Aplets & Cotlets are chewy Washington fruit-and-nut candies made with apples, apricots, and walnuts, then dusted with powdered sugar.

Apple cider donuts are soft, spiced cake donuts made with apple cider, fried or baked, then rolled in cinnamon sugar.

Arroz con gandules is Puerto Rico’s iconic rice dish made with pigeon peas, sofrito, sazón, herbs, and often pork or ham.

A New York bagel is a dense, chewy ring of dough that is boiled before baking, giving it that shiny crust and serious bite.

Bananas Foster is a dramatic New Orleans dessert made with bananas cooked in butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, banana liqueur, and rum, then spooned over vanilla ice cream.

Beef Manhattan is an open-faced roast beef sandwich served with mashed potatoes and a generous pour of brown gravy. It is not fancy, not fussy, and exactly what comfort food is supposed to do.

Wisconsin beer brats are bratwursts simmered in beer and onions, then grilled until browned and tucked into a sturdy bun with mustard, sauerkraut, or more onions.

Beignets are square pillows of fried dough buried under powdered sugar. In New Orleans, they are best eaten hot with café au lait and zero concern for wearing black.

Benne wafers are thin, crisp Charleston cookies made with sesame seeds, butter, sugar, and a little Lowcountry history in every snap.

Mississippi biscuits are tender, buttery Southern quick breads made for splitting, buttering, gravying, jamming, or dragging through whatever is left on the plate.

Bizcochitos are crisp, tender New Mexican cookies flavored with anise and cinnamon sugar.

Blue Moon is a bright blue Upper Midwest ice cream flavor with a mysterious fruity, citrusy, vanilla-marshmallow personality.

Boiled peanuts are fresh green peanuts simmered in salty water until the shells soften and the peanuts inside turn tender, briny, and almost bean-like.

Boston baked beans are navy beans slow-cooked with molasses, salt pork, and seasonings until they turn dark, sweet, smoky, and deeply savory.

Boston brown bread is a dense, slightly sweet steamed bread made with molasses, rye flour, cornmeal, and whole wheat flour.

Boudin is a Cajun sausage made with pork, rice, onions, peppers, and seasonings stuffed into a casing. It is smoky, savory, soft, and perfectly acceptable to eat in a gas station parking lot.

A Kentucky Bourbon Ball is a bite-sized chocolate candy with a bourbon-spiked creamy center, usually topped with a pecan.

A New Mexico breakfast burrito wraps eggs, potatoes, cheese, meat, and chile in a warm flour tortilla.

Buckeyes are peanut butter candies dipped in chocolate, leaving a little circle of peanut butter showing so they resemble the nut of Ohio’s buckeye tree.

Buffalo wings are fried chicken wings tossed in buttery hot sauce and served with celery and blue cheese.

Calas are Creole rice fritters fried until crisp outside and tender inside, then served sweet with powdered sugar or savory with dipping sauce.

Mississippi caramel cake is a soft yellow layer cake covered in cooked caramel icing that sets into a fudgy, sugary shell. It is sweet, old-fashioned, and absolutely not something you rush.

Cat head biscuits are giant Southern biscuits roughly the size of a cat’s head.

Charleston Red Rice is a smoky, tomato-rich Lowcountry rice dish made with long-grain rice, onions, peppers, and often bacon or sausage. In Georgia, you will often see it as Savannah red rice or simply red rice: fluffy, savory, a little sweet, and perfect beside fried chicken, seafood, or ribs.

Cheeseburger pie is a cozy, casserole-style savory pie filled with ground beef, onions, cheese, and a simple custardy or biscuit-like topping. It tastes like a diner cheeseburger wandered into a church cookbook.

A comfort dish featuring flat, noodle-like dough squares poached in rich chicken broth rather than fluffy, biscuit-style dumplings.

Chicken bog is a South Carolina rice dish made with chicken, smoked sausage, rice, and seasonings cooked together until soft, savory, and deeply comforting.

A signature, high-protein, fast-casual dish popularized by Chicken Kitchen in Miami, Florida. It generally consists of grilled chicken breast (often with skin) chopped over yellow rice, lettuce, and tomatoes, commonly topped with curry mustard sauce.

Chicken Creole is chicken simmered in a tomato-rich sauce with onions, bell peppers, celery, garlic, and Louisiana seasoning.

Chicken Maryland is a historic Maryland-style fried chicken dish, usually pan-fried and served with cream gravy.