Editor's Note: (The images in this story were photographed by Crystal Wise and Thanin Viriyaki)
From brawny chicken-fried steaks to margaritas the size of your head, Texas’ signature foods do not mess around. They satisfy. They sizzle. They smoke. It’s no surprise that beef is the VIP of Lone Star cuisine, which is hearty, heavy, and heavenly on the palate (if not the waistline). Healthy it is not — though we’ll give fried okra a pass. And just like Texans, our food reflects an incredible diversity of cultural influences including African American, Mexican, German, Czech, Jewish, French, and English.
Many of our favorite dishes were born and raised in Texas, but not all of them. Most of their creation myths are shrouded in mystery, debated, and disputed. We’ll probably never know the name of the first person to drop ice cubes into their tea or the grandma who whipped up the original pecan pie. Their stories are lost to history, but one thing is certain: Their culinary inventions echo in eternity … or at least, they taste really, really good.
1. Beef Fajitas
While the entire Tex-Mex panoply could appear on this list, beef fajitas take precedence for their succulent sizzle — a char-ful aroma that you just can’t ignore when the waiter walks by your table with a hot, smoldering skillet. You can follow the smoke back to the cattle ranches of Texas and Northern Mexico, where tough cuts of beef like skirt steak were grilled right on an open flame. Vaqueros named the strips of meat fajitas, which means little belts or sashes in Spanish. They added native peppers and onions to the mix, and by the 1930s fajitas were an in-demand festival food in the Rio Grande Valley. Even back then, onlookers couldn’t resist the enticing fajita fragrance. The dish slowly made its way onto restaurant menus, including Mama Ninfa’s tortilleria in Houston, and in 1969 the signature sizzling platter was introduced in Hidalgo County. Loaded onto a warm tortilla, fajitas are endlessly customizable. Just remember: Don’t touch the plate, it’s hot!
Where to find it: Pappasito’s, Los Molcajetes, Uncle Julio’s
2. Chicken-Fried Steak
Greater than the sum of its beef, batter, and grease, the chicken-fried steak sings of wide-open skies and dusty backroads, a symphony of Texas that’s smothered in cream gravy. Or maybe brown gravy, in which case it turns into a country-fried steak … although some Texans hold that gravy doesn’t matter; country-fried steak is cooked in a pan while chicken-fried steak is dipped in the deep fryer. At any rate, the crusty crowd-pleaser is often attributed to the Germans and Austrians who moved to the state en masse during the 1800s, bringing with them a taste for schnitzel: a thin, tenderized cut of meat that’s breaded and fried. The pork and veal that the immigrants preferred were in short supply on the frontier, but cattle were plentiful, so they made do with beef. However, the folks in Lamesa, Texas, (home of the annual Chicken Fried Steak Festival) would beg to differ. They insist that a local restaurant cook created the dish by accident when he misread two separate orders for “chicken” and “fried steak” as one. Others insist it originated in restaurants in Colorado and Kansas before arriving in Texas, where it caused such pandemonium that it’s been indelibly associated with our fair state ever since.
Where to find it: 97 West Kitchen + Bar, Star Café, Reata
3. Iced Tea
In Texas, iced tea isn’t a drink — it’s a way of life. Whether you prefer sweet, unsweetened, or half-and-half, it’s no mystery why we guzzle down gallons of the stuff: Our home is as hot as a bonfire on hell’s front porch. We drink iced tea in the summer to withstand soul-blistering temperatures, and we drink it in the five days of winter because, well, that’s what we do. We sip it on the porch and buy jugs of the stuff at drive-through tea barns. Restaurant servers set whole pitchers of tea on our tables because we’re knocking it back so fast. Hot tea has a long history, dating back 4,700 years to ancient China. But iced tea made its earliest confirmed appearance in 1839 in Naples, Italy, as noted by a British countess. The chilly beverage debuted in the U.S. during the 1860s and spread quickly, and the first sweet iced tea recipe was printed in the 1879 book Housekeeping in Old Virginia by Marion Tyree, a native Texan. After a British tea merchant promoted the drink at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, demand soared … and we’ve been asking for refills ever since.
Where to find it: Literally every single restaurant, supermarket, and convenience store in the entire state of Texas
4. Pecan Pie
Taking its name from an Algonquin word meaning “a nut that requires a stone to crack,” the hard-shelled pecan is indigenous to North America and was harvested by native tribes for centuries. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew pecan trees in their orchards … but who invented the pie? Sugar pies made of butter, sugar, and eggs were baked across medieval Europe, and colonial Americans adapted their traditional recipes with ingredients they could find in the New World. They added molasses to make shoo-fly pie, cornmeal to make chess pie, and pecans to make pecan pie. French settlers in New Orleans may have crafted the first pecan pies, putting their homeland’s legendary pastry heritage to work with the local nuts. A published recipe didn’t show up until the late 1800s, but the dessert as we know it was truly born alongside an ingredient every pecan pie baker will recognize: Karo syrup. Launched in 1902 with a huge marketing blitz, the corn syrup took centerstage in a pecan pie recipe whipped up by a Karo salesman’s wife in the 1930s. Calling for Karo syrup, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and pecans, it’s still the same recipe that appears on countless American tables every Thanksgiving — you may have even made it yourself.
Where to find it: Swiss Pastry Shop, Sweet Lucy’s Pies, Emporium Pies
5. Chili
You can call it red chili or chili con carne. You can load it up with shredded cheese, sour cream, onions, jalapeños, or all of the above. You can eat it with cornbread or crackers — but whatever you do, don’t make it with beans. Described by Will Rogers as a “bowl of blessedness,” chili is the official state dish of Texas. It can be a main course, a side dish, or a topping, and it even shows up in another one of our favorite foods, the Frito pie (see below). Chili’s origins are just as messy as the food itself, with different drips leading back to the Aztecs, Canary Islanders, Texas prisoners, and a Spanish nun. What’s uncontested is that shortly after the Civil War, the legendary Chili Queens of San Antonio started selling their chili con carne from street stalls on Military Plaza. Around the same time, chuckwagon cooks were probably making chili on cattle drives, where wild onions and chili peppers grew along the trails. Beef was too valuable to waste on lowly cowboys, so they opted for venison instead. The dish came into its own during the Depression Era when chili parlors proliferated; people loved the cheap and easy-to-cook meal that could feed a crowd. Chili comes in countless varieties these days, from Cincinnati chili with cinnamon to Hoosier chili with pasta. No comment. We’ll rest on the immortal words of the 36th president, Lyndon B. Johnson: “Chili concocted outside of Texas is a weak, apologetic imitation of the real thing.”
Where to find it: Angelo’s Bar-B-Que, Paris Coffee Shop, Chili Parlor at White Elephant Saloon
6. Kolaches
Filled with fruits and sweet cheese, the doughy kolache traveled to Texas with the thousands of Czech immigrants who arrived here in the 1800s. Many came from Bohemia and Moravia, settling across Central Texas and especially in the area around West: kolache ground zero. The Czechs stuffed their koláče with whatever they could grow in the region’s rocky soil: peaches, plums, and poppyseed. Homemade cottage cheese called tvaroh was also a favorite. You’ll still find these traditional flavors of kolaches alongside newfangled fillings like cherry cream cheese, pumpkin, and Nutella. But wait! What about that eternal crowd-pleaser, the juicy, savory, oh-so-delectable sausage kolache? Technically, a sausage kolache is not a kolache at all, because kolaches are always sweet. Instead, it’s klobasnek — and klobasneks were created by Czechs already living in Texas. Now, would you like that heated up?
Where to find it: Pearl Snap Kolaches, A & H Donuts, Busy B’s Bakery
7. Texas Sheet Cake
Also called funeral cake for its frequent postmortem appearances, this flat, wide chocolate dessert bears an uncanny resemblance to the West Texas landscape. Buttermilk is the secret ingredient that hides beneath the fudgy frosting and scattering of chopped pecans. You may remember eating a slice at your mamaw’s house or the church potluck (there are always plenty of servings to go around). Many people hold Lady Bird Johnson responsible for the dessert; she was the star contributor to a 1960s cookbook by a women’s group affiliated with the Fort Worth Christian School. But the book’s recipe for “Sheate Cocoa Cake” wasn’t the first — a similar version had appeared in a Galveston newspaper way back in 1936. Wherever Texas sheet cake came from, we’ll take another slice, please … and a glass of milk, too.
Where to find it: Hot Box Biscuit Club, Blue Bonnet Bakery, Central Market (along with an almond-flavored white Texas sheet cake)
8. Frito Pie
As soon as Fritos were introduced in 1932, someone was probably eating the corn chips with chili and cheese. But when did the dish become a Frito pie? The earliest known record comes from — gasp! — Oklahoma, where one Lillian Townsend published a casserole recipe in 1948: Layer Fritos, chili, then cheese in a pan; repeat and bake until bubbly. The Frito company followed suit with a pie recipe in 1949 that was written either by the company founder’s mother, secretary, or cookbook writer. The spicy sludge caught on like wildfire. By the mid-1950s, Frito pie was slapped onto school lunch trays across Texas and served at Disneyland’s Casa de Fritos. When Frito-Lay ditched its paper bags in the ‘60s in favor of cellophane, some innovative and/or lazy soul had the bright idea to pour the chili and cheese straight into the bag. Who needs a bowl? Today, Frito pie has conquered football stadium concession stands across America, and only one question remains: What to top it with? Let the debate begin!
Where to find it: Dutch’s Hamburgers, Bullfrog Grill, Spiral Diner
9. Margarita
Frozen or on the rocks? Salt or no salt? Every day or every other day? On a sunny Texas afternoon, a frosty margarita hits the sweet spot — and the sour spot and the salty spot. This refreshing balance of flavors helps to elucidate the cocktail’s enduring popularity, but it certainly doesn’t clarify its origin story. Depending on who you ask, the margarita was invented in the 1930s in Chihuahua, Baja California, Houston, Galveston, or London. Perhaps a restaurant owner dreamed it up for a vaudeville dancer who was allergic to whiskey and vodka. Maybe a bartender named his new drink after the daughter of the German ambassador, a faithful customer. A milkman, a Dallas socialite, and an Irish bartender all take credit for the concoction. Whatever the case, a similar cocktail called a brandy daisy (made with brandy, orange liqueur, sugar syrup, and lemon juice) was on the scene in the late 19th century, long before the margarita appeared. Someone, somewhere substituted tequila and limes for the brandy and lemons, calling the new drink a margarita — which is Spanish for daisy.
Where to find it: Joe T. Garcia’s, Muy Frio Margaritas, Taco Heads
10. Fried Okra
The trusty sidekick of barbecue and chicken-fried steak, these hot little nuggets have a unique texture and taste that stands apart: slightly earthy, mildly sweet, grassy, and fresh. Whether you like your fried okra encased in heavy batter or lightly dusted with cornmeal, it’s a bona fide vegetable that passes as “healthy” if you close your eyes and squint. Okra was initially cultivated in tropical Africa thousands of years ago before spreading through the Middle East and into India. Ancient Egyptians carved pictures of the pods on their temples, and Arabs used toasted, ground okra seeds as a feeble substitute for coffee. The vegetable went even further when it was transported to the Americas in the holds of slave ships. Enslaved people from the Congo and West Africa brought a tradition of frying the pods, which are now essential in several Southern cuisines including soul food, Cajun, Gullah Geechee, and of course: Texan.
Where to find it: Tricky Fish, Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken, Campfire Grill
11. Smoked Brisket
Delectable smoked brisket began popping up on Texas restaurant menus in the 1950s and ’60s; Black’s BBQ in Lockhart claims they were the first to sell the slow-cooked beef. But you could find it in meat markets decades before that, particularly in delis that served the Jewish community. Along with other Central Europeans, many Ashkenazi Jews also emigrated to Texas in the 1800s, and they brought brisket with them. It had long been a staple of Jewish cuisine (especially on holidays), a tough yet affordable cut that met the strict kosher requirements of their religion. They adopted the smokehouse cooking methods of the Texas Czechs and Germans, and by the early 1900s, Jewish grocery stores were running ads for smoked brisket alongside corned beef, kosher sausage, and pastrami. Half a century later, the rest of the state finally caught on and the quintessential Jewish meat became a worldwide Texas icon.
Where to find it: Panther City BBQ, Brix Barbecue, Smoke-A-Holics BBQ
12. Breakfast Burritos
New Mexico can claim this handheld delight. The term “breakfast burrito” premiered on the menu at Tia Sophia’s restaurant in Santa Fe in 1975, although the dish was making the rounds in the Southwest long before that. Burritos date back to the 19th century, when burros carried the convenient meals at worksites. But breakfast burritos bring American, Mexican, and Latin American flavors together. Bacon, eggs, and potatoes join forces with chorizo, peppers, and avocado to create a perfectly portable morning meal. Don’t forget the hot sauce!
Where to find it: Salsa Limon, Esperanza’s, La Rueda
13. Texas Toast
Delicious dipped in cream gravy or piled high with pulled pork, burly Texas toast is crispy on the outside and spongy in the middle: straight buttery goodness. The carb-loaded comfort food came out of the 1940s from a barbecue chain called the Pig Stand, a Dallas-based operation that expanded to more than 100 restaurants across the country. Either at the Denton or the Beaumont location, the owner ordered extra-thick sliced bread from a local bakery to try and make a splash with the customers. It was so big, however, that it wouldn’t fit in the toasters! They decided to slather it with butter on both sides and brown it on the griddle instead, and a Texas legend was born.
Where to find it: Jon’s Grille, Fred’s Texas Café, Whataburger
14. Peach Cobbler
With thicker dough and easier prep, peach pie’s deconstructed cousin is one of the most sought-after sweets in the state. We can thank New England colonists and American pioneers for “cobbling” together this gooey dessert, which was born out of necessity: The settlers didn’t have the right cooking equipment to bake a fancy peach pie. So, they improvised by dumping fruit into a Dutch oven, topping it with clumps of biscuit dough, and cooking it over the open fire. They used the fruit they could find, and in Texas that usually meant peaches. Unfortunately for the early Americans, Blue Bell’s vanilla ice cream wouldn’t come along until the early 1900s. We’ll have an extra scoop in their honor.
Where to find it: Lucile’s, Shady Oak Barbeque, Drew’s Place Soulfood
