The World's Best High Fat Foods
Seven years ago, a 16-year-old teenage American girl sat amongst a group of Japanese businessmen in a swanky restaurant in the Osaka Ritz Carlton. To top off an already indulgent feast, the chef served the diners with large, glistening steaks of Kobe beef, one of the most expensive, tender, and fatty cuts of meat known to Planet Earth.
Positively transported by the influx of awesomeness afforded by this rich delicacy, the girl polished off her 9-oz portion in about two minutes flat. The impressed (horrified?) businessmen quickly passed on their portions to her, which she joyfully accepted.
In just 15 minutes' time, the girl consumed around 1,814 calories, 136 of which were fat (226% of the recommended daily amount) and 53 of which is saturated (265% of the recommended amount). And that was just from the meat portion of the meal. How did she feel? Frickin' AWESOME.
As you might have guessed, that girl was me. And while today I may be a vegetarian and eat little more than roughage and healthy rabbit food, I have a greater appreciation for fatty food than you could ever imagine. Let us therefore explore the world's most fatty foods and revel in their hideous, sexy, indulgent deliciousness.
Onion Rings
As you're about to discover, many of the world's most fabulous high fat foods are round in shape. Onion rings are an excellent example. These batter-dipped and deep fried masterpieces first emerged in the 21st century, making them relatively new to the League of High Fat Foods.
As far a health goes, onion rings cannot be all that bad, right? They are, after all, comprised of all-natural onions, plus they're, low in sugar and cholesterol. That said, one portion of onion rings (about 8-9) contains about 16 grams of fat (that's 24% of the recommended daily value), 7 of which is saturated (coming out to 35% of the recommended daily value). Caloriecount gives onion rings a nutrition grade of D+. Ouch!
Deep Dish Pizza
Pizza is yet another, much loved (and round!) high fat food. Most pizzas, being host to a variety of cheeses, are known for being relatively high in fat, but deep dish pizzas reign supreme, fat-wise.
Also known as chicago-style pizza, these pie-like masterpieces enable one to layer a seriously significant amount of cheese and other delicious ingredients, including meat, butter-infused tomato sauces, more meat, and (well, whatever) vegetables. Because deep dish pizza crusts are more pie-like, they are also more likely to contain butter and/or lard, which contributes to a higher fat factor. Win!
This style of delicious, fattening pizza was first developed by Pizzeria Uno in 1943. The chain still exists today, and on one's site, one can discover just how fattening their beautiful pies are. Just one individual-sized Chicago Classic deep dish pizza contains a whopping 2310 calories, 165 grams of fat (that's 255% of the daily recommended amount), 54 of which are saturated fat (that's 270% of the daily recommended value). Mind you, an "individual sized" pizza is said to have three servings. But when I order an "individual" pizza, I eat the whole thing. Well done, Chicago-style pizzas. Well done.
Deep Fried Butter on a Stick
Eating a stick of butter is gauche. Eating a deep fried stick of butter on a stick, however, is trendy. Political even.
This fattening snack made a comeback in the summer of 2011 at the Iowa State Fair, where is practically got more coverage than the various Republican presidential candidates who were expected to be the main subjects of debate.
This particular iteration of the snack consists of an eighth of a pound of butter dipped in a cinnamon and honey-infused batter and then deep fried. The final fried stick is glazed, and wen one bites into it, one discovers that all of the butter inside has melted. At $4.00, it's a steal in today's economy.
The Daily Mail estimates the Iowa State Fair deep fried stick of butter to contain over 400 calories and more than 45 grams of fat. Just 1/8 of a pound of butter actually contains about 405 calories and 45 grams of fat (29 of which is saturated), so with the added batter and oil in which the butter is fried, the deep fried butter on a stick will contain significantly more calories than that!
Deep Fried Twinkies & Other Candy Bars
Even more popular than the deep fried stick of butter is the deep fried Twinkie, which many argue actually tastes quite good (not saying that the deep fried butter doesn't taste good, but it does produce quite a greasy mess).
The process of deep frying a Twinkie is actually more complicated than you might imagine. The Twinkie must first be frozen before it is dipped in batter an fried away. Much like its stick-of-butter sibling, the battered and fried Twinkie snack was introduced at a State Fair- the Texas one in this case.
While one Twinkie (sans the deep frying process) is relatively harmless (just 150 calories), a deep fried Twinkie hefts about around 425 calories, and the King-Size version of this indulgent dessert contains a whopping 700 calories and 44 grams of fat. Yowza!
Donuts
If we're going to talk about deep fried confectionary treats, we must give a shout-out to one that is deep fried from the start. Donuts have been a beloved high fat food for quite some time (The first recipe for mentioning donuts was from an 1803 publication, and other accounts trace these greasy cakes' origins to 1847).
The caloric and fat content of donuts varies widely depending on size, type, and filling, but a simple, standard, glazed cake donut from Dunkin' Donuts contains 360 calories, 22 grams of fat, and 10 grams of saturated fat. Not bad!
(Duck Fat) Fried Potatoes
Fried potatoes are an obvious contender amongst the prestigious League of High Fat Foods. They're delicious, fried, and salty. What's more, since any self-respecting fried potato is deep fried twice, they offer a double punch!
Just as Chicago-style deep dish pizza is the ultimate high fat iteration of the high fat pizza category, duck fat fries are the ultimate high fat ambassadors of the high fat world. Most potatoes are fried in vegetable oil. One tablespoon (14 grams) of vegetable oil contains 124 calories, 14 grams of fat, and just one gram of saturated fat. One tablespoon of duck fat contains a leaner 115 calories, and just 13 grams of fat, but 4 grams of saturated fat, making it a much "better" option for fat-loving fry eaters. Gourmet types can't get enough of the stuff.
At any rate, a medium (134 gram) serving of fries (blessed by duck fat, vegetable oil, or beef tallow) can be expected to bring in 427 calories, 22 grams of fat, and 5.3 grams of saturated fat.
Macaroni & Cheese
It is difficult for me to eat good macaroni and cheese without making particularly indecent sounds of pleasure. This is one of the most heavenly, wonderful, indulgent, and delicious fatty foods on the planet.
Obviously the fat and caloric content of mac and cheese will vary depending on the types of cheeses and milks and other ingredients one uses... but all of the best mac and cheese recipes start with a butter, cream and flour-based roux to which cheese (preferably high-fat cheddar, plus other delicious and warm cheeses, such as gruyere) is added. All of this is ideally baked under a dusting of more cheese, plus pan-fried (in more butter) crispy breadcrumbs.
Any self-respecting serving of mac and cheese will top 500 calories, and have around 30 grams of fat (and around 15 grams of saturated fat). Outback Steakhouse's "Mac-a-roo & Cheese" seems to have a respectable amount of all factors considered: 664 calories, 30 grams of fat, and 17 grams (that's 86% of the daily recommended value) of saturated fat.
Bacon
This article would be egregiously incomplete without a respectful ode to bacon, one of the world's favorite fatty foods.
Perhaps the most popular high fat type of bacon is "American-style" bacon, which consists of strips prepared from pork belly, which is streakier and fattier than bacon procured from the side or loin. That said, the fattiest cut of bacon one could possibly obtain is fatback- one of two back cuts. It consists almost entirely of fat. Mmm.
One ounce of fatback contains around 25 grams of fat, 9 grams of which are saturated. As a standard (and modest at that) meat serving size is three ounces, one could easily expect to absorb 75 grams of fat and 27 grams of saturated fat from a dainty serving of this heavenly meat.
Spot the Author!
Bon Appetit!
I hope that, by simply reading this overview, you feel as though you're about to slide into a food coma. Or vomit. Or run to the nearest restaurant and start chowing down like a madman.
What is the most fattening, rich, disgusting thing you have ever eaten? How did it taste and what did you feel like afterward? Share your story in the comments.
I'll leave you with an installment of YouTube's famous Epic Mealtime series in which Your Gentle Author makes a brief (if embarrassing) cameo appearance.
May your arteries clog and rot in Hell.
What's the Fattiest Thing You've Ever Eaten?
Yes, good grief, go to a great bakery and get a high quality chocolate croissant. In San Fran, you should have your pick!
Never had a chocolate croissant? How can that be?! Believe me, if you try one you'll have to write a whole hub about them!
This hub cracks me up! I love all of the above, in small doses. I think Paris takes the prize for the vacation where I ate the most fatty food. We ate LOTS of duck fried potatoes and we dined on cheese until we could barely walk. But my favorite high fat food of all times is a chocolate croissant! yum!
i love all of those it's kinda tempting to just do withought eating them. Speaking of onions errrr those are yuck! willl nvr eat those
Now you've done it! It's lunch time and I WAS going to have a nice vegetarian salad. But after "sinking my teeth into" this delicious hub and drooling over each photo, I'm thinking of trading my salad in for one of each of your features. Last night, I was out "prowlin'" and had a basket of sweet potatoe fries - oh MG they were sooooooooooo good. voted a big, fat, UP!
So true, you have just pointed out most of the foods I love the most (especially onion rings and deep dish pizza). I use to eat these yummy deep-fried and high-fat foods previously and now trying to cut down on that due to my poor lipid profile.
Aye Simone, I'm trying to change my diet away from beef and pork - but I still gots a freezer full of it, and so it must be eaten and respectfully enjoyed.
I don't think I'll soon abandon the love of eating less than living birds and fishes though - but I might.
You should come on down to Texas, Lady, and I'd teach you the Jedi ways of the fried squash and the fried okra!
(and yes I saw you eat that bacon! but I ain't telling nobody!)
My favorite food when I was pregnant was Paxti's deep dish vegetarian pizza. It was so wonderful; I think I'm going to have to go get a slice soon! I just don't understand the deep fried twinkie and candy bar thing. And deep fried butter, that just sounds disgusting!
I just gained five pounds reading this. I love to eat the fatty fried stuff but I'm trying to be good and eat better.
Oh god. I'm getting so hungry after reading this.
I love donuts. I love all pastries really. I was chowing down danish pastries all day everyday when I was there. N
I'm in Hub Heaven LOL! Eating these foods on a regular basis probably isn't good for you, but every once in awhile can't hurt! I have not had a deep dish pizza in YEARS. Thanks for posting!
I just gained 10 lbs reading this! Yummy hub!!! I almost ordered onion rings the other night while out to dinner BUT the darn good girl in me said nooooooo. I might leave her at home next time! Loved the hub! Going for a walk now :)
Hi Simone,
I had to drool a bit reading this hub, that is up until the point that I read about the deep fried butter stick!
I get huge cravings for pizza sometimes, but now I've learned how to make it myself I get to control all the ingredients! Unlike the Chicago Classic, I made sure that my homemade pizza isn't oozing with fatty meats and cheese, instead I choose really fresh ingredients and pile on the veggies!
The nutritional values of fast-food or restaurant meals can be very deceiving, can't they? I'm also gobsmacked how some side dishes can be referred to as "salads" even if they're packed with fat and calories.
Cloverleaf
Ahh deep-fried lard with gruyere sugar sauce and frozen butter chips on a ribeye steak. mmmmmmmm. =:)
... why would you do this?! I've never been SO hungry in my life, suddenly I want to stuff onion rings, deep-dish pizza and macaroni-n-cheese into my mouth, at once! I think one of my favourite guilty pleasures, and fattening food, is deep-friend breaded cheese balls. Have you had them? Because they are amazing and often served as hors d'oeuvres.
It's major awk-town when you're caught shoving twelve into your mouth by the host of the party you're attending. I suggest wrapping them in napkins and borrowing your friends purse, or your own if you have one.
At last, how refreshing to read about the best high fat food! I have read so much about healthy food for the last twenty years and even though it can be tasty too, my body likes fat! No, that was probably wrong, it is my brain that want fat, not my body!
This was a real treat even though I haven't tried many of them. But I can see that they are FAT and therefor I am sure they are tasty! My fat favourites are pizza, bacon and chips and also a fat sauce to go with the meet! Thanks for this fantastic hub, I love it!
Tina
Wow, this is fascinating...and nauseating. Don't forget the Luther Burger! (A big cheeseburger using a sliced, huge glazed doughnut as the bun) And for your Japanese meal, I think you mean 136g of fat (not 136 calories of fat, which really is fairly low). You made Takeru Kobayashi proud!
Back when we were cavemen and had to hunt animals for our food, we evolved to like fatty foods. But in those days we reproduced in our teens and died before the age of 30.
As humans turned to agriculture and eating healthier, our life span increased. But the evolution of change takes a lot longer and some of us still favor fatty foods. Not me though. I want to live a healthy life to 98 like my Aunt did. Found your Hub interesting. It's amazing that people still eat this way.
Had a hardy laugh. Love this hub. Love a modicum of daily fat. Its where the flavor is. My theory is so many people are obese because they have gone low fat. Look at low fat items and they always have more sugar. Voted up and awesome.
If these types of fatty foods are unhealthy for us, why did our bodies evolved to like these type of taste so much?
Here in Scotland there is a town famous for its chip (French Fries) shops that sell deep-fried Mars bars - which I guess may be similar to Twinkie bars? Scotland is famous (or infamous) for its fried food in general and I once had a deep-fried pizza from a chip shop.
YUM with caution. LOL I don't get the deep fried butter, but I haven't tried it either. One thing we have at our area arts and craft fair is frozen chocolate dipped cheesecake on a stick. It is a must have once-a-year treat. I am hungry now for all the wrong things. LOL
Great Hub!! Voted up and awesome!! :-)
Wow! It makes me feel like I am going to eat vegetable salad right now. Deep fried butter in a stick? Awesome. Never heard about it before. Thanks for sharing. Voted up!
Okay, so you had me at onion rings, but when I saw the duck fat potatoes, I nearly fell out of my seat.
I lost about 75lbs in the past year or two, but I can honestly say, I love fatty foods. I just also love healthy foods now, too.
And also, you've made me want to make some doughnuts. And brownies, thanks to your other post.
I might as well just open up an IV of cornsyrup into my veins right now. Awell: I don't care tonight!
Here in Toronto, the local EX was featuring a "Krispy Kremes" double cheeseburger (two burgers bookended by two Krispy Kremes and god knows what else), going for 2,000 calories a pop.
Wow, Simone! You used to eat meat???
I love your Hub and particularly the story about Kobe beef. I will need to actually get an update on this because there was an experiment going on trying to cross breed these cattle with Aberdeen Angus here in Scotland. That sounds like the opening line of a joke - it's not!! Absolutely true - I promise.
You've also introduced me to foodstuffs I've never encountered before and I always love that. Twinkie? New one on me.
Keep up the "Healthy" eating campaign... :)
I love this hub. It hit every food I love and cannot eat on a regular basis. (Except for the deep fried butter. That is just wrong, even by southern standards.)
The most fattening things I have eaten are my families homemade vanilla ice cream and boiled peanuts. Not at the same time of course. Oh yeah, my grandmothers mac and cheese is a close behind in the calorie department. Then there chicken fried steak and white gravy. You fill very full and very happy and very sleepy. The State Fair announced the list of fried foods last week. They have fried bubble gum. That scares me.
One hint, if you are in a B-B-Q joint in Texas, you can judge the quality of the joint by the onion rings they serve. It is not fool proof but it works most of the time. You cannot judge by the B-B-Q cause it's all good in Texas.
Some of these I would never eat-I have never been an onion fan, for example. And duck fat? I don't think so. Deep fried butter on a stick? Nooooooooooooooo.
But...
I love bacon, donuts, and mac and chees eand though I haven't had deep dish pizza, I do love pizza- and cheese is a favourite no matter what
I can just see your tiny self wolfing down all that Kobe. Uh, I had onion rings just the other day with an awesome portabella haystack sandwich. I had not eaten onion rings in years and probably won't again thanks to this Hub. Why are these greatest foods fatty? That is not even fair. But I loved your Hub.
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