What is Southern comfort food? At The Mill Kitchen and Bar, we’d describe it as any meal that feels like a big, warm hug for your stomach.
If you’ve never tried Southern comfort food before, then this blog is a great way to get started. We’ve listed the must-have staples of the south below. Get ready to get hungry, cause we’ve got a mouth-watering lineup to introduce to you!
Fried Chicken
This is truly a staple of the south. With a crispy outside and juicy, tender center, fried chicken tastes like home. It’s no wonder this is the most well-known Southern comfort food, as this dish is comfort and coziness in edible form.
Some regions of the South have their own unique way of making fried chicken, like Nashville. As a local specialty in Tennessee, Nashville Hot Chicken is spicy, savory, and therefore famous across the South. It’s so popular that restaurants in other states feature this dish on their menus!
Crab Cakes
This savory dish is great year-round. Typically made with a blend of crab meat, bread crumbs, mayonnaise, mustard, eggs, and various seasonings, crab cakes are little patties of goodness that can be fried, sautéed, baked, grilled, or even broiled.
No matter how you make it, a crab cake should have a satisfyingly crunchy exterior, and a soft and fluffy center. If you love seafood, you should definitely try a crab cake!
Shrimp and Grits
This dish is most popular along the coasts of the Carolinas and Georgia. Traditionally served at breakfast, many shrimp and grits lovers today consider this to be an acceptable dish for lunch or supper.
The grits are a porridge that is made from boiled cornmeal. While pretty bland if just cooked in water, grits will become rich and creamy when cooked in milk. Shrimp and grits can be served as a meal on its own, or alongside other seafood entrees like salmon or fried catfish. At our downtown Roswell restaurant, you’ll find shrimp and grits just like your mama makes them!
Mac and Cheese
If you’re a carb lover, then mac and cheese is the perfect dish for your next food coma. Creamy, cheesy, and packed with flavor, there are so many ways to make this dish. You’ve probably had mac and cheese from a box, so you know the basics: you just need cheese and noodles.
But this dish didn’t start out in a box: over the years, many people have experimented with the flavors, combining many different cheeses and spices until they have a wonderful creamy sauce that sticks to each noodle. In the south, many traditional recipes call for the cool to bake their mac and cheese, and add a breadcrumb topping for a delightful crisp with every gooey bite. No matter how you like your mac and cheese, just know you can’t go wrong with this simple dish.
Pimento Cheese
This is a classic sandwich spread that is made from a blend of cheese, mayonnaise, and pimentos (a sweet, low-heat pepper). Pimento cheese can also be served as a dip or relish. The taste is described as creamy, cheesy, tangy, and sometimes spicy (depending on your preferred heat level). Pimento cheese is a cold dish, so it’s a good snack for a hot day.
Deviled Eggs
If you’re at any kind of event in the south—like a family get-together or a holiday celebration— chances are you will see this on the menu.
Making deviled eggs is a simple process. First, you boil eggs, completely cooking the yolks. Then, you cut the eggs in half (after peeling off the shell), remove the cooked yolk, and make a paste out of your collected yolks by mixing in mayonnaise, mustard, and simple seasonings. You then bring this paste back to its rightful home inside your empty egg halves via a piping bag or a simple spoon technique, and then sprinkle paprika over the top.
Deviled eggs make for a great bite-sized addition to any plate, but beware—it’s easy to eat a lot of them without realizing!
Banana Pudding
This is a great, cool treat for summertime. Traditional banana pudding is made in layers of vanilla custard, vanilla wafer cookies, and freshly sliced bananas. These beautiful, soft layers are finished off with either whipped cream or meringue at the top, and sometimes a sprinkle of crushed wafers. Banana pudding is both light and rich, with flavors that soothe the soul, making it a classic dish at barbeque joints and upscale restaurants alike.
Blueberry Cobbler
You may already be familiar with cobbler, but just in case you’re new to this dessert, just know that it’s pretty much like a pie, except there’s no bottom crust, and the top crust is more thick and crumbly than what you’re used to.
Blueberry cobbler has a sweet filling of blueberries that have been mixed with sugar and some lemon zest. The batter for the top is a thick mixture of flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and milk. The sweetened blueberries go into the baking dish first, followed by the batter mixture.
Once everything’s ready, you put your dish in the oven until you get a beautiful, golden brown crush. After that, you can dig into a gooey cobbler that has a sharp blueberry taste that is balanced by a sweet, crumbly crust. This dish goes best served with vanilla ice cream—trust us on this one!
Taste the Magic of Southern Comfort Food at The Mill
Is your mouth watering yet? Are you already typing “Southern comfort food near me” into your maps? Well, you don’t have to look far for a Southern comfort food restaurant in your area. The Mill Kitchen and Bar has got you covered with all of the Southern staples.
Looking for brunch in Roswell, Georgia? Our Sunday brunch menu features deviled eggs with candied bacon, pimento cheese fritters with bacon marmalade and comeback sauce, Nashville hot chicken, and shrimp and grits. Want to try crab cakes? We’ve got a crab cake sandwich on our lunch menu that’s made with a Maryland-style crab cake, cilantro aioli, and green papaya slaw. If you’re in the mood for something sweet, we’ve got blueberry cobbler, banana pudding, and more on our desserts menu.
If you’re looking for Southern comfort food, The Mill has everything you want and more. Book your table today by calling us at (770) 817-9345.