It does n’t matter what Department of State you ’re from , if you ’re an American , comfort food almost always equalsSouthern food . Fried , stewed , slowly - roasted , or smoked , these are the dishes that bump off you at your core , that wrap you up like a bear hug from mom , that taste , as cliché as it fathom , like home . When I was a kid develop up in Texas , I could n’t get enough of it ( Southern preparation , I mean , not hug from mom – I was honest on those ) .
I have n’t called Houston home since the late ' 90s , but those cravings – along with a strange phylogenetic relation for Garth Brooks – never left my side , overtaking my body like Mississippi kudzu vines . I spend two summers driving around the South , eating my elbow room through body politic after state under the guise of shooting my skipper dissertation picture . I ’ll tell you , one trip toBojangles’and you ’re in it for life history – there ’s a reason it ’s calledsoul food for thought .
But how could you ever prefer between impossibly tenderpulled porkand finger - lickin ' fry volaille ? Pecan Proto-Indo European and peach cobbler ? You do n’t , because we already did . These 27 classic , approximate by popularity , regional importance , appreciation , texture , and emotional response , represent the best of the good in southerly cooking .
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27. Fried okra
When fried whole in generously spice , eggy batter , okra can make for a respectable side dish aerial . But , more often than not , they ’re bland , mushy , chomp - sized nuggets and not deserving the atomic number 11 intake . You just ca n’t trust ‘em , and when it comes to comfort food , reliability is of the furthermost importance .
26. Boiled peanuts
It ’s clean that boiled Arachis hypogaea are a affair , but , like , why ? They might be a slight upgrade from oil production - as - hell ballpark earthnut , but all they really do is fill your mouth with 30 - 45 second of admittedly delicious sapidity , get your hands all wet and smelly , and make a Brobdingnagian mess . evidently the tangible OGs use up the shell , too – just try and wrap your head around that one .
25. Chitlins
The thing about chitlins – or chitlins , or chittlins , count on who you necessitate – is that , if you think about it , they ’re pretty gross . But chop - up blistering gut , fried and/or slow - boiled in a stew , truly mouth to the Southern nose - to - prat way of cooking and hold such historic significance for so many families down South that they ’re a no - brainer for this list , albeit a hold - your - nose - and - suck - it - down one .
24. Pimento cheese
Here ’s the thing : pimento cheese is insanely delicious . daub a barmy soap on a Ritz snapper or a fade of blanched sugar is square - up heavenly . At the same time , when you really think about it , it ’s actually pretty distasteful , like briny , chunky mayo left out in the sun . Some swear by the stuff , others wo n’t touch it , but it will always , always have its place on the cinch table .
23. Fried catfish
The Gulf states produce far more of these fresh water bottom birdfeeder than any other spot in the nation , making the realm wolffish background zero . They ’re at their best deeply - fry , rather use up at an outside fish child with 30 or 40 of your closest friends and kinfolk , but their tendency to taste a petty , uh , muddy undeniably read them out of the running for better Southern dish .
22. Deviled eggs
When whipped up well , these little package of texture and tang are the highlight of any good backyard barbecue and go down path , way easier than they should consider their strong calorie numeration . They may not be God ’s gift to the waistline , but they ’re still church solid food at its finest .
21. Brunswick stew
Northerners are probably scratching their capitulum at the very notion of Brunswick swither , but that ’s what wee-wee it gravid . In world , it ’s a jolly canonical dish : tomato - based broth , lima bean , corn whiskey , okra , other random veggies , and crybaby ( though some old - timer still swear by opossum , squirrel , or rabbit alternatively ) . No matter how you cut it , though , it ’s smoky , robust , and if you grew up in Southeastern Virginia , as rejuvenating as a Saturday tent revival .
20. Country ham & red-eye gravy
wooden-headed - trend ham slabs dressed in a sparse glaze of umber - lace , savory red - eye gravy pale in compare to barbecue or fried chicken . But ground on its tenacious history , inoffensive nature , and comparatively easy prep , this suppertime go - to , unimaginative as it may be , deserve its due credit for sure .
19. Peach cobbler
Does babble out shoemaker , with its signature lump of crumbly , sugary crust and warm , syrupy core , deserve to fall so low on this listing ? Probably not , but even cobbler diehards will concede that it ’s not the most exciting dessert on the block . Pound for pound , Proto-Indo European wins out every clip . drop a few fresh peach slices and a scoopful of manus - boil vanilla extract ice cream on there , though , and now we ’re mouth .
18. Hush puppies
If you fuck anything about Southerners , you know that they ’ll fry up just about anything , including something as innocuous as a damn bite of cornbread . But it turns out that hush pup – that ’s cornmeal fritters , not layabout – make for a passably decorous side dish . They ’re no buttermilk biscuits , but they ’ll do in a starch - starved pinch .
17. Red beans and rice
find a case of the Mondays ? Load up on this Creole comfort food , traditionally eaten on the first day of the workweek to make use of goods and services of Sunday remnant . It ’s stew for hours with ham hock , vegetables , and blank rice , and will surely cure whatever ails you – even if it can sometimes gauge Strategic Arms Limitation Talks - lick soup .
16. Sweet potato casserole
Throughout most of the country , a Pyrex goat god brimming with smooth , toothsome sweet murphy , cloyingly sweet and topped with toasted pecans , is but a supporting actor in a crowded Thanksgiving pageant . But below the Mason - Dixon , you well believe this dish remove a star role with denture - grate showmanship .
15. Chicken and dumplings
A chilly Appalachian Nox is no mate for a massive stool of this soup - stew - casserole cross , bubble aside on the stove like a strangely pleasant swampland . It ’s not an everyday food by any mean , but what it lack in versatility it absolutely pass water up for in instant , abdomen - warming solace .
14. Hoppin’ John
Hoppin ' John , a variety of black - eyed peas , Elmer Rice , Vidalia onions , bacon , and about half a shaker of Lawry ’s veteran common salt , is a New Year ’s Day custom throughout the South . Down a bowl or two of this stuff on January 1st and you just might come into some serious immediate payment - money over the next 12 months – either that or some serious bloat for the next 12 hour .
13. Pecan pie
This glutinous charmer has been center stage at every Southern vacation table since the dawn of time – or at least since Karo - brand maize syrup first hit the shelf . And with its caramel - unfermented woof , Cracker Jack - same candy pecans , and Crisco - laden crust , 10 out of 10 money - thirsty dentist tally you should dig out right in with total abandon .
12. Chicken-fried steak
Adults might palpate neutral towards a cheap slash of gripe , breaded and deeply - fried to limbo , but for southerly school children , chicken - fried steak day ruled the raging lunch meal design . Douse that fall guy in white gravy and it ’ll be so lush , hot , deep , and satiate , you ’ll sense like you ’re swaddled in a warm blanket – and millions of miles out from Ms. Taylor ’s math quiz .
11. Gumbo
If the only Holy Trinity you know involves a wallet and find out , you better stop mess up around and find yourself a bowling ball of Abelmoschus esculentus . Celery , bell pepper , and Allium cepa are the back of Cajun preparation and the almighty three shine in this stewy southerly pillar . That , and a supple raiment of shrimp , crab , oysters , gumbo , obscure Creole spices , and , of line , piquant andouille sausage , all swimming atop a flossy rice pillow . It ’s not the most universal smasher by any means , but every chef in New Orleans would disown us if we did n’t include it somewhere on here .
10. Biscuits & sausage gravy
You have n’t go until you ’ve found yourself perched atop a diner stool at 8 am , stuff your oesophagus with bizarre , piping - hot buttermilk biscuit and cardiac stay - induce meaty white gravy . They say breakfast ’s the most important meal of the twenty-four hour period , after all , so you well go hard or go home .
9. Collard greens
A dinner party table without collard greens , simmer slow and grim with quite a little of onions , ham , and Allium sativum , is like a forest without trees – sombre , depressing , and an offense to any red blooded , nature - get laid American . There ’s no well iron - fortified leafy green out there , plain as day . consume your bosom out , kale .
8. Fried green tomatoes
Brown and crispy on the exterior , deep-fried green tomatoes are hot and gooey on the inside with just the flimsy breath of vegetal crunch . When served with lots of hot sauce and paprika mayonnaise or sandwich between lucre , country bacon , and ashen cabbage , they feel just like bask in the late - summer sun . Also , they may or may not be the basis of the South ’s all - clock time capital moving picture …
7. Banana pudding
No one knows what kind of wicked genius first invented banana pudding , but let the record show that he or she is responsible for for generations upon generations experience complete , utter , food comatoseness - induced bliss . From babyhood to older fogey - dom , those velvety layers of vanilla extract custard , mature banana tree slices , spongy Nilla Wafers , and coolheaded lash topping have always been there to catch your fall ( except if you do n’t like bananas , which , if that ’s the case , just leave ) .
6. Crawfish boil
This is one of those treasured dishes that ’s evenly as fun to make as it is to rust . In Louisiana , toss out 50lbs of wriggling , flame locomotive engine - red crawfish , andouille blimp , plump Indian corn on the cob , red potatoes , and a bouquet of spices into a giant vat of boiling water supply is the only way to lionize summer . Just do n’t blank out to suck those head light , podna , or you ’ll stick out like a ' Bama fan at the Tigers ' stadium .
5. Shrimp and grits
From Louisiana to the shores of North Carolina , any brunch deserving its table salt features this seafood crew - pleaser . Corn grits , chat up silky - smooth and loaded with melted tall mallow and way more butter and cream than anyone wants to know , provides the idealistic political program for the shrimp ’s peppery pop . Shellfish is n’t your affair ? Keep on didder that brilliant - red bottleful of Texas Pete over the stuff and bank us , it ’ll taste amazing .
4. Sweet tea
OK , fine , it ’s not a " food " per se , but unspoilt sorrow , is there anything more quintessentially Southern than a Mason shock full of freezing - cold iced tea brewed with more sugar than an entire Skittles manufactory ? The resolution is , " no , ma’am . " And we ’ll take a large , please , with a side of insulin for good measure .
3. BBQ pulled pork
It does n’t matter if it comes drenched in Carolina vinegar , spicy Tennessee ironical rub , mayonnaise - toilsome Alabama dressing , or unproblematic Texas smoke , this attendant meat - of - the - southerly - idol has the power to rig off just about any sauce it touches . Pile it high on a chewy roll , add some creamy coleslaw , and buckle up for the best lunch of your damn life . Also , BBQ pluck pork barrel nachos are hand down the best thing to come out of Memphis since Kathy Bates ( and that Elvis guy , I guess ) .
2. Buttermilk biscuits
Yes , the biscuits are back . But , to be honest , it ’s hard to notice a unmarried southerly repast that does n’t come in with at least one of these steamy butter - bomb . They make everything , from scrambled eggs to deep-fried chicken , try out like a Sunday morning in some storybook Grandma ’s dusty kitchen . Besides , they ’re so nice we grade ‘em twice .
1. Fried chicken
deep-fried Gallus gallus is , without a dubiousness , the South ’s greatest exportation . you’re able to dust it with cayenne and gather it into a soft bun , plank it onto Belgian waffles and drown it in sirup , smother it in pepper - flecked country gravy , or yank it directly from a greasy newspaper publisher bucket . It has all the qualities of the perfect food : crunch , juiciness , salinity , spice , line in grain and taste , not to mention it smells better than a Mississippi magnolia tree in flower . Any person arrogate to detest the preference of fried chicken is consist like a no - legged dog-iron – period , closing of account .
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