Dolly Parton Eats Her Mac and Cheese With a Surprising Southern Side

Singer, actor, songwriter, novelist, philanthropist, perfumer, businesswoman, legend... Dolly Parton is many things, including a bit of a risk-taker in the kitchen.

In a February interview with Insider, the Tennessee songbird shared her love for mac and cheese along with her surprising (though decidedly Southern) trick for making it even more delicious.

"That's something else I like is mac and cheese," Parton said. "And if you serve that with fried apples, that's a great taste combination."

She went on to recall how she accidentally stumbled upon the culinary combo.

"One time I didn't have a whole lot of stuff in my refrigerator, and I was hungry," Parton told Insider. "I don't even know if it was some macaroni I'd made before or store-bought, but I just remember having some fried apples that had come out of another order of food from somewhere."

"I thought, 'Well there's some apples,' and I just remember putting that on the same plate," she continued. "I thought, this is an absolutely great combination! And ever since then, that was years ago now, when I'm going to do mac and cheese, I always do fried apples."

"They're just so good together," Parton insisted. "You'll like it!"

You don't have to tell us twice, Dolly! We've never met a savory dish that didn't go well with fried apples.