25 Homestyle Southern Favorites

Peanut flour gives this chicken incredible toasty flavor, while Wondra flour makes for crave-worthy crispness. It's a Sunday supper with weeknight preparation.

We altered this traditional casserole to balance out the sweetness, allowing the pineapple and cheese to really shine. The intense flavor makes it an ideal side dish for baked ham. 

These Southern-inspired deviled eggs say summer fun like nothing else. A picnic-perfect use for leftover fried chicken, these tasty bites are spicy, but not burn-your-mouth spicy. Feel free to increase or decrease the cayenne pepper depending on how much of a kick you like. A sweetness from the chopped pickles, tang from the vinegar and hot sauce, and salty-savory deliciousness from the fried chicken make for a perfectly balanced chicken + eggs-perience. 

What could be a more perfect ending to a summertime meal than easy peach cobbler? Savor the flavors of summer with sliced fresh peaches cooking away with butter and spices. The topping can made from pantry ingredients you have on hand and peaches can easily be substituted with any fruit you have depending on the time of year. The tang of the lemon juice paired with the sweetness of the peaches is perfectly balanced with the crisp topping. Want to make dessert even better? A dollop of fresh whipped cream or cold vanilla ice cream truly makes it the perfect way to end a summer night.

This Southern staple serves up a generous helping of comfort and tradition. We use thick-cut bacon to get the perfect amount of smokiness, as opposed to a ham hock. A ham hock can, at times, overpower the dish. Traditionally, Hoppin' John is a one-pot recipe, but that often produces soupy results. Instead, cook the black-eyed peas with aromatics and broth until tender; then strain and reserve the liquid for later. Once the rice is done, gently stir it into the pea mixture with the liquid. This method does require washing an extra pan, but we think you'll agree that it's worth it. There are three things you do want to keep traditional about your hoppin' John though: the pork, the peas, and the rice.

Add a nutty twist to your classic cookie with pecans and pralines. Garnish with warm caramel salt and flaky sea salt for the perfect sweet-savory combination. A scoop of vanilla ice cream is all this warm skillet needs to be the perfect dessert for a nut-lover's sweet tooth.

It doesn't get more Southern than frogeye salad, which can't help but make eaters reminisce on church potlucks or childhood dinners spent at grandparent's house. 

The Southern Living Test Kitchen raved about the classic flavor of these crispy cornmeal gems. Add chopped fresh herbs or swap chopped green onions for diced onion for variety.

This foolproof recipe for classic pimiento cheese comes from Damaris Phillip's cookbook Southern Girl Meets Vegetarian Boy: Down Home Classics for Vegetarians (and the Meat Eaters Who Love Them). The mainstay Southern cheese spread makes for an excellent appetizer served with crackers, and is equally delicious in recipes like this Pimiento Cheese Roasted Chicken.

Quick breads are a Southerner's specialty, perfect for brunch gatherings and potluck suppers. Banana bread should form a crack down the center as it bakes--a sign the baking soda is doing its job.

Hot, homemade boiled peanuts are truly delicious, but you can order them already prepared online. Matt and Ted started their business with this regional treat (5 pounds for $26.50); boiledpeanuts.com.

Tangy vinegar brightens the earthy flavors, and a touch of honey rounds out the smoke from the ham hock.

Good cornbread dressing starts with homemade cornbread, ensuring a moist, sweet dressing that Thanksgiving turkey only dreams of.

Summer zucchini grows in abundance in the South, so where do we put it all? It goes into sweet breads, of course! You'll admire the little flecks of green in this moist, tender bread.

Pecans originate in the Deep South, and this sweet pie recipe showcases the nuts at their best. A splash of bourbon and a cup of chocolate take this classic recipe from good to plate-licking, fighting- for-the-crumbs heavenly.

No Thanksgiving table is complete without this comforting classic. Whip cooked sweet potatoes with evaporated milk, a bit of sugar, and just enough butter until they're fluffy, smooth, and totally dreamy before topping with a buttery-rich brown sugar and pecan topping for a satisfying cool-weather casserole. A dash of cinnamon would be a welcome addition in the sweet potato mixture for an extra touch of toastiness. Be sure to let the casserole cool completely before digging in. 

This fresher take on the traditional casserole is loaded with vegetables and comes together with a homemade sauce instead of sodium-heavy canned soup.

If you've got baking staples in your kitchen, then you probably have everything you need for a classic chess pie. This old-fashioned pie typically has two distinctive ingredients, cornmeal and vinegar, plus other on-hand ingredients such as sugar, flour, eggs, milk and vanilla. This version is made easy with the use of refrigerated pie crusts.

Two key techniques make these whole-grain biscuits light and fluffy: smashing the butter into the flour mixture with your fingers, and folding the dough to create layers.

These delicious homemade chicken fingers are perfect for a kid-friendly and easy weeknight meal. 

Using two medium skillets gives the okra plenty of room to cook up extra crispy. Or if you prefer, you can make all of the okra in a single large skillet.

Sam German created the mild, dark baking chocolate called Baker's German's Sweet Chocolate in 1852; in the late 1950s, a Dallas newspaper published a recipe for German's Chocolate Cake. The dessert took the South by storm and has been a staple ever since.

A cast iron skillet ensures the perfect golden brown cornbread.

You've never had homemade banana pudding like this before. It's a simple, from-scratch dessert that'll leave your guests speechless: homemade vanilla pudding layered with vanilla wafer cookies and banana slices and topped with a cloud of meringue. Some like it warm. Others prefer it nice and cold. The hardest part is waiting for it to fully chill.

On breakfast tables in some parts of the South, country ham with redeye gravy is just about as common as bacon. The origin of the name is debated, but the most common belief is that the gravy—a very thin, salty sauce—takes on a reddish tone from the browned bits scraped from the bottom of the skillet. Some Southerners make their gravy with water, others with coffee or cola. I use a mixture of cola and water to balance the salt and add sweetness and caffeine. When it comes to waking up, I usually need all the help I can get.