Finger-lickin’ Down-home Southern Cooking {15 Recipes}

Satisfy your belly and your soul with these delicious Southern classics.

When I think of Southern cooking, I think smoky, sweet, and smokin’ hot Comfort-with-a-capital-C. As Mr B says, “That’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout.”

Speaking of Smokin’ Hot…

If you like your fried chicken with a side of scandalous backstory, all served up on a slice of white bread with a pickle, Nashville Hot Chicken is right up your alley. This Easy Nashville Hot Chicken from Bacon is Magic uses another well-known southern ingredient to kick the heat up: Tabasco.

Easy Nashville Hot Chicken from Bacon is Magic

If you want to check out another Hot Chicken recipe, Mr B and I had some amazing Hot Chicken when we were in Nashville at a little chicken joint called Hattie B’s, a place famous for their hot chicken. The best part is, they freely share their recipe with the public! YES! You read that correctly!! You can find it here.

You can also read more about Nashville Hot Chicken’s rough and tumble past, and get some great recipes in the deal, check out Hot Chicken Cookbook: The Fiery History & Red-Hot Recipes of Nashville’s Beloved Bird [affiliate link].

Shrimp & Grits 

I am totally in love with shrimp and cheesy grits; in fact, it may even be my new favorite thing! I can’t wait to make these Buffalo Shrimp and Blue Cheese Grits from Taste & See!

Shrimp and Grits may be the epitome of southern cuisine. So much so that some people refer to the south as the “Grits Belt.” It is a staple throughout much of the southern US and especially many “low country” coastal towns (think Charleston, New Orleans, or Jekyll Island, GA).

~Holly,  Taste & See

Buffalo Shrimp and Blue Cheese Grits from Taste & See

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Here’s another spin – Cajun Shrimp and Kale Cheesy Polenta from Body Compass Discovery.

Cajun Shrimp and Kale Cheesy Polenta from Body Compass Discovery

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Vegetables (sort of) and More Grits

It’s the best kind of “secret weapon” dish. Delicious and requiring practically zero effort if you use canned corn, but absolutely sublime when you have the time to go through the trouble of using fresh cobs, this corn pudding will make you friends, clean your house, and increase your worldwide influence.

~ Marianne, Basil & Bubbly

Old Fashioned Southern Corn Pudding from Basil & Bubbly

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Cheesy Grits Breakfast Bowls with Sausage, Scrambled Eggs & Spinach from Family Food on the Table are loaded with crumbled sausage, soft scrambled eggs and sautéed spinach for a hearty, delicious start to the day!

Cheesy Grits Breakfast Bowls from Family Food on the Table

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Southern Tomato Pie with Fried Onions from The View for Great Island is based on the classic Southern dish where thickly sliced ripe tomatoes are set into a single pie crust, covered in a slurry of mayo and grated cheese, and then baked into a bubbling cauldron of pure comfort.

Southern Tomato Pie with Fried Onions from The View for Great Island

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Teri, from Buy This Cook That is one of my favorite food bloggers. Here’s what she has to say about her Daddy Dale’s Tennessee Tomato Gravy recipe.

It doesn’t matter who you are or where you are from, Tomato Gravy is good Southern food… First and foremost, do NOT mistake this for tomato or pasta sauce.  This is not an Italian-style tomato sauce. Although I would totally scarf this tomato gravy down on top of spaghetti. Just sayin’. 

HINT: Try this over my Perfect Buttermilk Biscuits for a real stick-to-your-ribs meal. 

Daddy Dale’s Tennessee Tomato Gravy from Buy this Cook That

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Pulled Pork & BBQ

I have to admit, I got an education when I was putting this round-up together. I knew that BBQ styles were regional, but I had no idea how tightly drawn those regional lines were. I have a feeling that if I actually lived in the South, I would discover places where the style differed from one town to another.

This North Carolina Pulled Pork recipe and tutorial comes to us from Simon, who walks us through a recipe from American pitmaster Steven Raichlen, well known for his BBQ television show “BBQ University.”

Pulled Pork is one of those recipes that can make you a BBQ legend among your friends. What most people don’t know is that it’s not as hard as it looks! Once your meat is smoking you barely need to do a thing to end up with a delicious piece of meat. 

Simon, The BBQ Bastard

North Carolina Pulled Pork from The BBQ Bastard

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Goodie Godmother offers a different take with the Godfather’s Eastern North Carolina Style Pork Shoulder with spicy vinegar sauce.

Eastern North Carolina Pulled Pork from Goodie Godmother

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While this next recipe may horrify BBQ traditionalists all over the South, there is definitely something to be said for the ease of using a slow cooker to do the job. With just 15 minutes of prep, Slow Cooker Carolina Pulled Pork from Cooking with Mamma C can be waiting for you after a long day. The tender meat has a nice vinegar kick and sweet heat.

Slow Cooker Carolina Pulled Pork from Cooking with Mamma C

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Simon the BBQ Bastard 😉 shares another entry from pitmaster Steven Raichlen, with Red Eye Ribs. 

Red Eye Ribs from The BBQ Bastard

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In the Carolinas, vinegar based barbecue sauce and pulled pork go hand in hand.  You can’t have one without the other. This Carolina Barbecue Sauce comes to us from Katie at A Fork’s Tale, who puts it succinctly: “Us Southerners are crazy over Sauce.”

Carolina BBQ Sauce from A Fork’s Tale

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Dessert

Lemon Chess Pie from Meg is Well is tart, fresh, and sweet – perfect for picnics or summer gatherings.

Lemon Chess Pie from Meg is Well

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This patriotic Miss American Flag Pie from Jenn’s Farm Table is the perfect way for Americans to celebrate Independence Day, or any patriotic holiday. I thought it was important to share the impetus behind it as well.

Miss American Flag Pie represents women’s perseverance to defend their rights. We shouldn’t have to fight for our rights again. It’s a reminder to get involved on any level and be proud to be a powerful woman in the land of the free. 

~ Jenn, Jenn’s Farm Table

Miss American Flag Pie from Jenn’s Farm Table

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Adult Beverages

These ice cold Blackberry-Lemon Mint Juleps from Striped Spatula are a fragrant and refreshing twist on a classic. Perfect for sipping on a warm day!

Blackberry-Lemon Mint Juleps from Striped Spatula

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I’ll end this post in the same way that Mr B likes to end a hot summer day: with an ice cold mule. (OK, more often than not, he has a beer, but I do need to wrap this up and he does love a good mule on a hot day, so just go with it…) This Blackberry Sage Kentucky Mule from The Gastronom holds flavors of summer in a cold copper cup.

Blackberry Sage Kentucky Mule from The Gastronom

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