Food at Outside Lands 2016
10 Easy Ways to Hack Festival-Worthy Food at Home
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Some people go to music festivals for the music, and others go for the food. Personally, I'm someone who gets equally excited about both, but after seeing both the music lineup and food lineup for Outside Lands 2016 in San Francisco, I was even more excited about the food. Festival food is known for being totally over the top (doughnut bacon cheeseburgers!), and all foodies should no doubt check off at least one music festival from their bucket list. But if you weren't lucky enough to head to Outside Lands this year, don't worry: we've spotted the 10 best foods you can — and should — re-create at home. Get ready to drool over all the Instagram-worthy food we got to try, and then DIY your own at home.
1 Spice up your tater tots by adding hot sauce to your ketchup.
These spicy tater tots from The Japanese Pantry were topped with sriracha ketchup, mayo, and green onions. You can easily upgrade frozen tots at home by creating a similar topping with your favorite hot sauce.
2 Turn your Indian takeout into a burrito.
One of the best things I ate at the festival was this chicken tikka masala burrito from Curry Up Now. Wrapping all the amazing flavors of one of the best Indian dishes in a warm flour tortilla is pretty ingenious, and I'd recommend trying this out for yourself if you don't live near a place that makes burrito hybrids like this.
3 Serve your burger on a doughnut instead of a regular bun.
Doughnut bacon cheeseburger: it's a thing, and you should try it at least once in your life. This caloric creation from Straw took the "sweet and savory" to a whole new level: it's a juicy burger topped with cheddar cheese and a few strips of bacon sandwiched between two sugary glazed doughnuts. I dare you to try this at your next BBQ and see how many people prefer this over a traditional burger.
4 Dip bacon in chocolate.
If you haven't had chocolate-dipped bacon, you're missing out. This creation from Bacon Bacon is easy to re-create at home: dip a fully cooked piece of bacon in melted chocolate, sprinkle with nuts, and let harden in the fridge. It's like the ultimate piece of sweet and salty jerky.
5 Take garlic fries up a notch by adding a chimichurri sauce.
"There are garlic fries, and then there are these," read the description of these garlic chimichurri fries from 4505 Meats. It's true: these are the best garlic fries I've ever had. You can make your own chimichurri by blending parsley, garlic, salt, pepper, red chili flakes, and a little olive oil and add it to fries (or meat) for an infinitely more flavorful bite.
6 Use your favorite chocolate bar as a replacement for plain chocolate in s'mores.
This caffeinated s'more from Il Morso inspired me to get creative with my preparation of s'mores at home. It's made with an Americano chocolate bar, aka espresso-infused chocolate, which gave the whole dessert an added kick and extra layer of flavor that I obsessed over, especially because I love the combination of chocolate and coffee. Eating this made me realize that you can make s'mores taste even better by going a nontraditional route with the fillings.
7 Get creative with condiments.
These fried chicken bites from Namu Street Food, while delicious, wouldn't be half as good without the spicy kimchi salsa (kimchi plus pico de gallo) on top. Whether you make your own or buy it jarred, a dollop of kimchi salsa will upgrade everything from veggies to fried rice and chicken.
8 Try making Neapolitan-style pizza at home.
OK, you'd need a pizza stone to re-create authentic Neapolitan-style pizza at home, but if you don't live near an Italian restaurant that executes it perfectly (like Mozzeria, pictured), it's worth it. This Neapolitan margherita pizza is a reminder that the secret to Italian cooking is simplicity: simple crust, seasoned San Marzano tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, and basil is all it takes to make a mouthwatering pizza.
9 Make your own ice cream-s'mores hybrid.
You've had both ice cream bars and s'mores before, but having the two together is a whole new experience. This cookie-butter frozen custard from FK Frozen Custard is unlike any dessert we've ever had, and you can make something similar by adding a graham cracker and marshmallow on top of your favorite chocolate ice cream bar.
10 Create the ultimate sushi-taco hybrid by wrapping the filling in seaweed.
Namu Street Food served up these Korean chicken tacos with seasoned rice, kimchi salsa, kimchi remoulade, and teriyaki sauce on a bed of nori (aka seaweed). It's the perfect blend of sushi, tacos, and Korean flavors that's like a way upgraded version of a chicken lettuce wrap.
