G&G’s Most Popular Recipes of 2020

Several Southern staples, including biscuits, grits, okra, and tomato pie, made the list of most-viewed recipes on gardenandgun.com in 2020. Here is the list, along with some other tips and tricks for your Southern kitchen.

Erika Council’s Baking Soda Biscuits
Come for the recipe, stay for the Atlanta chef’s brilliant dough hack, as well as other biscuit tips and tricks.
> Get the recipe

Frank Stitt’s Baked Grits
Other dishes may come and go, but the baked grits at Birmingham’s Highlands Bar & Grill will never change.
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Spicy Shrimp Dip
New Orleans chef Colleen Quarls shares her spin on a party favorite.
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Caramel Cake with Pecans from Red Truck Bakery
The decadent treat from the heralded Virginia bakery deliciously solves a small-town mystery.
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Classic Shrimp and Grits
Take cues from generations of cooks on Edisto Island, South Carolina: Master this basic recipe, then build on it.
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Oven-Baked Lentil Soup with Greens
The gardener at England’s Great Dixter passes along the warming vegetable soup he learned to make in Tennessee.
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Vivian Howard’s Beloved Dressing
The North Carolina chef calls the herby, zingy condiment her “Little Green Dress.”
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Green Tomato Pie
This cheesy hallmark of summer in the South gets its tang from a not-quite-ripe crop.
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Pancakes by Kelly Fields
The James Beard Award–winning pastry chef really loves pancakes. One bite of her recipe, and you’ll absolutely understand why.
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Classic Cajun Jambalaya
Yes, the onions take forever—but this perfect base works with shrimp, pork, sausage, crawfish, crab, or oysters.
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Squash Casserole from Automatic for the People
The Athens diner still serves the dish R.E.M. members gobbled up back in the day.
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Gigi’s Blue Ribbon Pumpkin Bread
How Nashville chef Gigi Butler makes this fall favorite.
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Boiled Custard
Remembering the long-lost Appalachian holiday treat.
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Red Beans & Rice
Garden & Gun Club’s Gina Lee shares her recipe for the classic New Orleans dish.
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A Twist on Chicken Bog
Chicken, sausage, and rice come together in a potful of Carolina comfort—brought inside for home cooks in this version by the Lee Brothers.
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Fried Matchstick Okra
A cache of heirloom seeds inspires a Mississippi chef’s take on the classic.
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Cheese Grits Cakes
A savory treat for breakfast and beyond from Arnaud’s in New Orleans.
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Boiled Peanut Salad with Bacon Dressing
How to work your favorite road-trip staple onto the dinner table.
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Curried Shrimp and Grits
With a dash of curry powder and a swirl of coconut milk, chef Ann Kim of the Garden & Gun Club puts a Bay Area–spin on the Southern staple.
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Crawfish Étouffée
An Alabama chef with New Orleans roots shares his take on classic crawfish étouffée.
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Alabama Firecrackers and Fried Chicken Salad
A craveable, snackable tailgating must from the chef John Currence.
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Super Texas-Style Soup Beans
A kicked-up take on a one-pot mainstay.
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Other tips and ideas for your Southern kitchen …

How an Award-Winning Pastry Chef Doctors Up Boxed Cornbread
Even Kelly Fields whips up a box of Jiffy every once in a while. Here’s how she makes the store-bought stuff her own.
> See Fields’s tips

Shrimp Conundrum: To Devein or Not to Devein?
Do you really need to remove that dark stripe down a shrimp’s back? Getting to the bottom of a Southern debate.
> See the pros and cons

Southern Chefs’ Favorite Hot Sauces
Twenty culinary experts. Sixteen widely available hot sauces. Which ones burn the brightest?
> See the picks