The food you reach for to provide comfort can vary from sweet to savory. And a new analysis from indoor and outdoor LED lighting company e-conolight reveals just how much variety there is from state to state.
“At e-conolight, we know that stimulating our senses can make us all feel great, that’s why we offer a huge variety of lighting solutions to brighten all parts of your life. With the variety of lighting solutions we offer, we realized that there are probably just as many meals that bring people comfort,” the company wrote in a blog post.
To discover the dishes that offer people across the nation the most comfort, e-conlight reviewed the most popular recipes.
Pinpointing more than 100 foods that people deem “comfort foods,” or those they reach for when they need to boost their mood, the company then looked to Google Trends. The tool helped e-conlight determine the foods that were most popular nationwide and in each state based on 2020 search volume.
“We took special note of individual categories like desserts and side dishes to find which comfort foods people love most overall and which they love most within a certain category,” they explained.
Nationally, grilled cheese came out on top, with six states searching for the crunchy, warm and gooey meal the most.
Different comfort foods came out on top in each state based on whether it was the main dish, side dish, or dessert. Georgia’s top picks certainly show Southern comfort is the way to go.
Peach State residents prefer to eat fried chicken for their comfort food main dish. Meanwhile, the go-to side dish is a meal eaten for breakfast or lunch paired with a good piece of fish or shrimp: cheese grits.
When it came to dessert, however, Georgians had a lot in common with its neighboring states of Alabama and South Carolina, along with Mississippi — pound cake took the lead.
“Altogether, our biggest takeaway was that there is an incredible variety of Americans’ favorite comfort foods. Luckily, comfort foods are only improved when we add our own personal touches and enjoy them in our own happy places,” e-conlight concluded.
