On this side of the pond we do proudly and properly have our go to comfort food and drink of fish and chips and English tea. I was just wondering what America’s equivalent was.

34 comments

  2. Our comfort food is going to be more regional.

    When I think of southern comfort food, I think fried chicken, collard greens, black eyed peas and cornbread for dinner and biscuits and gravy or grits for breakfast. Jambalaya or gumbo for Louisiana.

    In Texas and California, my go to comfort is fajita/carne asada tacos.

    Up north, you’re probably looking at a local pizza as the stereotypical cheap comfort.

    The mountain west outside of Colorado the answer seems to be “beef, likely a cheeseburger.”

    I have absolutely no idea what people in the Northwest eat other than that Seattle seems very proud of their teriyaki.

    But really, we’re diverse enough that if any food in the world is big, warm, and full of fat, it probably is somebody’s comfort food.

  3. Fried catfish and french fries with a couple of hush puppies and a glass of sweet tea.

  4. It will vary by person. We are a country of immigrants and it usually heavily correlates with what we ate as children.

    There’s probably a lot for me. [homemade] Chicken Soup with a buttered bread. Maybe a roast chicken with mashed potatoes and peas. Growing up in New England: Chinese take out. Peanut butter and Jelly sandwich. Homemade warm apple pie with vanilla ice cream. A toasted homemade lobster roll. Grilled cheese and tomato soup.

    Breakfast: French toast 

    Those are all really cozy for me.

  5. For me personally, a good burger and fries with a cola or root beer. 

    That said, comfort food is something we do well. Some of my personal favorites are meat and gravy pies (cottage or chicken pot). Jambalaya. Big bowl of spicy chili. Chicken noodle soup. 

  6. Our comfort foods vary immensely by region and what you’re looking for.

    For homemade stuff, the most universal is probably a grilled cheese or Mac n Cheese. For something from a restaurant, it’d likely be a burger and fries or a slice of pizza.

  7. Most Americans prefer a varied diet, and the American population is so diverse that it would be impossible to claim something is true for all of us.

    That said most casual restaurants, diners, sport bars, dive bars, pubs, etc. will serve you a burger and fries and chicken fingers and fries.

    Fish and chips aren’t as common in the US, but it isn’t a hard to find dish.

    “Comfort Food” to me means something more homemade and would vary regionally and ethnically.

  8. Outside of the boring BurgerNFries, here in the SF Bay it’s probably a burrito the size of a newborn. But even in the same state, you go down south and LA scoffs at our magnificent Mission Burritos. Farther inland AZ does burritos only as wide as your thumb!

    The US is too big for one dish to unite, too big for any single cuisine even. Maybe you could find one dish on a state-by-state basis… as long as they’re small states and don’t have small burrito crazies like LA seems to tolerate.

    Here’s a map with regional generalities which might be accurate to, say, 50% of the population?

    [https://www.estately.com/blog/2014/07/the-geography-of-each-u-s-states-favorite-food/](https://www.estately.com/blog/2014/07/the-geography-of-each-u-s-states-favorite-food/)

  9. Where I am from I believe the equivalent would be a plate of BBQ with sides of Cole slaw and hush puppies. Around here BBQ=pulled pork. 

    For me I love BBQ but comfort food is more  like pot roast and potatoes,   lasagne or grilled cheese. 

  11. We don’t really have quite so unified of a culture as the UK in regards to food. Food in the US is very diverse and somewhat regional. Size comes into account because of that regional influence on food too. Texas is 2.8 times the size of the UK and it isn’t even the largest state. Plus we have 49 more.

    As for the different regions:

    Fish and chips is somewhat popular in the North East part of the US. I mean you can find it anywhere but they eat a lot more of it in that area.

    In the south you are probably looking more along the lines of something like fried chicken, sweet tea, mashed potatoes, cornbread and greens. Fried Catfish is pretty popular too, but it’s served with fries (they would never call them chips there, but they would in the northeast), hush puppies and cole slaw usually.

    The Midwest is going to be somewhat similar to the south, but in the great lakes area will also add other freshwater fish from great lakes to the fish fry, mainly Walleye.

    In the South West you are going to see a lot of Tex-Mex style comfort food.

    For the great plains and Rockies areas they sure do love their beef. Beef Stew, Steaks, that sort of thing.

    As for the west coast, northeast, Alaska and Hawaii. I’m not really sure someone more familiar with those areas would have to answer.

    For me personally, I’m from Appalachia/Eastern Kentucky. Nothing quite hits the spot for me like a nice bowl of soup beans with some corn bread crumbled into it. I like to add some chopped up boiled eggs, diced raw onion, dill relish and hot sauce to mine too. Hits the spot every time and reminds me of many a meals at home.

    I suppose if you really had to give a national level answer it would probably be a burger and fries with a coke or milkshake. They are super common and available everywhere. But I don’t think most people really consider it comfort food.

  12. Well, my preferred top comfort food is soup and cinnamon rolls made by my mother, but that isn’t widely available. For something available to buy, I go with the chicken, hummus, pita, and salad combo from a shawarma place.

    Grilled cheese is a common easy comfort food.

  14. It will depend on the person more but I’d say a cheeseburger and fries with a Coke or a milk shake is pretty classic American.

  16. Wait, you drink tea with fish and chips? I would say it’s a palate clash, but considering British cuisine…

  17. Um, well Fish and Chips is a comfort food to me… but a cheeseburger, fries, and a soda will do the trick. Or a burrito.

  19. Fish and Chips are very popular here, but I would probably have to go with a grilled cheese if we’re talking the entire US. Comfort foods can be pretty regional though, so in Chicago, probably a hot dog/burger and a beer.

  20. burger and fries with something fizzy

    or

    chicken fingers and fries with something fizzy

  22. I live in the Midwest. Comfort food for me is either church lady chicken and noodles (not a soup kind of more a creamy stew consistency) or fried smoked sausage with fried potatoes

  23. You all eat the fish and chips and the tea together? Hmm. I’ve been to England and has both and enjoyed but I don’t know about together.

  29. Swap your tea for a beer and you got the typical Midwest Friday night fish fry. Usually available in cod, perch, or walleye.

  30. Burger and fries will be the most universal.

    I’m from the south and our comfort food is called Soul Food. It includes corn bread, southern baked Mac and cheese, fried catfish, Turkey necks, Cajun style fried chicken (think Popeyes), and more. Different regions will have their own version.

  31. There are lots of American comfort foods. American food is all about comfort.

    If I had to pick which food fills the specific niche in American culture that fish & chips fills in English culture, I would only be able to narrow it down to pizza, burgers, and burritos.

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