Ana
Ana is a Southern stay-at-home mom of three who bakes the way most people breathe — constantly, naturally, without making a fuss about it. She shows up at new neighbors’ doors with a tin of cookies before the boxes are even unpacked, and she has never once come home from a potluck with anything left in her dish. She Brings Food is where she puts the recipes her family counts on and her neighbors keep asking for.
12 Southern Side Dishes That Steal the Show
In the South, the sides ARE the meal. The main dish is important, sure, but nobody remembers the chicken. They remember your mac and cheese. They remember your collard greens. They remember the cornbread that was so good it didn’t need butter — though you put butter on it anyway because this is the South.
Every side dish here has earned its place through years of Thanksgivings, church suppers, and regular Tuesday nights when I needed something fast that tasted like someone spent all day. These are the recipes my family measures every restaurant against — and the restaurants usually lose.
The Sides
Baked Mac and Cheese
Three cheeses, baked until bubbly with that golden crust on top that people fight over. This is not the stovetop kind. This is the kind that requires elastic waistbands and zero regrets. The roux base keeps it creamy, not gluey.
Stovetop Mac and Cheese
For the nights when you need mac and cheese in 20 minutes, not 45. Creamy, cheesy, and ready before the kids finish setting the table. My quick version uses evaporated milk for a silky sauce that doesn’t break.
Southern Coleslaw
Creamy, tangy, crunchy — with just enough sweetness to balance the vinegar. The coleslaw that goes on pulled pork, next to fried chicken, and straight into my mouth with a fork when nobody’s looking. Better the next day.
Collard Greens
Low and slow with a ham hock and a splash of vinegar at the end. They cook down into this silky, smoky, soul-warming green that converts people who swear they don’t like greens. The pot liquor at the bottom is liquid gold — sop it up with cornbread.
Baked Beans
Sweet, smoky, thick enough to stand a spoon in. These are the beans that vanish at every cookout before the burgers are ready. My block party version is this recipe doubled.
Fried Okra
Cornmeal-crusted, fried until golden and shatteringly crispy, with absolutely zero slime. The trick is dry okra and screaming hot oil. My kids eat these like popcorn — by the fistful, standing at the counter.
Corn Pudding
Somewhere between cornbread and custard — sweet, creamy, and jiggly in the middle. The Thanksgiving side that runs out first in this house. Every year. Without fail. It’s the one dish I make sure to double.
Green Bean Casserole
From scratch — homemade cream sauce, fresh green beans blanched until bright, and a crispy fried onion topping. The upgrade that makes people say “wait, THIS is green bean casserole?” and come back for thirds.
Sweet Potato Casserole
Sweet potatoes whipped smooth with butter and brown sugar, topped with toasted pecans AND marshmallows — because choosing one topping is for quitters. Side dish? Dessert? The line has never been blurrier and I don’t care.
Squash Casserole
Yellow squash, sour cream, butter, and a Ritz cracker topping that shatters when you dig in. Southern grandma food that tastes like summer at babaw’s house. Uses up that garden squash your neighbor keeps leaving on the porch.
Mashed Potatoes
Butter. Cream. Salt. That’s it. Don’t overcomplicate the one side dish that everybody loves. Yukon Golds for the best flavor, a potato ricer for zero lumps. The gravy goes on top. Obviously.
Cornbread
Cast iron skillet cornbread with crispy golden edges and a soft, slightly sweet middle. I preheat the skillet with butter in the oven and the sizzle when the batter hits is the sound of happiness. Goes with chili, greens, beans, or just cold milk.
Ana’s Side Dish Rules
Make sides ahead. Most casseroles assemble the day before and bake fresh. Green bean casserole and sweet potato casserole are perfect for this.
Cast iron for cornbread. Non-negotiable. The butter-sizzle crust is the whole point. Don’t try this in a glass pan.
Season in layers. Salt the water, salt the base, taste before serving. Under-seasoned sides are the fastest way to a mediocre dinner.
Frequently Asked Questions
What sides go with fried chicken?
Coleslaw, baked mac and cheese, and cornbread. The holy trinity. Don’t overthink it.
Best sides for Thanksgiving?
Sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, corn pudding, mashed potatoes, collard greens, and cornbread. Yes, all of them. Don’t make me choose.
Which sides freeze well?
Baked mac and cheese (unbaked), collard greens, and baked beans freeze beautifully for 2-3 months.
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Ana
Ana is a Southern stay-at-home mom of three who bakes the way most people breathe — constantly, naturally, without making a fuss about it. She shows up at new neighbors’ doors with a tin of cookies before the boxes are even unpacked, and she has never once come home from a potluck with anything left in her dish. She Brings Food is where she puts the recipes her family counts on and her neighbors keep asking for.