Last Updated on May 2, 2023
Although food trends have changed in the past decades, some delicious dishes are still popular on the menu. A large number of these cuisines are classical specialties that cannot be overlooked as being unique to the American people and their definition of what fits in their various course meals.
Here are some of the widely known American foods for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Table of Contents
Top 10 American Foods For Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Popular Breakfast Foods in America
Here are some common dishes mostly consumed by Americans as breakfast meals:
1. BACON, EGG, AND CHEESE SANDWICH
This famed breakfast meal consists of bacon, cheese, and eggs served with buttered or toasted bread. Many joints mostly brand and market it with an acronym-BE&C.
2. BREAKFAST BURRITO
Also referred to as breakfast wrap, this breakfast delicacy is composed of several ingredients that may include potatoes, scrambled eggs, onions and bacon wrapped in a flour tortilla burrito.
3. BUTTERMILK PANCAKES
Americans added flavor to pancakes by adding buttermilk as one of the ingredients. This makes the pancakes thick and fluffy.
4. GRITS
Grits are considered as cereals on the American food pyramid. Most people consume grits with shrimp. This is an ideal breakfast meal to get you started for the long day ahead.
5. CHICKEN AND WAFFLES
This is one of the notable American staple foods that consists of fried chicken, crisps, waffles, and occasionally a topping of maple syrup.
6. KEY LIME PIE
This pie is Florida’s official state pie. The initial use of sweetened condensed milk gives the dessert a creamy texture. The pie is made of lime juice, sweetened condensed, milk, and egg yolks in a pie crust.
7. SOURDOUGH BREAD
The miners or ‘sourdough,’ as they were called, never lacked to carry this bread during the gold rush era. In 1849, Boudin Bakery started baking the bread and since then, the loaf has become popular on the American breakfast table.
8. S’MORES
This is one of the easy breakfast desserts to prepare it as it only demands roasted marshmallow, sweet crackers, and chocolate rolled up in between pieces of graham crackers.
9. TWINKIES
This American snack cake was initially made of banana cream filling. Twinkies, ‘yellow cake’, is served with cream that provides lots of calories when consumed. The loaf is marketed today as a ‘golden sponge cake with a creamy filling.’
Popular Lunch Foods in America
What Americans likely consume as lunch:
1. BURGER
If you are asking, “Where can I get American foods near me?”, burgers are your answer. Burgers are available in nearly every local fast food outlet. Common burger concepts consist of ground meat, tomato, gooey cheese, lettuce, and sauce sandwiched between sliced bread buns. When taking it, you can add a topping like mayonnaise, onions, mustard, and relish.
2. THE CLASSIC HOT DOG
The hot dog is popular street food in the US that rocks a sausage sandwiched between sliced buns with ketchup or mustard toppings. Any type of meat can be used to make the sausage. The hot dog can be either grilled, microwaved, boiled, or even baked.
3. THE CHEESEBURGER
Burgers, no doubt, fall among popular staples common with food chains like McDonald’s. A Cheeseburger is simply a burger topped with cheese with a variant of toppings that may include lettuce, bacon, onion, tomato, pickles, mayonnaise, ketchup, spinach or olives.
4. REUBEN SANDWICH
This is one of the popular classic sandwiches that ranks top on the American food recipes. A Reuben sandwich is made up of grilled corned beef matched with sauerkraut with a topped Swiss cheese all dressed between two rye bread.
5. BARBECUE RIBS
Who does not love ribs? The fact is, you cannot fail to spot some people indulging in barbecue ribs in several recreational or restaurant joints. A classic rib can be of beef or pork. The grilled ribs can be taken with vinegar or tomato-based sauce depending on the preference.
6. THE BLT
The sandwich earns its name from the mix of bacon, lettuce, and tomatoes.
7. APPLE PIE
If the infamous cliché, ‘As American as apple pie’ is something to go by, this symbolic pie is one of the most popular desserts in America. Apple pie will have vanilla ice cream, cheddar cheese, or whipped cream on top.
8. PHILLY CHEESESTEAK
This hot dog steak is one of the regional foods to have originated in South Philadelphia. Philly Cheesesteak is a mix of sliced beef, chip steak, cheese, and onions inside a hoagie roll.
9. CALIFORNIA ROLL
California roll is a typical American dinner menu meal prepared with sticky white rice that is served with crab meat, avocado, dried seaweed or cucumber.
10. BEEF JERKY
One of the native food snacks in America. The old practice of drying meat still lives on to date. Jerky can be from any lean meat including beef, pork, or turkey.
11. BUFFALO CHICKEN WINGS
The cuisine is popular in grill joints and bars in the United States. The food is precisely spicy deep-fried chicken wings coated with cayenne pepper, hot sauce, and butter. The name ‘Buffalo’ stuck after a family-owned bar in Buffalo introduced the dish on its menu in 1964.
12. BAKED ALASKA
A creation of Delmonico’s restaurant, the dessert is ideally slices of sponge cake topped with layers of ice cream and then coated in toasted meringue.
Popular Dinner Foods in America
Here is a list of the most common American dinner delicacies:
1. MEATLOAF
Although the dish has its roots in Europe, it has gained a reputation since the industrial revolution thanks to the meat grinder that made an appearance at the same time. A meatloaf dish is a baked loaf stashed with ground meat, diced onion, sauce, and spices.
2. MACARONI AND CHEESE
Simply called Mac & Cheese, this is one of the common American foods that has defied the test of time. This meal consists of cooked macaroni flavored with cheese sauce like cheddar. American food restaurants are famed to prepare the mouthwatering treat of these noodles with creamy cheese.
3. FAJITAS
Today, you are bound to find fajitas as grilled meat on a tortilla, and sometimes served with an array of condiments that includes green pepper, grilled onions, shredded cheese, or sour cream.
4. CHICAGO’S DEEP-DISH PIZZA
Making headway since the Second World War, pizza has become one of the popular foods in America. The delicacy is made up of pizza baked in a pan layered with cheese, meat fillings, vegetables, and sauce.
5. THANKSGIVING TURKEY DINNER
An iconic staple food that dates back to the American holiday of Thanksgiving. The yummy turkey can be grilled or deep-fried and dressed in cornbread, onion, celery, fruits, chestnuts, or oysters.
6. TATER TOTS
As far as some food critics will point to how Tots are not healthy, no one is putting the meal off the shelf. Tater Tots consists of crunchy fried potatoes served as a side dish. It’s a typical American version of French fries.
7. BAKED BEANS
Baked beans are among traditional American dishes popular among the Native Americans. The protein-rich starch meal consists of beans that are baked but in most cases, stewed in a sauce.
8. WILD ALASKAN SALMON
No doubt, the US is home to the best salmon fish. Like all fish, this classical fish delicacy is a rich source of protein and omega-3 fatty acids.
9. GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH
The advent of the sliced bread in 1928 paved the way for the invention of grilled cheese. Later, a brilliant American soon discovered a brilliant milk by-product-cheese. Within no time, the duo became enjoined in a recipe.
10. CORNBREAD
Originally a main dish of the indigenous Americans, cornbread heavily engrained in American food culture. The major ingredient of this bread is leaven and ground cornmeal mixed with baking powder. Cornbread can be taken with meat, stew, or salad.
11. CHEESECAKE
This sweet dessert is prepared with cookies or a sponge cake base with cream cheese, eggs, sugar, nuts, and other condiments toppings.
OTHER TYPES OF AMERICAN FOODS
The list above is not 100% complete; there are other types of American cuisines and delicacies that are popular all over the world. We cannot conclude the post without the mention of these additional foods.
- The lobster roll
- Cobb salad
- Jambalaya
- Rattlesnake stew
- Biscuits ‘n gravy
- Onion rings
- Frybread tacos
- Banana split
- Maryland crab cakes
- The po-boy
- Muffuletta
- Fried alligator
- Cheese Curds