Recipes

40 Recipes that Are American as Apple Pie (and Burgers and Pancakes and Wings)

Burgers, fries, and pie with a side of the American dream.
Image may contain Burger and Food
Romulo Yanes

Whenever we hear the phrase, "American as apple pie," we can't help but think of all the other great foods that are deserving of the slogan. Okay, so maybe nachos, spaghetti and meatballs, and pizza aren't exactly U.S.A.-born-and-bred. But as far as we're concerned, these are the classic foods we think are American as...you know.

  • Image may contain Food Fries Cutlery Fork Dish and Meal
    Alex Lau
    1/40

    Diner Burger

    Change up the burger toppings according to the season: lettuce and pickled onions in winter months; sliced tomato and housemade bread-and-butter pickles in the summer.

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  • Image may contain Food and Fries
    2/40

    Slow-Fried French Fries

    Season the hot fries with coarse sea salt (we like Maldon).

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  • Image may contain Food Bread Dessert Cake Apple Pie and Pie
    Mikkel Vang
    3/40

    Apple Pie with Spiced Apple-Caramel Sauce

    A little cider vinegar in the filling keeps this apple pie from being too sweet.

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  • Two lobster rolls on a platter with a plate of potato chips sitting behind
    Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne, Prop Styling by Graylen Gatewood 
    4/40

    BA's Ultimate Lobster Rolls

    Warm, toasty, buttered rolls are key. If you can't find New England–style buns, trim 1/4-inch from both sides of standard hot dog buns to remove the crust and expose more surface area.

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  • Classic Caesar salad with whole romaine leaves homemade croutons and shaved Parmesan cheese on a gray platter.
    Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Judy Kim, Prop Styling by Stephanie De Luca
    5/40

    Classic Caesar Salad

    A great Caesar salad gets its swagger from a great dressing. Squeamish about raw egg yolks and anchovies? Sorry. Yolks are what give richness to the emulsion, while anchovies provide a briny blast (and that whole umami thing). Here's our go-to recipe.

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  • Image may contain Dish Food Meal Plant Platter and Produce
    Christopher Testani
    6/40

    Chicken-Fried Steak

    This hot-weather version of a comfort food classic is paired with a fresh, no-cook salsa. Looks like gravy, tastes like summer.

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  • BA's Best Every Barbecue Ribs on a baking sheet with barbecue sauce.
    Photo by Travis Rainey, Food Styling by Liberty Fennell, Prop Styling by Gerri Williams
    7/40

    Best-Ever Barbecued Ribs

    Got nothing but time on your hands? Cook these really low and slow. Set the oven at 300° and start checking the ribs after 3 hours. But don’t sweat it; they’ll be super-tender either way. Watch the step-by-step video here.

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  • Image may contain Food Dessert Cake Plant and Pie
    Gentl & Hyers
    8/40

    Sour Cherry Pie

    Adding almond flour to the pastry dough makes for a super-tender, toasty-looking crust.

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  • Image may contain Ice Cream Food Creme Dessert Cream and Butter
    9/40

    Extra-Buttery Mashed Potatoes

    Drying the cooked potatoes in the pan means that they'll absorb that much more flavor from your herb-infused dairy. Don't skip this step! Watch this video for even more mashed potato tips.

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  • Image may contain Food and Steak
    Photo by Peden + Munk
    10/40

    Perfect Porterhouse Steak

    With a steak this thick, you need to season liberally; when chef Bobby Flay demonstrated for us, the surface of the meat was virtually white from salt.

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As the senior food editor at Bon Appétit, Christina spends her days in the BA Test Kitchen dreaming up recipes for home cooks (Chocolate-Matcha Butter Mochi Cake and Green Curry Lentil Soup are favorites). She also oversees the brand’s digital recipe content, working with freelancers and test kitchen staff to ... Read More
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