Of All The Comfort Foods, Illinois Loves This The Most

In dealing with all the things we've dealt with over the last couple of years, one thing is pretty clear--we're reaching for "comfort foods" here in Illinois and everywhere else a lot more than ever before.

In a recent workplace discussion of our favorite comfort foods, I went with some of my childhood/adulthood picks like meatloaf and mashed potatoes, a noodles, beef, and corn casserole that my mom called "French Casserole," and my all-time go-to option of grilled cheese sandwiches. Joe Dredge, our resident food expert, went with tacos.

As for the state of Illinois, one of the two of us is in the ballpark of favorite comfort foods, and...it's not Joe.

The Website MentalFloss Took A Look At Each State's Favorite Comfort Food Based Upon Google Searches

Looking over the listings from coast-to-coast, it's pretty clear that almost anything you like qualifies as comfort food. But we're not here to figure out what makes someone's comfort food list in California. We're talking Illinois, and this is Illinois' favorite comfort food:

That's a pretty basic example. Maybe you want something a bit fancier for your grilled cheese sandwich, like this:

I know, you need it kicked up even more. Let's go with this one:

However, like roses, a grilled cheese sandwich by any other name...is still pretty awesome. It's an all-American, and all-Illinois favorite, loved by kids and adults alike.

Unlike Wisconsin's choice of comfort foods. I figured Wisconsin would go with cheese curds, brats, other cheese curds, beer, etc. Nope. Wisconsin's favorite comfort food is chicken and mushroom soup.

Our other Midwestern neighbors are into these comfort foods (MentalFloss):

• Iowa: Monkey Bread
• Indiana: Biscuits and Gravy
• Michigan: Chicken Noodle Soup
• Missouri: Baked Potato Soup
• Kentucky: Chicken and Dumplings