28 Recipes for Favorite Midwest Foods (2024)

FAQs

What does a typical meal look like with Midwestern American cuisine? ›

A typical Midwestern meal is considered "all-American." It might be roast beef, grilled steak, hamburgers, or meat loaf accompanied by potatoes (mashed or baked), green beans, corn on the cob, and apple pie for dessert. Kansas City, Missouri, is a leading producer of beef cattle and famous for its steaks.

When it comes to comfort food, no one does it quite like Midwesterners. These Midwest recipes, like butter-basted burgers, tater tot casserole and buckeyes, are guaranteed to make you feel right at home.

Everyday Midwestern home cooking generally showcases simple and hearty dishes that make use of the abundance of locally grown foods. It has been described as "no-frills homestead and farm food, exemplifying what is called typical American cuisine".

A hotdish or hot dish is a casserole dish that typically contains a starch, a meat, and a canned or frozen vegetable mixed with canned soup.

Check out more common pairs of words that everyone confuses. Today, you might notice that the term “supper” is more commonly used in Southern and Midwestern states, probably due to those regions having a greater reliance on agriculture than Northern states and thus having more ancestors who were farmers.

Anything with eggs, bacon, sausage or ham

While you will find plenty of casseroles, kringles and fried mush across the Midwest, you're more likely to find the standards: bacon, eggs and carbs. Like a proper Midwestern meal, the best recipes combine all these together, like in a breakfast skillet.

Culinary Capital of the Midwest

Milwaukee, the Cream City, Brew City, the Good Land, the Gathering…

Made up of countless small towns that come together to form what some call “America's Heartland,” the Midwest is known for its industry, farming, and residents with friendly, down-to-earth attitudes. On a trip to the region, you'll get a little bit of city, a little bit of country, and everything in between.

Midwestern U.S. specialty crops include apples, asparagus, green beans, blueberries, cabbage, carrots, sweet and tart cherries, cranberries, cucumbers, Christmas trees, grapes, greenhouse crops, nursery crops, onions, peaches, plums, peas, bell peppers, potatoes, pumpkins, raspberries, strawberries, sweet corn, ...

Did soul food come from the Midwest? ›

Although the name was applied much later, soul food originated in the home cooking of the rural South, using locally raised or gathered foods and other inexpensive ingredients.

An appetizer of raw, lean ground beef served on bread (especially rye co*cktail bread) with sliced onions, salt and pepper. Also known as "tiger meat," "steak tartare," or simply "raw beef and onions," the sandwiches have traditionally been served at holiday parties and other festive gatherings in the Milwaukee area.

BBQ; St. Louis style pizza; Gooey Butter Cake; Pork Steaks; Toasted Ravioli; 7up (invented in Missouri); Baked Mostaccioli; Fried Catfish; Slinger (dish).

Illinois is especially well-known for it's famous Chicago Deep Dish Pizza, Pierogi (Homemade Polish Dumplings), and Italian Beef Sandwiches.

FACT: There are over 127 million acres of agricultural land in the Midwest and in addition to 75% of that area in corn and soybeans, the other 25% is used to produce alfalfa, apples, asparagus, green beans, blueberries, cabbage, carrots, sweet and tart cherries, cranberries, cucumbers, grapes, oats, onions, peaches, ...

Made up of countless small towns that come together to form what some call “America's Heartland,” the Midwest is known for its industry, farming, and residents with friendly, down-to-earth attitudes. On a trip to the region, you'll get a little bit of city, a little bit of country, and everything in between.

The Midwest is known for its bountiful and diverse agricultural production. Its fertile lands and waters provide ideal conditions for corn, soybeans and wheat crops, as well as 15% of the country's dairy products.