Eleven Pantry Essentials Every Southerner Should Have on Hand (2024)

Southerners are known for keeping ample provisions on hand for emergencies such as hurricanes, “snow” days, and surprise visits by relatives. So paring the essential pantry staples down to a nice, round ten proved impossible—even with, or perhaps because of, firm opinions supplied by G&G newsletter readers. Let’s channel your mother-in-law and take a look inside your cupboards:

11. Ro-Tel

When surveyed, a couple of our newsletter readers wisely mentioned the necessity of keeping a can of the ready-to-go diced tomatoes and green chiles on the shelf. They’re so right. Originated at a small canning plant in Elsa, Texas, in the mid-1940s, Ro-Tel brings Southern bona fides and a no-fuss path to molten, gooey cheese dip just minutes before the big game starts on TV. Bonus wisdom: Store atop a brick of Velveeta to ensure you’re properly prepared.

10. Dried beans and peas

Like a Swiss army knife, dried beans and peas can save the day a dozen ways, whether deployed in soups and sides or simply spooned into a bowl with a hunk of cornbread. An overnight soak provides feelings of accomplishment, even though the rest is literally as easy as boiling water. Even a modest assortment should include black-eyed peas, while several readers gave a special shout-out to Camellia Brand’s red kidneys.

9. Apple cider vinegar

Long before it became the darling of craft-co*cktail mixologists, cider vinegar was indispensable to home cooks, typically hogging pantry space in a bicep-building jug. Near-daily uses include whipping up salad dressings, trapping pesky fruit flies, and—as recommended by acclaimed South Carolina pitmaster Rodney Scott—lending barbecue sauce a tangy “pucker that makes your mouth blow a kiss.” And it goes without saying that apple cider vinegar is a preferred pickling medium. Speaking of which…

8. Pickled stuff

Homemade or store-bought, pickles tickle Southern taste buds. A castle of a pantry would be required to stack jar upon jar of preferred varieties, including sweet cukes, dilly beans, chow-chow relish, and spicy okra. Of the latter, chef Troy Guard of Houston’s Guard and Grace steakhouse has a thing for Talk O’ Texas’s hot okra pickles, which he serves alongside charcuterie. “The taste, the crunch, the snap, the vinegar, the heat—it’s just different,” he .

7. Seafood spices

“Zatarain’s crawfish, shrimp, and crab boil—just in case!” is the recommendation of newsletter reader Lori B., with unassailable logic. Support for Zatarain’s, Old Bay, and Tony Chachere’s was split fairly evenly among folks who don’t mind throwing together an impromptu seafood boil. But you can bet you’ll find only one brand in most pantries. Such loyalty rivals SEC football devotion.

6. Bacon fat

Whether they call it “bacon grease,” “bacon drippings,” or “bacon fat,” Southerners agree that one of bacon’s many blessings is the rendered byproduct that makes just about everything else taste better. (And by “better” we mean more like bacon, of course.) There is some quibbling over storage vehicle: Sherri B. continues the repurposing ethos in a coffee can, while Mandi Leigh J. opts for a tightly sealed mason jar. Either way, storing bacon fat in the fridge extends its life.

5. Hot sauce

Everybody and their cousin have their own scatologically named, Scoville-jacked hot sauce these days, but Southern pantries lean on classics Tabasco, Crystal, and Texas Pete. Darian Hernandez, chef of Pensacola’s Brother Fox, swears by Louisiana-made Crystal, using it at home on bacon and eggs and even stirred into buttermilk to soak chicken and fish before frying. “You can taste the spices—chiles and subtle notes of paprika—but it’s not overbearingly hot,” he says. “It’s a very neutral sauce you can play around with.”

4. Cornmeal

It’s this simple: You can’t make cornbread without cornmeal, and many Southerners won’t be caught short if that craving must be satisfied. Sharon C. specifies White Lily Cornmeal Mix “for golden cornbread and coating everything from catfish to okra,” and kudos also went to Martha White and Jiffy, but most people simply voiced a preference that their cornmeal be stone-ground.

3. Flour

White Lily, on the other hand, wins the flour power rankings by a pantry mile. Reader Bob P. calls it “a must-have for the most delicious biscuits and pancakes,” and a score more dusty-handed devotees agree. Come on, Martha White supporters, where are you?

2. Grits

No ifs, ands, or buts, grits are the most solidly Southern of solidly Southern staples. Some fans love white grits, others yellow, and preferred preparations run the matrix of water, milk, cream, butter, cinnamon, and sugar. Jean M. covers the common ground by pointing out, “Not instant—only the kind that takes at least twenty minutes to cook.”

1. Mayonnaise

And by mayonnaise, you mean Duke’s. So many of you, in fact, we’re pretty sure that adoration for the tang-forward condiment first jarred in South Carolina in 1923 will be recognized soon as an official religion. (Baptism is going to be…messy.) One proud heretic? Willo B., who swears by Blue Plate, a New Orleans favorite since 1927. Otherwise, trained chefs and humble slatherers of tomato sandwiches alike are all in on Duke’s, with Mel Toledo of Atlanta’s Foundation Social Eatery testifying, “It’s a gift from the Southern gods.”