Foods typical in Minnesota cuisine are generally affordable, filling, and hearty, reflecting Minnesota's long, cold winters. The majority of dishes are comfort foods.Though not typical Minnesota cuisine, archetypal fair foods are offered at the Minnesota State Fair including dozens of foods offered "on a stick", such as Pronto Pups and deep-fried candy bars.
Gravlax, Spätzle, halušky, cabbage rolls, potato dumplings, and pierogis are very popular in Minnesota, all of which were brought by immigrants from Northern Europe. "Minnesotan sushi" is an appetizer that contains a pickle, covered in cream cheese and wrapped in ham, and cut into slices like sushi.
Potato salad, and pasta salad are often served in Minnesota. Mashed potatoes and gravy, asparagus, and green beans are Minnesota staples, often eaten at Thanksgiving or large dinners. French fries are often enjoyed with jucy lucys and corn dogs, along with other foods.Typical sides include pickles, locally grown boiled new potatoes seasoned with fresh herbs or horseradish, baked beans, and vegetables buttered peas, and carrots. Preferred to rice or pasta, potatoes are often served alongside buttered rolls and homemade strawberry jam.
Wild rice is eaten plain or as a side with other dishes.
Minnesota-style cheese curds are very popular, they are often served battered and deep fried[3]
Sauerkraut - sliced and fermented cabbage, was brought to Minnesota by German immigrants
Latkes - fried potato pancakes or fritters. Brought by immigrants from Central or Eastern Europe
Minnesotan soups include knoephla, which is popular in Western Minnesota and booyah, which is a thick stew usually requiring up to two days and multiple cooks to prepare; it is cooked in specially designed "booyah kettles" and traditionally was meant to serve hundreds to thousands of people, but in contemporary Minnesotan usage, booyah has found itself typically served at small gatherings. In cooking booyah, one makes a base or broth derived from meat bones, to which vegetables are added. Beef, chicken, and pork are popular varieties of meat for booyah (with all three often in the same kettle), with vegetables such as carrots, peas, onion, and potatoes also in the mix. A wide variety of seasonings are used.
Some soups proposed as the Minnesota state soup include: cream of mushroom, cream of lutefisk, and wild rice soup, all of which include either ingredients from Minnesotan cuisine or are popular in the state.[5][6] Wild rice soup is considered a staple of the cuisine. It typically includes chicken, much like chicken noodle soup. Brought to Minnesota by Vietnamese immigrants, pho is a soup dish consisting of broth, rice noodles, herbs, and meat usually beef, and sometimes chicken. It is very popular in Minnesota and can be found in eateries around the Twin Cities.
Ke'Ke, a Somali-inspired stew made with strips of chapati, was invented in Minnesota.
Lutefisk - is very popular in Minnesota, and is often eaten during Christmas. Lutefisk is driedwhitefish. Usually cod is used, but ling and burbot are also used. It is made from aged stockfish (air-dried whitefish), or dried and salted cod, cured in lye. Lutefisk is traditionally served with boiled potatoes, mashed green peas, melted butter and small pieces of fried bacon. Madison, Minnesota has dubbed itself the "lutefisk capital of the world" as well as claiming the largest per capita consumption of lutefisk in Minnesota. It is also used to make cream of lutefisk soup. It was brought to Minnesota by Norwegian immigrants.[8]
Swedish meatballs - Are usually made with a mix of ground beef and ground pork, or just with ground beef, which is mixed into a mixture of beaten eggs, breadcrumbs soaked in milk, and grated raw onions or finely chopped and fried onions. Cream is often added for more luxurious versions. The meatball mixture is seasoned with salt and white pepper or a mixture of white pepper and allspice. Swedish meatballs are traditionally served with gravy, boiled or mashed potatoes, lingonberry jam, and sometimes pickled cucumber. It was brought to Minnesota by Swedish immigrants.[9]
Hoppel poppel - is an egg casserole made with leftovers. the casserole dish is associated with the Midwestern United States. The basic recipe for the casserole is home fries (fried potatoes), scrambled eggs, and onion. Sometimes it is topped with melted cheese. Other ingredients like green pepper or mushrooms can be added to the basic combination, and a variety of meats can be used including bacon, ham and salami. It was brought to Minnesota by German immigrants.
Pasty - Pasties are made by placing an uncooked filling, typically meat and vegetables, in the middle of a flat shortcrust pastry circle, bringing the edges together in the middle, and crimping over the top to form a seal before baking. Associated with immigrants from the UK, they are popular in the Iron Range of Minnesota.[10] They are popular in the iron range of Minnesota, especially as a lunch for iron miners.[11]
Hotdish- is a casserole dish that typically contains a starch, a meat, and a canned or frozen vegetable mixed with canned soup that must be served hot or warm. the most popular varieties in Minnesota are tater tot, tuna, chicken, hamburger, and wild rice hotdish. They were invented in Minnesota or the Upper Midwest; it is one of Minnesota's most iconic dishes.[9]
Hautedish- is a fancy variation of the hotdish, it is deconstructed and contains tater tots, short ribs, a cream of porcini sauce, topped with green beans, and mushroom-Parmesan salad. Unfortunately all restaurants serving this dish have closed.[12]
Jucy Lucy - a burger with melted cheese in the patty.Two bars in Minneapolis, Minnesota, claim to be the inventor of the burger, while other bars and restaurants have created their own interpretations of the style. In a jucy lucy both patties around the cheese to create a single patty with a cheese core. As the burger cooks, the cheese inside melts. This has the effect of keeping the meat near the center of the burger very juicy. It also separates the cheese from the bun, resulting in a slightly different texture than the usual cheeseburger. Burger toppings such as condiments, onions, and pickles may be added. It was invented in Minneapolis and is one of the most iconic dishes in Minnesota.[9]
Corn dogs - a sausage on a stick that is deep fried in corn batter. Corn dogs are very popular in Minnesota, and are a common state fair food.
Corn brat- another variety eaten in Minnesota is the corn brat, a brat on a stick that is fried in cornmeal.
Minnesota-style pizza - a thin crust pizza, cut into squares, with hearty toppings. It is popular in the Twin Cities and the rest of Minnesota, with several chain restaurants offering the style.[13]
Walleye fingers - pieces of cut up walleye that are deep fried. They are especially popular in Minnesota because they are the state fish. It can also be served as a sandwich in Minnesota's pubs where the fish is very popular, deep fried walleye on a stick is a Minnesota State Fair food.
Baked Penne - is a baked pasta dish consisting of cream cheese, penne pasta, and marinara sauce, it can also be sprinkled with mozzarella and Parmesan. There is also a special variation of baked penne in Minnesota consisting of sausage, ham, and a spicy marinara sauce that is also used on Minneapolis-style pizza.
Slumgullion - is made with ground beef, canned tomato, macaroni, and occasionally cream of corn. They are often served at potlucks along with hotdish.
Iron Range pot roast - a pot roast made with porchetta or pork, potatoes, and seasonings.[14]
Walleye cakes - are fish cakes made with walleye meat.[15]
Shore Lunch- a pan fried fish, usually cooked over an open fire, It can be served with fried potatoes, beans, bread, onion, diced bacon and some form of dessert. The fish is usually caught in a lake or river and cooked on shore, hence the name "shore lunch".
Sandwiches in Minnesota are typically served hot or cold, and were popular among the working class of Minnesota in the Twin Cities, or in the iron mines of Northern Minnesota. Most Minnesotan sandwiches are influenced by Italian Cuisine.
Porchetta sandwich - a sandwich consisting of slow roasted, season pork. It is served on a sandwich with greens (rapini or spinach) and provolone cheese. Porketta remains a popular local dish in towns such as Hibbing, Minnesota with distributors such as Fraboni Sausage.[4]
Hot turkey commercial - an open faced sandwich, with turkey breast, mashed potatoes, and gravy. Sometimes eaten after Thanksgiving.
Pulled pork commercial- an open-faced sandwich containing pulled pork, mashed potatoes, and gravy.
Fried walleye sandwich
Chapati wraps - made of chapati, Somali rice, meats, and various spices.[4]
Hot dago - a sandwich consisting of an Italian sausage patty, between two pieces of bread. It is usually topped with melted cheese, and marinara.[4]
Banh Mi - a baguette, that is filled with vegetables and meats. It originated from Vietnam.
South American sandwich - invented in the iron range of Minnesota. It is a bar snack made with several kinds of minced meat, onions, tomatoes, peppers, celery and other leftovers in between two slices of bread.[18]
Craft root beer is popular in Minnesota and there are many brands in Minnesota such as Killebrew, Lift Bridge, and Northern Craft Root beer. Milk is very important for making cheeses. It is also the state beverage of Minnesota.[19]
The Bootlegger cocktail was invented in Minnesota and remains popular today. Akvavit was brought from Scandinavia by immigrants and is produced in numerous distilleries. The Minnesota Slammer, a popular cocktail in Minnesota, is made with cherry brandy, sweet and sour mix, peach and sour apple schnapps, and lemon-lime soda.[20] A Minnesota martini is a glass of light beer with olives.[21]
Minnesota 13 is a luxury whiskey with several requirements to be defined as such. It is still produced today.
Wine
Minnesota also produces Minnesota wines. The Minnesota Grape Growers Association (MGGA) is a statewide organization that promotes grape growing and winemaking in the state and also in cold-hardy climates. Minnesota is home to the International Cold Climate Wine Competition (ICCWC) hosted annually in partnership between MGGA and University of Minnesota. This is the only wine competition solely dedicated to the promotion of quality wines made mainly from cold-hardy grape varieties.
Ice wine is also produced in Minnesota at several wineries.
Blue Moon ice cream is also popular in Minnesota and throughout the Midwest.[27]Licorice is a popular confection usually flavored and colored black with the extract of the roots of the licorice plant Glycyrrhiza glabra. Licorice is so popular that it was proposed as the state candy in 1997.[28]
The Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station's Horticultural Research Center at the University of Minnesota has developed three new apple varieties, the Haralson, Honeycrisp, and the Sweetango. These fare well in the harsh Minnesota climate and are popular fruit. Morel mushrooms are the state mushroom, and very popular among Minnesotan chefs. Wild rice is a popular appetizer in Minnesota. It can be eaten in several "ways" such as in a soup or hotdish. Lingonberries are used to accompany lefse and lutefisk. The berry can also be eaten plain as a snack. Lingonberries are also used to make jam.
Cheese
Minnesota is known for its dairy industry. Cheeses in Minnesota are made with cow, sheep, or goat milk.[30]Caves of Faribault and Shepherd's Way Farms are among the Minnesota businesses that produce artisan cheese. Caves of Faribault has produced cave-aged cheeses in Faribault since 2001. Shepherd's Way, which began producing cheese in 1998. Minnesota produces numerous cheeses such as: cheddar, brie, Swiss, and gouda.
Spam - is salty processed canned pork and ham. It is made and was invented in Minnesota. It can be eaten in many ways, but also plain as a snack.[33]
Polish sausage - is very popular served cold as cold cuts on a platter, usually for an appetizer. It is also a common snack served with beer or plain vodka.
Porketta - a unique version of porchetta made with pork shoulder or pork butt, and seasoned with garlic and fennel. It is produced in the Iron Range. With producers such as Fraboni Sausage.[35][36][37]
Breakfast hotdish- a hotdish consisting of eggs, cheese, and sausages.
Wild rice pancake
Minnesota-style barbecue
Minnesota barbecue utilizes meats such as short ribs, chicken, pulled pork, and fish such as smoked salmon. Brisket is occasionally used in some establishments.[39]Horseradish is used opposed to chiles as a seasoning to suit the Minnesotan palette. Often, Minnesotan barbecue emphasizes locally sourced livestock, meat, and produce. The style is mainly influenced by other barbecue styles from the United States, along with Hmong, and Scandinavian cuisines. This contrast leads to significant differences between restaurants, in some places such as Hmongtown Marketplace one can find pulled pork, served in a traditional Asian hot sauce and accompanied by sticky rice. Whereas, in a Nordic-style restaurant one may find short ribs with lingonberry barbecue sauce and a side of lefse. Additionally, in Duluth one will find gravlax that has been smoked over barbecue.[40][41]
Historically, barbecue in Minnesota has simply been grilling brats or burgers with barbecue sauce.[39][40][41]
Sides of Minnesotan barbecue include traditional coleslaw, fries, and baked macaroni and cheese, but more unique accompaniments are also included: such as lefse, sticky rice, pickles, and broccoli salad.[39]
Meats in this style are often put on sandwiches. The smoked juicy Lucy is one such example. Short ribs with the bones included are often covered in barbecue sauce and put on a bun. In Duluth, smoked pastrami sandwiches have been served.[41]
Minnesota also uses unique sauces: such as lingonberry-infused barbecue sauce, ranch, and traditional Asian hot sauces.[41]
Minnesota barbecue originated in the Twin Cities, but the tradition of smoked fish barbecue started in Duluth.[39][41]
Regional variations
Due to Minnesota's ethnic diversity in its various regions and differing landscape, Minnesota has attained numerous regional cuisines. Every region has slight differences in its respective cuisine.
Iron Range cuisine encompasses the cooking traditions and dishes of the Arrowhead region and Iron Range of Minnesota. Iron Range cuisine is based on Italian, Cornish, Scandinavian, and Slovenian cuisine. It was heavily influenced by Native American cuisine, seen in the use of wild rice. Many of the dishes were brought by immigrants. Other dishes were invented by the iron mine workers because they needed nourishing foods that they could bring on the go.
More recent immigration trends have introduced Vietnamese, Hmong, Lao, and Thai culinary influences.
Foods invented or produced in the Iron Range
Iron Range pot roast – Pot roast made with porketta or pork, potatoes, and seasonings.[14]
Lovit soft drinks – Soft drinks formerly produced by Fitger brewing in Duluth.[42]
Porketta – Porchetta variation made with pork shoulder or pork butt, and seasoned with garlic and fennel, produced in the Iron Range.[35]
Pizza rolls– Frozen pizza snack, invented in Duluth
Porketta sandwich – Sandwich consisting of slow roasted, seasoned pork, served on a sandwich with greens (rapini or spinach) and provolone cheese. Porketta remains a popular local dish in towns such as Hibbing, Minnesota with distributors such as Fraboni Sausage.[10]
South American sandwich – Bar snack invented in the Iron Range, made with several kinds of minced meat, onions, tomatoes, peppers, celery and other leftovers between two slices of bread.
Pasties – Savory pastries made by placing an uncooked filling, typically meat and vegetables, in the middle of a flat shortcrust pastry circle, bringing the edges together in the middle, and crimping over the top to form a seal before baking. They are popular in the iron range of Minnesota, especially as a lunch for iron miners.[11][10]
Potica – Rolled pastries made of leavened paper-thin dough and a filling, but most often with walnut filling.[1]
Twin Cities cuisine includes more high-end elements than its rural counterparts, such as the Hautedish, a gourmet version of the hotdish and cheese curds made with brie.[12] Of Minnesota's 16 winners of a James Beard Award for restaurant or chef, 14 are in the Twin Cities.[43] Most recently, Christina Nguyen of Vietnamese restaurant Hai Hai won Best Chef Midwest in 2025[44] and Owamni, a new indigenous restaurant, won Best New Restaurant in 2022.[45]
Ke'Ke – Stew made with strips of chapati, invented in Minneapolis by Somali immigrants.[4]
Minneapolis-style hotdog- Hot dog on a sesame bun, and topped with hotdish, tater tots, ketchup, and string cheese.[48]
Minnesota-style pizza – Style of pizza with square cuts (known as Minneapolis-style pizza in the Twin Cities)[13]
Dishes brought by immigrants
Chapati wraps – Wraps with chapati, Somali rice, meats, and various spices.[4]
Hmong sausage– Long thick pork sausage seasoned with herbs, of Hmong origin[49]
Sambusa – Fried savory dumpling of Somali origin, similar to samosas[50]
Other
In Western Minnesota, Buffalo burgers and bison steaks are common due to the bison ranching industry there. On the North Shore, pickled herring and smoked fish are common foods.
Minnesota is known for its church potlucks, where hotdish is often served. Hotdish is any of a variety of casseroles, which are popular throughout the United States, although the term "hotdish" is used mainly in Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Hotdishes are filling comfort foods that are convenient and easy to make. Tater tot hotdish is popular, as is wild rice hotdish; Minnesota is one of the leading producers of wild rice. Dessert bars are also common at Minnesota potlucks. Other dishes include glorified rice, German baked apples and cookie salad.
The cuisine of the American Midwest draws its culinary roots most significantly from the cuisines of Central, Northern and Eastern Europe, and Indigenous cuisine of the Americas, and is influenced by regionally and locally grown foodstuffs and cultural diversity.
Polish cuisine is a style of food preparation originating in and widely popular in Poland. Due to Poland's history, Polish cuisine has evolved over the centuries to be very eclectic, and shares many similarities with other national cuisines. Polish cooking in other cultures is often referred to as à la polonaise.
The milanesa is a variation of the Lombard veal Milanese, or the Austrian Wiener schnitzel, where generic types of breaded cutlet preparations are known as a milanesa.
Bulgarian cuisine is part of the cuisine of Eastern Europe, sharing characteristics with other Balkan cuisines. Bulgarian cooking traditions are diverse because of geographical factors such as climatic conditions suitable for a variety of vegetables, herbs, and fruit. Aside from the variety of local Bulgarian dishes, Bulgarian cuisine shares a number of dishes with its neighboring countries, in particular with Turkish and Greek cuisine.
Norwegian cuisine in its traditional form is based largely on the raw materials readily available in Norway. It differs in many respects from continental cuisine with a stronger focus on game and fish. Many of the traditional dishes are the result of using conserved materials because of the long winters.
Czech cuisine has both influenced and been influenced by the cuisines of surrounding countries and nations. Many of the cakes and pastries that are popular in Central Europe originated within the Czech lands. Contemporary Czech cuisine is more meat-based than in previous periods; the current abundance of farmable meat has enriched its presence in regional cuisine. Traditionally, meat has been reserved for once-weekly consumption, typically on weekends.
Belarusian cuisine refers to the culinary traditions native to Belarus. It shares many similarities with cuisines of other Eastern, Central and Northeastern European countries, based predominantly on meat and various vegetables typical for the region.
Honduran cuisine is a fusion of Mesoamerican, Spanish, Caribbean and African cuisines. There are also dishes from the Garifuna people. Coconut and coconut milk are featured in both sweet and savory dishes. Regional specialties include sopa de caracol, fried fish, tamales, carne asada and baleadas. Other popular dishes include meat roasted with chismol and carne asada, chicken with rice and corn, and fried fish with pickled onions and jalapeños. In the coastal areas and the Bay Islands, seafood and some meats are prepared in many ways, including with coconut milk. Among the soups the Hondurans enjoy are bean soup, mondongo soup, seafood soups and beef soups. Generally all of these soups are mixed with plantains, yuca, and cabbage, and served with corn tortillas.
Traditional Estonian cuisine has substantially been based on meat and potatoes, and on fish in coastal and lakeside areas. However, it now shows influences from a variety of international cuisines and ingredients, with a number of contributions from the traditions of nearby countries. German, Swedish, Russian, Finnish and other influences have played their part. The most typical foods in Estonia have been rye bread, barley, pork, fish, potatoes and cow dairy products. In terms of staple food, Estonia is similar to other countries in the Baltic Sea region.
The cuisine of Wisconsin is a type of Midwestern cuisine found throughout the state of Wisconsin in the United States of America. Known as "America's Dairyland", Wisconsin is famous for its cheese as well as other dairy products, such as cheese curds and frozen custard. Other notable foods common to the region include bratwursts, beer, brandy Old Fashioned cocktails, butter burgers, fish fries and fish boils, cranberries, and booyah stew.
A meatball is ground meat (mince) rolled into a ball, sometimes along with other ingredients, such as bread crumbs, minced onion, eggs, butter, and seasoning. Meatballs are cooked by frying, baking, steaming, or braising in sauce. There are many types of meatballs using different types of meats and spices. The term is sometimes extended to meatless versions based on legumes, vegetables, mushrooms, fish or other seafood.
Regional street food is street food that has commonalities within a region or culture.
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