The revival of authentic American cuisine is underway

Without measuring a thing, Southwestern Pueblo chef Norma Naranjo tosses flour, baking powder, salt, and shortening into a stainless steel bowl.

Naranjo adds warm water as she works the ingredients into dough. Once it becomes soft and pillowy, she pinches off small rounds, shaping them with her thumb and forefinger.

Next, she’ll roll the dough flat in her kitchen north of Santa Fe, New Mexico, press it with her thumb, and fry it in hot oil for 30 seconds until it puffs up into fry bread.

Fry bread has become the most iconic Native American dish in the United States, a staple at feasts, powwows, and fairs.

Naranjo, a member of the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, has prepared fry bread countless times, including at her New Mexico-based business, The Feasting Place, where she offers cooking classes in Pueblo cuisine.

It’s more than just fry bread.

But Native American cuisine goes far beyond fry bread. Fry bread was originally created by Navajo tribal members using government-issued rations during their captivity at Bosque Redondo, New Mexico, from 1864 to 1868, and has since spread nationwide.

Native cuisine represents the culinary traditions of 566 recognized US tribes, rooted in their deep understanding of the land and the foods that were cultivated and hunted where they lived.

Native cuisine has evolved through four distinct phases: from pre-contact and early interactions in the 1500s, to the government-issue era of the 1800s, and then further shaped in the modern era of New Native American cuisine. Chef Lois Ellen Frank (Kiowa Nation heritage), through her business Red Mesa Cuisine, draws inspiration from these generational transformations.

Thanks to the growing influence of Native American chefs and their social media platforms, Native cuisine is experiencing a renaissance. It may be the first truly American cuisine, but in many ways, it is also the newest.

The new wave of Native American cuisine.

Frank, a culinary anthropologist, authored the first Native American cookbook to capture the attention of the James Beard Foundation judges, winning the prestigious award for Best American Cookbook in 2003.

Sean Sherman (Oglala Lakota tribe of the Great Sioux Nation), also known as The Sioux Chef, elevated Native American cuisine to a wider audience when he won the James Beard Award for Best American Cookbook in April 2018.

Sherman’s catering company organizes pop-up dinners in Minneapolis and across the U.S., and he plans to launch a nonprofit restaurant and educational kitchen later this year in Minneapolis.

“For a long time, people didn’t give much thought to Native American cuisine due to systematic oppression. It was pushed out of sight and out of mind,” Sherman reflects. “It’s important for people to understand the strength and diversity of indigenous cultures.”

“I hope we reshape the way North American food is perceived, moving beyond a mere imitation of European-inspired dishes. It should reflect the rich flavors of the indigenous peoples who have lived here for centuries.” Sherman’s mission is to revive Native American ingredients, cooking methods, and traditional dishes to change these perceptions.

It’s not a passing fad.

Just don’t label it as a trend.

“This isn’t just a trend,” states Ben Jacobs of Denver’s Tocabe.

“It’s not like avocado toast, which fades out of style in a month. This is a culinary tradition, a cultural cuisine.”

The diversity of Native American culture spans from the Diné (the name preferred by the Navajo Nation) of Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico to the Penobscot of Maine. The growing movement of New Native American cuisine reflects this diversity, with restaurants as varied as the tribes that inspire them.

Some restaurants stick to traditional precontact recipes, like bison cooked with juniper berries, while others, such as Off the Rez Food Truck in Seattle, led by Mark McConnell (with Blackfeet heritage), take a more creative approach. Off the Rez serves everything from Philly cheesesteaks to banana cream pies on a base of fry bread.

If you want to experience this unique cuisine for yourself, here are six of the top Native American restaurants across the country:

Mitsitam Native Foods Café, Washington D.C.

Chef Freddie Bitsoie (Diné) made history in 2016 by becoming the first Native American chef at the Mitsitam Native Foods Café, located in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.

Originally from various towns across Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico, both within and outside the Navajo Reservation, Chef Bitsoie studied cultural anthropology before transitioning to the culinary world. He eventually became the executive chef at Mitsitam Café.

True to its museum origins, the restaurant presents a buffet-style experience that showcases the diverse indigenous foods of the Americas.

Visitors are taken on a culinary journey across the continents, with dishes representing the Great Plains, Mesoamerica, the Northern Woodlands, the Northwest Coast, and South America.

At the Northwest Coast counter, plank-grilled salmon takes the spotlight. The Northern Woodlands section serves a hearty North Atlantic clam soup, made with clams, sunchokes, and sea water. Over at the South America counter, corn is the star ingredient, especially in the restaurant's fresh, homemade tortillas.

While some chefs shy away from using fry bread due to its colonial origins, Bitsoie acknowledges its importance and deep roots in Native American tradition.

"Fry bread is like your grandmother's lasagna," says Bitsoie. "Everyone believes their grandma's version is the best. It's a dish I can't compete with," he adds with a smile.

Mitsitam Native Foods Café at the National Museum of the American Indian, Independence Avenue SW & Fourth Street SW, Washington, D.C. 20024; +1 (202) 633-6644

Tocabe, Denver, Colorado

Tocabe, with its food-court-inspired counter, strives to introduce Native American cuisine to the mainstream. Co-owner Ben Jacobs (Osage Nation) follows in his family's footsteps in the restaurant industry, bringing his tribe's unique flavors to dishes like corn chowder, meat pies, and his mother’s beloved fry bread.

While rooted in Osage heritage, Tocabe celebrates the diversity of Native American cuisine by using ingredients sourced from Native purveyors and adapting recipes from other tribes.

Posu bowls at Tocabe are built on a base of wild rice from Red Lake Nation Foods, topped with options like slow-braised bison or Osage hominy, and finished with a choice of maple or elderberry vinaigrettes.

Jacobs brings a diverse array of tribal influences to the Tocabe menu, including kanuchi, a traditional Cherokee dish made by grinding hickory nuts into a ball. He learned the recipe from a tribal elder before her passing, ensuring this heritage dish was passed down.

Tocabe North Denver: 3536 W. 44th Ave., Denver, CO 80211; Phone: +1 (720) 524-8282.

Tocabe Greenwood: 8181 E. Arapahoe Rd., Unit C, Greenwood Village, CO; Phone: +1 (720) 485-6738.

Black Sheep Café in Provo, Utah, is a beloved spot for those seeking authentic Native American flavors.

Chef Mark Mason, whose roots are in both Diné and Hidatsa heritage, honed his skills in French, Italian, and progressive American kitchens before embracing his Native American background at Black Sheep Café, which he opened in 2011.

Mason brings a contemporary flair to Native American cuisine, blending his heritage with modern techniques. His hog jowl tacos are a prime example—using blue corn tortillas and topped with a smoky maple-bay leaf sauce that marries his Diné roots with his passion for barbecue.

Mason describes Black Sheep Café as a fusion of his heritage and the vibrant city life. ‘We’re a mix of human beings,’ he says, reflecting on how his work seeks to refine and elevate the traditional foods found in reservations.

Black Sheep Café: 19 N. University Ave., Provo, Utah 84601; Phone: +1 (801) 607-2485.

Pueblo Harvest Café, located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, serves up authentic Native American-inspired cuisine with a unique Southwestern twist.

The café focuses on traditional Native American dishes that predate European influence. Menu highlights include wild game such as elk, quail, and turkey, along with foraged ingredients like pine nuts and wild spinach.

Pueblo Harvest Café celebrates the traditional foods that Native Americans once enjoyed, emphasizing locally sourced ingredients and time-honored cooking methods.

Savor the braised bison short ribs, delicately prepared with juniper, sage, and a cedar-infused broth, accompanied by yucca and acorn squash.

"We only need to tweak these dishes slightly to suit modern tastes. Our goal is to introduce contemporary palates to a traditional flavor profile so people understand how great these flavors are and why they shouldn’t be forgotten," Moore explains.

Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, located at 2401 12th St. NW, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87104; contact: +1 (505) 843-7270

Kai, located in Phoenix, Arizona

Chef de Cuisine Ryan Swanson skillfully reinterprets Pima and Maricopa tribal cuisine to appeal to modern palates at this Native American-owned restaurant. Simple yet flavorful black tepary beans from Ramona Farms, a grower committed to preserving heritage crops, shine in an appetizer served with a medley of vegetables and topped with a delicate chile froth.

Diligent local tribes may not have been particularly selective in their eating habits, but they were discerning, harvesting native cacti (without the spines) for generations.

Swanson elevates these desert ingredients into a breathtaking dessert featuring prickly pear cactus parfait, nopales consommé, pickled cholla buds, and barrel cactus fruit, all finished with a drizzle of saguaro cactus syrup.

Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass, located at 5594 W. Wild Horse Pass Blvd., Phoenix, Arizona, 85226; phone: +1 (602) 225-0100

Level 5, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Located within a hotel inspired by the Pueblo great houses of Chaco Canyon in northwest New Mexico, Level 5 offers a microregional menu. The restaurant’s vision was shaped by Mark Miller, often recognized as the father of modern Southwestern cuisine. It continues to put fresh spins on traditional local dishes.

"We aim to stay true to the region’s ingredients while giving them a contemporary, familiar twist," says Level 5’s chef Patrick Mohn. For instance, the restaurant reimagines classic steak strips by using buffalo chuck for its tenders, coating them in blue cornmeal and pairing them with a vegetable-ash aioli.

He incorporates both Spanish and Mexican influences into the rooftop restaurant’s menu, a perfect complement to the rich history of the Southwestern United States. One example is albondigas (Mexican meatballs) made with rabbit instead of pork, creating a fusion of Spanish, Mexican, and Native American flavors – a nod to the ongoing evolution of Native American cuisine.

Hotel Chaco, located at 2000 Bellamah Ave. NW, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87104; phone: +1 (505) 246-9989