The Favorite Grilled Food in Each State [2021 Data Study]

Summer is here and that means it’s grilling season. Whether you’re cooking on a gas grill, a pellet grill, or a charcoal grill, you’re going to have a great meal. From chicken to ribs to veggies, there are so many options to throw on the grill and make something delicious.

With the 4th of July (an annual grilling holiday) right around the corner, we were interested in seeing exactly what foods Americans were looking to grill. We turned to Google Trends and used their search interest data to discover the favorite food in each state. Read on to see the full results.

Main Findings

We pulled the data from Google for 12 common grilled items and by analyzing that data from the last 30 days, we were able to find the top result in each state. The map below shows our findings.

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U.S. map of the most popular grilled food in each state

After putting the data together and analyzing, grilled chicken was the most popular grilled food, winning the top spot in 19 states. It’s a staple of any good cook out and with so many ways to prepare it and so many recipes, it makes sense why it’s searched so often. 

The second-most popular grilled food was a bit of a surprise — grilled veggies. It took the top spot in 9 states and we have to say with the right grill basket, grilled veggies can be quite the treat. 

Hot dogs, another staple of the barbecue, was tied for third with 6 states along with ribs.

There was a 4-way tie for fourth with hamburgers, steak, grilled pineapple, and fish all being the favorite in 2 states each. Tied for fifth was grilled pork chops and grilled brats each with 1 state. 

Bar chart of the most popular grilled foods in the U.S.

The chart above has that count of states. This represents the number of states that had the food option as their favorite, most-searched grilled food. 

Below is a deeper look at each state. Before we were just looking at the favorite in each state. The list below has the top 5 in each state with 1 being the most-searched and 5 being the fifth most-searched.

The Top 5 Favorite Grilled Foods by State

Alabama

  1. Grilled Chicken
  2. Hot Dogs
  3. Grilled Pork Chops
  4. Grilled Ribs
  5. Hamburgers

Alaska

  1. Grilled Chicken
  2. Hot Dogs
  3. Hamburgers
  4. Grilled Steak
  5. Grilled Fish

Arizona

  1. Hot Dogs
  2. Grilled Chicken
  3. Grilled Veggies
  4. Hamburgers
  5. Grilled Steak

Arkansas

  1. Grilled Chicken
  2. Grilled Pineapple
  3. Hot Dogs
  4. Grilled Ribs
  5. Grilled Pork Chops

California

  1. Grilled Veggies
  2. Grilled CHicken
  3. Hot Dogs
  4. Hamburgers
  5. Grilled Pineapple

Colorado

  1. Grilled Veggies
  2. Grilled Chicken
  3. Hamburgers
  4. Grilled Steak
  5. Hot Dogs

Connecticut

  1. Grilled Ribs
  2. Grilled Chicken
  3. Hot Dogs
  4. Hamburgers
  5. Grilled Pork Chops

Delaware

  1. Grilled Ribs
  2. Grilled Pork Chops
  3. Hot Dogs
  4. Grilled Chicken
  5. Grilled Steak

Florida

  1. Grilled Chicken
  2. Hot Dogs
  3. Grilled Veggies
  4. Grilled Ribs
  5. Hamburgers

Georgia

  1. Grilled Chicken
  2. Grilled Veggies
  3. Hot Dogs
  4. Hamburgers
  5. Grilled Steak

Hawaii

  1. Grilled Fish
  2. Grilled Chicken
  3. Grilled Steak
  4. Hot Dogs
  5. Hamburgers

Idaho

  1. Grilled Ribs
  2. Hamburgers
  3. Hot Dogs
  4. Grilled Pork Chops
  5. Grilled Steak

Illinois

  1. Grilled Veggies
  2. Grilled Chicken
  3. Hot Dogs
  4. Grilled Ribs
  5. Grilled Pork Chops

Indiana

  1. Grilled Chicken
  2. Grilled Steak
  3. Hamburgers
  4. Hot Dogs
  5. Grilled Veggies

Iowa

  1. Grilled Pork Chops
  2. Grilled Chicken
  3. Grilled Steak
  4. Hot Dogs
  5. Hamburgers

Kansas

  1. Grilled Ribs
  2. Grilled Chicken
  3. Hot Dogs
  4. Hamburgers
  5. Grilled Fish

Kentucky

  1. Grilled Chicken
  2. Grilled Ribs
  3. Grilled Pineapple
  4. Hamburgers
  5. Hot Dogs

Louisiana

  1. Grilled Pineapple
  2. Grilled Chicken
  3. Grilled Steak
  4. Hot Dogs
  5. Grilled Ribs

Maine

  1. Hot Dogs
  2. Grilled Pork Chops
  3. Grilled Chicken
  4. Grilled Ribs
  5. Hamburgers

Maryland

  1. Grilled Chicken
  2. Grilled Pineapple
  3. Grilled Ribs
  4. Grilled Fish
  5. Grilled Steak

Massachusetts

  1. Grilled Veggies
  2. Grilled Pineapple
  3. Grilled Chicken
  4. Hot Dogs
  5. Hamburgers

Michigan

  1. Grilled Veggies
  2. Grilled Pineapple
  3. Grilled Chicken
  4. Grilled Ribs
  5. Hot Dogs

Minnesota

  1. Grilled Veggies
  2. Grilled Pineapple
  3. Grilled Chicken
  4. Hamburgers
  5. Hot Dogs

Mississippi

  1. Grilled Fish
  2. Grilled Steak
  3. Grilled Ribs
  4. Grilled Chicken
  5. Hamburgers

Missouri

  1. Grilled Chicken
  2. Grilled Veggies
  3. Hot Dogs
  4. Grilled Ribs
  5. Hamburgers

Montana

  1. Grilled Steak
  2. Grilled Chicken
  3. Grilled Pork Chops
  4. Hot Dogs
  5. Hamburgers

Nebraska

  1. Grilled Chicken
  2. Hamburgers
  3. Hot Dogs
  4. Grilled Steak
  5. Grilled Pork Chops

Nevada

  1. Hot Dogs
  2. Hamburgers
  3. Grilled Chicken
  4. Grilled Ribs
  5. Grilled Pineapple

New Hampshire

  1. Hamburgers
  2. Grilled Pork Chops
  3. Hot Dogs
  4. Grilled Chicken
  5. Grilled Ribs

New Jersey

  1. Grilled Veggies
  2. Grilled Chicken
  3. Grilled Steak
  4. Hot Dogs
  5. Hamburgers

New Mexico

  1. Hot Dogs
  2. Grilled Steak
  3. Grilled Chicken
  4. Hamburgers
  5. Grilled Pork Chops

New York

  1. Grilled Chicken
  2. Grilled Veggies
  3. Grilled Pineapple
  4. Grilled Steak
  5. Hot Dogs

North Carolina

  1. Grilled Chicken
  2. Hot Dogs
  3. Grilled Veggies
  4. Grilled Steak
  5. Grilled Pineapple

North Dakota

  1. Grilled Ribs
  2. Grilled Steak
  3. Hamburgers
  4. Grilled Chicken
  5. Hot Dogs

Ohio

  1. Grilled Veggies
  2. Grilled Ribs
  3. Grilled Chicken
  4. Grilled Pineapple
  5. Hot Dogs

Oklahoma

  1. Grilled Chicken
  2. Hot Dogs
  3. Hamburgers
  4. Grilled Steak
  5. Grilled Fish

Oregon

  1. Grilled Veggies
  2. Hot Dogs
  3. Grilled Chicken
  4. Grilled Pineapple
  5. Hamburgers

Pennsylvania

  1. Grilled Chicken
  2. Grilled Ribs
  3. Hot Dogs
  4. Hamburgers
  5. Grilled Veggies

Rhode Island

  1. Hot Dogs
  2. Grilled Fish
  3. Grilled Chicken
  4. Grilled Steak
  5. Hamburgers

South Carolina

  1. Grilled Chicken
  2. Grilled Ribs
  3. Hot Dogs
  4. Grilled Steak
  5. Grilled Pork Chops

South Dakota

  1. Grilled Steak
  2. Hamburgers
  3. Hot Dogs
  4. Grilled Chicken
  5. Grilled Ribs

Tennessee

  1. Grilled Chicken
  2. Grilled Veggies
  3. Grilled Ribs
  4. Hot Dogs
  5. Grilled Pork Chops

Texas

  1. Grilled Chicken
  2. Grilled Veggies
  3. Grilled Pineapple
  4. Hot Dogs
  5. Grilled Ribs

Utah

  1. Grilled Chicken
  2. Hot Dogs
  3. Grilled Pineapple
  4. Hamburgers
  5. Grilled Steak

Vermont

  1. Grilled Ribs
  2. Grilled Steak
  3. Hot Dogs
  4. Grilled Chicken
  5. Hamburgers

Virginia

  1. Grilled Chicken
  2. Hamburgers
  3. Grilled Ribs
  4. Grilled Steak
  5. Hot Dogs

Washington

  1. Grilled Pineapple
  2. Grilled Chicken
  3. Grilled Veggies
  4. Grilled Ribs
  5. Hot Dogs

West Virginia

  1. Hot Dogs
  2. Grilled Chicken
  3. Hamburgers
  4. Grilled Ribs
  5. Grilled Pork Chops

Wisconsin

  1. Grilled Brats
  2. Grilled Pork Chops
  3. Grilled Steak
  4. Grilled Chicken
  5. Grilled Ribs

Wyoming

  1. Hamburgers
  2. Hot Dogs
  3. Grilled Chicken
  4. Grilled Steak
  5. Grilled Ribs

Methodology

Using Google Trends, used search interest data to determine which grilled food each states eats a disproportionate amount of. We examined 12 different common grilled food items from the mundane (chicken) to the exotic (pineapple). From that data we were able to determine the favorite in each state.

Each state had data for most of the different food items. Where the search interest was highest for that term made it the favorite.

We looked at the search interest data from the end of May through June 27th for our study as those are some of the peak grilling season dates.