Food & Drink

Standout Southern Easter Dishes

From deviled eggs to holiday ham, these recipes elevate any Easter gathering

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Jesse Houston’s Mighty Fine Deviled Eggs

The Jackson, Mississippi, chef shares his recipe for a Southern classic.

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Photo: courtesy of Fine & Dandy

Summer Strawberry Pie

The freshest berries make this stunning blue-ribbon pie sunshine by the slice.

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Photo: Andrew Thomas Lee

Deviled Ham with Biscuit Crackers

A balanced blend of house-smoked city ham, with local country ham, and a full spectrum of pork-friendly flavors: mustard, scallions, parsley, sorghum syrup, and more.

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Photo: Brennan Wesley

Jammy Mignonette Marinated Eggs

Southern-style pickled eggs get an upgrade with black pepper and shallots (a heady nod to oyster’s best friend, mignonette), plus garlic, olive oil, smoked almonds and flaky sea salt.

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Photo: Lauren McDuffie

Cheese Straws

Think cheese straws couldn’t possibly taste any better? Try stuffing them with pimento cheese.

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Photo: Johnny Autry

Green Goddess Dressing

Springy herbs and balanced acidity make this dressing perfect for drizzling over a salad or as a dip for veggies and potato wedges.

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Photo: Courtesy of Dancing Bear Appalachian Bistro

A Different Kind of Catfish

This effervescent vodka, lemon, and basil cocktail comes straight out of the Mississippi Delta.

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Pimento Cheese Biscuits

Mix creamy pimento into your biscuit dough for an unbeatable springtime snack.

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Photo: Margaret Houston

The 6151 Richmond Pie

The Golden Girls were always gathering around a cheesecake. Bakers and authors Chris Taylor and Paul Arguin wanted to pay tribute to the ladies of their favorite show, and do so in this berry cheesecake with a nutty crust.

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Photo: Andrew Thomas Lee

Ham Croquettes

These golden-fried ham cakes are a Basque dish any Southerner is sure to love.

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Photo: Simon Bajada

Devilish Deviled Eggs

Kick up the Easter classic with a drop of sriracha and bacon fat.

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Photo: Peter Frank Edwards

Grillades and Grits

Served over grits, grillades are typically a breakfast or brunch meal. Over rice, they’re dinner. Either way, they’re the perfect Creole dish.

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Photo: Peter Frank Edwards

Sweet Tea-Brined Country Ham

Blend the authentically rugged flavor of country ham with the sweetness and more-moist texture of city ham using the South’s favorite beverage.

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Photo: Peter Frank Edwards

Pea Shoot Risotto

The gardener at England’s Great Dixter freshens risotto with one of the first signs of spring, a trick he learned from a Texas friend.

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Photo: ANDREW MONTGOMERY

Sweet Tea Buttermilk Pie

This variation on the classic pie might be one of the most Southern dessert pairings ever—courtesy of Raleigh, North Carolina, chef Debbie Moose.

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Photo: Hélene Dujardin

Spicy Pickle Chicken Salad

Complete this spicy mayonnaise-swaddled chicken salad with crispy chicken skin crackers.

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Photo: Peter Frank Edwards

Italian Rice Salad

When Asheville, North Carolina, chef Katie Button opened her elementary-school lunch box, this flavor-packed salad was often waiting inside—a homemade gift from her mother.

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Photo: Margaret Houston

Spring Bourbon Tonic: The Queen Bee

Bourbon gets the brunch treatment with this refreshing cocktail from Atlanta’s One Eared Stag.

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Photo: Mia Yakel

Creamy Cucumber-Dill Salad

Sweet, slightly creamy, and with an extra herbal punch from fresh dill, this salad makes for a fine, refreshing accompaniment to any meal.

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Photo: Margaret Houston | Food Styling: Phillip Rhodes

A Sweet Spring Cake with a Surprising Secret

The Kentucky chef Sara Bradley’s veggie-infused dessert.

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Photo: COURTESY OF FREIGHT HOUSE

Bacon-Fat Biscuits

Trade bacon grease for lard in a standard biscuit recipe, and the bacon’ll be in the biscuit. (But you can always sneak a few slices, too.)

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Photo: Jacqueline Stofsick

Spring Herb Deviled Eggs in the Shell

Using two separate and seasoned mediums from the yolk and the white, chef Anne Quatrano layers the finished recipe inside a hollowed eggshell for neat consumption.

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Photo: Johnny Autry

Glazed Ham with Buttermilk Drop Biscuits

This tangy-sweet upgrade to traditional holiday ham gets its bite from a mustard, brown sugar, and vinegar glaze.

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Photo: Johnny Autry

Zucchini Bread

Zucchini bread has been a regular as a teacher gift, a potluck offering, and a welcome-to-the-neighborhood present for about as long as people have been overwhelmed by a garden full of zucchini. To give it a Southern touch, don’t skip the chopped pecans.

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Photo: Phillip Rhodes

Fruit Tea Punch

Know where to look, and you’ll find Fruit Tea on menus all over Nashville. It’s a concoction of brewed sweet tea with orange juice, lemon, and sometimes other fruit juices, served in everything from crystal glasses to plastic cups, and livened up with cinnamon, sprigs of mint, or floating discs of lemon. Here’s how to make your own at home.

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Photo: Jacqueline Stofsick

Pecan-Praline Rolls

These nut-studded rolls reach next-level deliciousness with a glaze of sugar, whipping cream, and praline liqueur.

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Photo: Sandy Wilson

Mac & Cheese with Potato Chip Crust

Top this classic, cheesy comfort food with crispy can’t-eat-just-one homemade potato chips.

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Photo: Johnny Autry

The Fluffiest Coconut Cake

High Hampton’s pastry chef shares her recipe—and a step-by-step video.

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Divinities

Meringue clouds studded with hunks of pecan, this classic Southern treat is bound to trigger a few sweet memories, especially among Southerners of a certain age.

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Easy Easter Almond Cake

This cake keeps well—deepening in flavor if allowed to sit for a day—so make ahead and you’ll have one less thing to fuss with as your guests arrive.

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Photo: Margaret Houston

Barrel-Aged Pineapple Mezcal Cocktail

Set the punch bowl aside and serve up your very own cask-aged cocktail.

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Photo: Johnny Autry

Crab Hush Puppies

Homemade tartar sauce gives these crispy Southern-style appetizers a little something extra.

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Photo: Marni Rothschild

Moravian Sugar Cake

In North Carolina, few treats provoke as many fond memories as Moravian Sugar Cake, a coffee cake with dimples that collect a molten topping of butter, sugar, and cinnamon in shimmering pools. This take on the traditional Moravian cake comes from Dewey’s Bakery, a Winston-Salem institution.

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Sue’s Carrot Sandwiches

Featured in Vera Stewart’s newest cookbook, these party bites are a crowd-pleaser: “People cannot get enough of that filling, and nobody would ever dream that it was carrots,” she says.

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Photo: Peter Frank Edwards

Potato and Egg Salad

Best served ice cold, Bryan Voltaggio’s potato salad incorporates all the things we love about deviled eggs in a refreshing family-style side.

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Photo: Ed Anderson

Pear Salad

Justin Burdett of Local Provisions elevates classic pear salad by topping champagne-poached pears with homemade mayonnaise and high-quality cheddar.

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Photo: Johnny Autry

Sour Orange Pie

Long before key lime pie became a national star, this citrus dessert had already staked a claim as a Florida favorite.

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Photo: Johnny Autry

Lady Pea Salad

A refreshing, herby vinaigrette livens up lady peas for this bright side dish, which can be made with any of your favorite field peas.

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Photo: Amber Wilson

A Mimosa with a Twist

Honeysuckle vodka joins grapefruit, Aperol and champagne for an easy like Sunday morning thirst-quencher that raises the bar.

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Three Spice Carrot Cake

While the consistency of this carrot cake from Atlanta chef Asha Gomez will be familiar, a closer look at the moist crumbs reveals tiny hints of cardamom and clove.

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Photo: Evan Sung

French-Style Succotash

Butter beans and bacon blend with tarragon and cream for a French-accented succotash from Georgia chef Jennifer Hill Booker.

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Photo: Johnny Autry

Pea Salad 

An after-church classic, Travis Milton’s recipe for pea salad adds water chestnuts for the extra crunch.

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Photo: Lucy Cuneo

Lemon Cornmeal Cake

If you like your cornbread sweet, fine. But then call it what it is—a cake.

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Photo: BRYAN GARDNER

Pineapple Upside-Down Cornmeal Cake

Inspired by trips to the Bahamas, this caramelized, coconut-laced dessert stays true to its Southern roots, too.

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Photo: Johnny Autry

Strawberries and Dumplings

Turn fresh fruit into a simple and homey pan of sweet biscuits baked atop a juicy mix of berries, sugar, and a little lemon zest.

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Photo: Johnny Autry

Blondies with Pecan Praline Sauce

This classic treat gets a butterscotch makeover drizzled with Southern sweetness.

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Photo: Peter Frank Edwards

Chive and Cheddar Ham Biscuits with Honey Mustard

This holiday dish highlights the ham’s salty richness with tangy sweet mustard and pillowy chive and cheddar-flecked homemade biscuits.

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Lemon Icebox Pie 

This take on the cool classic pays tribute to the lemon icebox pie served at Clancy’s, a white-tablecloth neighborhood establishment in New Orleans.

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