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Best Food in Alberta

Karen’s Great Canadian Foodie Bucket List -SK – 1

If you want to know the best food in Alberta, you’ve come to the right place. Our founder, Karen Anderson, has been writing about food in this province and across Canada since 2006. In this post, she dishes on a few of her favourite books about and experiences in the province. Want a deeper dive? Order her books Eat Alberta First or Food Artisans of Alberta.

We have seven signature foods here in Alberta: beef, bison, canola, honey, Red Fife wheat, root vegetables and saskatoon berries. And, we produce outstanding barley that’s made into bright tasting beer at over 120 breweries and over 40 distilleries. We also produce much of the world’s grains, mustard seeds, and pulses (chickpeas, beans, peas and lentils). So, though you might only have heard of Alberta’s famous beef, there’s so much more here that we love to showcase on our tours.

As a bonus, read to the end of this post to find one of our all-time favourite Alberta recipes.

Media:

Food Artisans of Alberta – Karen Anderson and Matilda Sanchez-Turri

Eat Alberta First – (publication date March, 2023) – Karen Anderson

Foodshed: and Edible Alberta Alphabet – Dee Hobsbawn-Smith

Calgary Eats – Gail Norton and Karen Ralph

Edmonton Cooks – Tina Faiz and Leanne Brown

Tapping the West – Scott Messenger

Places and Experiences:

Rouge Restaurant – chef Paul Rogalski, Calgary

River Cafe and Deane House – Sal Howell, proprietor; Calgary

JinBar – 2017 Canadian Culinary Champion, chef Jinhee Lee’s, ode to fun Korean food with decidedly Alberta ingredients

Culina Family of Restaurants – Metis chef Brad Lazarenko, Edmonton

Pei Pei Chei Ow – Indigenous chef Scott Iserhoff, Edmonton

Sauvage in Canmore – chef Tracy Little – hunger and gatherer menus bringing Alberta’s terroir to the table

The Butternut Tree – chef Scott Downey

RgeRd – chef Blair Lebsack

Chartier – Sylvia and Darren Cheverie, Beaumont

Cilantro and Chive – chef Rieley Kay, Lacombe and Red Deer

Twisted Fork – Metis chef Deb Poulin, St. Paul

Alberta Food Tours, Inc – Calgary, Canmore, Banff and Edmonton – toot, tooting our own horn here!

Jasper Food Tours – Estelle Blanchette

Alberta Open Farm Days

Alberta on the Plate

Beverages:

Alberta Craft Distillers Association

Alberta Small Brewers Association

Canola Cake - close up

Bonus Recipe: Cold Pressed Canola Oil Cake with Saskatoon Berry Compote

Yield: 8 servings

This recipe comes from our friend Brad Smoliak, one of our favourite Edmonton chefs. He cooked for Queen Elizabeth II and he cooked for our guests and the greatest thing about him is that he treats everyone and every ingredient with the same amount of respect and love. We hope you can taste that in this yummy Alberta recipe.

Ingredients

  • 300 grams all purpose flour
  • 375 grams granulated sugar 
  • 2 grams kosher salt
  • 2 grams baking soda
  • 2 grams baking powder
  • 3 large eggs 
  • 300 grams cold pressed canola oil 
  • 310 grams  whole milk 
  • 100 grams whisky

Instructions

  1. Heat the oven to 325° F. 
  2. Oil, butter, or spray a 9-inch cake pan that is at least 2 inches deep and line the bottom with parchment paper. (If your cake pan is less than 2 inches deep, divide between 2 pans and start checking for doneness at 30 minutes.) 
  3. Mix flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and baking powder in a bowl and set aside.
  4. Place eggs in a the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whip attachment and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. 
  5. Add the sugar slowly and whip for an additional 2 minutes then slowly drizzle in the canola oil. Turn mixer to low and drizzle in the milk and whiskey. 
  6. Add bowl of dry ingredients and mix on low until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. (The batter will be quite thin.) 
  7. Bake for 1 hour or until an inserted pick comes out clean.   
  8. Enjoy with a Saskatoon berry compote.

Saskatoon Berry Compote

Ingredients

  • 2 cups saskatoon berries
  • zest and juice of one lemon
  • 1 cup water
  • ½  cup sugar

Instructions

  1. Bring the berries, zest, juice, water and juice to a low boil on the stove and simmer until thick and syrupy.
  2. Blend half of the mixture in a food processor and then return it to the mixture.
  3. Use immediately or transfer to a jar and store in the refrigerator until needed.
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