Tim McGraw’s Favorite Comfort Food Is a Southern Classic

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Deanne RevelSun, November 8, 2026 at 3:00 PM UTC

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I will always have a soft spot for ’90s country music. Some of Dolly Parton’s greatest albums were made during this era, along with the rise of pop-country from Shania Twain, The Chicks, and Faith Hill. But you can’t talk about ’90s country without Tim McGraw. His hits—and there are many—are just so relatable. But it’s not just his music.

When we learned that the country star’s favorite midnight snack is Cocoa Puffs, we found it equally hilarious and adorable. This is a superstar who could have anything flown into Nashville. But, no, it’s a nostalgic childhood classic. He even sometimes, accidentally, leaves “a trail of Cocoa Puffs all over” for his wife to find.

That wife would be Faith Hill, and the two just celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. And while country music did bring them together, it’s McGraw’s cooking that got Hill to really notice him. McGraw credits one dish in particular, and he still makes it for Hill now.

Tim McGraw’s Chicken and Dumplings

McGraw has shared this story several times—he even told it while making the dish with Faith Hill on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” back in the day. But more recently, he shared it on “The Kelly Clarkson Show.”

“I love to cook. We both cook. Faith’s a fantastic cook,” he told Kelly Clarkson while on the show. McGraw shared that chicken and dumplings is “a big go-to” in their house. “That’s sort of how I hooked Faith was with chicken and dumplings,” he added.

“I took ’em to her house, we were touring together. I didn’t know her that well and she lived right down the road from me,” he continued. “And I made some chicken and dumplings and I thought, ‘You know, I’ll take some chicken and dumplings and some cornbread down to Faith Hill and see how that works out.’”

Clearly, it worked out.

And, if you’re in need of some magical, wooing chicken and dumplings, McGraw isn’t gatekeeping the recipe. It’s featured in Star Palate: Celebrity Cookbook for a Cure, which raised funds for cancer research when it was published in 2004.

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How To Make Tim McGraw’s Chicken and Dumplings

At first glance, McGraw’s recipe calls for all the basics you’d expect in this Southern classic: flour, butter, and bouillon cubes. But McGraw’s take is likely much more herbaceous than your grandma’s recipe, as it calls for parsley, sage, thyme, cloves, dill, garlic, and a bay leaf.

There’s even green onion and parsley featured in the dumplings themselves. And while many Southerners keep this dish fairly simple, McGraw’s rich, hearty version honestly reads like a chicken pot pie recipe—with onions, celery, carrots, and sweet peas to go along with the chicken.

Credit: Photography: Carson Downing / Food: Lauren McAnelly / Prop Styling: Laura Ellefson/Lexi Juhl

Now, there’s also a version of the recipe (and the Faith Hill story) that McGraw shared with Oprah in 2009. It’s not as hearty or herbaceous. But it’s just as comforting—maybe more thanks to two swaps. Instead of milk, this version calls for buttermilk. And instead of butter, this version uses Crisco.

This five-ingredient recipe is as classic as it gets. You just need a small chicken, 1 cup chicken broth, 2 cups all-purpose flour, 3 tablespoons butter shortening, and 1/2 cup buttermilk—plus water and salt.

To make it, boil the chicken in a large stockpot. When done, pull the meat from the bone, and add it back to the pot with chicken broth. For the dumplings, combine your shortening and flour, preferably with a pastry cutter. Then, add the buttermilk to form a dough. To make the dumplings, pinch off pieces of dough, then roll and cut them into small, thin squares. Drop each square into the broth, one at a time. Simmer until tender, adding salt and pepper to taste, for a couple of hours until it becomes thick and creamy.

It’s unclear how many servings this version yields. But the recipe from Star Palate makes eight servings, so if you’re not cooking for a crowd, you’ll have enough for leftovers.

You know, if you want some more of it.

on Allrecipes

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”