Oklahoma Foods That Should Be Way More Famous

Oklahoma has some pretty damn good food.

Everybody knows about the onion burger, chicken-fried steak, Indian tacos, and fried pies. Those have made it onto national food blogs, shorts, and shows, but there are some other Oklahoma foods that deserve a much bigger audience.

Smoked bologna is probably the first one that comes to mind. I know, bologna doesn't exactly sound exciting. But smoke it, slice it thick and put it on a bun with mustard, and suddenly we're having a completely different conversation.

Blue & Gold Sausage Is An Oklahoma Tradition

Blue & Gold sausage is another one. If you've never had it, change that. With school starting back up, kids are selling it. If you can't find it, look on Facebook. Everyone knows someone selling B&G.

Then there's the humble fried pie. Apple, peach, chocolate, whatever you're into. Oklahoma has turned putting pie filling inside a little fried pocket of dough into an entirely reasonable thing to eat whenever you feel like it.

We also don't talk enough about calf fries... I know what they are. You know what they are. Don't make it weird. They're a legitimate Oklahoma food tradition, and somebody outside Oklahoma should probably know that we looked at the menu, saw "calf fries" and thought, "Sure. I'll have those."

Yes, Calf Fries Are An Oklahoma Food

Here's a controversial thing, the first of two on this list. Bean chili.

Texans invented chili. Nobody argues that, but that doesn't mean they own the whole category. That being said, when Okies started adding beans to Texas chili, we invented a new superfood. High protein, good fats, inflammation-reducing spice, and great fiber all in one bowl. It began as a small trend around statehood, but when the Great Depression and Dust Bowl swept into the state, Oklahoma bean chili became a staple. It was so popular, chili parlors opened up all over the state. Ike's Chili in Tulsa is still serving up the good stuff.

Controversial point number two: We might as well toss pecan pie on this list.

I know, Texas and Louisiana like to argue that they invented it, but come on... Mrs. Field's pecan pies are the nation's favorite Thanksgiving dessert, made right here in Oklahoma. It shouldn't be so complicated. We didn't invent it, but we absolutely perfected it.

Oklahoma never needed fancy food trends. We've always done our own thing. And now that smoked bologna chubs are showing up on all of the top BBQ YouTube channels, the rest of the world is catching up, even if they're all still doing it wrong. You don't smoke a whole chub. You split it down the middle lengthwise, then smoke two chub halves. State law.