Southern Recipes For The Best Summer Eating

Pickled okra has a spot on our plate all year long.

Have you noticed it? Pimento cheese popping up on everything from Ritz crackers to burgers. Fried green tomatoes sneaking into your BLT. A sudden craving for cheese grits. As undeniable as the rising temperatures, the cooks of America are going crazy for the South lately.

The cuisine of the American South lends itself perfectly to summer cooking. Nearly every recipe in this collection tastes better in the sunshine, with good friends, an icy beverage and preferably lawn games.

Now, please don't throw stuff at us! There is no way to comprehensively say that these are the best recipes of Southern cuisine. To choose definitive favorites would be almost impossible. And we know that some of these suggestions are not totally traditional or authentic. But that is what we really love about Southern cooking: because it is a uniquely American style that is still evolving, we get to constantly try modern tweaks on classic favorites.

So, again, Southerners, ex-pats and and other warriors of culinary authenticity -- please put the rotten tomatoes down. We would be crazy to say that we know best, but here are a few of the things we can't stop eating and drinking thanks to the South.

1
Sweet Tea
Beth Kirby/Food52
Get the Sweet Tea recipe from Beth Kirby | {local milk} via Food52
2
Pickled Okra
Alexandra Cooks
Get the Pickled Okra recipe from Alexandra Cooks
3
Cast Iron Skillet Biscuits
Becca Bakes
Get the Cast Iron Skillet Biscuits recipe from Becca Bakes
4
Bacon And Tomato Pimento Cheese
James Ransom/Food52
Get the Bacon And Tomato Pimento Cheese recipe from Genius Recipes via Food52
5
Goat Cheese Grits With Red Eye Gravy, Country Ham And A Fried Egg
Beth Kirby/Food52
Get the Goat Cheese Grits with Red Eye Gravy, Country Ham, and a Fried Egg recipe from Beth Kirby | {local milk} via Food52
6
Oyster Po'Boy
Sweet Paul Magazine
Get the Oyster Po'Boy recipe from Sweet Paul Magazine
7
Hummingbird Cake
Cooking Classy
Get the Hummingbird Cake recipe from Cooking Classy
8
Boiled Peanuts
She Wears Many Hats
Get the Boiled Peanuts recipe from She Wears Many Hats
9
Sazerac
James Ransom/Food52
Get the Sazerac recipe from Erika Kotite via Food52
10
Banana Cream Pie
A Spicy Perspective
Get the Banana Cream Pie recipe from A Spicy Perspective
11
Smoky Shrimp And Grits
Quentin Bacon
12
Fried Okra
Bev Cooks
Get the Fried Okra recipe from Bev Cooks
13
Nashville Hot Chicken
Malcolm Bedell/FromAway.com
Get the Nashville Hot Chicken recipe from From Away
14
Classic Pimento Cheese
Kelsey Cronkhite
Get the Classic Pimento Cheese recipe from Pinegate Road
15
Buttermilk Cornbread
Beth Kirby/Food52
Get the Buttermilk Cornbread recipe from Beth Kirby | {Local Milk} via Food52
16
Fried Green Tomato Benedict With Smithfield Ham & Pimiento Cheese Hollandaise
F for Food
17
Key Lime Pie
cristinasciarra/Food52
Get the Key Lime Pie recipe from cristinasciarra via Food52
18
Fried Green Tomato BLTs
Quentin Bacon
19
Bourbon Praline Pecans
Andrea Meyes
Get the Bourbon Praline Pecans recipe from Andrea Meyes
20
Cherry Mountain Pie
Biscuits & Such
Get the Cherry Mountain Pie recipe from Biscuits & Such
21
Cheese Grits Nuggets
Hirsheimer & Hamilton

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