Texas is a big state, and its unique cuisine reflects the wide range of ethnic and cultural groups that call Texas home. It’s no secret that much of this cultural influence comes from Mexico, but Texas cuisine is also a blend of Southern, African American, Native American, and European influences.
Fried chicken steak
This iconic Texas dish was actually adapted by German and Austrian immigrants from the Wiener Schnitzel. The softened cubed steak is dredged in flour and deep-fried until crispy and golden brown. It is often served with creamy gravy. This dish is so Texan that in 2011, the Texas legislature declared October 26 “Texas Fried Chicken Day.”
Pecan pie
Pecan pie is popular in almost every southern state, but Texas is the only one that claims to be the official state dessert. In fact, the first known recipe for pecan pie was submitted to the St. Louis Cookbook in 1898 by a woman from Texas.
Brisket
The brisket arrived in Texas through German and Czech immigrants, many of whom were Jewish and brought with them traditional methods of preparing the Passover brisket. Texas cattlemen and immigrants soon began exchanging cooking methods, and eventually the Texas smoked brisket was born.
Chili con queso
Also known as simply queso, this combination of melted cheese and chili peppers is a Tex-Mex creation from the early 20th century. It is believed to have originated in one of the oldest known Tex-Mex restaurants: The Original Mexican Restaurant in San Antonio.
Colaches
You know Tex-Mex, but do you know Tex-Czech? In the late 19th century, Czech immigrants brought kolaches, a traditional pastry consisting of canned fruit in a flaky dough, with them to small rural communities in Central Texas. Over time, it evolved into a kind of hybrid using local ingredients such as prickly pear.
Tex-Mex
is a top-down view of two flour tortillas filled with a colorful mix of grilled chicken breast strips, yellow and red bell peppers, and onions, topped with sour cream, guacamole, and cilantro.
Although “Tex-Mex” doesn’t refer to a single dish, we wanted to include the broader cuisine on our list because it encompasses so many dishes, including chile con queso, nachos, tacos al carbon, enchiladas, and fajitas, to name a few.
Tex-Mex is one of the oldest regional cuisines in America, adapted from the home cooking of Tejanos, or people of Mexican descent living in Texas. It gained wide popularity thanks to a group of women known as the Chile Queens of San Antonio, who served food in the city’s plazas.
