Top 10 Comfort Foods Perfect For The Spring Season
In times of unparalleled stress, comfort foods have perhaps never been more important. Yes, like a warm blanket for your insides, sometimes eating away your anxiety is exactly what you need. Here is my personal ranking of the 10 best comfort foods specifically tailored to the upcoming spring season. My tongue is sweating already!
1. Peeps
That’s right, marshmallow Peeps. Are they objectively good? No. Are they iconic for the spring season? Absolutely! Is it even spring if you don’t have a taste of these monstrosities? Regardless of what animal form they may take, or what flavor, you know what you’re going to get here. Unless you try their Hot Tamales flavor, but that’s a line that I’m just not willing to cross.
2. Cobb Salad
We have to balance out the pure sugar of Peeps with something a bit healthier, so here is the obligatory salad. A cobb salad is one of the ideal spring comfort foods because of the eggs and dressing. Whether you use ranch or blue cheese, you’re really only doing it right if it feels decadent to eat. You don’t really want your comfort foods to taste healthy, do you?
3. Ham
As far as meats go, I feel like ham is pretty underrated. Never underestimate the versatility of this pork product. From cold cuts to ham steaks to Frank Reynolds’s rum ham, there are just so many options. You can also make the argument that ham is to Easter what turkey is to Thanksgiving, and you can’t really go wrong with that kind of seasonal monopoly. It just feels right to eat ham in the spring.
4. Nacho Fries From Taco Bell
I would absolutely be lying to myself if this entry wasn’t included on my list. There’s nothing special about them, they’re just seasoned fries served with nacho cheese dipping sauce. There’s just something about them, though. They provide this sense of inevitability, like I simply must get them when they become available.
I could go on and on about how they make me feel. I just feel safe with a nacho fry in hand. Why aren’t more foods served with nacho cheese sauce? Taco Bell’s greatest creation is only available for a limited time, but they take the number 1 spot in my heart, and probably my arteries, too.
5. Literally Any Kind Of Ramen
Of all the comfort foods imaginable, I don’t think there are any more universal and culturally transcendent than ramen noodles. Whether you’re getting an entrée from some fancy restaurant or just eating the cheap instant stuff, ramen is always there for you.
Honestly, it would be even higher on this list, but there’s really no connection to the Spring season. It’s a testament to the versatility of ramen that it just had to be on my list. If it’s the middle of winter and even the frost outside has frost on it? Have some ramen. It’s the dog days of summer and you get a mild sunburn just looking out a window? Have some ramen.
6. Chocolate Ice Cream
There’s no doubt that ice cream loses a bit of its luster during the frigid winter months. When it’s so cold that simply walking out the front door makes your teeth hurt, why would you want to bring that inside with you?
With spring right around the corner, however, ice cream makes a comeback in a big way. For a Midwesterner like myself, the first 50-degree day in March means it’s time to bust out the booty shorts and eat like it’s Summer!
Now, does it have to be chocolate? No, but also absolutely yes. We’re talking about comfort foods here. Vanilla? Not going to cut it. Mint chocolate chip? You’re half right. Sweet corn ice cream? Get that corn out of my face! There are few things in this world more comforting than chocolate.
7. Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Speaking of chocolate, of all the comfort foods I can think of, this one’s the sexiest. What is it about chocolate that turns an ordinary fruit into something so much more? The only problem with chocolate-covered strawberries is that they are generally saved for special occasions. Their association with Valentine’s Day makes them feel limited.
I’m here to say no more! For too long we have let one of the most delicious and erotic delicacies be delegated to one day of the year, and I can no longer stand idly by while something so wonderful gets overlooked for most of the year. I advocate that chocolate covered strawberries should at least be promoted to a spring sensation.
8. Corned Beef And Cabbage
Yet another item that’s unfortunately tethered to a holiday, corned beef and cabbage deserves to free itself from the shadow of St. Patrick’s Day. I could eat this just about every day in the month of March and not get tired of it.
Corned beef in general simply doesn’t get the credit that it’s due. A good reuben sandwich always hits just right, and corned beef hash is the real breakfast of champions, yet for some reason, corned beef is seen mostly as a novelty. It’s a travesty.
9. Mac And Cheese
Much like ramen before it, mac and cheese is completely universal. It works just as well at a Summer barbeque as it does at Thanksgiving. Mac and cheese always just tastes like home, no matter where you are. Honestly, there’s not much that needs to be said about mac and cheese. It speaks for itself.
10. Reese’s Eggs
Here it is, the ultimate spring comfort food. I don’t know what it is about Reese’s Eggs specifically, but they just taste so much better than any other product. There’s something about the shape and the chocolate to peanut butter ratio that makes eggs the ultimate flavor receptacle.
It’s a real shame that they are only available around Easter, but that is what makes them so essential for the spring season. Wow, am I hungry!
