MAIN INGREDIENTS
Olive burger is an American burger variety originating from Michigan. It’s made with a combination of ground beef, oil, white buns, mayonnaise, and pitted green olives. In order to prepare it, the meat patties are fried, topped with a mixture of olives and mayonnaise, then placed in a burger bun with no other condiments.
Some like to add a bit olive brine to the olive-mayo mix, while others put the mayonnaise on a bun, and the patties are topped with olives before they’re placed into the buns. There are many theories about the origins of this burger, and some people claim that Olympic Broil in Lansing made the first olive burger in the 1960s, while others say it was made much earlier at Kewpee Hotel Hamburgs in Grand Rapids.
OTHER VARIATIONS OF Burger
MOST ICONIC Olive Burger
View moreOriginating from Minnesota, cookie salad is a simple dessert beloved by children made by combining fudge stripe shortbread cookies, buttermilk, vanilla pudding, whipped cream, and mandarin oranges. Additional ingredients may include berries, but Oreo cookies are strictly prohibited.
Despite its name, Watergate salad is a summertime dessert consisting of a combination of mini marshmallows, pecans, and chunks of pineapple in a base of pistachio pudding. This dessert started its way to popularity in 1985 or 1986, when Kraft put a recipe for the dish on the box of JELL-O Pistachio Flavor Pudding.
In 1993, the name of the recipe was changed to Watergate salad, and it has stuck until today. Nowadays, Watergate salad is especially popular at Thanksgiving dinners and Easter.
This unique pizza style originates from the Quad Cities region of Iowa and Illinois and is characterized by an unusual strip cut and a slightly spicy sauce. The crust has a nutty taste due to a generous amount of malt syrup, and the sauce contains chili and cayenne pepper flakes.
The pork sausage used for the topping should be cooked and allowed to rest in its juices for several hours before being spread over the entire pizza. Due to its malt-enriched crust, this dish naturally pairs well with beer.
OTHER VARIATIONS OF Pizza
MOST ICONIC Quad City-Style Pizza
View moreMAIN INGREDIENTS
Caramel rolls from North Dakota are a deeply comforting regional specialty—soft, spiraled pastries drenched in rich, buttery caramel sauce that melt into the very heart of the dough. A local twist on the classic cinnamon roll, these indulgent treats are less about frosting and more about the warm, sticky embrace of slow-cooked caramel, reflecting the hearty, unpretentious spirit of North Dakota’s prairie kitchens.
The dough is sweet and enriched, similar to brioche, and is rolled out, slathered with butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar, then tightly coiled and arranged in a baking dish. What distinguishes North Dakota-style caramel rolls is the generous layer of homemade caramel sauce—made from butter, brown sugar, cream, and sometimes corn syrup or vanilla—poured into the bottom of the pan before baking.
Goetta is a sausage-like patty that is synonymous with Cincinnati, although its roots are steeped in German heritage, due to the influx of German-born immigrants in the 19th century. The sausage is commonly eaten for breakfast, and consists of pork, beef, onions, spices, and unprocessed oats.
Traditionally, it is sliced and fried until golden brown, then served with eggs and ketchup on the side. What was once a humble breakfast is today a hip and glamorous dish that is sometimes even used as a hamburger topping. As further proof of goetta's popularity, there is an annual celebration held since 2004 in the Greater Cincinnati area, called Goettafest, focusing on goetta, music, dancing, and other forms of public entertainment.
MOST ICONIC Goetta
This open-faced sandwich is a specialty of Springfield, Illinois, where it was originally invented. A horseshoe typically consists of two slices of toast topped with two meat patties or slices of ham, french fries, and a cheesy sauce. Originally, it was served on a hot metal plate known as anvil, with ham and fries representing the horseshoe nails, hence the name.
There is also a variety of this sandwich called a pony shoe sandwich, which is half of a regular horseshoe portion. The sandwich was invented in the late 1920s by a chef named Joe Schweska at Leland Hotel in Springfield.
MOST ICONIC Horseshoe Sandwich
View moreThis American comfort food dish consists of various types of pasta such as egg noodles or macaroni, along with ground beef or hamburger, tomatoes, onions, paprika, and garlic. Typically served as a main meal, the popularity of American goulash lies in the fact that it is easy to prepare and inexpensive.
The first written mention of the dish was found in a cookbook from 1914, but the only connection to the traditional Hungarian goulash is the addition of paprika. Today, the dish is often garnished with grated or melted cheese, and it is often prepared with leftovers.
MAIN INGREDIENTS
When it first appeared in 1963 at the Grove Supper Club, Springfield-style cashew chicken was an instant success. As an attempt to merge the two worlds, chef David Leong, a Chinese immigrant, modified its native cuisine so that it would appeal to the locals' taste.
Instead of stir-frying, he dipped the pieces of chicken meat in batter, deep-fried them, and then coated them with a thickened dressing made from soy sauce, chicken broth, and oyster sauce. The dish is typically served over rice and garnished with crushed cashews and chopped green onions.
MOST ICONIC Springfield-Style Cashew Chicken
View moreThis unusual American dessert salad is especially popular in Minnesota. It consists of cream cheese, graham crackers, milk, strawberries, and strawberry gelatin, although it can be enriched by the addition of canned pineapple, walnuts, or marshmallows.
The combination of these ingredients is typically refrigerated in order to set. Strawberry delight is sometimes prepared for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and it is still a staple of many potlucks in the American South.
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