Skip to content

Top Navigation

Southern Living Southern Living
  • Food
  • Holidays & Entertaining
  • Home & Garden
  • Style & Culture
  • News
  • Video

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout

More

  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
Login
Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Southern Living

Southern Living Southern Living
  • Explore

    Explore

    • These Haircuts Are Going To Be Huge in 2021

      The trendy haircuts you’ll be seeing everywhere next year. Read More Next
    • How To Season A Cast-Iron Skillet

      Learn how to season this Southern kitchen staple in five easy steps. Read More Next
    • The Right Way to Heat a Pre-Cooked Ham

      It's so easy, trust us. Read More Next
  • Food

    Food

    See All Food

    Lost Cakes of the South

    These simple and spectacular Southern cakes deserve a comeback
    • All Food
    • All Recipes
    • Holidays & Occasions
    • Quick Fix Suppers
    • Slow Cooker Recipes
    • Desserts
    • Casseroles
    • Healthy Recipes
  • Holidays & Entertaining

    Holidays & Entertaining

    See All Holidays & Entertaining

    70 Wedding Vow Examples That Will Melt Your Heart

    Fight writer's block and find ways to express your love with these romantic, funny, and short wedding vow examples.
    • Christmas
    • Entertaining
    • Thanksgiving
    • Southern Weddings
    • Easter
    • Kentucky Derby
    • Valentine's Day
    • 4th of July
    • Mother's Day
  • Home & Garden

    Home & Garden

    See All Home & Garden

    7 Paint Colors We’re Loving for Kitchen Cabinets in 2020

    ‘Tis the season to ditch your all-white palette in favor of something a little bolder and brighter.
    • Home Decor Ideas
    • Idea Houses
    • Before & After
    • Inspired Communities
    • Curb Appeal
    • House Plans & Builders
    • The Grumpy Gardener
    • Plant Names A-Z
  • Style & Culture

    Style & Culture

    See All Style & Culture

    50 Books Everyone Should Read in Their Lifetime

    Curl up with a classic!
    • Southern Culture
    • Hair
    • Travel
    • Beauty
    • Pets
    • Southern Fashion
    • Healthy Living
  • News
  • Video

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout

More

  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Southern Living
  2. food
  3. The Southern Living Food Awards 2018

The Southern Living Food Awards 2018

By Hannah Hayes
May 24, 2018
Skip gallery slides
Save FB Tweet
Credit: Greg DuPree
Our editors and Test Kitchen pros taste test new products every day. After scooping, sipping, and snacking on dozens, we picked our top 20 winners that show off the best supermarket staples and Southern-made specialties
Start Slideshow

1 of 20

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Blue Bell Ice Cream

Credit: Kelsey Hansen

Brenham, TX
$8 for 1⁄2 gallon

Those in the know still stock their freezers with this time-honored, Southern-made ice cream. There is a flavor for every season and occasion, from old-fashioned favorites like Buttered Pecan and Rocky Mountain Road to sellout specialties such as Mardi Gras King Cake and Christmas Cookies. The subtle floral flavor and velvety texture of their traditional Homemade Vanilla makes it our preferred choice for topping a warm slice of pie.

1 of 20

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 20

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Red Truck Rural Bakery Alma Hackney’s Rum Cake

Credit: Greg DuPree

Marshall, VA
$34 for 9-inch cake

The late Alma Hackney, choir director at First Presbyterian Church of Sanford in North Carolina, would send a friend to the liquor store to purchase rum, which she then used in her legendary Bundt cake. Red Truck (the bakery beloved by Virginia residents, U.S. Presidents, and even Oprah) still follows her original recipe. Mail-order dessert skeptics will be completely amazed.

2 of 20

3 of 20

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Wildflower Caramel Co. Caramels

Credit: Kelsey Hansen

San Antonio, TX
$13 for 12 caramels

While her two children napped, Ellyn Dixon built a business right from her stove-top. Using the tasty homemade caramels
she once gave as holiday gifts, she has turned her Wildflower Caramel company into a staple of San Antonio’s Pearl Farmers Market. Locals line up at the window of her retrofitted camping trailer for seasonal treats like Tequila Basil Lime, Smoked Jalapeno, and Texas Honey.

3 of 20

Advertisement

4 of 20

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Callie’s Charleston Biscuits Iced Blueberry Biscuits

Credit: Greg DuPree

Charleston, SC
$16 for 12 biscuits

The fans who compose the cult of Callie’s Charleston Biscuits have helped Carrie Morey turn a tiny North Charleston house into a bakery that has launched a layered empire with a cookbook, two shops, and (of course) the famous biscuits based on her mother’s recipe. Carrie’s latest creation, biscuits bejeweled with blueberries, comes with an icing reminiscent of toaster tarts.

4 of 20

5 of 20

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Buxton Hall Barbecue Red BBQ Sauce

Credit: Greg DuPree

Asheville, NC
$6 for 12.7 oz

Pitmaster and South Carolina native Elliott Moss likes to say that he has vinegar sauce running through his veins. He’s now the co-owner of Buxton Hall Barbecue—which serves Carolina-style, whole-hog barbecue at a retro-hip spot in Asheville, North Carolina’s South Slope. The joint has started bottling its signature sauce. Their classic red is tart, sassy, and smoky

5 of 20

6 of 20

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Lundberg Family Farms Organic White Long Grain Rice

Credit: Greg DuPree

Richvale, CA
$6 for 32 oz.

In favorite dishes such as Savannah red rice or perloo, where rice is the star of the show, Lundberg Family Farms’ grains truly shine. Their sustainably harvested long-grain white rice has a subtle toasted-nut flavor. Although each piece is pleasantly firm, the texture of a whole pot is fluffy without any clumping. That makes it easier to mix in heavier ingredients like whole shrimp or sausage.

6 of 20

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 20

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Zatarain’s Creole Mustard

Credit: Kelsey Hansen

Gretna, LA
$2 for 5.25 oz.

While Zatarain’s is known for its rice mixes, the company produces enough Creole Mustard annually to dress 175 million po’boys and fill 527 million deviled eggs. The second product introduced by founder Emile Zatarain in the late 1800s, this mustard has a creamy texture that clings easily to French bread and fried shrimp, while its zesty sharpness livens up potato salad.

7 of 20

8 of 20

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Benton’s Hickory Smoked Country Bacon

Credit: Kelsey Hansen

Madisonville, TN
$32 for 4 lb.

The official bacon of the South, according to chefs and home cooks alike, these thick strips sizzle with a delicious smokiness that could come only from Allan Benton’s time-tested technique honed in the Smoky Mountains. The king of country hams, Benton lets slabs—which are cured with brown sugar, black pepper, and salt—bathe inside his smokehouse, where a hickory log-burning stove burns for 48 hours. For brunch at home, there’s no better option.

8 of 20

9 of 20

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Navy Hill Soda + Tonic

Credit: Greg DuPree

Richmond, VA
$30 for 12 (8.45-oz.) bottles

Traditional tonic syrups can tamp down the refreshment factor of summertime cocktails or create a cloying taste with too much added sweetener. Navy Hill’s hybrid mixer combines the citrusy bitterness of quinine (the essential ingredient in tonic) with an ultra-effervescent soda water for a buoyancy that keeps cocktails lively minus the sugar crash. We can’t scientifically back up claims that the added electrolytes stave off hangovers, but we’re not complaining.

9 of 20

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

10 of 20

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Copper & Kings American Dry Gin

Credit: Kelsey Hansen

Louisville, KY
$35 for 750 ml.

Louisville is known for bourbon, but Copper & Kings has made the city a destination for other craft spirits, including this gin made with their acclaimed apple brandy. Though it presents plenty of classic juniper-forward flavor, other botanicals (such as coriander and lavender) as well as citrus peels lend a nice floral freshness, making it particularly revitalizing during steamy summers.

10 of 20

11 of 20

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Domestique Coffee

Credit: Greg DuPree

Birmingham, AL
$15 for 10 oz.

While biking through the southern peninsula of Haiti, Nathan and Michael Pocus discovered that the dazzling vistas and lush mountainsides surrounding them were reflected in the terroir of the country’s coffee. Enamored with the taste, the Birmingham-based brothers decided to source beans from the island’s small farmers for the single-origin varieties at their new roastery.

11 of 20

12 of 20

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Mountain Valley Sparkling Water

Credit: Kelsey Hansen

Hot Springs, AR
$2 for 750 ml

Whether we’re hosting backyard cookouts or formal affairs, these iconic Kelly green bottles have a permanent place on our tables. Sourced from Arkansas’ stunning Ouachita Mountains since 1871, Mountain Valley’s mineral-rich sparkling water has a spring-fresh taste plus a bracing bevy of bubbles that feel just as occasion worthy as its good-looking glass vessel.

12 of 20

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

13 of 20

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Zapp’s Potato Chips

Credit: Greg DuPree

Gramercy, LA
$2 for 5 oz.

Once just a New Orleans anomaly, Zapp's are simultaneously airy yet kettle-style potato chips dusted with loud Louisiana flavors have now spread northward. Grab a bag of Voodoo, which is the by-product of a forklift accident that mixed several seasonings together. Its smoky-sweet-spicy trifecta (much like andouille sausage) makes it nearly impossible to leave one chip behind.

13 of 20

14 of 20

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Barrel Creek Provisions Cucumbers

Credit: Robbie Caponetto

Austin, TX
$8 for 32 oz.

Instead of brining their Texas-grown cucumbers, carrots, and okra in a typical vinegar mixture, Barrel Creek Provisions ferments their veggies in salt water with garlic, onion, and spices. Since the pickles aren’t cooked and softened, they have an audible snap at first bite and also contain live strains of probiotics. Bonus: Cut into spears, these crisp cukes stand straight in a Bloody Mary.

14 of 20

15 of 20

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Justin’s Honey Almond Butter

Credit: Kelsey Hansen

Boulder, CO
$14 for 16 oz. or $2 for 1.15 oz.

With most almond butter brands, it takes some muscle to stir the protein-packed snack together, since the oil and ground almonds often separate. Justin’s jars, however, maintain their consistency without the mess. Because this butter doesn’t need to be refrigerated, it travels easily to work or on a road trip when you need a healthy way to avoid feeling hangry.

15 of 20

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

16 of 20

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Trader Joe’s Just a Handful of Olives

Credit: Kelsey Hansen

Monrovia, CA
$1 for 1.05 oz.

Avoid the siren song of the vending machine when afternoon hunger hits by keeping your desk drawer filled with a passel of these packets, each containing about 10 pitted and salted Manzanilla olives. Buttery and a touch briny, they calm snack attacks without too many extra calories or processed ingredients. Throw a few of them in tuna salad or leftover pasta to pep up a desk lunch. For less than a dollar, you can afford to make these olives a habit.

16 of 20

17 of 20

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Noke’s Granola

Credit: Kelsey Hansen

Chattanooga, TN
$10 for 10 oz.

Siblings Luther and Ryan Cutchins started selling granola as a side project to their catering business. But after Ryan passed away unexpectedly, it became a way for his older brother to carry on his memory. In addition to a nutty, protein-packed blend, Luther still produces Ryan’s original mix: oats, pecans, walnuts, peanuts, hazelnuts, almonds, cashews, Brazil nuts, and dried cranberries toasted with honey. We suggest trying it with a swoosh of Greek yogurt dotted with fresh berries.

17 of 20

18 of 20

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Califia Farms Original AlmondMilk

Credit: Kelsey Hansen

Bakersfield, CA
$4 for 48 oz.

If you think almond milk is just a trendy dairy substitute at subway-tiled coffee shops, keeping a bottle from Califia Farms in your refrigerator will make you see its practical side. Whether splashed in a bowl of oatmeal or your morning cup of coffee, exchanged for milk in rice pudding, or used as a creamier base for a power smoothie, “alt-milk” will soon be a part of your everyday vocabulary.

18 of 20

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

19 of 20

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Sweet & Sauer Kimchi

Credit: Kelsey Hansen

Jackson, MS
$10 for 16 oz.

After Lauren Rhoades’ fellowship with FoodCorps ended, she made Jackson, Mississippi, home and focused full-time on her fermented-food side business. From her space in the city’s start-up incubator, The Hatch, Rhoades packs jars with batches of her colorful kimchi, which mingles crunchy daikon radish and napa cabbage with fresh ginger, garlic, and red chile pepper flakes.

19 of 20

20 of 20

Save FB Tweet
Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Old North Shrub Two In The Bush

Credit: Kelsey Hansen

Shelby, NC
$22 for 16 oz.

In addition to foraging wild ingredients in North Carolina's Piedmont region and growing produce on his small farm for restaurants, breweries, and distilleries, and orchestrating pop-up dinners, chef-turned-farmer Jamie Swofford concocts shrubs (also known as drinking vinegars) with ingredients grown and foraged locally in North Carolina. The strawberry-chamomile Two in the Bush adds an herbal, sweet-tart taste to club soda or cocktails.

20 of 20

Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Hannah Hayes

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook
Trending Videos
Advertisement
Skip slide summaries

Everything in This Slideshow

Advertisement

View All

1 of 20 Blue Bell Ice Cream
2 of 20 Red Truck Rural Bakery Alma Hackney’s Rum Cake
3 of 20 Wildflower Caramel Co. Caramels
4 of 20 Callie’s Charleston Biscuits Iced Blueberry Biscuits
5 of 20 Buxton Hall Barbecue Red BBQ Sauce
6 of 20 Lundberg Family Farms Organic White Long Grain Rice
7 of 20 Zatarain’s Creole Mustard
8 of 20 Benton’s Hickory Smoked Country Bacon
9 of 20 Navy Hill Soda + Tonic
10 of 20 Copper & Kings American Dry Gin
11 of 20 Domestique Coffee
12 of 20 Mountain Valley Sparkling Water
13 of 20 Zapp’s Potato Chips
14 of 20 Barrel Creek Provisions Cucumbers
15 of 20 Justin’s Honey Almond Butter
16 of 20 Trader Joe’s Just a Handful of Olives
17 of 20 Noke’s Granola
18 of 20 Califia Farms Original AlmondMilk
19 of 20 Sweet & Sauer Kimchi
20 of 20 Old North Shrub Two In The Bush

Share options

Pinterest Mail Email iphone Send Text Message Print

Login

Southern Living

Magazines & More

Learn More

  • About Us
  • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
  • Books from Southern Living
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
  • Sitemap

Connect

Follow Us
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Other Meredith Sites

Other Meredith Sites

  • 4 Your Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Allrecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • All People Quilt this link opens in a new tab
  • Better Homes & Gardens this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Insights this link opens in a new tab
  • Bizrate Surveys this link opens in a new tab
  • Cooking Light this link opens in a new tab
  • Daily Paws this link opens in a new tab
  • EatingWell this link opens in a new tab
  • Eat This, Not That this link opens in a new tab
  • Entertainment Weekly this link opens in a new tab
  • Food & Wine this link opens in a new tab
  • Health this link opens in a new tab
  • Hello Giggles this link opens in a new tab
  • Instyle this link opens in a new tab
  • Martha Stewart this link opens in a new tab
  • Midwest Living this link opens in a new tab
  • More this link opens in a new tab
  • MyRecipes this link opens in a new tab
  • MyWedding this link opens in a new tab
  • My Food and Family this link opens in a new tab
  • MyLife this link opens in a new tab
  • Parenting this link opens in a new tab
  • Parents this link opens in a new tab
  • People this link opens in a new tab
  • People en Español this link opens in a new tab
  • Rachael Ray Magazine this link opens in a new tab
  • Real Simple this link opens in a new tab
  • Ser Padres this link opens in a new tab
  • Shape this link opens in a new tab
  • Siempre Mujer this link opens in a new tab
  • SwearBy this link opens in a new tab
  • Travel & Leisure this link opens in a new tab
Southern Living is part of the Meredith Home Group. © Copyright 2021 Meredith Corporation. Southern Living is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporationthis link opens in a new tab All Rights Reserved. Southern Living may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
© Copyright . All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.southernliving.com

View image

The Southern Living Food Awards 2018
this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.