I’ve posted a lot of Southern Sunday dinner ideas that usually focus on the main course. Today we are going to be looking at side dishes! At a Southern Sunday dinner, it’s not uncommon for the sides to outshine the entree.
Turnip Greens
Greens are a staple of southern Sunday meals. There are many types, ranging from collard greens to mustard greens. My personal favorite is turnip greens. Maybe it’s just the nostalgia of being my first foray into greens, but I love them.
Picking the right type of turnips will dictate the quality. They come in three varieties; fresh, frozen, and canned. Fresh greens are obviously the best. The main drawback is the prep time required to cook them. I generally reserve fresh greens for big Sunday dinners when lots of family members are coming over.
Want to cook your greens faster? A GoWise electric pressure cooker can bring the cooking time down tremendously!
Frozen greens are a good alternative. They are ready to go right out of the bag, requiring no prep work on the greens themselves. They also cook a bit quicker than fresh greens. For most Sunday dinners or even weeknight dinners with the wife and kids, I opt for frozen greens.
I’ve only had canned greens a couple of times. I’m not a fan. They work in a pinch, but if that’s my only option, I’m probably just going to have something else for dinner. I wouldn’t add them to your southern Sunday dinner menu.
If you are looking to add greens to your diet, check out my Southern turnip greens recipe.
Black-Eyed Peas
A neat little southern tradition involves eating greens and black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day. Greens are supposed to bring you money in the new year, while the peas bring you luck. Count me in on any tradition involving food!
I didn’t really appreciate black-eyed peas until I was an adult. As a kid, I rarely ate them. Now, I absolutely love them. They are fantastic alongside turnip greens and fried chicken.
Like greens, there are three main choices you have when picking your peas. You can get dried peas, frozen peas, or canned peas. I think the dried peas produce the best-finished product, but, they require more work much like fresh greens. They need to be soaked overnight in water and they take a while to cook. Just as I do with fresh greens, I usually reserve these for special occasions.
I generally go with canned black-eyed peas for normal Sunday dinners or weeknight dinners. They cook quickly, and the quality drop-off is not that bad. I’ve got a great recipe for Southern-style black-eyed peas.
Southern Fried Potatoes
Fried potatoes may not have the popularity of the previous sides on the list, but they have every bit of deliciousness! Fried potatoes require just a couple of ingredients, making them an easy addition to any Sunday dinner.
I have already written about the classic version of southern fried potatoes that I learned from my father. I recently added a video to that post containing a new version that keeps the same flavors but makes the cooking process a bit easier.
Potato-based side dishes are very versatile. They go with almost anything. I like to serve fried potatoes with everything from fried chicken to meatloaf. It is one of my go-to sides when I can’t think of anything else I want.
Cornbread
I couldn’t write about Southern Sunday dinner ideas without mentioning cornbread. I don’t think you could have a true southern Sunday dinner without it. Cornbread compliments so many dishes that it just has to be there.
Cornbread serves two purposes in my rotation. Southern cornbread is generally sweet, which helps counter the natural bitterness of greens and the earthiness of black-eyed peas. It also serves as a bread, sopping up juicy flavor left behind by the other sides.
Everyone has their own recipe when it comes to cornbread, but you can’t go wrong just by following the label on a bag of cornmeal. It is a simple recipe, and the cooking process isn’t complicated either. Outside of the cornmeal itself, you likely have the other ingredients on hand.
Potato Salad
I struggled to pick the last side. There were so many good options left, it was a difficult choice. I opted to go with potato salad. I didn’t have any true BBQ sides on the list, which had to be remedied.
However, potato salad is not just for BBQs. My easy potato salad recipe is quick to make, and the balanced flavors make it a solid choice for any meal. One of the reasons I love potato dishes so much is that they just go with everything.
Potato salad is also a safe choice for a big Sunday dinner. You won’t find many people that don’t like it. I mean, it’s basically just jazzed-up mashed potatoes, and who doesn’t like mashed potatoes?
Those are my 5 southern sides to compliment my Southern Sunday dinner ideas. Be sure to check back for updates as I plan on adding recipes for greens and black-eyed peas in the future.
Fried Chicken Sides
Any of these 5 sides go great with fried chicken. Certain combos work better than others though. Mix and match to find your favorites.
You can’t go wrong with turnips greens and cornbread on the side of fried chicken. The fibrous greens and the sweet cornbread are a perfect complement to the crispy, salty fried chicken. And who doesn’t love sopping up that delicious turnip juice with cornbread?
My personal favorite sides for fried chicken are turnip greens and black-eyed peas. There is just something about this combo. It hits all your taste buds. And you can’t beat the nutritional value in a turnip green and black-eyed peas combo.
If you’ve ever wondered what to eat with fried chicken, hopefully, this list helps you out.
