American, Southern Recipes
35 recipes found
Cheese Puff
Cheese puff is a scene-stealing side dish in which gooey grilled cheese meets cloudlike soufflé, defining itself as the ultimate comfort food. White bread, salted butter and cheese get bound together by a simple egg-and-milk mixture that coalesces these humble ingredients into a savory bread pudding. Stale bread works best for this recipe, as it absorbs the milk mixture better, but if you’re using fresh sandwich bread, simply dry it out in a low oven for about 10 minutes until stale to the touch (but not browned). Don’t be alarmed if your cheese puff deflates when you take it from the oven, as it’s normal and makes for a more custardy bite. While sharp Cheddar is a key component, any mix of firm, well-melting cheese, such as Gruyère, Gouda or provolone, will work nicely.
Dolly Parton’s Cranberry Mold
We have to have cranberries with turkey, dressing and potatoes at Thanksgiving. We love that you can make this cranberry mold recipe, from our book “Good Lookin’ Cookin’” (Ten Speed Press, 2024), in advance, so there’s one less part of the meal to concern yourself with on the big day. Dolly calls this a “friendly side dish” and she’s right: Though it’s sweet, it’s the kind of sweet that fits the meal itself, before you even get to dessert.
Smothered Chicken
This easy, beloved one-pan meal is true Southern comfort food. Though smothered chicken often includes bacon, celery or bell pepper, this recipe strips it to its essence, relying more upon onion and scallions. The classic cooking technique of smothering has its roots in West African, French and Creole culinary traditions and, at its core, is a simple stovetop braise. Serve this dish with steamed rice or mashed potatoes, plus a side of collard greens or green beans.
Best Peach Cobbler
Everyone has a different idea about what a cobbler should be. Biscuit-topped? Double-crusted? Cakelike? We’re not here to cast a vote, merely to present a simple Southern cake-style cobbler that makes the most of ripe summer peaches (or the frozen ones languishing in the back of your freezer). All you really need is a bowl, a saucepan, a baking pan and a spoon. This recipe is all about showcasing the fruit, so when you transfer the batter to the pan, it will not completely cover the bottom, nor will it cover the top of the peaches. As it bakes, the batter will rise up along the sides of the pan and through the peaches, developing a crisp exterior and tender interior. If you'd like a taller cobbler with a higher cake-to-fruit ratio, do as many readers do, and double the batter.
North Carolina Fish Muddle
Queso
Queso, a popular Tex-Mex dip made with processed American cheese and canned tomatoes, was inspired by chile con queso, a Mexican dip of melted cheese and chiles that made its way to the United States in the 1930s and ’40s. As the two-ingredient Americanized adaptation gained popularity, supermarkets began placing Ro-tel canned tomatoes near shelf-stable Velveeta cheese, and queso became mainstream. Purists will argue that any ingredient beyond American cheese and spicy diced tomatoes is unnecessary, but you can customize this recipe by adding any combination of black beans, scallions, cilantro, garlic, cumin, red-pepper flakes, oregano, lime zest or juice.
Vegan Pressure Cooker Red Beans and Rice
Here’s a vegan version of the classic New Orleans dish that uses smoked paprika, miso paste and soy sauce to add a savory notes. Pressure cookers are ideal for preparing dried beans; even unsoaked beans cook quickly and evenly, so that the beans become creamy but still keep their shape (though we’ve got instructions for a slow cooker approach, too). Here, you want the beans to be very tender, so that the stew is thick — with a few beans that have slightly broken down — and not soupy. This vegan version of “Monday red beans” is not as creamy as the one made with pork, so smashing a few beans against the side of the pot at the end of cooking is particularly important. Louisiana-style hot sauce is key as well.
Pressure Cooker Red Beans and Rice
This is a pressure cooker spin on the New Orleans classic (though we have a slow cooker version, too, if that’s more your speed). Pressure cookers have a special way with dried beans, cooking even unsoaked beans quickly and evenly, so that the beans become creamy but retain their shape. Here, you want the beans to be very soft, so that the stew is thick, not brothy. “Monday red beans” are traditionally flavored with a leftover pork bone, so you can use one instead of a ham hock, if you like. If you have a favorite Cajun or Creole seasoning blend, use 1 heaping tablespoon of it in place of the sage, cayenne, garlic, onion and paprika, and taste before adding any salt, since seasoning blends vary in salinity.
Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice
This slow cooker version of New Orleans-style red beans requires about 20 minutes to toss together in the morning and can be ready to eat when you walk in the door after work. Creamy and comforting, it is traditionally flavored with a leftover pork bone, so if you happen to have one, feel free to throw that in instead of a ham hock. And if you have a favorite Cajun or Creole spice mixture on hand, use 1 heaping tablespoon of it in place of the sage, cayenne, garlic, onion and paprika powders, and taste before adding any salt, as seasoning blends contain a varying amount of sodium. Adding hot sauce at the end is key: The best kind to use is a vinegary, cayenne-based, Louisiana-style sauce, like Crystal, Louisiana brand or Tabasco. (Here is a vegan version of this recipe.)
Stephanie L. Tyson’s Sweet Potato Cornbread
Stephanie L. Tyson, the chef at a Winston-Salem, N.C., restaurant called Sweet Potatoes, likes to blend one Southern staple into another: sweet potato cornbread laced with a holiday-friendly undercurrent of cinnamon and nutmeg. Ms. Tyson has said that the cornbread just clicks with a side of greens, but we have a feeling it will play well with cranberries and gravy, too.
Sweet Potato Meringue Pie
Everything about this sweet potato pie is surprisingly light and creamy, from the soft custard filling to the swoopy toasted meringue. Piping that meringue dresses it up even more. Instead of focusing on making uniform shapes and sizes with the piping tips, give into spontaneity — use two tips with different shapes and use them to make different effects within a designated portion of the pie. The untopped pie can be made up to 1 day ahead, but it’s best to make and apply the meringue within 2 hours of serving.
Dirty Rice With Mushrooms
This vegetarian version of Southern dirty rice replaces the traditional ground beef and chicken livers with hearty mushrooms, creamy black-eyed peas and flavorful spices for a satisfying one-pot meal. The recipe starts with the classic Cajun holy trinity — onion, green bell pepper and celery in equal parts — to create a flavorful foundation. Mushroom broth adds even more depth and reinforces the earthy cremini mushrooms, while a drizzle of hot sauce adds tang and kick. Serve with simple leafy greens or chopped salad.
Charleston Red Rice
A Lowcountry favorite that likely descended from West African jollof rice, this classic tomato and rice dish is also sometimes called Carolina red rice – or simply red rice. It often contains sausage, but this version, inspired by how the chef Millie Peartree’s mother, Millie Bell, used to make it, relies on bacon for its depth. (Still, if you’d like to add sausage, just let it sear with the vegetables in Step 3.) To start, the “holy trinity” (bell pepper, onion and celery) is cooked in the bacon fat, infusing the cooking liquid. Then, the rice is baked to ensure it’s perfectly cooked. Serve this alongside baked chicken or ham, green beans or collard greens, for a full, satisfying meal.
Fried Chicken Biscuits With Hot Honey Butter
This recipe for chicken biscuits could be a weeknight dinner with a side of greens, but it's made to travel, and perfectly suited for a picnic. The biscuit dough, adapted from Sam Sifton's all-purpose biscuit recipe, is lightly kneaded here, so it's not too tender to work in a sandwich. The chicken tenders, inspired by Masaharu Morimoto's katsu in the cookbook "Mastering the Art of Japanese Home Cooking," are pounded and coated in panko for plenty of crunch. Prepare both components the day you want to eat them, giving yourself at least one extra hour for everything to cool before you assemble, so the sandwich stays crisp. You can also cook well in advance, and assemble the sandwiches the next day. Either way, cooling the chicken completely, on a wire rack, is crucial. If you prefer breast meat over thigh, feel free to swap it in.
Berry-Jam Fried Chicken
The name sounds like a sweet-tooth parade, but this recipe makes sense when you pair it with a spicy scallion cornmeal waffle. Wells’ Restaurant, a popular 1930s Harlem supper club, cemented the chicken and waffle combination in American culinary history; Amy Ruth’s in Harlem, Beans & Cornbread in suburban Detroit and Hotville in Los Angeles continue that tradition. Almost any summer-fruit jam can be substituted in the marinade, and if you don't have peanut oil, use another oil with a high smoke point.
Todd Richards’s Fried Catfish With Hot Sauce
The Atlanta chef Todd Richards says his mother made catfish on Fridays as part of her weekly rotation of dishes. She let the fish sit in cornmeal for about five minutes before frying, a technique that he said resulted in very crispy fish. He uses the same method in this recipe, adapted from his cookbook, “Soul: A Chef’s Culinary Evolution in 150 Recipes” (Oxmoor House, 2018). If you’re using boneless catfish, this dish can be served as a sandwich.
Pan-Fried Okra
As one of the most respected cooks in America’s Lowcountry region, Emily Meggett knows a thing or two about taking humble ingredients and transforming them into an irresistible plate of food. Such is the case for the matriarch’s pan-fried okra, from her cookbook “Gullah Geechee Home Cooking: Recipes From the Matriarch of Edisto Island” (Abrams, 2022), a book that I co-wrote. Her recipe is constructed around the use of fresh, seasonal okra pods. Mrs. Meggett dismisses what she views as the excessive use of dairy-based cornmeal batters in restaurant versions of fried okra; instead, she lightly coats her okra, allowing the beauty and taste of the vegetable to shine in each mouthful.
Scallion Cornmeal Waffles
For many alumni, homecoming week at the nation’s H.B.C.U.s — historically Black colleges and universities — culminates with day parties and brunches, where waffles are almost always on the menu. These crispy, savory cornmeal waffles are a weekend must-make and fancier than a pancake stack. They are also the perfect base for berry-jam fried chicken. Use full-fat buttermilk here, and feel free to swap in the oil of your choice. A citrus salad with peanuts and avocado, or crispy tofu, make a lovely accompaniment if you don’t eat meat.
Black Tea and Whiskey Cooler
Florida A&M, or FAMU, the historically Black college and university founded in 1887 in Tallahassee, canceled its homecoming celebrations for 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. This whiskey cooler from Shameeka Ayers, an alumna, is Florida sunshine beamed into a glass. The orange and green are inspired by FAMU's colors; Ms. Ayers calls the drink the Three Strike, inspired by the school's “Strike, Strike and Strike Again” chant. The black tea adds depth and is refreshing year-round. The Uncle Nearest whiskey honors Nathan "Nearest" Green, the enslaved African who taught Jack Daniels how to distill.
Memphis Dry-Rub Mushrooms
This showstopper — using a dry rub adapted from Greg Collier, the chef and co-owner of Leah & Louise in Charlotte, N.C. — is an opportunity to explore different mushroom varieties. Black oyster mushrooms give a brawny bite, and effortlessly hold the soulful seasoning while getting the crispest, crunchiest edges. Fuzzy white lion’s mane or even portobellos work, too; just buy the biggest mushrooms you can find. This recipe uses Worcestershire sauce, which typically includes anchovies, so be sure to seek out vegan Worcestershire if you'd like to make the dish vegan. Serve with sweet potato pikliz.
Barbecue Sauce
Southern Cornbread Dressing
Cornbread dressing is an intensely personal thing. In the American South, at least, everybody’s grandmother had a recipe, and everyone knows just how it should be made. This is a base model with a few variations. It’s nice to let it chill overnight before baking so the flavors meld. But you don’t have to. The key is really good stock, though plenty of cooks over the years have made it with whatever was on hand — even water in a pinch. This is food for sustenance. But it pays to use the best ingredients possible. Be sure to leave enough time — the cornbread needs to sit out overnight to harden slightly before you make the dressing.
Make-Ahead Fried Chicken
Fried chicken is one of the few fried foods that tastes just as good served at room temperature as it does when it's served hot enough to burn your fingers. This recipe has been specially engineered to be made in advance. It’s seasoned assertively, so the flavors won’t dull as it cools. But the real key is double-dipping the chicken in the flour mixture before you fry it, making for an extra-crunchy crust that holds up all afternoon. And it lets you serve fried chicken to your guests and still have enough time to clean the kitchen and take a shower before they arrive. Although the recipe calls for all drumsticks, which won’t dry out as they sit, feel free to substitute other chicken parts.
Pecan Tarts
Pecan pastries are synonymous with the American South; this recipe is a handheld compendium of community. The flavor profile mirrors its larger cousin — the full-sized pecan pie — but tarts serve just as ably as a crowd-pleaser. This pastry dough comes together easily, but be sure to chill it for at least an hour and a half before forming your tart shells in the pan. And resist the urge to overfill each pastry cup: the sweet, sticky pecan mixture should come only three-quarters of the way up the side because it will rise as it bakes. These pecan tarts can hold at room temperature for several days, if you have any left by then.