Every State's Best Food!

Reader’s Digest and Taste of Home asked people across the country to pick the most delicious food in every state

- Jen McCaffery

Alabama

Signature dish: Chicken in WHITE SAUCE. During the 1920s, Alabamians flocked to railroad worker “Big Bob” Gibson’s backyard on the weekends for hickory-smoked chicken smothered in his own vinegar-and mayonnaise sauce. His Decatur restaurant and his chicken and white sauce are still institutions.

Who Knew? Marcel Proust had his madeleine; Alabama has the Lane cake. The layered bourbon-laced confection makes a cameo in several books, including Alabama native Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and the memoirs of former president Jimmy Carter.

Alaska

Signature dish: King crab legs. “Even before the rise of Deadliest Catch, I loved king crab legs. On a dream trip to Alaska, we ordered them, and the legs were longer than my arm.” —Renee Page, Taste of Home field editor

Who Knew? Alaska is renowned for its wild salmon, but the WILD SALMONBERRIES are plenty tasty too. Be careful, though—bears also adore them. In fact, many Alaskans wear “bear bells” when they go picking to avoid surprising their large berry-loving rivals.

Arizona

Signature dish: Posole, a stew made from pork shoulder and hominy. “Posole is a wonderful hearty soup that we ate with our Hispanic neighbors for New Year’s or Christmas.” —Lisa McNeil, Taste of Home reader

Who Knew? Yuma County is known as the Winter Salad Bowl. Arizona is America’s second-largest producer of lettuce, behind California.

Arkansas