Classic Southern Recipes 

Updated: March 19, 2019
Classic Southern recipes are featured in The Help, both the movie and the novel, and are as much a part of the action as Aibileen, Minny, Skeeter, and Hilly. Here are a few of the featured foods. See an interview with the author.
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Fried Chicken

Fried Chicken Recipe
Skip the bucket of fast-food fried chicken and remember what it's like to eat "real" fried chicken like Mama used to make. Mashed potatoes and biscuits are optional.
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Our Favorite Buttermilk Biscuit

Photo: Hector Sanchez; Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas
Our Favorite Buttermilk Biscuit Recipe

After baking hundreds of biscuits, our Test Kitchen landed on this winning recipe for Our Favorite Buttermilk Biscuit. This no-fail biscuit recipe will impress new cooks and old pros alike.

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Chocolate Icebox Pie

Chocolate Icebox Pie Recipe
This ultra-decadent chocolate pie recipe features a rich homemade chocolate pie filling topped with whipped cream and chopped chocolate candy bar pieces.
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Slow-Cooker Collard Greens with Ham Hocks

Victor Protasio
Slow-Cooker Collard Greens with Ham Hocks Recipe

When cooked low and slow, the tender ham hocks completely fall apart and infuse the collard greens with a savory, smoky flavor. Carefully remove the hocks before serving to make sure no bones remain.

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Basic Deviled Eggs

Photo: Lee Harrelson; Styling: Jan Gautro, Laura Zapalowski
Basic Deviled Eggs Recipe

The filling for Southern-style basic deviled eggs is nothing more than egg yolks, mayonnaise, mustard and sweet pickle relish.  These deviled eggs are perfect for potlucks, tailgates, and summer suppers. Now, if you have trouble peeling hard boiled eggs, here's a trick: Once cool, crack the eggs and place in cold water for 10 minutes, then try peeling them. The peels almost always come off much easier. You can also place the filling into a piping bag for a pretty, swirled finished look. 

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Cheesy Shrimp and Grits

Photo: Antonis Achilleos; Food Styling: Chelsea Zimmer; Prop Styling: Claire Spollen
Cheesy Shrimp and Grits Recipe

This quick and easy shrimp and grits recipe will wow your family as a weeknight meal or impress guests at a dinner party. The vein of the shrimp runs along the back of the shrimp, just below the surface, and is actually the digestive tract. It won't cause you harm to eat, but can taste gritty (and you definitely don't want that), so it's best to remove it. To see how to do so, click here. 

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Caramel Layer Cake

Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner; Styling: Cindy Barr
Caramel Layer Cake Recipe
This lightened version of an old-fashioned caramel cake has less than 10 grams of fat per serving because it calls for a reduced amount of butter, fat-free milk and egg substitute.  The thick caramel frosting will not disappoint caramel cake fans.

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Best Damn Chicken Pot Pie 

Time Inc. Video Studio 
Best Damn Chicken Pot Pie  Recipe

The name says it all—this pot pie is damn delicious! This crowd-winning chicken pot pie recipe comes from Julie Grimes’s $10 Dinners: Delicious Meals for a Family of 4 that Don't Break the Bank; grab a copy today for more budget-friendly recipes that taste like a million bucks. 

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Cornbread Dressing

Photo: Lee Harrelson; Styling: Jan Gautro, Laura Zapalowski
Cornbread Dressing Recipe
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Skillet Green Bean Casserole

Photo: Jennifer Causey; Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas
Skillet Green Bean Casserole Recipe

We've shortened (and lightened) this holiday classic by bringing everything together in one pan and using the stovetop and broiler rather than baking.

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Classic Pimiento Cheese

Photo: Hector Sanchez
Classic Pimiento Cheese Recipe

Make this Classic Pimiento Cheese ahead and serve as a sandwich or a dip. 

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Sweet Tea-Brined Chicken

Photo: Hector Sanchez; Styling: Karin Olsen
Sweet Tea-Brined Chicken Recipe

For the tastiest chicken ever, brine a whole cut-up chicken in the South's signature beverage--sweet tea with lemon.

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The Quintessential Chicken Salad

Photo: Emma Crist; Styling: Emma Crist
The Quintessential Chicken Salad Recipe

This 20-minute chicken salad is creamy, flavorful, and packed full of healthy veggies and protein-rich chicken. We lightened up the typical mayonnaise base by adding in 1/2 cup of low-fat, plain Greek yogurt, but you can use one full cup of mayonnaise if you'd like. Use store-bought Rotisserie chicken to save even more time on busy evenings. Serve with crunchy, buttery crackers or on whole grain bread with lettuce and tomato.

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Fried Pork Chops with Peas and Potatoes

Photo: Greg Dupree; Prop Styling: Mindi Shapiro Levine; Food Styling: Torie Cox
Fried Pork Chops with Peas and Potatoes Recipe

Fried Pork Chops with Peas and Potatoes image

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Classic Hoppin’ John

Southern Living
Classic Hoppin’ John Recipe

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.

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Home-Style Butterbeans

Photo: William Dickey; Styling: Buffy Hargett
Home-Style Butterbeans Recipe
Tese Southern-style butterbeans are flavored wtih bacon, brown sugar. and onion and offer the convenience of frozen butterbeans.

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Honey-Bourbon Glazed Ham

Photo: Beau Gustafson; Styling: Kacy Carroll
Honey-Bourbon Glazed Ham Recipe

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Chocolate-Bourbon Pecan Pie

Photo: Hector Sanchez; Styling: Karin Olsen
Chocolate-Bourbon Pecan Pie Recipe

The new appreciation for whiskey goes beyond drinking and finds its way into sauces, braises, and especially desserts. Now bourbon and pecan pie fit togther like peanut butter and jelly or Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. 

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Hot Roast Beef Party Sandwiches

Charles Walton IV
Hot Roast Beef Party Sandwiches Recipe
This is an updated version of a recipe that used ham, cheese, and mustard. Eyes lit up at our tasting table when these roast beef sandwiches came out of the oven.

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Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

Photo: Kelsey Hansen; Food Styling: Emily Nabors Hall; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis  
Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting Recipe

This vibrant pink layer cake is pure strawberry-on-strawberry goodness, with fresh strawberries going into the cake batter and frosting. One thing to note about the buttercream frosting—it is absolutely bursting with berry flavor, but is easily over-mixed. If you find you've broken your emulsion when whipping this frosting up, no worries. You can simply mix in a little more powdered sugar to restore it. That said, we love how purely strawberry-forward the flavor of this frosting is, so we'd advise being very light-handed when adding extra powdered sugar, as it will dilute the berry flavor. In our opinion, it's better to have a slightly broken frosting that tastes like strawberries than a perfectly pristine frosting that tastes like sugar. 

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