12 Surprisingly Weird Foods in the USA To Try If You’re Feeling Brave

Some of the links might be affiliate links and, at no extra cost to you, we earn a small commission. See our disclaimer for more info.

American cuisine is famed worldwide for its delicious and usually unhealthy foods, from juicy burgers and melt-in-your-mouth barbecued meats to crispy fries and golden fried chicken. Offering a mismatch of culinary influences from across the globe and homegrown specialties, the food is often one of the main things drawing tourists in.

However, if you look closely, you’ll also find that America is home to the weird and wonderful side of food. From bull calf testicles and ice cream made from reindeer fat to sandwiches stuffed with fried brains, there are many strange foods to try. To learn more, here are 12 weird foods in the USA you should try.

Rocky Mountain Oysters

Save this!

We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later.

Let’s start this list with Rocky Mountain oysters. To many people, the thought of eating oysters is enough to turn their stomach. However, they often feel even worse when they hear what Rocky Mountain oysters are. Despite their name, this food is made from bull calf testicles.

Yes, you read that right: Americans eat bull calf testicles. Also known by the names prairie oysters, swinging beef, and cowboy caviar, this is commonly found in the West, especially Colorado and Idaho. It’s believed this food came about when the first ranchers to inhabit the West needed to find inexpensive food sources. To make Rocky Mountain oysters, the bull calf testicles can be grilled, sauteed, or fried.

Fried Brains Sandwich

We can’t decide what sounds weirder: fried bull calf testicles or fried brains sandwich. What do you think? We’d have to say they both sound pretty bizarre. Trendy in Southern Indiana, a fried brains sandwich is a sandwich stuffed with fried brains. This sandwich is usually made using cow brains, although pig brains were also used during the mad cow disease epidemic.

Most people slice the brain into small pieces, coat them in breadcrumbs, and fry them. Then, the brains are put between two slices of white bread with mustard. You can serve the sandwich with salad, potato chips, or fries. Regarding texture and flavor, fried cow brains are creamy, delicate, buttery, and savory.

Akutaq (Alaskan Ice Cream)

Translating to ‘mixed together,’ akutaq is a unique ice cream made and eaten by Alaskan natives for thousands of years. While it might not look extraordinary, this frozen delicacy has always been traditionally made using the fat and oil of various animals, including seal and reindeer fat.

Dubbed Inuit ice cream, the native Alaskan people would usually mix the reindeer fat and seal oil with cooked fish, berries, and fresh snow. Unsurprisingly, it’s very different from the sweet and sugary ice cream we’re used to eating. The traditional version of Akutaq has a salty and gamey taste. Today, akutaq is commonly made using vegetable shortening, berries, and sugar.

Alligator Tail Meat

If you’re not from America, alligator tail meat likely sounds like a strange ingredient for cooking. However, since the mid-1800s, alligator tail meat has been a Southern American staple. It was also once the preferred food for Florida’s Seminole people. So, what are you waiting for? Fly to Florida and try it for yourself.

Most Americans who eat alligators cut the tail into small cubes. They then season it, deep fry it, and serve it with fries and seafood sauce or another dipping sauce. We love how some people serve their alligator with swamp sauce. You can also find gator tail meat in burgers, gator meatloaf, and gator sushi. Its taste and texture are often likened to a fishier version of chicken.

Hangtown Fry

If you’re looking for a weird American dish with a fascinating backstory, look no further than the Hangtown Fry, a tasty yet strange omelet recipe. The Hangtown fry was invented in Placerville, formerly Hangtown, in the 1850s during the California Gold Rush. The most common version includes oysters and bacon combined with eggs and fried.

It’s believed this omelet was invented when a gold prospector who struck rich demanded the most expensive dish the Cary House Hotel could make. At the time, the most costly ingredients were eggs, bacon, and oysters, all of which had to be imported to the mining town. Today, you can still order the Hangtown Fry in many restaurants in Placerville.

Fried Coke

Okay, so you’re probably wondering how Coca-Cola can make a list of weird food in the USA when it’s clearly a beverage. What would you say if we told you America knows how to turn Coca-Cola into food? You’d probably say we’re crazy, but that’s precisely what the United States has done.

We don’t know why someone thought it was a good idea to freeze and fry Coca-Cola, but the result is magnificent, even if it’s a bit weird. Fried Coke or Deep Fried Soda is a frozen Coca-Cola flavored batter deep-fried and topped with whipped cream, cinnamon, Coca-Cola syrup, and a cherry. This tasty Coca-Cola treat is living proof that Americans will deep fry anything.

Spam Musubi

The next weird American food on our list is spam musubi, a strange but tasty take on Japanese sushi. Created by Barbara Funamura, a Japanese-American woman from Hawaii, spam musubi is a snack or lunch dish that turns the humble Spam into a sushi delight. Sushi and Spam are two ingredients that don’t go together, but this food works.

It’s composed of a slice of grilled Spam placed on top of a hand-pressed mound of sushi rice and wrapped together in nori. In other words, Spam musubi is an oversized sushi roll stuffed with Spam instead of fish. This staple Hawaiian snack is sweet, salty, sticky, and super easy to make.

Hot Beef Sundae

If you enjoy a sweet ice cream sundae on a hot summer day, look away now because we’re about to crush your dreams. To many people’s horror, the savory hot beef sundae removes all the fun from a sweet and sugary ice cream sundae and replaces it with savory ingredients.

However, as wrong as it is to mess with the classic sundae recipe, we must admit, it is pretty tasty. The hot beef sundae first appeared at the Iowa State Fair in 2006. Since then, it’s been a big hit at state fairs across the US, including New York, Indiana, and Nebraska. It consists of roasted beef topped with mashed potatoes, cheddar cheese, and gravy, complete with a cherry tomato.

Beer Cheese Soup

A favorite in bars and restaurants, beer cheese soup is a quintessential Wisconsin comfort food. This hearty dish is guaranteed to fill your belly and warm your soul, so make sure you try it when you visit the Badger State. Surprisingly easy to make, you can even create your own beer cheese soup at home.

Usually, beer cheese soup is made with tangy and sharp cheddar cheese, a pilsner-style beer, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. It is loved most for its rich, creamy, and earthy flavors. Most people serve the dish with a slice of fresh crusty bread for dipping. However, you can eat the soup on its own.

Fried Rattlesnake

Continuing our theme of weird things Americans love to fry, the following food on our list is fried rattlesnake. This curious food is prevalent in Oklahoma, where residents devote an entire festival to it. At the Apache Rattlesnake Festival, you can expect fried rattlesnakes, a carnival, and games.

The rattlesnake is skinned, soaked in buttermilk, coated with milk, egg, and a dry mixture, usually consisting of salt, pepper, and garlic salt, and fried until golden and crispy. Most people compare the taste of fried rattlesnake to chicken but with a more mild flavor. However, we must warn you that fried rattlesnakes can contain tiny and sharp bones.

Loco Moco

One of Hawaii’s most popular fast food dishes is Loco Moco. However, in the world outside the Aloha State, few people have heard of the dish. Luckily, we’re here to change that. This local obsession is believed to have been invented in 1949 when it was made at the Lincoln Grill in Hilo.

A traditional loco moco features a mountain of white rice topped with a hamburger patty, brown gravy, and a fried egg, sunny-side up. There are no ifs and buts with this dish. If it doesn’t contain those four ingredients, it cannot be called a loco moco. We say this because many dish variations include Spam, cheese, and grilled fish.

Ice Cream Potato

The last weird American food on our list is our favorite. Created by Lou Aaron of Westside Drive in Boise, Idaho, ice cream potato is an exciting, fun-loving dessert that resembles a potato topped with whipped cream and chocolate. Despite its realistic appearance, you’ll likely be pleased to hear the dish has no potatoes.

Instead, this frosty sweet treat consists of vanilla ice cream shaped like a potato. The ice cream is coated in cocoa powder to achieve the golden potato color. The potato-shaped ice cream is topped with whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and chocolate shavings to complete the illusion. You can find this dish year-round at various Idaho food fairs and outdoor events.