The cuisine of the Southern United States encompasses diverse food traditions of several subregions, including the cuisines of Southeastern Native American tribes, Tidewater, Appalachian, Ozarks, Lowcountry, Cajun, Creole, African American cuisine and Floribbean, Spanish, French, British, Ulster-Scots, German, Italian and Middle Eastern cuisine. Elements of Southern cuisine have spread to other parts of the United States, influencing other types of American cuisine.

Many elements of Southern cooking—tomatoes, squash, corn (and its derivatives, such as hominy and grits), and deep-pit barbecuing—are borrowings from Indigenous peoples of the region (e.g., Cherokee, Caddo, Choctaw, and Seminole). From the Old World, European colonists introduced sugar, flour, milk, eggs, and livestock, along with a number of vegetables; meanwhile, enslaved West Africans trafficked to the North American colonies through the Atlantic slave trade introduced black-eyed peas, okra, eggplant, sesame, sorghum, melons, and various spices. Rice also became prominent in many dishes in the Lowcountry region of South Carolina because the enslaved people who settled the region (now known as the Gullah people) were already familiar with the crop.

Many Southern foodways are local adaptations of Old World traditions. In Appalachia, many Southern dishes are of Scottish or English Border origin. For instance, the South's fondness for a full breakfast derives from the full breakfast or fry-up. Pork, once considered informally taboo in Scotland, has taken the place of lamb and mutton. Instead of chopped oats, Southerners have traditionally eaten grits, a porridge normally made from coarsely ground, nixtamalized maize, also known as hominy.

Certain regions have been infused with different Old World traditions. Louisiana Creole cuisine draws upon vernacular French cuisine, West African cuisine, and Spanish cuisine; Floribbean cuisine is Spanish-based with obvious Caribbean influences; and Tex-Mex has considerable Mexican and Indigenous influences with its abundant use of New World vegetables (such as corn, tomatoes, squash, and peppers) and barbecued meat. In southern Louisiana, West African influences have persisted in dishes such as gumbo, jambalaya, and red beans and rice. Native American and French Creole dishes also influence the food.

History

Indigenous cuisine before colonization

Native Americans utilized a number of cooking methods in early American cuisine that have been blended with the methods of early Europeans to form the basis of what is now Southern cuisine. Prior to the 1600s, native peoples lived off the land in very diverse bioregions and had done so for thousands of years, often living a nomadic life where their diet changed with the season.

Many practiced a form of agriculture revolving around the Three Sisters, the rotation of beans, maize, and squash as staples of their diet. Wild game was equally a staple of nearly every tribe: deer, elk, and bison were staples, as were rabbits and hare. The Cherokee of the Southern Appalachians used blowguns made of an indigenous type of bamboo to hunt squirrels.

Native Americans introduced the first non-Native American Southerners to many other vegetables still familiar on southern tables. Squash, pumpkin, beans, peppers, and sassafras all came to the settlers via Indigenous peoples. The Virginia Algonquian word pawcohiccora means hickory-nut meat or a nut milk drink made from it.

Many fruits are available in this region. Muscadines, blackberries, raspberries, and other wild berries were part of Southern Native Americans' diet.

Colonial era 1513 to 1776 and Antebellum era 1776 to 1861

Southern food has influences from Native American, European, and West African cuisines and foods. From corn, Southeastern Native American tribes made grits, cornmeal mush, corn chowder, hush puppies, and cornbread that were adapted by European settlers and enslaved Africans. Another Native American influence in Southern cuisine is fried green tomatoes. Squash was - and continues to be - cooked by Native Americans and has a long shelf life when not cooked, and because of its long shelf-life African Americans and European Americans placed it in their kitchens. An additional Native American influence in Southern cuisine is the use of maple syrup. Settlers used honey and Indigenous people used maple syrup to sweeten and add flavor to dishes; this influenced the foodways of enslaved Africans and European settlers as they used maple syrup to sweeten their dishes and poured syrup over pancakes and other breakfast foods.

Other Indigenous influences are dried meats, smoked fish, and preparing meals with deer, rabbit, turtle, catfish, and eating local strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and cranberries. Foods cultivated by Indigenous people in the Western Hemisphere influenced Southern and global cuisine.

The first European nation to colonize the mainland portion of North America was Spain in the early 16th century in the year 1513 under Juan Ponce de León. In the year 1565, Spanish explorer Pedro Menéndez de Avilés established a settlement in St. Augustine, Florida and was accompanied by free and enslaved Africans. Two Spanish expeditions encountered the Apalachee in the first half of the 16th century. The expedition of Pánfilo de Narváez entered the Apalachee domain in 1528, and arrived at a village, which Narváez believed was the main settlement in Apalachee.Schneider, p. 145 The Apalachee Indigenous people influenced the foodways of Spanish colonists in Florida. Apalachee people prepared meals with hunted animals such as deer, rabbit, raccoon, and turkey (a bird indigenous to North America). They grew in their gardens corn, beans, squash, and sunflowers, and foraged for wild berries and nuts. From these food sources the Apalachee made stews and sweet flavored dishes. Spanish colonists enjoyed Native American cacina tea and turkey.

New Spain was in the present-day southern states of Florida and Louisiana. An article from the Florida Department of State explains the influence of the Spaniards in Southern cuisine: "The Spanish brought many foods to Florida (and the Americas) that are commonly eaten today. One major change to the landscape of Florida was the Spanish introduction of domesticated animals to provide favored meats, like beef, pork, and chicken! Olive oil and wine (brought over to the colonies in large earthenware jars) were essential staples for any Spanish kitchen. Fruits (like peaches, figs, and watermelons), nuts and beans (like almonds, field peas, and garbanzo beans) and spices (like saffron, cinnamon, and different types of peppers) were brought to Florida from all over the world."

The British established a permanent settlement in Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. They brought food traditions from London that also influenced Southern cuisine. British cuisine used cured and aged ham and English bread. These foods were augmented in colonial Jamestown with North American ingredients. As examples, the ham from Britain evolved into Virginia hams, and English breads became hot breads and other sweets. The predominant cooks in Virginia's kitchens were enslaved African Americans. Enslaved cooks in white plantation homes combined food traditions from West Africa with Native American and European cooking methods and prepared new dishes that influenced Southern cuisine, such as fried okra.

The origin of fried chicken in the southern states of America has been traced to precedents in Scottish quoted at . and West African cuisine.Worral, Simon (December 21, 2014) "The Surprising Ways That Chickens Changed the World" . National Geographic: "When slaves were brought here from West Africa, they came with a deep knowledge of the chicken, because in West Africa the chicken was a common farm animal and also a very sacred animal. The knowledge that African-Americans brought served them very well, because white plantation owners for the most part didn't care much about chicken. In colonial times there were so many other things to eat that chicken was not high on the list." Scottish fried chicken was battered with seasonings and cooked in lard. West Africans fried chicken with different seasonings, battered it and cooked in palm oil. Scottish frying and seasoning techniques and African seasoning techniques were used in the American South by enslaved Africans. At Monticello in Virginia, President Thomas Jefferson noted how the enslaved prepared meals with the African crop sesame seeds. Enslaved people ate sesame raw, toasted, or boiled. They prepared stews, baked breads and boiled their greens with sesame seeds. They made sesame pudding. European colonists used sesame seeds to make baked breads.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, English colonists in Virginia came into contact with Powhatan Indigenous people and adapted corn into their cuisine. Johnny cakes, corn pone, and fry bread became a part of their diet. English settlers at Jamestown were not prepared to survive in Virginia's wilderness. Settlers experienced the "starving time" in the winter of 1609 to 1610. Powhatan people taught the English how to hunt, fish and grow corn to survive. The food and survival skills English settlers learned from Natives became a part of their daily lives. However, most Jamestown's residents did not survive that winter because of dwindling food supplies.

Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia was founded in 1632 by the English. Historians at Colonial Williamsburg researched colonial records and found what colonists in Williamsburg ate. The dishes colonial cooks prepared for Williamsburg's upper class included roast pigeon, fried ox tongue, mince pies and meat dishes from beef, lamb, pork and chicken. They made fish with vegetables, and baked breads. They drank coffee, tea and hot chocolate. An article in the newspaper, The Warren Record, explains the influence of the English and Scottish on Southern American food: "English settlers in the South baked yeast bread, made savory puddings and drank beer...." "Settlers from lowland Scotland brought with them a tradition of cooking a kale soup and drinking distilled beverages."

English and Scottish settlers introduced biscuits into Southern breakfast. In England and Ireland people ate scones as part of a meal and were taken aboard ships during long voyages because they lasted longer and did not spoil like other foods. In the Southern United States, Americans evolved the scone recipe and made fluffier biscuits and poured gravy, honey and jam over them which became a popular breakfast item. Biscuits and Scones share similar ingredients, but differ in that biscuits are layered with butter, and scones do not use buttermilk as an ingredient.Biscuits were an economical food for Southerners after the mid-19th century as they were made with simple ingredients of flour, baking powder, salt, butter, and milk.

In 1614, the Dutch East India Company established several settlements in Maryland and other Northern colonies. In 1625 Dutch New Amsterdam was incorporated in what today is New York City.Dutch colonists introduced pancakes, waffles, doughnuts, cookies, coleslaw and pretzels into the cuisine of the Thirteen Colonies. Colonial records showed Dutch people brought their waffle irons from the Netherlands to colonial America. The English and Dutch introduced pies which enslaved African Americans and other Southerners adapted into their cuisine. European settlers prepared pies because they preserved food. They made meat and sweet pies using local ingredients and other ingredients from foreign countries. An article from Southern Living Magazine explains the history of the Southern American pie tradition: "The mixture of eggs, butter, sugar, vanilla, and flour made its way to the American South from England. It became popular in Virginia and has had many incarnations, from the Classic Chess Pie to fruity versions, like Lemon Chess Pie."