If New England had a love language, it would probably involve butter, seafood and maple syrup.

New England food isn’t particularly interested in being fancy. It’s about lobster pulled from cold Atlantic waters, chowder on a chilly afternoon, fried clams eaten beside the ocean and recipes that have been passed around families and small towns for generations. Some are famous. Some are wonderfully weird. And some might cause a six-state argument over who makes them correctly.

Here are 25 New England foods everyone should try at least once.

1. Lobster Roll 🦞

Let’s get the obvious one out of the way. Fresh lobster piled into a grilled, split-top bun is about as New England as food gets. You can go Maine-style with chilled lobster and mayonnaise or Connecticut-style with warm lobster and melted butter. Which is better? We’re not touching that fight today.

2. New England Clam Chowder 🥣

Creamy, hearty and packed with clams and potatoes, New England clam chowder is comfort food designed for a cold coastal day.

And yes, New England chowder is white. We’ll leave it there before Manhattan enters the chat.

3. Fried Clams

Whole-belly clams dipped in batter and fried until crispy are a New England summer institution. Add fries, tartar sauce and a picnic table near the ocean.

Perfection.

4. Whoopie Pies

Two soft chocolate cakes surrounding a thick layer of sweet cream filling. Maine takes its whoopie pies particularly seriously, even naming it the state’s official treat. Cake? Cookie? Pie? Doesn’t matter. Eat it.

5. Boston Cream Pie 🍰

Despite the name, it’s actually a cake. Layers of sponge cake, custard or pastry cream and chocolate glaze created one of Massachusetts’ most famous desserts. Calling a cake a pie makes absolutely no sense, which somehow makes it even more New England.

6. Vermont Maple Creemee 🍦

If you’re in Vermont, don’t call it ordinary soft serve. A maple creemee combines smooth frozen goodness with real maple flavor and deserves a spot on any New England food bucket list.

7. Maine Blueberry Pie 🫐

Maine’s tiny wild blueberries pack an incredible amount of flavor. Put them into a homemade pie with a flaky crust and perhaps a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and you’ve got summer in Maine on a plate.

8. New England Boiled Dinner

Corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, carrots and other vegetables simmered together into one hearty meal. It isn’t glamorous. It doesn’t need to be.

9. Johnnycakes

A Rhode Island classic made primarily from cornmeal, water and salt and cooked on a griddle. Crispy outside, tender inside and especially good with butter and maple syrup.

10. Steamers

Soft-shell clams steamed until tender and traditionally served with clam broth and melted butter.

Dip.

Swish.

Butter.

Eat.

Repeat.

11. New England Clambake

This is as much an experience as it is a meal. Lobster, clams, corn, potatoes and other ingredients traditionally cooked together, sometimes over hot stones and seaweed near the shore. Eating it outside makes it approximately 37% better. We haven’t verified that scientifically.

12. Baked Beans

Boston didn’t get the nickname Beantown completely by accident. Traditional New England baked beans are slow-cooked with ingredients such as molasses and salt pork, producing a rich, slightly sweet dish that’s been part of regional cooking for generations.

13. Brown Bread

Dense, slightly sweet New England brown bread is traditionally made with multiple flours and molasses. And yes, the classic version can come in a can. Don’t judge it until you’ve tried it warm with butter.

14. Apple Cider Donuts 🍎

Fresh apple cider donuts on a cool autumn morning may be one of New England’s greatest achievements. Bonus points if they’re still warm. Double bonus points if you’re eating them at an orchard surrounded by fall foliage.

15. Indian Pudding

One of New England’s oldest desserts combines cornmeal, milk, molasses and warming spices into something that tastes much better than it photographs. Serve it warm with vanilla ice cream.

16. Stuffies

Rhode Island knows exactly what we’re talking about. Stuffed quahogs, commonly called stuffies, combine chopped clam meat with breadcrumbs, herbs, spices and other ingredients before being baked in the shell. A little lemon and hot sauce don’t hurt.

17. Red Snapper Hot Dogs 🌭

No, we’re not talking about fish. Maine’s bright red hot dogs have an unmistakable natural-casing snap and are a cookout staple throughout much of the state. The color may be alarming. Embrace it.

18. Fluffernutter

Peanut butter.

Marshmallow Fluff.

White bread.

That’s it.

Massachusetts gave the world Marshmallow Fluff, and generations of New England kids discovered that combining it with peanut butter was dangerously effective.

19. New Haven-Style Apizza 🍕

Thin crust. Coal-fired. Charred edges. New Haven, Connecticut has one of America’s great pizza traditions, and anyone traveling through southern New England should experience proper apizza at least once. Just remember:

It’s pronounced “ah-BEETS.”

20. Vermont Cheddar 🧀

Vermont knows cheese. A properly aged Vermont cheddar is sharp, rich and worlds apart from the anonymous orange rectangle hiding in the back of your refrigerator. Pair it with apples and you’ve got yourself a New England snack.

21. Anadama Bread

A traditional New England bread made with cornmeal and molasses, particularly associated with Massachusetts. It’s slightly sweet, hearty and fantastic toasted with butter.

22. Coffee Milk 🥛

Rhode Island strikes again. Coffee milk is made by mixing sweet coffee syrup into milk, somewhat like chocolate milk except, naturally, coffee. It’s so closely associated with Rhode Island that it became the state’s official drink.

23. Needhams

Here’s one for Maine. Needhams are chocolate-covered candies with a coconut filling containing an ingredient you probably weren’t expecting: Potato. Trust us on this one.

24. Maple Sugar Candy 🍁

Sometimes the simplest things are the best. Real maple syrup is concentrated and transformed into melt-in-your-mouth maple candy.

If you’ve only experienced artificial “maple flavor,” this is an entirely different animal.

25. A Proper New England Seafood Platter 🦞

We’re finishing big.

Fried clams.

Scallops.

Shrimp.

Haddock.

Fries.

Maybe some onion rings. Served on a paper-lined basket or an overloaded plate at a roadside seafood shack where you can smell the ocean. It may not have a Michelin star. You probably won’t care.

What’s Your New England Favorite?

That’s the problem with creating a list of 25 New England foods everyone should try at least once. Someone is inevitably reading this right now thinking:

“HOW THE HELL DID THEY LEAVE OUT ______?!” Good. We want to hear it.

What New England food belongs on the list, and where’s the best place you’ve ever had it?

Drop your pick in the comments.

🫎 DOOZYDOO – Make Life Awesome.