Dolly Parton's All-Time Favorite Food Is Super Relatable

Dolly Parton is known for doing everything bigger and better — her hair, her music, and certainly her iconic Southern cooking. But when it comes to her favorite food, it's actually rather humble. Like many of us, Parton is a spud connoisseur. In an interview with AllRecipes, she stated, "I've always been a potato person, even if it's a mashed potato, or a french fry, or if I just baked a potato ... I never met a spud I didn't like!" 

After "workin' 9 to 5," Dolly's favorite way to enjoy a potato is plain and simple ... baked with lots of toppings such as salt, butter, shredded cheese, sour cream, chives, and crunchy bacon bits. Parton also reveals in her cookbook, "Good Lookin' Cookin'," released in September 2024 and inspired by the cooking of the aunts and grandmas that she grew up with, that she and her sister Rachel's method for baking potatoes is a bit unique. It involves skillet-frying them in oil and butter, resulting in extremely crispy skin with a super fluffy interior.

In addition to enjoying a tater here and there, Dolly Parton has also been curating recipes since 2006, and is the author of two Southern-style cookbooks, "Good Lookin' Cookin'" and "Dolly's Dixie Fixin's." In both, she highlights some of her favorite recipes such as "Stampede Soup," a creamy vegetable soup usually served as an appetizer, as well as her velvety baked "Banana Pudding." Parton shares even more of her recipes on her website — we're personally obsessed with the spicy yet sweet, Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread! It goes without saying that she's is a fabulous chef; she even has a reputation for bringing her own home-cooking from her infinite list of recipes to movie sets.

Not only is her website full of great recipes, but Parton also has a line of boxed dessert mixes in collaboration with Duncan Hines, which debuted in January of 2022, and includes Fabulously Fudgey Brownies, Caramel Turtles, Buttermilk Biscuits, Sweet Cornbread, and more. Parton told Food Network that she's "more of a cook than a baker" — that's why she prefers the ease of boxed desserts herself. In the same way, her recipes are ideal because they're simple enough for any level of cooking experience, while at the same time being unique and something to make everyone stop and indulge.