Crawfish boudin is a specialty of Cajun cuisine, a sausage that is traditionally prepared with freshly chopped crawfish meat and sautéed finely cut vegetables such as onions, celery, green onion tops, bell peppers, garlic, and parsley. The crawfish mixture is then combined with cooked white rice before being stuffed into natural casings.
If no casings are available, the sausage mixture can alternatively be shaped into balls which are then dredged in breadcrumbs and fried. Typical seasonings include red pepper or cayenne pepper, salt, and white pepper or black pepper. Crawfish boudin can be steamed, smoked, or fried, eaten on top of saltine crackers, or drizzled with hot sauce or mustard.
MOST ICONIC Crawfish Boudin
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Jo Jo potatoes is a traditional dish that's a staple in roadside eateries across the Pacific Northwest. Although there are many variatons, the dish is usually made with a combination of potatoes, breadcrumbs, salt, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, thyme, mustard, paprika, and oil.
The potatoes are cut into wedges, gently heated, drizzled with oil and stirred. The breadcrumbs are mixed with paprika, mustard, salt, garlic powder, cayenne, and thyme. The potatoes are dredged in the mixture and baked or pressure-fried until golden brown and crisp.
Although the name might suggest otherwise, this Southern classic is prepared with shredded cabbage that is sautéed and braised in butter until tender. It is usually accompanied by bacon, onions, and occasionally sliced apples. Fried cabbage can be enjoyed as a meal on its own, but it is traditionally served as a side dish to complement jacket potatoes, fried chicken, or cornbread.
MOST ICONIC Fried Cabbage
Cowboy beans or chuckwagon beans is a traditional dish with unknown origins. However, it is especially popular in the American Southwest and a staple of Texan cuisine. The dish is usually made with a combination of pinto beans (alternatively: red kidney beans, black beans, or white navy beans), ground beef, smoked meat, and a sweet and tangy sauce made with different ingredients such as barbecue sauce, brown sugar, ketchup, garlic, onions, or Worcestershire sauce.
Cowboy beans are a staple at parties, barbecues, and potlucks in the region. Interestingly, the dish can be seen in Mel Brooks' famous Western parody Blazing Saddles (1974).
MOST ICONIC Cowboy Beans
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This simple fast food dish is made by topping french fries with melted cheese. Depending on the varieties of the dish, the cheese is sometimes enriched with the addition of various vegetables, meats, and spices. Although not much is known about the history of cheese fries, it is believed that it gained popularity after 1952, when canned cheese products became available in the United States of America.
What is known, however, is that this comforting side dish is a staple of numerous diners and fast food joints across the country.
MOST ICONIC Cheese Fries
View moreLouisiana's comfort food is nicely represented in red beans and rice, a dish that is traditionally prepared on Mondays, with the aroma of red beans drifting through the neighborhoods. The dish originates from the New Orleans Creole kitchens of the 1700s and the 1800s.
The beans are typically cooked over low heat throughout the day, with additions such as ham hock and Andouille sausage. When served, the beans are spooned over hot rice, and the whole thing is often spiced up with some hot sauce.
MOST ICONIC Red Beans and Rice
View morePopover is a traditional variation on English Yorkshire pudding. It's usually associated with the cuisine of New England. The popovers are a type of bread or muffin made with a combination of milk, flour, eggs, and butter. The flour, milk, and eggs are poured into heated butter that's placed in a muffin pan.
Once baked, the popovers will puff up and develop a crisp crust and tender, moist center. These puffs are often served with butter and jam or stuffed with various savory fillings.
MOST ICONIC Popovers
View moreSpoonbread is a dish that is popular throughout the American South, usually consisting of ground cornmeal, milk, butter, and eggs. The whole thing is flavored with salt and sugar, then baked in an oven like a pudding. It is often served as a side dish, sometimes accompanied by gravy or various sauces.
The name spoonbread is derived from the fact that the dish is typically scooped from the baking vessel by using a big spoon. It can additionally be enriched with cheese and vegetables in order to have more flavor. Regarding spoonbread's origins, Sarah Routledge links it to Native Americans in her 1847 cookbook called The Carolina Housewife, Jeff Smith says that Virginia spoonbread was a staple during the Revolutionary War in his 1987 book The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American, while some claim that it can be traced to an Indian porridge known as suppone or suppawn.
MOST ICONIC Spoonbread
View moreOnion rings are a popular American side dish item that is usually served alongside burgers or other fast food varieties, and they are usually accompanied by ketchup, mayonnaise, or some other dipping sauce. These crispy rings are commonly found in the United States, Canada, Ireland, Asia, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
This popular side dish is made by dipping onion rings in batter, then deep-frying them until golden and crispy. It is still unknown who made the first onion ring, but the earliest recipe for this caloric side dish is found in John Molland's 1802 cookbook titled The Art of Cookery Made Easy and Refined, where the recipe suggested that the rings should be fried with parmesan cheese.
MOST ICONIC Onion Rings
View moreThere is no food more American than the classic cornbread. The soft, but firm baked bread made with cornmeal is easily the most important memorabilia of the American past, which is especially associated with the American South. Corn has been a staple ingredient among the Native Americans, who created the first version of what is today known as cornbread.
This original version was common food among the frontier explores, and soon became a staple meal favored among the nation. Originally, cornbread was white in color, and since it was made with stone-milled corn, which produced coarser flour, it created a more substantial meal.
MOST ICONIC Cornbread
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TasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. For the “Top 40 American Side Dishes” list until April 15, 2025, 2,732 ratings were recorded, of which 2,582 were recognized by the system as legitimate. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.