The Best Breakfast Recipe In Every State

Breakfast is an all-American staple, and here at The Daily Meal there is a wide range of favorite breakfasts among our editors, everything from English muffins to yogurts to smoothies. But after much deliberation and research, we set out to find you the best breakfast foods each state has to offer in order to open our minds and taste buds to the delicacies available in each part of our country.

As much as we love our cereals, we also love to indulge in some hearty brunches at the local diner. Many of these menu staples from our local joint have interesting histories and origins. You see, breakfast as we know it today took shape over time — the morning meal wasn't always a plate piled high with waffles and syrup!

Until relatively recently, breakfast was usually made up of everyday staples like bread, cheese, olives, salad, nuts, raisins, and cold meat left over from the night before. There was no gas to cook things quickly, so eating leftovers made more sense in the old days. As civilization evolved, so has our taste for more intricate, cooked breakfasts — and so has the diversity of regional cuisines. So next time you think you're having a simple fried egg in the morning, keep in mind how many amazingly unique breakfast foods are out there. Read on to discover recipes for the best breakfast foods in every state!

Shrimp and grits first came about as a breakfast for Lowcountry fishermen. And while it's popular in much of the South, it's practically Alabama's official dish. Around the state, you'll find it made in a range of preparations, including spicy, peppery, cheesy, creamy and even tangy.

For the Shrimp and Grits recipe, click here.

Alaska is well known for its delicious crab, so you're sure to find that one of the local favorites is a nice eggs Benedict with some delicious crab. To make it at home, just use the regular recipe and replace the ham with scrumptious crab meat!

For the Eggs Benedict recipe, click here.

Seeing as how Arizona is in close proximity with the Mexican state of Sonora, the flavors often reflect the geography. To combine numerous local favorites, order a deep-fried chimichanga or a breakfast burrito — sometimes called a "burro" — with machaca (dried, spiced beef or pork), green chiles, and eggs, wrapped in a fresh flour tortilla.

For the Breakfast Burrito recipe, click here.

While oatmeal is a breakfast staple for a lot of Americans, Arkansas, being the top producer of rice in the country, makes a rice-based breakfast dish with sugar, milk, and a bit of butter (and sometimes cinnamon, vanilla, and/or cocoa) that is often served at the start of the day. Although similar to rice pudding, it is usually referred to as "sweet rice" or "sugared rice."

For the Rice Pudding recipe, click here.

Nothing says California hippie more than their blessed avocado toast. The Los Angeles eatery Sqirl initiated the trend, and it's been growing ever since. It's healthy, low-calorie and easy to make!

For the Avocado Toast recipe, click here.

Colorado has officially claimed the cinnamon roll as their state pastry. Numerous eateries (like Johnson's Corner and Duffeyroll Cafe) have claimed to make the best. So next time you're in the Rocky Mountain State, be sure to pick one up after your hike.

For the Cinnamon Roll recipe, click here.

Although this succulent dish can be found in numerous states, many Connecticut establishments claim it as originating in their state, and we'll take their word for it.

For the Eggs Benedict recipe, click here.

Strawberries are Delaware's flagship fruit. It's hard to find a breakfast there that doesn't include the refreshing berry.

For the Strawberry Pancake recipe, click here.

With a combination of the influence from nearby Cuba and the constant need to stay in beach shape, Floridians often start their days with a simple and healthy breakfast of coffee, toast, and fruit. To turn it local, make the drink a café con leche, the bread a tostada, and the fruit a juicy, freshly-picked orange or grapefruit.

For the Lime Fruit Salad recipe, click here.

Flaky biscuits covered in savory sausage gravy are popular all around the South, but the idea originated with the early settlers and became popular with plantation farmers after the Revolutionary War, so we'll give the nod to Georgia for this starchy breakfast staple.

For the Extra-Flaky Southern Buttermilk Biscuits recipe, click here.

Loco moto is the ultimate Hawaiian comfort food, especially following a night of too many tropical drinks. The dish is comprised of gravy atop a fried egg atop a hamburger patty atop white, sticky rice, and its history dates back to the 1940s, when it was used as an inexpensive way to keep the children happy and full.

For the Burger With a Fried Egg recipe, click here.

Everybody knows Idaho is well known for its incredible potatoes, and there's nothing better than some delicious hash browns or a nice Idaho sunrise to start the day off right.

For the Slow-Cooker Hash Browns recipe, click here.

Illinois is a hardworking state with traditional values. It's very common to find a simple breakfast of scrambled eggs from one of their local farms. Throw some smoky sausage into there and you've got yourself a solid breakfast.

For the Scrambled Eggs With Bison Hickory Smoked Sausage, click here.

Straight out of Amish Country, fried cornmeal mush, or cakes, is a breakfast staple all over the state of Indiana. A simple dish made of only cornmeal, water, and salt boiled together, cooled, and cut, it is usually consumed with maple syrup or sausage gravy.

For the Stuffed Cornmeal Balls, click here.

If you want a quality melon, what better place to go than Muscatine, Iowa, the "Watermelon Capital of the World"? The melon industry may not be booming as much as it used to, but Iowans still know their southeastern town produces the best on the planet, and residents and visitors alike shouldn't have any trouble finding a juicy, local melon to sink their teeth into at breakfast time.

For the Best Summer Melons Recipes, click here.

Kansas is a top producer of beef, as well as oats. Other food and crops you'll find in Kansas are corn, sugar beets, oats, and apples — but beef is a Kansas specialty, and hash is a simple yet satisfying breakfast.

For the Corned Beef Hash recipe, click here.

As the home of KFC it seems only appropriate to assume chicken and waffles is the breakfast of choice here. The Bluegrass State famously cooks up the former ingredient as good as or better than anyone else — though it's by no means the only state with a fried chicken restaurant named after it.

For the Fried Chicken and Waffles recipe, click here.

The fancy French doughnut swimming in sugar, the beignet was declared Louisiana's state doughnut in 1986. This is a New Orleans specialty served at breakfast or for dessert.

For the Beignets recipe, click here.

The stateof Maine is the nation's largest supplier of low-bush blueberries, which are smaller and more flavorful than traditional blueberries. Don't think that lobster is the only dish of choice in this beautiful state.

For the Blueberry Pancakes Recipe, click here.

There's nothing better than an eggs Benedict for breakfast, and Maryland has incredible crab to go with it — especially the state's signature Chesapeake blue crab!

For the Crabcake Benedict recipe, click here.

This has become a citywide obsession in Boston, Massachusetts. The hearty doughnut is covered in maple and bejeweled with little bacon bits. Sweet and salty — everybody's favorite!

For the Classic Donut recipe, click here.

This is a hearty breakfast packed with meat and potato. Perfect for the traveler on the go, pasties have remained popular in restaurants and bakeries in Michigan.

For the Pasty recipe, click here.

There are few things Minnesotan love more than a casserole — as exemplified by their fondness for the regional favorite hotdish — and there's nothing more simple than a light and delicious egg casserole for breakfast.

For the Breakfast Casserole recipe, click here.

This is a really popular dish in Mississippi, and although it's eaten at all times of day, it's very common to find fried catfish in a breakfast sandwich alongside some grits or potatoes.

For the Pan-Fried Catfish recipe, click here.

The best types of cakes are the ones you can eat for breakfast. On that note, Missouri definitely got things right with gooey butter cake, a flat, dense cake made with wheat cake flour, butter, sugar, eggs, and sometimes cream cheese, and dusted with powdered sugar. Although sweet and rich, the dish's firmness is more akin to a brownie, but it's thankfully served like a coffee cake.

For the Gooey Butter Cake recipe, click here.

This is a popular breakfast staple in these parts. Cattle ranching is huge in Montana, so you can get some of the best quality steak around to go with those perfect eggs.

For the Steak and Eggs recipe, click here.

Although they originally hail from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, kolache are incredibly popular in the Nebraska and the Mideest in general. Before the soft yeast dough is baked, the pastry center is filled with a generous dollop of sweet filling like cherry, apple, lemon, poppyseed, cream cheese, strawberry-cream cheese, apricot, or prune.

For the Kolache recipe, click here.

There's a lot of hangovers to cure in Nevada, so it's no surprise that French toast is a staple on many menus.

For the French Toast recipe, click here.

An old-school New England tradition, these doughnuts are worth every glorious calorie. This was a difficult call — New Hampshire is also a huge maple producer, so it was tempting to go with French toast. But the consensus on the street is that these cider doughnuts are the bee's knees.

For the Apple Cider Doughnut recipe, click here.

Also known as Taylor Ham, the pork roll, a New Jersey classic, was reportedly invented in 1856 by John Taylor and is a prepared pork product that is sliced and pan-fried. The most popular breakfast item generally consists of pork roll on a bun or bagel, with a fried egg, American cheese, sometimes lettuce and/or tomato, topped with condiments such as salt, pepper, ketchup, mustard, and hot sauce. It has also been called a "Jersey Breakfast."

For the 8 Foods Only New Jersey People Know About , click here.

Enchiladas, carne adovada, and basically anything else can be eaten in the mornings in New Mexico, but huevos rancheros is the most prominent breakfast of choice in these parts.

For the Huevos Rancheros recipe, click here.

In order to be a true New Yorker, you've got a have a bagel for breakfast at least once a week. A lot of bagel shops have become very creative with their cream cheeses, but the ultimate New York breakfast is hands down a bagel, not toasted, with cream cheese and lox. While a bagel and lox is undeniably New York, a bacon, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich is considered by some to be an equally classic New York breakfast food.

For the Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Breakfast Bagel recipe, click here.
 

North Carolina is known for its comfort foods, and a stack of pancakes is the ultimate comfort breakfast food. To see pumpkin pancakes on the menu around these parts is pretty common.

For the Pumpkin Pancakes recipe, click here.

Kuchen in German is the word for cake, but in this state it is very specific — you can get it in apple, apricot, blueberry, cherry, chocolate chip, peach, and rhubarb. It's the ultimate North Dakota comfort food.

For the Kuchen recipe, click here.

This German breakfast sausage will revolutionize your idea of sausage. It is particularly popular in the greater Cincinnati, Ohio area. Locals often cook their own homemade versions, and usually eat them for breakfast along with condiments like ketchup, syrup, or even grape jelly.

To find out more about Goetta, click here.

Grits are a breakfast staple for residents of Oklahoma. It's a tight call between grits or corn muffins being the state's best breakfast.

For the Cheesy Southern Grits recipe, click here.

Since 65 percent of the blackberries cultivated in the United States are cultivated in Oregon, it's only natural that the best blackberry pie can be found there.

For the Blackberry Pie recipe, click here.

Scrapple is the traditional breakfast meat of Pennsylvania. Developed to minimize food waste, it's made with pork trimmings leftover from butchering combined with cornmeal and flour. Although it may sound unappealing, scrapple served with some toast and cheddar cheese is a Pennsylvania favorite.

For some more information on scrapple, click here.

This is a classic breakfast enjoyed by both Yankee and British commercial fishermen. It's a very Rhode Island tradition and really delicious in the morning with butter and syrup.

For the Johnny Cakes recipe, click here.

Hearty breakfasts are taken very seriously in this state, and grits are an immensely popular staple throughout the South. It's safe to say that South Carolinians take their grits the most seriously, especially when they are accompanied by some delicious barbecue.

For the Barbecue Chicken Over Grits recipe, click here.

One of South Dakota's well-known crops is sorghum, a plant in the grass family from which a molasses-like syrup is made, and it's celebrated in this pie's recipe. Ingredients include granulated sugar, eggs, and, of course, buttermilk and sorghum.

For the Sorghum Pecan Pie recipe, click here.

Fried green tomatoes have been a Southern staple for generations, and what better place to eat them than Tennessee? After all, the state fruit is the tomato.

For the Fried Green Tomato recipe, click here.

Well this seems like an obvious one, seeing as the state of Texas shares its southern border with Mexico. Breakfast tacos are a Tex-Mex tradition, and the love for them has now spread throughout the country.

For the breakfast taco bar recipe, click here.

These are essentially deep-fried dough drizzled with honey and syrup. Not the healthiest way to start the day, but it's certainly a staple in Utah.

For the Scones recipe, click here.

Maple is king in Vermont, so it's no surprise some of the most popular breakfasts involve delicious maple. Anything with maple in this state is a breakfast staple but maple pie is pretty much par for the course.

For the Maple Pecan Pie recipe, click here.

Virginia is known for having some of the best cured ham and bacon around, so it's no surprise to see a lot of locals scarfing down some crispy bacon and eggs for breakfast.

For the Bacon and Egg Breakfast Muffins recipe, click here.

The state is the birthplace of Starbucks and Seattle's Best, but there is also a seemingly-endless number of smaller, independent coffee shops to choose from every morning. There's no better breakfast in Washington than a cup of joe.

For The Best Coffee Shop in Every State, click here.

The Golden Delicious apple was created in West Virginia and stars in a variety of homemade pies, cakes, cobblers, and crumbles in every corner of the state. But according to locals, there's no better role for it than the one it plays in the legendary made-from-scratch apple dumpling.

For 11 Easy and Delicious Apple Dumpling Recipes, click here.

People in Wisconsin are pretty laid back and like to wake up to something nice and easy, like a light coffee cake, along with their morning cup of joe. Baked goods are very popular here, so it's no surprise you see many different delicious breakfast cakes lining the windows of bakeries.

For the Coffee Cake recipe, click here.

Sourdough pancakes have been around in America since the Gold Rush days, when miners and other prospectors ate them for every meal. Although it sounds unappetizing, these are a really nice savory breakfast food, popular in Wyoming and are pretty healthy, too! Once you're finished having breakfast in and around the country, it will probably be lunch time, which would be a great time to find the best taco in every state!

For the Sourdough Pancakes recipe, click here.

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