Regional American Breakfast Ingredients

Specialty Food Source · Breakfast

Breakfast, region by region

American breakfast changes every few hundred miles. Pick a region to see the plates it is known for and the raw ingredients we stock to make them, from maple syrup and pastry flour to dried chiles and masa harina.

Explore by region Shop all ingredients

Eight regions, one pantry

Where is your breakfast from?

Tap a region on the map or in the list. Each one shows what goes on the plate and what is on our warehouse shelves for it right now.

New England · ME NH VT MA RI CT

Maple, johnnycakes and the full Irish

Pancakes and oatmeal under real maple syrup, thin Rhode Island johnnycakes off the griddle, cider donuts in the fall. In Boston, breakfast is just as likely to be a full Irish: rashers, bangers, beans and brown bread.

What goes in it

Maple syrup
Buttermilk pancake mix
Rolled and steel cut oats
Cornmeal
Blueberries and cranberries
Irish bacon and bangers
Brown bread mix

Grains and seeds Flours and meal How to cook a full Irish

New York and Mid-Atlantic · NY NJ PA DE MD DC

Bagels, egg sandwiches and scrapple

A New York bagel is high-gluten dough, boiled and then baked, finished with sesame, poppy or everything seed. The bacon, egg and cheese on a roll is the city's handheld. Toward Philadelphia and Baltimore the plate gets scrapple: pork, cornmeal and spice, sliced and fried crisp.

What goes in it

High-gluten flour
Yeast
Sesame and poppy seed
Minced garlic
Kosher salt
Rye flour
Coarse cornmeal

Flours and meal Seeds Yeast

The South · VA WV KY TN NC AR MS AL

Biscuits and sausage gravy

Tall, tender biscuits start with low-protein pastry flour, cold fat and buttermilk. The gravy is pan drippings, flour and milk with a heavy hand of black pepper. Jam, honey and butter take care of the rest of the basket.

What goes in it

Pastry flour
Buttermilk powder
Baking powder
Shortening and butter
Coarse black pepper
Flour for gravy
Jam and honey

Flours and meal King Arthur Spices

Lowcountry · SC GA FL

Shrimp and grits

Along the Carolina and Georgia coast it was called breakfast shrimp: the morning's catch over a pot of slow-cooked ground corn, a dish with deep Gullah Geechee roots. Coarse white polenta or coarse cornmeal makes the pot. Finish with butter, cayenne and a shake of hot sauce.

What goes in it

Coarse ground corn
Butter
Cayenne and paprika
Blackening spice
Black pepper
Hot sauce

Cornmeal and polenta Spices

Louisiana · LA

Beignets and café au lait

Squares of yeasted dough, fried and buried in powdered sugar, served with dark chicory coffee cut with hot milk. French Market coffee stands have poured it that way since the 1860s. Pecans turn up in the pralines and the pancakes on the same table.

What goes in it

Flour
Yeast
Evaporated milk
Powdered sugar
Frying shortening
Pecans
Cayenne

Flours and meal Pecans Yeast

Texas and the Southwest · TX NM AZ OK CO

Breakfast tacos and chile-smothered burritos

In San Antonio and Austin, eggs, potatoes and beans get folded into a warm tortilla and called breakfast. In New Mexico the burrito comes smothered in red or green chile. Order it Christmas and you get both.

What goes in it

Masa harina
Dried red chiles
Chile powders
Cumin
Mexican oregano
Pinto and black beans
Lime

Dried chiles Spices Rice and beans

The Midwest · OH IN IL MI WI MN IA MO ND SD NE KS

Cinnamon rolls, kolaches and coffee cake

Breakfast from the bakery case: cinnamon rolls, coffee cake, and the fruit and poppy seed kolaches Czech families brought to Nebraska and Minnesota. Wild rice, Minnesota's native grain, goes into porridge with nuts and dried fruit.

What goes in it

Cinnamon
Dark brown sugar
Yeast and flour
Apricot jam
Poppy seed
Walnuts and raisins
Wild rice

Spices Nuts Rice and grains

Pacific Coast and Hawaii · WA OR CA AK HI

Granola and macadamia pancakes

The West Coast breakfast is lighter and built from the pantry: house granola of oats, nuts, coconut and honey. In Hawaii the pancakes come with macadamia nuts and coconut, and mochiko rice flour makes chewy mochi pancakes and waffles.

What goes in it