Did you know that some of America’s favorite foods were invented accidentally?

Gifted chefs spend many hours in the kitchen, trying to make even the most boring meal more special. They also try their best to come up with creative meals that will impress every guest. But sometimes you don’t need skills to create a recipe that the entire world would adore. In some cases, a simple mistake is all you need to have a breakthrough.

At least this is what happened with some of America’s favorite foods. An ingredient that wasn’t on the list completely changed the recipe, and the world was hooked. From chocolate chip cookies and popsicles to Nashville hot chicken, here are some of America’s favorite foods that were invented accidentally. Grab a snack, and let’s get this tasty party started!

1. Chocolate chip cookies

We can’t talk about America’s favorite foods without mentioning chocolate chip cookies, am I right? This dessert is wonderful, soft yet crunchy, and is perfect as a snack, especially with a glass of milk. The story about how this beloved recipe was created is quite funny, and I couldn’t be happier about it.

In the 1930s, the owner of Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts, the talented Ruth Wakefield, didn’t have cocoa powder to make her chocolate cookies, so she decided to use a broken chocolate bar piece in her cookie butter.

She thought that the chocolate would melt in the oven and make her cookies perfectly brown, but little did she know she was about to create one of America’s favorite foods by mistake.

2. Popsicles

Who said that kids don’t have amazing ideas? They’ve most likely never heard of Frank Epperson’s incredible recipe. Back in 1905 in San Francisco, this creative 11-year-old boy mixed a sugary soda powder and left it overnight. Since it was so cold, the mixture froze and turned into a delicious bar.

He loved his invention so much that he decided to call it Epsicle. In 1924, he patented the frozen treat and changed the name to Popsicle to please his children. The new name is a cute play on the phrases of “Pop’s” and “sicle.” Isn’t that lovely?

3. Nashville hot chicken

Nashville might be famous for its wonderful country music, but let’s not forget about its food, because it’s pretty wonderful. The one who invented one of America’s favorite foods, aka the Nashville hot chicken, was a popular womanizer named Thornton Prince.

According to an old story, when Mr. Prince “stepped out on his steady girl,” he received a spice warning the next morning: a dish of fried chicken doused in hot peppers.

However, the lesson backfired because Prince went on to create a chicken shack after sharing the hot dish with friends and family because he loved it so much. And that’s how Nashville Hot Chicken was born! Who said that warnings could be some of the best things that could ever happen to someone?

4. Dippin’ Dots

I don’t know about you, but if this isn’t one of America’s favorite foods, at least it’s one of mine. There’s no summer without this snack. I love those tiny and perfectly shaped spheres, and they taste amazing! However, if you love this crowd-pleaser dessert as much as I do, you’re probably curious how it was invented.

In 1987, microbiologist Curt Jones had a marvelous idea while he was working on flash-freezing animal food. He wanted to create something unique and told his family that he could use the same process on ice cream and create an “ice cream bead.” While the scientific process he used is called cryogenic encapsulation, we can call it divine ice cream deliciousness. Correct me if I’m wrong!

5. Yogurt

Yogurt is probably one of America’s favorite foods because it tastes great in the morning, is a great base for dips and creams, and is a perfect snack at any time of the day. But do you know how this tasty white food was created? Let’s find out together.

Sources say that yogurt has been around for many years and some researchers believe that people in Turkey made it as early as the 6th century BC. So, how did it become one of the most popular foods in the world?

Historians say that Central Asian herdsmen used to store extra goat’s milk in containers that were made from animal stomachs. They were shocked when they discovered that, after a whole, their liquid milk turned into a thick, white substance. The story is quite simple; when the milk was in the stomach bags, good bacteria started to blossom and create a wonderful new food: yogurt.

6. Chimichangas

Did you know chimichangas have a complicated past? This is a problem with many traditional foods because several restaurants try to claim they came up with the fabulous idea for deep-fried burritos.

According to one of the most popular legends regarding the birth of this great food, Monica Flin of El Charro Café in Arizona was whipping up a tasty snack when her lovely niece bumped into her and one of the burritos flew into a pot of boiling oil. Mrs. Flin got scared and quickly shouted “Chimichanga!” and that’s how one of America’s favorite foods was created. I call this a delicious mistake!

7. Ice Cream Cones

Let’s continue with America’s favorite foods, because we have many interesting things to talk about! Ice cream cones have a tricky past, and we don’t know exactly how they were created, but we’ll tell you one of the most popular stories regarding their creation.

One time in the 20th century, at the 1904 World’s Fair, a Syrian immigrant named Ernest Hamwi worked hard to make the best wafer desserts. He was next to an ice cream stand and decided to combine the two desserts. People were hooked, and so was the whole world!

However, in an interview he gave The Ice Cream Trade Journal in 1928, he mentioned that the ice cream concessionaires had come to him offering to buy the waffles, which they insisted on referring to as cornucopia. As a result of this episode, he hounded the Missouri Cone Company in 1910.

If you crave some ice cream, you can do it at home. It’s going to taste wonderful! Here’s an amazing machine that will help you create the best desserts in town!

8. Worcestershire sauce

This isn’t food, but we had to include it on our America’s favorite foods list because it’s tasty and popular. In 1835, after he governed India and Bengal, he returned to England and had a craving for his favorite Indian sauce.

The legend says that he commissioned John Lea and William Perrins, some popular drug store owners, to recreate this sauce for him. Their original plan was to make the Indian sauce for Lord Sandys and then sell the rest.

However, when they created the sauce and noticed how bad it smelled, they tucked it away in the cellar and forgot about it. They discovered it after two years and were shocked when they noticed that it had aged greatly. This Indian sauce became a beloved hot ticket item among customers, and the rest is history.

What do you think about these beloved foods that were invented accidentally? Do you think they’re indeed some of America’s favorite foods? Let us know in the comments! If you enjoyed reading this article and you want to check out something else from Mind-Bending Facts, here’s a good post for you: 10 Unusual Things People Were Taxed For