Southern Recipes

Bring the family together with the perfect menu of classic Southern recipes such as gumbo, fried chicken, mac and cheese, grits, collard greens, cornbread and buttermilk biscuits, BBQ, and catfish. Choose from a selection of pecan pies, cobblers, and cakes to seamlessly bring your Southern meal together.

Most Popular

15 Fabulous Fried Chicken Recipes

Is there really anything more satisfying to bite into than a piece of fried chicken? Deep fried or oven fried, bone-in or boneless, here we share our favorite recipes for the classic dish.
By Janet Taylor McCracken

Our Best Kentucky Derby-Inspired Recipes to Enjoy on the Day of the Big Race

Celebrate Kentucky's great tradition with classic Southern snacks, delectable Derby pies, and plenty of mint juleps.
By Emily Goldman

John Legend's Macaroni and Cheese

Rating: 3.69 stars
70
When musician John Legend visited Martha Stewart, he shared this recipe for his favorite Southern comfort food. Learn how to make the singer's delicious, creamy macaroni and cheese at home.

Coconut-Sugar Hummingbird Cake

This classic southern cake can be over-the-top sweet. Enter coconut sugar, a sweetener from the sap of the coconut tree's flower buds. While it has no coconut flavor, it does bring a caramelized, almost savory complexity to baked goods. It's perfect in a cake that's plenty sweet (as well as moist), thanks to the fresh banana and pineapple. This recipe appears in our cookbook, "A New Way to Bake" (Clarkson Potter).

Pan-Fried Soft-Shell Crabs

Ask your fishmonger to clean soft-shell crabs for you. Crabs should be cooked no more than six hours after they are cleaned.

Whiskey Sour

Rating: 3.64 stars
4
This great whiskey sour recipe is courtesy of Martha's TV Kitchen, and makes for the perfect addition to cocktail hour.

Key Lime Bars

Rating: 3.63 stars
28
This recipe is based on the famous Key lime pie from Joe's Stone Crab restaurant in Miami Beach. If you can't find Key limes, use regular fresh lime juice.

Flaky Buttery Biscuits

Rating: 3.59 stars
13
Fresh hot biscuits slathered with butter, topped with a spoonful of jam, and served alongside fluffy scrambled eggs and a salty pork product are the epitome of a cozy breakfast (or dinner).

Simple Coleslaw

Layer pulled pork sandwiches with coleslaw and cucumber, both of which provide crisp, cool counterpoints to the rich meat.

Chocolate-Coconut Bars

Rating: 3.69 stars
32
These decadent bars are inspired by Hello Dollies, a popular Southern dessert.

Pork Ribs With Barbecue Sauce

Rating: 3.4 stars
10
For spicier ribs, coat them with your favorite chile rub before wrapping in foil and baking.

Grilled Whole Chicken with Barbecue Sauce

For this all-American classic, use a great homemade sauce and slow-cook a whole bird for the juiciest results.
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Inspiration and Ideas

Southern Pulled-Pork Sandwiches

Southern Pulled-Pork Sandwiches
Rating: Unrated
25
Pork shoulder, a well-marbled cut available at most supermarkets, turns fork-tender after long, slow cooking. Ours is especially succulent with a spice rub and vinegar.
Emeril's Seafood Mac and Cheese

Emeril's Seafood Mac and Cheese
Rating: Unrated
3
This mac and cheese is a fantastic one-dish meal -- it's so rich and creamy and cheesy, all you'll need is a simple green salad to serve alongside, and your menu is set. Lobster works well in this recipe, but if that seems too luxurious, use any combination of seafood you like.
Key Lime Pie

Key Lime Pie
Eggs Goldenrod

Eggs Goldenrod
Hummingbird Cake

Hummingbird Cake
Rating: Unrated
18
Cathead Biscuits

Cathead Biscuits

Hummingbird Cake

Rating: 3.54 stars
18

This Southern-style Hummingbird layer cake features a crowd-pleasing combination of banana, pineapple, and coconut. The name's origin remains something of a mystery: Some say it's because the cake is as sweet as nectar; others, that it makes you hum with happiness.

All Southern Recipes

Chicken and Dumplings

Rating: 3.77 stars
57
This comfort-food recipe combines chicken thighs, plump dumplings, and plenty of vegetables for a meal that's warm and filling. Everything is ready in about an hour, so try them for a weekend meal.

Barbecued Baby-Back Ribs

Rating: 3.3 stars
2
Boiling the meat will result in tender ribs. It also shortens the overall cooking time.

Martha's Lady Baltimore Cake

White cake is layered with a fruit and nut filling and slathered with fluffy frosting in this traditional Southern dessert. Martha made this recipe on Martha Bakes episode 709.

Classic North Carolina Pulled Pork

Smoky, sweet, tangy, and tender: North Carolina-style pulled pork is perfect for sharing with friends at backyard barbecues. The deep flavor comes from rubbing the meat with sugar and spices and then low, slow cooking -- just the right pace for this time of year.

Lane Cake

Invented by Emma Rylander Lane in the late 19th century, this bourbon-spiked raisin, pecan, and coconut showstopper gets more flavorful with age. Martha made this recipe on episode 707 of Martha Bakes.

Traditional Skillet Cornbread

Rating: 3.54 stars
3
Here's a cornbread baked the old-fashioned way -- on top of the stove.

Hot Milk Cake

Rating: 3.71 stars
4
This fluffy vanilla cake gets it name (and flavor!) from the scalded milk in the batter. Martha made this recipe on episode 705 of Martha Bakes.

Rodney Scott's Rib Rub

For South Carolina pitmaster Rodney Scott, smoke is the primary seasoning for his famous pork spare ribs...but the all-important dry rub is a close second. This rib rub is used in Scott's Spare Ribs recipe and is featured in the cookbook, Rodney Scott's World of BBQ, ($24.99, amazon.com). 

Buttermilk Cornbread

Rating: 3.49 stars
9
Serve this Southern-style buttermilk cornbread with Red Beans with Andouille Sausage.

Coconut Cream Pie

Rating: 3.33 stars
9
Coconut-cream pie, a spin-off of custard-cream pie, is a traditional Southern favorite that has moved far beyond the lower regions of the country to more widespread appreciation. This recipe is Martha's version of the classic dessert.

Coconut Filling

Rating: 3.64 stars
13
This delicious coconut cake filling is courtesy of Robert Carter from the Peninsula Grill, in Charleston, South Carolina.

Sauteed Collard Greens with Garlic

Rating: 3.55 stars
2
Collard greens are normally associated with a long, slow cooking time, but this method requires only 10 minutes of steaming. Sauteing the leaves with garlic first balances the vegetable's bitterness. Pull or cut out the thick stems, and wash the leaves well before using.

Mississippi Mud Pie (aka Muddy Mississippi Cake)

Rating: 3.7 stars
14
Layers of crumbly cookie crust, rich chocolate cake, and creamy pudding make this deep-dish Mississippi mud pie adapted from Matt Lewis's "Baked Explorations" cookbook the ultimate indulgence for chocolate lovers.

Classic Fried Chicken

Rating: 3.93 stars
4
An overnight soak in buttermilk and a quick dredge in a seasoned cornstarch and flour mixture helps ensure the crust on this traditional fried chicken is particularly crisp.

Perfect Fried Chicken

Brining the chicken in buttermilk and seasoning overnight is the key to this moist, succulent dish.

Skillet Cornbread

Rating: 3.18 stars
5
This cornbread is baked—and served—in a cast-iron skillet, giving it a crunchy crust.

Southern Mac and Cheese

Rating: 3.13 stars
17
Homemade mac and cheese is often prepared with a flour-based sauce. This Southern version uses a base of eggs and half-and-half for a tasty, custardy alternative.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Rating: 3.31 stars
1
Don't wait until the holidays to enjoy the honeyed flavor and velvety texture of this colorful root vegetable. Serve mashed sweet potatoes as a side dish to your favorite main dish, and you'll have them perfected by the time the holidays roll around.

Steamed Littleneck Clams

These Southern-style steamed clams are great starters for your a seafood dinner.

Virginia's Deviled Eggs

Rating: 4.08 stars
1
This easy egg recipe is a traditional dish from the American South; in Chef Virginia Willis's version, Dijon mustard, mayonnaise, and butter make the eggs extra creamy.

Marshmallow Cookie Sandwiches

Rating: 3.61 stars
5
Marshmallow Cookie Sandwiches were born when Tennessee gave us the Moon Pie in 1917, marking one giant leap for snack-kind. The homemade version is out of this world. Graham crackers are surprisingly easy to make; try our Cinnamon and Sugar Graham Crackers recipe.

Sweet Potato Pie

Rating: 3.42 stars
5
This family recipe for sweet potato pie comes courtesy of actor Danny Glover.

Black-Bottom Pie

The creamy, bittersweet-chocolate "bottom" of this early-twentieth-century icebox pie rests on a graham cracker crust. The pile of ethereal meringue on top includes a hint of rum.

Southern Caramel Cake with Caramel Whipped Cream

Brown-sugar cake is layered with rounds of sticky-sweet caramel and finished with fluffy caramel whipped cream in this Southern treat. Martha made this recipe on episode 707 of Martha Bakes.
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