Reba McEntire's Favorite Foods Are A Texas Staple

Music icon Reba McEntire is still just a country girl at heart. While she's popularly known as a country singer and actress, her career achievements also include a foray into the culinary world. In her best-selling book "Not That Fancy: Simple Lessons on Living, Loving, Eating, and Dusting Off Your Boots," she shared some of her favorite foods, including her personal recipes to make them. Many of the featured dishes are Southern cuisine classics and are also offered at Reba's Place, McEntire's restaurant-bar in Atoka, Oklahoma.

One of her most favorite foods is a well-known and beloved staple in Texas: a bowl of pinto beans with a couple of slices of cornbread. It is an extremely simple but delicious dish perfect for anyone who wants a taste of Texas cooking without having to travel to the Lone Star State. You don't have to be a culinary prodigy to make this meal either. There are several ways to level up boxed cornbread and even canned pinto beans can be made to taste homemade.

For those that want to make Reba McEntire's favorite meal for themselves, worry not; the country star has you covered when it comes to this iconic Texas food. Not only does she love pinto beans and cornbread, she even has her own personal recipe for the beloved dish. Taken from her aforementioned book and shared with Garden & Gun, this recipe actually counts as a two-in-one. It walks through the cooking process for pinto beans and includes a homemade recipe for delicious cornbread.

The recipe for pinto beans is surprisingly much more than just a heap of simple beans with seasoning. It also includes carrots, onions, chicken stock, and even bacon. McEntire recommends seasoning the dish with a splash of sherry vinegar, salt, and pepper. The cornbread recipe is more straightforward. The main ingredients that might require an additional trip to the grocery store are cornmeal and buttermilk. Once baked, the cornbread is perfect for dipping in the hearty pinto beans.