Some of the best summer food comes from the south! Continue reading to find out which summer recipes Southerners look forward to making all year long.
It just isn’t summer without fried chicken. Frying up a batch of juicy, delicious chicken in the southern heat may not be the funnest thing to cook, but eating it sure is rewarding. Considering how long it takes to fry chicken, it’s a labor of love and you can taste it in every bite! The good news is that you only need chicken, buttermilk, flour, a few spices, and oil, all of which any good southern cook always have on hand.
Yes, it’s true. Southerners favorite foods are deep fried. Fortunately, once you have green tomatoes, it’s quick and easy to cook up a batch of them fried to a golden, crispy brown. To cook this popular southern dish, you’ll need the green tomatoes and the egg and buttermilk to dredge them in. Next you’ll dip them in plain flour, dredge them in the egg again, and then coat them in a flour, cornmeal, salt and pepper mixture before frying them in a thin layer of hot oil. Yum!
Baby back ribs are much easier to cook than you may think. This recipe teaches you to pull off the thin membrane on the back of the ribs and then marinate them overnight. When it’s time to cook them, follow the instructions to whip up a dry rub and coat the ribs all over with it. Ribs take about an hour on the grill. If barbecue sauce is your thing, you’ll baste that on about halfway through the cooking time. Then you’ve got your perfect southern ribs!
If you haven’t had any bean salads before, this tex-mex dish is a favorite in the south and a great one to start with. Although it contains an impressive list of ingredients, it’s quick and easy to throw together in a pinch. It’s always good to have a cool side dish to complement your hot and smoky meats.
If you’re not from the south then you may not know what’s so great about sweet tea. Once you’ve had it, though, you’ll want to serve some at every cookout or get together. Sweet tea is easy to make with tea bags, boiling water, and, of course, sugar. If you’re feeling adventurous, add a squeeze of lemon to your glass.
Fresh Georgia peaches absolutely make the best cobbler. For this recipe, you’ll need your pantry staples: flour, white sugar, brown sugar, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. You will also need the peaches, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, butter, and water. Combined according to the instructions and baked at 425 degrees for about 30 minutes, this is a truly delightful southern summer food.
Potato salad is an essential side dish in the summer for a southerner, and it’s really easy to make ahead of time. This potato salad yesterday is one you can’t miss, with potatoes, eggs, red onions, green peppers, celery, sweet pickles, pimentos, mustard, and more. Potato salad is so forgiving, too, that if you are missing one or two of the lesser ingredients, it will still turn out delicious.
Southerners love blue crabs! A crab boil is a delicious, complete meal, all boiled together. It contains crab, sausage, potatoes, and corn, boiled in water, beer, lemon, and spices. This is a great summer dish to cook for a crowd.
