The Best Snack in Every State

Ah, snacks—the food we love to indulge in. There’s no shortage of these marvelous munchies, from dips oozing with cheesy goodness to sweet treats that deliciously flood our tastebuds. Everyone has their favorite snack—but which delightful bites are considered the best snacks around?

Well, we partnered with our friends at Taste of Home to answer that burning question. And, turns out, snacks are some of America’s favorite foods. We searched high and low for the best snack in every state, compiling an impressive list that includes state foods, local eats and more. Did your favorite snack make the cut? Read on to find out—and learn some impressive food facts along the way!

Alabama: Golden Flake fried pork skins

Even rival Alabama and Auburn sports fans found common ground over their love of Golden Flake potato chips. Although Utz bought the brand in 2016, Golden Flake fried pork skins (also called chicharrones) are still sold under that beloved name and come in some of the same flavors, including crowd -favorite Sweet Heat Barbecue.

Alaska: Smoked salmon spread

Folks in the Last Frontier take pride in their fresh-caught salmon, which many Alaskans whip into a spread with cream cheese, herbs, lemon juice and horseradish.

Arizona: Cactus candy

Made at the Cactus Candy Co. in Phoenix since 1942, these pink gumdrop squares are flavored with the bright juice of the prickly pear cactus, which tastes of watermelon, bubble gum and lemon.

Arkansas: Cheese dip

What some call queso is cheese dip here, and both fancy and no-frills versions of the magic melty cheese are embraced all over Arkansas, which hosts an annual World Cheese Dip Championship in Little Rock each fall.

California: Guacamole

In a state practically synonymous with avocado, it’s no wonder the guac is so good. Golden Staters mash up the green stuff with just a sprinkle of salt, a splash of citrus and perhaps a pinch of onion.

Colorado: Green chili fries

Order chili cheese fries in Colorado, and your spuds will come not with the run-of-the-mill beef chili on top, but instead with chili verde—a rich and subtle pork stew made with green chile peppers—plus a mountain of melted cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese.

Connecticut: Apizza

Slices of New Haven–style apizza (yes, apizza)—crispy, coal-fired and light on the cheese—abound at Connecticut’s popular pizzerias, several of which use “Apizza” in their names. The term is an endearing imitation of pizza said with a thick Neapolitan accent, a direct contrast to the pie’s signature thin crust.

Delaware: Slippery dumplings

Unlike traditional dumplings, these Delmarvalous ones are rectangular—and swimming in so much chicken gravy they’ll slide all over your plate.

Florida: Chifles plantain chips

The potassium-rich crisps first took off in Tampa in 1963 and now do so regularly aboard JetBlue. The airline known for its unlimited snacks started passing out Chifles (pronounced CHIEF-less) to hungry passengers last year.

Georgia: Pecan pralines

While the original French recipe calls for almonds, authentic Georgia pralines are made with pecans. The state ranks first in pecan production, and bakers pack the nuts into these caramelized clusters with the consistency of fudge.

Hawaii: Spam musubi

A symphony of savory and sweet in a three-bite treat: pan-fried Spam (the canned lunch meat is beloved across the islands), teriyaki sauce and sticky white rice wrapped up with seaweed.

Idaho: Finger steaks

Mylo Bybee created finger-length fried steaks and made them famous when he opened Mylo’s Torch Lounge in Boise in the late 1950s. Most folks enjoy these breaded delicacies by the basketful with cocktail sauce.

Illinois: Popcorn

Cracker Jack is beloved at ballparks, but Garrett popped corn is even more popular across Illinois—especially the caramel and cheddar mix.

Indiana: Corn dog

Synonymous with summer nights in the Hoosier state, these battered-up, deep-fried hot dogs on sticks are also the namesake of Indiana’s newest pre-professional baseball team: The Lake County Corn Dogs.

Iowa: Walking taco

Skip the tortilla and shake your taco fillings into a bag of crushed Doritos or Fritos, and you’ve got a taco you can take with you. Whether this originated at the Iowa State Fair is up for debate. Hawkeyes’ affinity for it is not.

Kansas: Fried chicken

It falls off the bone at famed chicken houses Stroud’s, Chicken Annie’s and Chicken Mary’s. Smart Kansans fry up enough to leave leftovers to munch on the next day.

Kentucky: Bourbon balls

In 1936, candymaker Ruth Booe overheard someone say that the two best tastes in the world were Kentucky bourbon and her chocolate. So she whipped up a melt-in-your-mouth combination of both. Customers even gave Booe their sugar rations during World War II so she could keep making batches of the boozy truffles.

Louisiana: Zapp’s potato chips

“Zapp’s are an iconic Louisiana snack food,” says Laura Herbage, a Community Cook at Taste of Home. Her favorite flavors: Spicy Crawtator (crawfish), Voodoo (vinegar, BBQ seasoning and jalapeño) and Cajun Dill (dill pickle) Gator-Tators.

Maine: Whoopie pie

At least three other states lay claim to the invention of this cake/cookie hybrid. But Labadie’s Bakery in Lewiston seems to have sold them first. Now the official state treat, a Maine whoopie pie is a hearty handful. The joy of discovering one in your lunchbox would make anyone exclaim “Whoopie!”

Maryland: Crab fries

These taters come topped with Old Bay seasoning, a sweet and spicy blend that goes on just about everything in Maryland: seafood, popcorn, even Bloody Marys. Some crabby consumers take crab fries a step further and add actual crabmeat and melted cheese to the mix.

Massachusetts: Fried clams

More than 150 craveworthy clam shacks dot the Bay State. Top favorite Woodman’s of Essex claims to be the birthplace of fried clams, having made the first briny batch back in 1916.

Michigan: Better Made potato chips

In 1930, the Detroit company’s co-­founders set out to make a better chip, hence the name. Of Motor City’s more than 20 original potato chip companies, only Better Made is still around.

Minnesota: Honeycrisp apple

Horticulturists at the University of Minnesota planted the original Honey­crisp seedling—a cross of Macoun and Honeygold apples—in 1962, with hopes of developing a winter-hardy tree that bore juicier, crunchier fruit. Consumers took their first bites of the lip-smacking, explosively crisp apple in 1992 and were instantly smitten.

Mississippi: Cheese straws

Before they had fridges, Southern cooks would knead cheese into their leftover biscuit dough and bake it in strips. Mississippians kept churning out the crisps after kitchen technology caught up, including the Yerber family of Yazoo City, who founded the Mississippi Cheese Straw Factory.