiled dinner. A Canadian version is served with pease pudding. Read more »

This steamed pudding is popular on the American Christmas table. Flame it with rum and serve it with eggnog sauce for an extra treat. Read more »

Cranberry sauce is an essential part of any American Thanksgiving meal. Many families serve it for Christmas dinner too. Some people have to have cranberry sauce in the shape of a tin can; others prefer this more naturalistic version. A less sweet cranberry sauce is served with game birds in northern Europe. Don't limit cranberry sauce to the holidays. Cranberries are a "superfruit" with amazing antioxidant qualities. Use as a side dish at summer picnics or as a spread on your favorite sandwich. Read more »

Although descended from European winter restorative beverages, or "noggins," eggnog is an American invention that appeared in the late 1700s. Over the years, this rich and creamy drink, spiked with rum, has become an American Christmas tradition. Read more »

Guacamole is popular in Mexico and throughout Central America. The name comes from the Aztec worlds ahuacatl (avocado) and molli (sauce). Guacamole is also common in Tex-Mex and American Southwestern cuisine. In Mexico it is this rich and creamy condiment is often still made with a traditional mortar and pestle called a molcajete. Often called guacamol in other parts of Central America. Read more »

Gumbo, one of the most famous of Cajun-Creole dishes, acquired its name from quingombo, a Congolese word for okra. It came about through a fusion of French, African, Native American and Spanish influences in early Louisiana cuisine. There are two main types of gumbo--those thickened with okra and those thickened with filé powder. This one uses okra. Read more »

Hangtown fry originated in Placerville, California, during the Gold Rush. The town was known as Hangtown in recognition of the harsh justice often meted out there. The story goes that a prospector struck it rich, walked into a restaurant in town and ordered the best meal that money could buy. At that time, in that place, Hangtown fry was it. Read more »

Haupia is a popular Hawaiian dessert, often served on a ti leaf at luaus. A thick, sliceable coconut pudding, it is also used to cover cakes and as a top layer on pies. Read more »

Hoppin' John is an old Southern dish, especially popular in South Carolina. No one really knows how it came by its name, but its culinary roots seem to stretch back to Africa. It is traditionally eaten as part of a New Year's Day meal, as black-eyed peas supposedly bring good luck. For maximum luck eat Hoppin' John immediately after midnight along with a side of greens. Read more »

Lemonade and its basic theme of lemon juice, sugar and water is a popular drink around the world. It is a summertime favorite in the United States, where ramshackle stands selling glasses of the sweet-tart beverage are a favorite way for children to earn a little spending money. Read more »

Macaroni and cheese is an old American favorite dating back almost to the time of the American Revolution. Always a Southern favorite, its popularity really took off after Kraft® introduced a boxed version in the 1930s. Kraft's version became so popular that some people now prefer their packaged to the homemade. We still think homemade is best. Read more »

Lobster rolls are a favorite sandwich in sandwich shacks all up and down the coast of Maine. This longstanding symbol of summertime fun is a simple mixture of fresh cooked lobster meat and mayonnaise. In main this seafood salad is served in special buns that are split down the top. But you can use regular hot dog buns. Read more »

This type of barbecue, using vinegar and sugar as a baste and seasoning for the slow-cooked meat, is unique to the eastern part of North Carolina. Eastern NC-style barbecue is usually made at a barbecue joint, with a whole pig roasted over a slow hickory fire. This recipe, while unacceptable to purists, will make a reasonable facsimile of North Carolina barbecue in your oven. And just a note: there should never be tomatoes in eastern NC-style barbecue sauce. Read more »

This soup is delicious in its simplicity. Oyster stew is a traditional Christmas Eve dish in some American households, a custom said to have originated with Irish immigrants. Read more »

Also known as flapjacks, hotcakes or griddlecakes, pancakes are a traditional breakfast food in the United States. Variations of the pancake, sweet and savory, are found around the world, from the French crèpe to Indian dosas. In England, Canada, Ireland and Australia, pancakes are traditionally eaten on Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras)--a day sometimes known as Pancake Day--as a way to use up rich foods like butter, milk and eggs before the fasting of Lent. Read more »

Cobbler is a traditional American dessert that uses the freshest fruits of the season. The fruit is baked with a sweetened batter that rises up and around it to form a crispy crust. Peach, apple, berry and cherry cobbler are all popular variations. Read more »

Pie crust was once a staple recipe in every American home. But most cooks these days are afraid to even attempt a homemade pie crust. The mere thought scares the bejesus out of people, but it shouldn't. Pie crust is simplicity itself. Just keep two things in mind: keep all the ingredients cold, and work the dough as little as possible. Follow that advice and the following recipe and you'll have flaky perfection. Read more »

Potato salad is an American picnic and barbecue favorite. The basic recipe of cooked potatoes bound with mayonnaise and served cold is also found in northern Germany. Potato salad recipes vary greatly, but here is a basic recipe you can build upon. Read more »

Kalua pork, or pua'a kālua, is a traditional Hawaiian lu'au dish. It is ideally made with a whole pig in a pit, or imu, where it roasts slowly all day, acquiring a deep, smoky flavor. This recipe lets you to make kalua pork easily at home without having to dig a hole in your backyard. Read more »

Like roast turkey and cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie is an essential part of any American Thanksgiving meal. Read more »

So central is turkey to American Thanksgiving holiday that that holiday is often referred to as Turkey Day. The two-step roasting method in this recipe produces a golden brown turkey with moist breast meat. Roasting the turkey breast-side down forces juices into the white meat of the breast that would otherwise dry out. Roast turkey is a also a traditional main course for an English Christmas dinner. Read more »

Roasted pumpkin seeds are a Halloween favorite, and making them is a great activity for kids. Turn making them into a family tradition every year at pumpkin-carving time. Read more »

When served with baking powder biscuits, this sauce becomes the famous and beloved Southern breakfast dish "biscuits and gravy." It's equally tasty served over mashed potatoes or toast. Read more »

The sloppy joe has a foggy history, but it seems to have originated during the Depression as a way to stretch ground beef during hard times. Several sources place its creation in a small cafe in Sioux City, Iowa, where it was called a "loosemeat" sandwich. No one knows if there was an original Joe, but they sure are sloppy! Read more »

Smothered pork chops are an old-fashioned Southern favorite. It's a very easy dish to prepare and packed with tons of flavor. The onion gravy goes especially well with rice. Read more »

These easy-to-make cookies are a favorite in the United States. It is unclear where the name originated, but the Joy of Cooking suggests that it derives from the German Schneckennudeln, a type of cinnamon-scented sweet roll. Read more »

Fried chicken is an American favorite, especially in the South. Pieces of chicken are dredged in seasoned flour and then fried to crispy perfection in a skillet of oil. Often the chicken is soaked first in buttermilk or a brine to make it extra juicy and flavorful. Southern fried chicken is perfect for picnics and celebrations. Fried chicken leftovers are even better cold the next day. Read more »

Spaghetti and meatballs has been a favorite of the Italian-American community since immigrants from southern Italy first arrived on U.S. shores early in the 20th century. Although the dish is no longer made in Puglia and Sicily, its popularity continues in the United States and has spread to the population at large. Read more »

Strawberry shortcake is a classic American early summer dessert. It comes together quickly and easily and is the perfect way to finish a picnic in May or June. Read more »

Sweet coleslaw is a type of cabbage salad, or slaw, that is popular in the Midwestern section of the United States. This recipe comes directly from Chef Brad's father, Dan Harvey, in Macedonia, Iowa. Read more »

Sweet tea is basically your regular iced tea, but brewed with a whole lot of sugar and often a squeeze of lemon. This easy, cheap beverage is very popular in the Southern United States during the hot, humid summer months.When you ask for a tea in the South, people often assume you mean sweet tea. Read more »

Tuna noodle casserole was in deep vogue during the 1970s in the United States when casseroles in general were all the rage. Tuna casserole was particularly popular since it could be quickly and easily thrown together with canned and dried goods that most people had in their cupboards. This version eliminates the canned soup and substitutes a homemade sauce. The tuna, though, still requires a can opener. Read more »

Wild rice is not a true rice, rather a type of grass seed that grows wild in the upper midwestern section of the United States and central Canada. Native Americans would harvest the grains from lakes and streams where the aquatic grass grew. Wild rice pilaf is the perfect accompaniment to duck, goose, and game meats. It is also an ideal addition to a Thanksgiving meal. Read more »