Chattavore

What I ate, plate by plate.

Jalapeño Ranch Dressing (Chuy’s Tribute)

If ranch dressing makes everything better, jalapeño ranch dressing is even better! This dressing is super simple with fresh jalapeños, mayo, sour cream, buttermilk, and dried herbs and spices. SO good with just a little spice!

a photograph of a jar of jalapeño-ranch dressing with a spoon, a whole jalapeño, and slices of fresh jalapeño

I’m not even embarrassed to admit that I am one of those people who can eat ranch dressing on just about everything. Salad, pizza, breadsticks, chips, vegetables…I could keep going. I love to make my own ranch dressing, and this jalapeño ranch dressing is a shout out to the amazing dip that they bring you at Chuy’s with tortilla chips. I don’t claim that it’s a replica, but when I’m craving some jalapeño ranch, this is what I make.

It’s made with just a few simple ingredients, and aside from the fresh jalapeños, I keep all of them in my house. I whiz it up in my blender, but you could make this in a food processor or, if you chop your jalapeños finely enough, you could whisk it together in a bowl. Try this! You won’t regret it. I’ll be sharing a fish taco recipe next week topped with this. It’s not all that pretty (it’s a little brown🤷🏻‍♀️) but it’s seriously a delicious addition to just about anything I can think of!

What You Need:

a photograph of the ingredients needed to make jalapeño-ranch dressing
  1. Buttermilk
  2. Mayonnaise
  3. Sour Cream
  4. Fresh Jalapeños
  5. Dry Parsley
  6. Dry Dill
  7. Onion Powder
  8. Garlic Powder
  9. Paprika
  10. Salt

How to Make It:

an overhead photograph of a blender of jalapeño-ranch dressing
  1. Place the ingredients in the food processor.
  2. Blend until smooth.
  3. Refrigerate. That’s it! Seriously, that’s all!
a photograph of an open jar of jalapeño-ranch dressing with a fresh jalapeño, slices of fresh jalapeño, and a spoon

Yield: 3/4 cup

2 tablespoons

Jalapeño Ranch Dressing (Chuy’s Tribute)

10 minPrep Time:

10 minTotal Time:

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Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup buttermilk (can sub in regular milk and 1/2 teaspoon vinegar if you don't have buttermilk)
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1-2 fresh jalapeños, seeds and ribs removed
  • 1 teaspoon dry parsley
  • 1 teaspoon dry dill
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon paprika
  • pinch salt

Instructions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use or up to one week.

Notes

If you don't have a food processor or blender, you can finely chop the jalapeños and whisk the ingredients together. The dressing will be slightly chunky. Variations: If you don't have fresh jalapeños, you can use 1-2 tablespoons of pickled jalapeños. You could also add the juice of one lime or the flesh of one avocado to the dressing.

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6 Awesome Recipes to Make With Summer Tomatoes

Isn’t tomato season the best? Nothing beats a perfect tomato sandwich or a simple Caprese salad, but if you want to think outside of the box a little, here are 6 awesome recipes to make with summer tomatoes. You’ll be wishing for summer year-round!

a photo collage showing various recipes to make with summer tomatoes

There are not many times of the year that I think are better than July, August, and early September, because tomatoes. I think we are all pretty much in agreement about the fact that a tomato outside of these three months is pretty much just a vaguely tomato-flavored orb. A summer tomato, though…well, there just really isn’t much that I love more. I thought I’d share with you some of my favorite recipes to make with summer tomatoes!

Green Tomatoes

Your tomatoes don’t have to be ripe to be a perfect specimen. In fact, I love a green tomato almost as much as I love a perfectly ripe red tomato that requires three napkins (and probably a sink to lean over) to eat. Green tomatoes aren’t always easy to find, but this is one iteration of tomato that I am happy to buy at the supermarket, and they are usually available at Publix. I haven’t tried it, but I have read that if you can’t find a green tomato, an unripe supermarket red tomato can actually make a decent substitute.

Oven-Fried Green Tomatoes
Everyone automatically thinks of fried green tomatoes, and there’s a reason for that. I am not a huge fan of frying, though, so I dip the tomatoes in the coating, give them a spritz of oil, and bake them in the oven. You could totally do these in the air fryer as well!
Check out this recipe
Fried green tomatoes are Southern food at its best, but oven-fried green tomatoes take the messy, popping oil factor out of the equation! | Recipe from Chattavore.com
Fried Green Tomato Sandwich With Bacon
I realize that it’s barely a variation of the last recipe, but how can you go wrong when you put oven-fried green tomatoes on a chewy hoagie roll with bacon and remoulade? That’s right. You can’t.
Check out this recipe
If you love fried green tomatoes and bacon, you'll love this fried green tomato sandwich with bacon and remoulade! It's a new Southern classic. | recipe from Chattavore.com

Beefsteak Tomatoes

The classics, beefsteak tomatoes are what you see on just about every produce stand’s tables this time of year. When they are perfectly ripe, they are impossibly red and juicy and I couldn’t possibly hate on them. Feel free to sub in any red, yellow, orange, or even purple tomato in these recipes!

Pimento Cheese Tomato Pie
Tomato pie is a classic. Usually, the filling is made with onions, cheese, and mayonnaise, so pimento cheese is just a little bit of a variation. Feel free to make your own or use your favorite store-bought brand. I used Palmetto Cheese for the pie pictured here. However you make it, it will be perfect.
Check out this recipe
Pimento cheese tomato pie is a perfectly simple, Southern dish that is wonderful as a main or a side, for breakfast, lunch, or dinner! | Recipe from Chattavore.com
Tomato Cobbler With Biscuit Topping
Fresh summer tomatoes and onions topped with homemade garlic cheddar biscuits? Yes please!
Check out this recipe
tomato cobbler | chattavore

Grape or Cherry Tomatoes

Tiny tomatoes can be a little harder to find at the farmers market or produce stand, but you can find them if you look hard enough. Or grow your own! But seriously, even if you make these recipes with grocery store tomatoes, you won’t regret it.

BLT Pasta Salad
This BLT pasta salad has rotini pasta, bacon, grape tomatoes, and romaine lettuce tossed in a buttermilk-mayo dressing. It’s a BLT in a bowl!
Check out this recipe
Chattavore.com | BLT pasta salad is a BLT sandwich in a bowl!
Grilled Naan Bread Pizza With Grape Tomatoes and Basil
When you want a grilled pizza but don’t want to fool with homemade dough, naan bread is there for you. Grape tomatoes pair perfectly with fresh mozzarella and basil atop the charred bread!
Check out this recipe

I hope these recipes get you excited about summer tomatoes! I know that I am personally excited to still have a couple of months to look forward to them. If writing this post has shown me anything, though, it’s that I need to get on creating more tomato recipes for you!

8 Great Cold Side Dishes to Take to a Cookout

Whether you’re celebrating a summer holiday with friends or just planning a quiet night of outdoor dining with the family, you can never have too many cold side dishes! Here are eight of my favorite cold sides that you can make ahead for a cookout!

a photo collage showing cold side dishes, including deviled eggs, tortellini pasta salad, macaroni salad, and loaded baked potato salad

Cookouts are all about grilling, but who wants to go to a cookout and just eat grilled meat and chips? Okay, I am sure that there are some people. I was one of those people until I discovered that pasta salad doesn’t have to come out of a box. Having a selection of delicious cold side dishes to take to a cookout at your disposal is always a good thing. The best thing about these sides is that they can be made ahead, sometimes even a day or two, so you don’t have to rush around making them. I like to make cold sides to pack in my lunch as well. What are your favorite cold sides?

Potato Salad

I don’t really love potato salad. I never really have. I’ll eat it if it’s being served, but I never make it. Except this potato salad.

Loaded Baked Potato Salad
Loaded with bacon, cheese, green onions, and sour cream, this loaded baked potato salad is a crowd-pleaser that will make the mayo-haters in your crowd happy!
Check out this recipe

Pasta Salad

I used to think that pasta salad meant Suddenly Salad or the goopy stuff you tend to find on restaurant salad bars. My mom never served pasta salad when I was a kid and they did not appeal to me. When I started making my own, I discovered that a lightly dressed pasta salad with tons of flavorful ingredients could really hit the spot!

Tortellini Pasta Salad
This pasta salad combines all of your favorite Italian sub ingredients with a tangy vinaigrette and cheesy tortellini. SO delicious and it doubles as a main dish!
Check out this recipe
Classic Macaroni Salad
My grandmother’s classic macaroni salad is loaded with cheese, pickles, celery, and peppers in a classic, creamy dressing.
Check out this recipe
This classic macaroni salad is another treasure from my grandmother's collection. It's easy and just a little different from the norm.
BLT Pasta Salad
BLT pasta salad is exactly what it sounds like: bacon, lettuce, and tomatoes tossed with pasta and a creamy dressing. It’s perfect as a side dish or a main dish!
Check out this recipe
Chattavore.com | BLT pasta salad is a BLT sandwich in a bowl!

Broccoli Salad

Broccoli salad is one of my faves…I love to make it as a side but also just to pack in my lunch. Even with a creamy dressing, it’s pretty healthy!

Honey-Sesame Broccoli Salad
This isn’t your classic broccoli salad, but it is every bit as delicious!
Check out this recipe
Honey-sesame broccoli salad is a delicious and light side dish for your picnic, weeknight dinner, or your lunchbox! | chattavore.com
Classic Broccoli Salad
This IS the classic broccoli salad. It’s full of ALL the good stuff: bacon, sunflower seeds, sliced almonds, dried cranberries, and pickled red onions, tossed with a creamy dressing. Can’t go wrong with the classic!
Check out this recipe
broccoli salad // chattavore

Deviled Eggs

Deviled eggs can be a real crowd pleaser! The classics are always great, but you can’t go wrong when you add some unexpected flavors, either. I make deviled eggs even easier by cooking my eggs in the Instant Pot, which results in perfect, falling off the egg shells!

Classic Deviled Eggs
You can pack these deviled eggs on ice to avoid any spoilage. They’re so good, though, that they won’t be around for long!
Check out this recipe
Pimento Cheese Deviled Eggs
What could be more southern than a deviled egg stuffed with pimento cheese? These are so yummy and so easy! Buy good pimento cheese at the store to make them even easier.
Check out this recipe
pimento cheese deviled eggs

Loaded Baked Potato Salad

Loaded baked potato salad is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: potato salad with all the ingredients of a loaded baked potato. It’s easy, delicious, and it’s great for the mayo or traditional potato salad haters in your life!

a close up picture of a small bowl of loaded baked potato salad with a larger bowl in the background
I have always, repeat always hated potato salad. In fact, I pretty much boycott all side dishes that routinely come alongside barbecue: potato salad, baked beans, and coleslaw. We had barbecue for our rehearsal dinner when we got married back in 2001, and I gave my mother-in-law specific instructions to buy chips because I did not eat barbecue sides.

I’ve softened a little…I’ll occasionally put a spoonful of sweet bacony beans on my plate at a cookout, and I’ve learned to like good slaw on top of my barbecue sandwich or tacos. I’ve really never learned to like traditional potato salad, though.

I don’t know what it is about it. I like all the ingredients…potatoes, mayonnaise, mustard, relish, eggs…but something about combining them all then chilling them just weirds me out. I’ve tried, but it turns out that regular old potato salad is just one of those “uh-uh” foods for me.

One of my friends mentioned to me once a while back that a barbecue joint (now closed) that was near my house served “baked potato salad”. For some reason I first thought that baked potato salad was some sort of salad featuring lettuce and a baked potato (what a weird thing to think, right?). I was wrong.
an overhead picture of a bowl of ingredients for loaded baked potato salad that have not been mixed
Baked potato salad (or loaded baked potato salad is potato salad with all the toppings that you’d put on a regular loaded baked potato:

  • sour cream
  • cheese
  • bacon
  • green onions

I prefer firmer, less starchy red potatoes to the Russets that are traditional for baking, and, well, I don’t actually bake the potatoes. The name’s not about the cooking method, it’s about the dish that this mimics.

This potato salad is great for the people at your picnic, cookout, or party who don’t like mayonnaise (and I know a lot of those people!). You can buy baked potato salad at some grocery stores, but this is so simple that you won’t bother with spending $4.00 on a teeny little tub with a bunch of ingredients that you can’t pronounce.
an overhead picture of a bowl of loaded baked potato salad
I can tell you that loaded baked potato salad has not only changed my mind about potato salad, but it’s changed the minds of a lot of people I know also disliked potato salad! Do you have a favorite potato salad recipe?

This is a great side dish for your 4th of July festivities! Make this loaded baked potato salad and see if it changes your mind (or someone else’s) about potato salad!

Shared on The Weekend Potluck on Served Up With Love and Meal Plan Monday on Southern Bite!
a small bowl of loaded baked potato salad with a larger bowl of loaded baked potato salad in the background

Recipe Image

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1-inch chunks
  • salt
  • 4 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded (about 1 cup)
  • 4 strips bacon, cooked until crisp and chopped
  • 3-4 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 1/2-3/4 cup sour cream
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

  1. Place the potatoes in a 4-6 quart pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Liberally salt the water. Boil the potatoes until tender. Drain and leave in colander until cool and water is completely drained away,
  2. Place the drained potatoes in a large bowl and add the cheese, bacon, green onions, and 1/2 cup of sour cream. Mix to thoroughly combine. Add remaining sour cream if the potato salad is too dry. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  3. Chill the potato salad until ready to serve.

Notes

Prep time does not include time to allow potatoes to drain and cool.

Tags

Occasions
Cookout
Allergy
gluten free
egg free
soy free
wheat free
peanut free
seafood free
treenut free
sesame free
mustard free

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Tortellini Pasta Salad

What’s better than cheesy tortellini with fresh antipasto ingredients? These tortellini pasta salad has all of those components in one bowl. It’s perfect as a main dish or as a side to serve at your next picnic or cookout!

An overhead picture of a small bowl of tortellini pasta salad with a larger bowl of tortellini pasta salad in the background

Pasta salad used to be one of those foods that I just did not like. I honestly don’t know what it was about them, unless it was the fact that to me, pasta was something that should be served hot. Also, my mom really never made pasta salad so most of my experience with pasta salad was creamy pasta salads on salad bars that had so much mayo that you could not distinguish their individual ingredients.
a large bowl with unmixed ingredients for tortellini pasta salad and a small jar of vinaigrette in the background
As an adult, I’ve discovered a love for pasta salads, though. It could be the fact that they are ridiculously easy to make. It could also be the fact that they are ridiculously easy to serve. I mean, what’s not to love about a cold salad that you just grab from the fridge and dish from the bowl?

Make It How You Want It

The other clear advantage to pasta salads is their adaptability. The pasta salads of my youth were mostly “macaroni salads” (including my grandmother’s macaroni salad, which I honestly do not remember her making but it is delicious). However, pasta salads are definitely NOT limited to macaroni, nor are they limited to only creamy dressings.

My personal favorite pasta salad is the BLT pasta salad that I make that was inspired by a menu item at Southern Star. A friend of mine makes a fantastic bacon ranch pasta salad. And then there is this tortellini pasta salad…

Inspired By Antipasto Ingredients

A few years back I discovered a chopped salad on Smitten Kitchen that was inspired by the ingredients of an Italian sub, one of Philip’s very favorite sandwiches. The salad was hearty and did not disappoint. Every time I buy the ingredients I will eat the salad for at least a week. 
an overhead picture of a large bowl of tortellini pasta salad
I wanted to make something along the lines of that salad but with pasta instead. A tortellini pasta salad seemed to fit the bill because I❤tortellini. I mean, cheesy stuffed pasta, right?

This antipasto tortellini pasta salad is infinitely adaptable. I’m not Italian, but as I was researching antipasto ingredients it certainly seemed like there were few rules. You can use what you have on hand and it is definitely going to be delicious.
a small bowl of tortellini pasta salad with a larger bowl of tortellini pasta salad in the background
I used salami, pepperoni, mini bocconcini (mozzarella balls), sun-dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, artichoke hearts, a sprinkle of basil, and a tart vinaigrette. Roasted red peppers, chickpeas, prosciutto, marinated mushrooms…there are lots of delicious things you could toss in there. Just let it chill in the fridge for a bit and you have a perfect tortellini pasta salad!

Shared on Meal Plan Monday on Southern Plate!
a close-up picture of a bowl of tortellini pasta salad with a larger bowl of tortellini pasta salad in the background

Recipe Image

Ingredients

    For the dressing
  • 2 tablespoons red wine, white wine, or sherry vinegar
  • 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 tablespoon ground black pepper
    • For the pasta salad
  • 9-10 ounces refrigerated cheese tortellini, cooked according to package directions (one regular sized package or 1/2 of a large package)
  • 1/2 cup julienned or diced salami
  • 1/2 cup julienned or diced pepperoni
  • 2 canned artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
  • 1/4 cup kalamata olives, diced
  • 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, julienned or diced
  • 4 ounces mozzarella pearls, diced bocconcini, or diced fresh mozzarella
  • 1/4 cup julienned fresh basil
  • salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

  1. Whisk the vinaigrette ingredients together in a small bowl or shake together in a small jar.
  2. Rinse the cooked tortellini with cold water and allow it to stand until cooled, shaking the colander occasionally to drain the water away.
  3. Combine the cooked tortellini in a large bowl with the remaining ingredients. Pour the vinaigrette over and toss to combine. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. The salad will keep covered in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
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