This Is The Only Holiday Dish Southerners Don’t Make From Scratch

The holidays are a time filled with family recipes, with favorites like Mamau’s Cheese Straws and Dad’s Christmas-Day Chicken Wings as staples at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But for many families in the South, no holiday meal is complete without a plate of freshly baked goods from an honorary family member, Sister Schubert. 

Named after Alabama native Patricia “Sister” Schubert, Sister Schubert’s frozen dinner rolls are a staple in the South. The company’s most popular offerings, yeast dinner rolls and classic Parker House-style rolls, stay stocked in freezers—and garage fridges—from Alabama to Georgia, through South Carolina, and up to Virginia, because while they’re easy to store and can be bought in bulk, they bake into buttery, break-apart-goodness after just 10 minutes in the oven. As much as we cherish family recipes, this is one store-bought item that no family member will argue with. We even polled Southern Living editors, and at least six of us are in agreement on this fact. 

Sister Schubert’s rolls are a staple at Thanksgiving lunch and Christmas dinner for my family. In the Olson household, we prefer the smaller, Parker House-style rolls over the larger yeast rolls that come in a bag but we’ll leave that up to pure family preference. However, for argument's sake, I will mention that I have tasted my fair share—more than 100, if I'm being honest—and this is my opinion: If you, like me, want your rolls on the gooey side, opt for the tin of Parker House-style rolls. If cooked according to the package instructions and tasted promptly out of the oven, you’ll find the most undercooked rolls in the center of the tin surrounded by more crispy, golden bites along the edges. The more unevenly cooked, the better, in my family. I personally like the fluffier, less golden rolls you find in the middle of the tin while my dad goes straight to the outside for a bite of crunchy goodness. 

That said, if Publix is out of the Parker House rolls come Christmas Eve, I won’t hesitate to add a bag (or two) of the signature yeast rolls to my cart because, in my family, we always have room for Sister Schubert. Especially at the holidays.