Southern Dinner Recipes are the kind of meals that comfort you deep down. They spare no calories, flavour, or deliciousness. Dinner Recipes from the Southern USA usually leave your fingers greasy and your tummy feeling completely satiated. In this article, I am sharing 11 of the best dinner recipes that you can make to bring the comfort of the south to your family table.
What is all the hype about Southern Dinner Recipes?
Southern American cuisine marries food from a variety of different cultures and influences. The American South is incredibly diverse, with its many different cultures and traditions, and this has led to a wide range of different foods. Southern Comfort cuisine reflects that diversity. It uses many different ingredients to create rich, flavorful dishes, heavily relying on corn, beans, rice, and other grains.
A Little History of Southern Cuisine
Southern American food has a history that dates back to the 1600s, when waves of immigrants brought with them new foods and recipes to eat. African food became popular with the majority black population before the civil war. Many dishes from Africa were widely eaten, including fried chicken, greens and grits.
Native American Food was also popular, their fried bread often eaten at powwows and other Native American events. British and Irish settlers also heavily influenced Southern cuisine, who brought dishes such as Irish stew, chicken, and dumplings to America.
Southern cuisine varies greatly by region. In the Appalachian Mountains, you’ll find many hearty dishes like wild game, potato pancakes, and blackberry preserves. In the Low Country, seafood is popular, and oysters are served in many different ways. Coastal cities like Charleston and South Carolina have plenty of fresh seafood. Low Country cooking is often heavy on seafood. In the Deep South, you’ll find many comfort foods like macaroni and cheese and meatloaf alongside soul food staples like collard greens.
It is the comfort food of the Deep South that I am going to focus on in this article today.
Essential Ingredients in Southern Dinner Recipes
The Holy Trinity of southern dinners are 3 vegetables: onions, bell peppers, and celery, which grow well in the southern climate. These vegetables bring a solid flavour base that is neither bland nor overpowering.
It would not be southern comfort food without staples like cornmeal, grits, and collard greens. Cooked in milk, water or broth, cornmeal or grits becomes a porridge-like consistency, which is simply heavenly as a southern side. A favourite side is Collard greens, which are usually braised until tender.
Seasonings have a vital role in Southern cuisine. Salt, Pepper, and Cajun Spices distinguish southern cooking, making it spicy, exotic, and full of flavour.
Iconic Southern Dinner Recipes
1. Fried Chicken
Use a combination of smoked paprika, cayenne, chili powder, coarse black pepper, coarse sea salt, and onion powder in this Fried Chicken Recipe to make it truly southern. Garlic powder, thyme, and oregano are also great seasoning additions. Buttermilk makes the chicken truly crunchy.
2. Shrimp (and Grits)
Shrimp and Grits is a very popular coastal southern comfort dish. Corn is a staple ingredient in the south, as it grows abundantly there. Cornmeal is the key ingredient for grits, which is a savoury kind of porridge. This form of porridge pairs well with fresh shrimp caught from the coastal regions. Every cook who makes shrimp and grits has their own variation which is mostly dependent upon the culture they represent.
3. Grits
Grits are a popular side for any southern meal, therefore this dish deserves a little limelight. Southern grits are some of the creamiest, dreamiest dishes on the planet. Made from stone-ground grits and slow-cooked to perfection, this savoury porridge best finished with a generous heap of butter, cheese, and heavy cream. The result is a slightly toothsome porridge that rivals the richest risotto — and is even easier to make.
4. Jambalaya
Jambalaya is a popular Creole and Cajun dish with African, Spanish, and French influences. This hearty stew originated in Louisiana, so it is often associated with Mardi Gras. But, there’s no reason you can’t eat it year-round. Jambalaya is often prepared with chicken, shrimp or crawfish, andouille sausage, and rice. The meat-and-rice combo is flavored with the Cajun holy trinity of onion, celery, and green pepper, along with herbs, spices, and diced tomatoes.
5. Collard Greens
There are several ways to cook collard greens; however, the Southern technique is quite different. Soul Food Collard Greens require time to braise. A couple hours of cooking makes the collard greens tender and almost silky, but they still have substance. They braise just like short ribs would: low and slow over heat. This makes the greens tender, and develops the deep flavour that soul food greens are truly known for.
6. Cornbread
Baked in a preheated skillet with hot bacon grease, Southern cornbread is an ultimate Southern Dinner side dish that brings oodles of comfort. This heat helps the edges get super crispy. Southern cornbread is not sweet, and is a perfect side to any southern comfort savoury meal. Southern Cornbread is crispier and not as tall as other cornbread recipes, but it is utter comfort.
7. Gumbo
While Jambalaya is primarily a rice dish (think paella), Gumbo is a stew that thickened by a roux and made with chicken, sausage, and/or seafood. Though it has similar ingredients to Jambalaya, Gumbo has a much different cooking process. Therefore, the flavors of the end result are completely different. The key to a good Gumbo is the roux – it is what adds the deep, rich flavor to the gumbo, and it gives it it’s thick texture.
8. Brunswick Stew
Brunswick Stew , a deliciously simple Southern dish, is made of meat, vegetables, with a tomato-based broth. This southern classic has a barbecue-flavoured twist. Made with cooked meat and vegetables, the stew is super quick and a great way to use up leftovers. You can even use leftover pulled pork as the stew meat. There are many variations on Brunswick Stew, and the recipe linked includes chicken (or pork), creamed corn, potatoes, with a bit of barbecue sauce and a little hot sauce to give it its fabulous flavor.
9. Louisiana Creole
Shrimp Creole is a spicy southern classic. It boasts of a punchy, cayenne-infused tomato-based sauce. The spicy Creole sauce has layers of flavor built on a foundation of the Southern flavor trinity — onion, celery, and green bell pepper. Sautéed in butter until tender, these vegetables bring a flavour explosion to this stew. This Creole sauce could be made ahead and chilled for up to 4 days, or frozen for up to a month.
10. Peach Cobbler
Peach Cobbler is a traditional dessert in the south. Made with warm, sweet peaches and a decadent cobbler-style crust, it’s the perfect treat for any occasion. Whether you use canned, frozen, or fresh peaches, learn how to make the best southern peach cobbler recipe.
11. Pecan Pie
Classic Pecan Pie is a great Southern treat that is incredibly easy and delicious, with loads of buttery pecans baked in a soft filling made with eggs, butter, and sugar. This Pecan Pie Recipe has a total of eight easy ingredients, and if using a frozen or premade crust, you can have it in the oven in less than ten minutes.
Conclusion
Southern Comfort Cuisine is a soul-renewing culinary experience. These recipes are warming, flavourful, complex, spicy and delicious. They boast of history, cultures colliding, and modernisation. Different textures and flavours keep these meals interesting. Everyone in the family will enjoy southern comfort-style meals.
