Are you visiting Texas for the first time or returning after a long absence? You will not want to miss out on the scrumptious treats that are only available in Texas. Texas food is hearty and soulful, and Texans have a special relationship with it. The best snack food from Texas is the kind that stays with you for a long time.
Unique to Texas snack foods include the infamous Texas Toast, Texas Trash, Texas Sausage Kolaches and Southern Fried Okra. These special fried creations are sold at the annual Texas State Fair.
The Lone Star State (as Texas is affectionately called) boasts a diverse range of culinary offerings, including the very popular Tex-Mex variety. If you’re in Texas, you shouldn’t miss out on these unique snacks. For a thorough exposé of them, keep reading.
The Best Snack Foods In Texas
In today’s globalized world, there are very few foods that can remain exclusively local for such a long time. Texans who live outside the state, on the other hand, find it difficult to enjoy the luxuries of some snacks elsewhere, which keeps them returning for those snacks.
This is also true of tourists who have the opportunity to indulge in Texas-style snacks.
Texas State Fair “Fried Anything”
Since its inception in 1866, the Texas State Fair has evolved into an annual event held in Dallas beginning on the last Friday of September and lasting twenty-four days. Every year, it attracts an average of 2 million visitors, excluding World War I, World War II, and COVID-19 years.
It is inexplicable why any Texan or previous visitor would want to miss this fair, which features a banger parade on the opening night, the college football rivalry between Oklahoma and Texas as the main attraction, a “Birds of the World” show, dog and pig races, a BMX bike show, and a tour of the fairgrounds on the $5 million Texas Skyway, which is only open for the 24 days of the fair.
Texas residents have been known to appreciate the unique food menu even more than the incredible array of activities at the Texas State Fair.
Among the classics are Fletcher’s Original Corny Dogs, turkey legs, the usual cotton candy and funnel cakes. Their “Fried Anything” is, however, the show stopper.
Fun Fact: Fletcher’s Original Corny Dogs were invented in 1942 by Neil and Carl Fletcher, the brothers who are frequently blamed for America’s fried food obsession. In the same year, it made its debut at the Texas State Fair.
As evidenced by the abundance of fried foods at the fair, including deep-fried shrimp, toffee, peach cobbler soul rolls, seafood gumbo balls, Oreos, bubble gum, frozen butter balls, chicken fried bacon, and coke, Texans have recently shown the rest of the world that anything can be fried!
The majority of these fried foods are unique to the Lone Star State and have never been seen elsewhere in the world. They are creations inspired by a special passion and admiration for fried foods.
The state of Texas is first on the list of cities with the most obese people, which may be directly related to how much-fried food they consume.
Don’t ask us how these snacks were created; just enjoy them! Enjoying the inventive selection of Texas’ Fried Anythings while admiring the imposing structure of the tallest cowboy in the world, Big Tex, in all his 55-foot glory, is an added bonus.
Texas Toast
This buttery goodness of white bread can be found throughout Texas, and it is the only one praised across the United States in the same way that its European counterpart—French toast—is.
Its shape and thickness set it apart from others. Texas toast is baked more squarely and 3 quarters to 1 inch thicker, making it roughly twice the size of the rest.
Texas toast has come a long way since its humble beginnings at a Texas barbecue restaurant chain called Pig Stand. It is known for its crunchiness when cooked properly and sauce-dipping convenience.
It may be overlooked when displayed alone in a store, but when placed next to a delicious sauce or dip, it becomes an absolute superstar and is a delight to consume! It can also be used to soak up the delicious oils from a barbecue, fried chicken, chicken fingers, and other foods.
Texas Trash
Despite the fact that the name sounds like a major deterrent to trying this snack, you should not run away just yet. Keep reading to find out what it’s made of.
Texas Trash is an easy-to-prepare dish made up of Chex cereal, nuts, pretzels, and chips that are tossed together and topped with a spicy buttery sauce. The sauce gets its spice and flavor from melted butter, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, salt, cayenne pepper, and tabasco.
Corn Chex, rice Chex, wheat Chex, bugles, pretzel sticks, bagel chips, and rye chips can all be included in the Chex cereal mix. Depending on personal preference, all or some of these textures can be used.
Nuts of any kind and cheerios of any flavor can also be thrown into the mix. All of this contributes to the snack’s much-loved crunchiness.
This is the ideal snack for entertaining friends for the holidays or for Texas comfort food, and it only takes about 10 minutes to prepare. Score! This snack combines buttery, umami, garlicky, spicy, and crunchy flavors into one.
Texas Sausage Kolaches
This distinctive breakfast pastry originated in the Czech Republic. It differs from kolaches, a traditional Czech pastry filled with fruit jellies rather than sausages. It became a part of Texan culture when Czech immigrants arrived many years ago.
These sausage-filled kolaches are known as Klobasnek, but they are commonly referred to as kolaches in Texan restaurants. The sausage is coated with cheese, and jalapenos are added for flavor and spiciness. These are rolled into a light, fluffy dough.
If you’re looking for the best Klobasnek in Texas, the West is the place to be. In 1997, the Texas legislature officially dubbed it the “Home of the Kolaches”.It is also home to the first bakery in 1952 that began selling Kolaches.
Southern Fried Okra
Despite its taut, violent history, okra remained a staple ingredient in southern cuisine. The origin of okra cannot be pinpointed. It is, however, linked to countries in West and East Africa.
It provided more than just beauty to the enslaved people’s farmlands; it was also the only meal they were given on some days.
Today, it is often the sole vegetarian option on the predominantly meat-based menus of Texan restaurants. This side dish has a grassy, earthy flavor that most Texans associate with summertime and peace of mind.
To make Southern fried okra, cut it into cube-like pieces, mix it with pepper, salt, egg, chopped onions, cornmeal, and flour, and then fry it in hot oil in a skillet.
Snack Foods In Texas That Are Better Than Anywhere Else
You may have heard that everything is bigger and better in Texas. Well, it’s true. Not only is it the birthplace of some global delicacies, but it also remains unrivaled in getting the flavors right.
Chicken Fried Steak
This beloved chicken fried steak is not actually made with chicken, but rather as a result of an order mix-up between fried chicken and steak in Texas in 1911. It’s also known as pan-fried steak or country-fried steak.
This dish is celebrated on the 26th of October every year, which is called National Chicken Fried Steak Day.
Chicken Fried Steak is a steak cutlet that has been dipped in flour and fried. It is a variation of a dish known as a breaded cutlet, which is prepared by coating a steak in breadcrumbs or batter and then baking or frying the steak.
It is thought that people from Germany and Austria were the ones who brought it to Texas in the 1800s.
In Texas, however, there are three popular regional variations of chicken fried steak: the east, west, and central versions.
| Region | The Difference In Chicken Fried Steak |
| East Texas | Steak is dipped in eggs before dipped in flour. |
| Central Texas | Steak is coated with bread crumbs instead of flour. |
| West Texas | Steak is not dipped in eggs. |
After breading, it is either deep fried or fried in a skillet. The country fried steak is typically served with brown gravy, while the chicken fried steak is served with cream gravy and mashed potatoes.
Pecan Pies
The first pecan recipes to appear in Texas cookbooks date back to the 1870s. However, it wasn’t until 1898 that a Texas woman published the pecan pie recipe in the St. Louis Cookbook.
The origin of pecan pie cannot be traced back to that exact moment, but that is as far as its documented history goes. Since 2013, pecan pie has been designated as the official dessert of Texas.
Pecans, unlike apples, are native to the United States and are widely grown in the South, making them easily accessible.
The pecan pie recipe begins with a traditional pie crust and is then filled with a sweet mixture of pecans, eggs, corn syrup, sugar, and butter. As a result, you get the perfect combination of nuts and sweetness in one bite.
It’s no surprise that two of the top three best places to get pecan pie are in Texas. Goode Company BBQ in Houston and Emporium in Dallas. Another excellent place is Pappas Bros. Steakhouse.
Texas Barbecue
Even though barbecue is popular almost everywhere in the world, no barbecue beats Texas-style barbecue. This barbecue has so distinguished itself that people travel all the way to central Texas to try it. So far, it’s safe to say that this article has shown how much Texans value their beef.
As far as Texas barbecue is concerned, beef reigns supreme, and it is difficult to convince a Texan that pork should be preferred.
This Texan style involves the preparation of pork ribs and sausages as well. Texas is large enough to have regional versions of almost everything, so Texas barbecue styles have an East, West, South, and Central version.
However, when people say “Texas-style barbecue,” they mostly mean the central Texas version. In this method, the meat is rubbed with salt and black pepper or other spices before being slowly cooked over low indirect heat from pecan, mesquite, or post oak wood.
This technique focuses solely on the quality of the meat, so sauces and other condiments are optional.
| Regions | The Style Of Texas Barbecue |
| East Texas | The meat is slow-cooked over hickory wood, allowing it to fall off the bone while marinating it in sweet tomato sauce. |
| West Texas | This kind of barbecuing is a lot like grilling because the meat is cooked directly over mesquite wood heat. |
| South Texas | This style of barbecue is barbacoa, which means slow cooking the meat over an open fire and then marinating it in thick sauce to keep it moist. |
Some of the best places for authentic Texas barbecue include LJ’s BBQ, Miller’s Smokehouse, Blood Bros. BBQ, 1701 BBQ, Valentina’s Tex-Mex BBQ, etc.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What Makes Frito’s Different In Texas?
A bag of Texas Frito’s is little more than a bag of chips, as it is common to open the bag to fill it with chili, cheese, and onions. This is also known as the Texas Straw Hat.
2. What Six Snacks Can’t Texans Live Without?
Snacks are plentiful in Texas, but some are essential to Texans at home and abroad. They include Dr. Pepper’s, Buc-ee’s Beaver nuggets, Whataburger Whatafries, pecan pralines, Blue Bell ice cream, and Frito pie.
3. What Is the State Dish Of Texas?
On May 11, 1977, the state of Texas adopted chili as its official dish.
Final Thoughts
Texas snacks may expose the consumer to a completely new flavor spectrum. They have a rich history and are usually very unhealthy, but they are fun and have a long-standing culture attached to them. When you visit Texas, make sure to try these snacks!
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