Chicken is as popular as ever despite encouragement from the health and wellness community to incorporate more plant-based meals as part of our lifestyle. Although it doesn’t mean that meat lovers have completely forsaken vegetables, it does show that many Americans are cooking meat as their main dish.

A study conducted by MealDeliveryExperts.com, which analyzes, reviews, and compares meal kit providers in America, examined Google Trends data to determine the top five foods Americans were most interested in knowing how to cook in each of the 50 states.

A spokesperson from the company further emphasized that Google is now the go-to place for many Americans with cooking questions.

“We all need some help in the kitchen every now and then, and it’s not surprising that we often turn to Google for help.”

How to Cook Chicken Tops Food Search Queries

The study found that ‘how to cook chicken ‘ had the highest number of searches out of all foods and was a top search in 21 of America’s most populated states like California, Florida, New York, Texas, Ohio, and Michigan.

The silver medalist was ‘how to cook turkey’ as the second most popular search query in 18 states, including Alaska, Kentucky, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, and Virginia.

‘How to cook steak’ took third place as a leading search in 7 states located primarily in the south, like Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and South Carolina.

The only non-meat food that topped search queries across the country was rice, coming in fourth place in the states of Arkansas, Hawaii, Idaho, and Montana. ‘How to cook salmon’ came in just behind rice to round off the top five search queries in 13 states, including Alabama, Hawaii, Georgia, and South Carolina.

Vegetables Are Still in The Top Five Searches in Some States

Residents of Delaware are still keen on eating their veggies. Other than their three top searches on how to cook turkey, salmon, and rice, the fourth most popular search query was how to cook asparagus and then corn on the cob.

The fifth most popular vegetable search queries included spaghetti squash in Alaska and South Dakota, collard greens to complement their turkey in Mississippi, and asparagus in Vermont.

The spokesperson for MealDeliveryExperts.com also commented on the findings and the ongoing meat trend:

“What is surprising is that the top three most popular searches across the country are all on how to cook meats. We’ve seen a massive increase in vegetarian and vegan diets and restaurants over the last decade, especially in coastal states like New York and California. Some might have expected that to be reflected in what foods people are searching for on the internet. It just shows that chicken, turkey, and steak are still staples of most Americans’ diet”.

Meat may be the hero on the plates of many Americans, but vegetables are still a valued sidekick.