Whether you have a penchant for pizza or you're a diehard fried chicken fan, chances are you sometimes indulge in a fast food feast. But have you ever thought about where your favourite dishes came from – or that there was ever a time before they existed? We dig into the surprising stories behind the world's most popular fast foods, from hamburgers and fries to hot dogs and currywurst.

Click or scroll through our gallery for fascinating facts about how (and where) your favourite fast food was invented, listed A-Z by dish.

It’s difficult to imagine this fast food classic originating anywhere other than the USA, but tales surrounding the birth of the burger are plentiful. Some food historians say the earliest burger was the Ancient Roman dish Isicia Omentata, which saw minced meat mixed up with spices and formed into patties. Others point to the Mongols, who conquered vast swathes of Eurasia in the 13th and 14th centuries. They kept helpings of beef under their saddles as they rode on horseback, so the meat became tenderised.

The Mongol Empire and early globalisation helped spread the idea of minced meat dishes across Europe, first to Russia and later to Germany, and specifically Hamburg. It was here that Hamburg steak – a ground beef patty cooked with spices – was popularised, first appearing in a printed cookbook in 1747. By the 19th century, German immigrants were travelling to the New World, bringing their culinary delights with them. These early burgers were eaten on ships venturing to the Americas and served at food stands at ports and harbours.

But who invented the modern burger? The United States Library of Congress gives that honour to Louis Lassen of Louis’ Lunch in Connecticut. In 1900, Lassen thought on his feet when a customer came into his low-key lunch spot asking for a quick bite he could eat on the go. Lassen layered ground beef between two slices of toast and served what became a precursor to the modern burger to his punter.

Over the 20th century, the burger took on a life of its own. White Castle's Walter Anderson is typically credited with inventing the burger bun, while Lionel Sternberger, of The Rite Spot diner in Pasadena, California, is said to have made the first cheeseburger in the 1920s. Fast food juggernauts McDonald’s and Burger King came onto the scene later in the century, and the burger has been a bedrock of America’s fast food scene ever since.

Wondering who you’ve got to thank for the invention of chicken nuggets? Turns out they’re a relatively new phenomenon on the fast food scene. These delicious golden bites are thought to have been cooked up in a laboratory in 1963 by Robert C. Baker, a professor at New York’s Cornell University. He was something of a poultry pioneer, also inventing turkey ham and chicken hot dogs. 

By the late 1970s, there were warnings that excessive red meat consumption could increase the risk of heart disease and high cholesterol. People who worried about eating too much beef wanted a tasty but equally convenient alternative to the hamburger, so the timing was right for chicken nuggets to take off in popularity. They debuted on select McDonald’s menus in 1981 and were widely available two years later. 

The classic Chicken McNugget is still a mainstay on the McDonald's menu, but in 2019 the company experimented with a new variety, Spicy Chicken McNuggets. When the limited-edition item launched in the UK there were queues around the block. They have appeared sporadically on menus around the world ever since. 

Currywurst is a staple in Germany, with the aroma wafting from food carts, markets and takeaway spots across the country. The dish of sliced sausage topped with tomato sauce and curry powder is a favourite fast food option, and is also served with a gourmet twist in some fancy restaurants. 

Legend has it that currywurst was invented in Berlin in 1949 by Herta Heuwer, who traded some alcohol with British troops in return for ketchup and curry powder. She then experimented with the new ingredients in her kitchen and started selling her creation from a street stall to hungry construction workers. The snack was a hit and others were soon creating their own versions, though Herta took her personal recipe to the grave. 

The döner kebab dates back centuries to the Ottoman Empire, but the version that we’re familiar with today was made popular in Germany in the 1970s. Meat is cooked on a rotisserie in the shape of a giant cone, and slivers are cut off and then piled into a pitta or flatbread with salad, then topped with chilli and garlic sauces.

The Turkish traditionally served döner meat on rice, but its modern sandwich-style incarnation is generally credited to either Mehmet Aygün or Kadir Nurman, both Turkish immigrants in Berlin who, in the early 1970s, turned the dish into a street food snack. These days, there are thousands of diner kebab stalls and shops all over Germany, and it's a go-to snack in many other countries.

From Krispy Kreme to Dunkin’ Donuts to McDonald’s sugar-sprinkled offerings, doughnuts are a sweet treat heavyweight in the fast food arena. And, as it turns out, they have a rather long history. Remnants of the doughy dessert have been found at prehistoric indigenous American sites over the years, but doughnuts as we know (and love) them seem to originate in the Netherlands.

It’s thought that the Dutch had been making oily cakes (pictured), a precursor to the modern doughnut, for centuries and that 17th-century Dutch immigrants brought their doughy creations to America – specifically to the early Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam, now in modern-day New York City.

The invention of doughnuts is also linked to American seaman Hanson Gregory and his mother, Elizabeth, in the mid-19th century. Elizabeth purportedly whipped up fried dough goods filled with nuts on board the ship, while Hanson pierced a hole through one of his mother’s bakes to create the first-ever ringed doughnut.

Fast-forward to the 1920s and the first doughnut machine was invented. It was dreamt up by Russian-born Adolph Levitt in New York City and it would help spur on America’s love affair with the doughnut. They only gained further appeal when doled out to troops during the Second World War. Mega-chain Dunkin' Donuts was founded in 1950 in Quincy, Massachusetts (following in the footsteps of competitor Krispy Kreme). 

There are few things more satisfying than a heap of fluffy French fries on the side of a burger. But who invented these perfect potato morsels? Despite being French in name, fries are purported to be Belgian in origin. Many sources pin the French fry’s invention to the French-speaking town of Namur in south-central Belgium. So the story goes: Namur locals typically ate fried fish, but when the River Meuse froze over one biting cold winter in the 1600s, they fried up potatoes instead. And, so, the French fry was born.

It’s said that the name came from American soldiers stationed in that region of Belgium during the First World War. The French, though, insist the potato snack has its roots with them. According to some, fries originated back in the late 1700s with street-cart food vendors on Paris’ historic Pont-Neuf. The creator’s specific identity remains a mystery, however. This snap shows Parisians eating fries from a street vendor centuries later, in 1944. 

Still, to many, the French fry is quintessentially American. And the US origins of the food are bound up with America’s third president, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson reportedly came across French fries in the 1780s, when serving as the American Minister to France. Jefferson then had enslaved man James Hemings train as a chef in Paris, and French fries were among the recipes in Hemings’ portfolio. Here's another American president – Ronald Reagan – digging into a burger and French fries, centuries later.

It wasn’t until the 20th century that fries truly became part of US food culture, helped along by the advent of fast food giants. In 1949, McDonald’s began serving its famous French fries, replacing its original thick-cut potato chips. Then Burger King, and its tasty shoestring fries, came onto the scene in the Fifties. The rest, as they say, is history.

You might assume that fried chicken originated in the Southern United States. Here, the dish is an enduring staple associated as much with big family-style dinners as fast food joints. The first printed record of a fried chicken recipe in the US was back in 1824, in a cookbook named The Virginia House-Wife. The author, Mary Randolph, was a relative of President Thomas Jefferson, often dubbed 'America’s first foodie'. 

However, it might be that fried chicken has its roots a little farther north. Some food historians muse that the earliest fried chicken was cooked up in Scotland, with a British cookbook citing a recipe as early as 1747. It’s thought that the recipe was passed on to enslaved people by Scottish slaveholders. African-American cooks ultimately made the dish their own – and the mouth-watering version we know today – adding spicy twists and seasoning to perfection. A chicken shop in Ogden, Utah is shown here in the early 20th century.

The most famous chicken joint of all, KFC, came onto the scene in the 20th century. The revered Colonel Harland Sanders began selling his fried chicken from a gas station in Corbin, Kentucky in the 1930s and, by the 1940s, he’d perfected his world-famous ‘Original Recipe’ blend of 11 secret herbs and spices. KFC was eventually franchised in the 1950s, paving the way for a worldwide obsession with finger-lickin'-good chicken. 

Especially popular in New York City and Chicago, gyros (pronounced 'yee-rohs') consist of pitta bread packed with rotisserie meat, tzatziki and, often, shredded lettuce and tomatoes. The comforting sandwiches originated in Greece, likely inspired by the döner kebab, and have been linked back to the army of Alexander the Great, who roasted skewered meat on an open fire way back in the fourth century BC. 

The Greek delicacy gained traction in New York City in the 1970s, with gyro spots springing up across Manhattan. Some food historians suggest the rise in popularity was down to increased transatlantic travel; as more Americans explored Europe, they brought a taste for Mediterranean food home with them. Today, it’s easy to find this Greek-inspired classic at simple to-go spots and laid-back diners.

Myriad versions of the hot dog’s origin story abound today, and it’s usually between Germany and Austria. Unsurprisingly, Germany’s Frankfurt is widely dubbed as the birthplace of the Frankfurter – it's claimed the hot dog sausage was cooked up here as far back as 1487. The folks of Vienna, Austria disagree. The wiener, they say, originated with them, and its North American nickname proves it.

How the hot dog came to be an American fast food stalwart is another story. It’s generally agreed that the hot dog was introduced to the US by German immigrants arriving in New York in the 19th century. There are records of a German hot dog vendor operating in the Big Apple’s Bowery neighbourhood in the 1860s. The following decade, German Charles Feltman opened a hot dog stand in Coney Island. He’s often tipped as the first vendor to put a hot dog sausage in a long bun, selling his wieners in milk rolls.

By the late 19th century, hot dog stands were becoming commonplace at baseball games and public expositions. The most famous of all was opened in 1916 by a Polish immigrant named Nathan Handwerker. He undercut his competition by five cents a pop at his Coney Island stand, and today Nathan's Famous remains one of the most beloved hot dog companies in the States. Now, hot dog spots abound in America, from hole-in-the-wall joints to hip places serving innovative toppings. 

A sweet fix and an enduring sidekick to burgers and fries, the milkshake was first referenced in 1885, in a British newspaper – but it looked rather different back then. The newspaper described the milkshake as a 'healthful' recipe of eggs and cream whipped up with whisky. However, it’s thought that we owe the familiar soft, sweet dessert drink to drug-store chain Walgreens. 

It’s said that manager Ivan 'Pop' Coulson was experimenting with a way to improve the malted milk drink that Walgreens sold. He added scoops of vanilla ice cream to milk, chocolate syrup and malt powder, concocting what’s tipped as the first modern milkshake. The electric blender was invented by Steven J. Poplawski in 1922, allowing milkshakes to become an American staple served everywhere from retro-style diners to fast food spots. A group of young women are snapped here drinking milkshakes at a soda fountain in 1926.

Onion rings don’t have quite the same long and complex history as some other fast food icons – but they’ve still got a tale to tell. As far back as 1802, a recipe for 'fried onions', which saw onions cut into rings, doused in batter and fried in lard, appeared in a British cookbook named The Art of Cookery, Made Easy and Refined, by John Mollard.

Other sources cite Pig Stand, a chain of fast food restaurants originating in Texas in the 1920s, as the birthplace of the humble onion ring. The tasty morsels also featured in Burger King’s first-ever dollar menu back in the 1990s, and they’ve remained a menu stalwart for decades since.

Pizza has a long history – one that goes back millennia. The earliest forms of ‘pizza’ began with ancient cultures, who topped simple flatbreads with meat and cheese. But the more modern form of pizza took shape in Naples, Italy in the late 1700s, after a population boom. Pizza was sold by street traders as a quick, cheap and convenient meal for an at-the-time impoverished population that was perpetually on the go. Here, a young vendor hawks pizza in 1960s Naples.

Typically, early pizzas were topped with simple ingredients like salt and garlic, and sometimes cheese, tomatoes and basil. For decades, pizza was seen as the domain of the lower classes. But that all changed when King Umberto I and Queen Margherita paid a visit to Naples in the 1880s. The Queen especially developed a penchant for pizza, and the variety with mozzarella, tomato and basil was named as a tribute to her. Then, as Neapolitans migrated across the country through the late 19th and 20th centuries, they took their foodie innovations with them.

So how did pizza find its way to US soil? During the late 1800s and early 1900s, millions of Italian immigrants made their home in the United States, and pizza in its many guises travelled with them. Lombardi's (pictured) – opened in New York City in 1905 and still going strong today – is widely credited as the first pizzeria in the States.

From here, pizza took on a life of its own, shapeshifting from a simple tomato pie to Chicago deep dish – whose invention is typically credited to Pizzeria Uno, which opened in 1943 – and thin and crunchy New York–style pizza. Heavyweights like Pizza Hut and Domino’s were founded in the 1950s and 1960s, cementing America’s love affair with pizza pies forever. 

The origins of Canada’s famous carb-heavy comfort food – made from a delicious combo of French fries, cheese curds and gravy – are much-debated, with several people laying claim to its invention. One popular story is that Quebec restaurateur Fernand Lachance, owner of Le Lutin qui rit, created the dish for a customer who requested a handful of cheese curds be added to his takeaway fries. 

Another restaurant that says it invented poutine is Drummondville drive-in Le Roy Jucep (its version of the dish is pictured here), which already served up fries with gravy and created a new dish when many customers also wanted cheese on top. Originally on the menu as 'fromage-patate-sauce', this was later changed to poutine – Québécois slang for ‘mess’ (though some say it’s a play on the English word, pudding).   

Whether you call them hoagies, grinders, subs or something else, hearty submarine-shaped sandwiches are an all-American lunchtime classic. Regional names and varieties abound, but it’s generally agreed that the long rolls – traditionally filled with cured meats and cheeses – originated with Italian immigrants in New York City in the 19th century. This 1950s photo shows Vincente Dell'Orto of NYC's now-shuttered Manganaro's deli with a teetering tray of submarine sandwiches.

However, it’s thought that the name sub, short for submarine sandwiches, could have its roots in Connecticut. Italian Benedetto Capaldo began selling the rolls from his shop in New London, CT and workers from the nearby submarine base became his primary customers, especially during the Second World War. Given the sandwiches’ shape, they became nicknamed subs, and the moniker ultimately stuck. Connecticut is also the birthplace of sandwich behemoth Subway, which opened in Bridgeport in 1965.

Who isn't partial to a taco? While the roots of this fast food favourite are undoubtedly Mexican, the exact origin story is hazy. It’s thought that ancient indigenous cultures in Mexico enjoyed corn tortillas loaded with offal and fish, long before the Spanish conquest. Their history is also bound up with that of Mexican silver miners; it’s thought that this simple, filling food was the domain of the working classes, with records from the late 1800s referring to tacos de minero, or miner’s tacos.

Mexican migrants, who came to the US to work on the railroads in the early 1900s, brought their gourmet creations with them. Traditional tacos were typically sold out of street carts in states from California to Texas (this snap shows a woman preparing tacos from a street cart on Olvera Street, Los Angeles). 

By the 1920s, tacos began to adapt to American tastes and ingredients, with ground beef rather than offal filling shells, and extras like cheese and tomato piled on top. Records of hard taco shells first appear in the 1940s, with Glen Bell’s Taco Bell opening in the 1960s. Today there are more than 7,000 Taco Bell restaurants worldwide.

Now read about the most historic fast food joints in every US state

Last updated by Clare Thorp.