7 Cheap Southern Meals: Green Maters, Appalachian Cereal & More

1. Mater sandwich

• Tomatoes
• Bread
• Salt and pepper
• Mayonnaise

The good old mater sandwich! You're going to slice up your tomatoes. I like mine thin, just like this. Add mayonnaise to each slice of bread and smear it across nice and even with your butter knife.

One side you're going to put some salt, the other side you're going to put some pepper. Then just stack up your tomatoes however you want them. 

2. Redneck pancakes

• Peanut butter
• Syrup
• Bread

I don't even know what to call this. My aunts, my mom, my memaw - they all made this. Sometimes we call it redneck pancakes or we just call it peanut butter syrup and bread!

You're going to take a big old dollop of peanut butter, and you're going to put some syrup in it. I can't tell you how much. You just gotta do it until it's the consistency that you want. Then you're just going to break it up, throw it in there, and mix it around. Enjoy!

3. Green beans and taters

• Green beans
• Water
• Salt and pepper
• Butter
• Potatoes

Pull up a chair and let's break some beans together. Wash your green beans. Cover them with water. Add salt, pepper, and some butter. Cook them on medium for two and a half hours.  

Wash some potatoes. Peel them and dice them and put them in the green beans at the two-hour mark. Add some extra salt to compensate for the potatoes.

4. Fried squash and zucchini mix

• Pattypan squash
• Zucchini
• Squash
• Green tomatoes
• Oil
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• Salt and pepper
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Paprika
• Adobo
• Plain white flour
• Eggs
• Milk

Wash and slice up your pattypan squash, your zucchini, your squash, and your green tomatoes. We're going to fry them up. 

In a bowl, add one cup of cornmeal and one cup of all-purpose flour. You're going to season it with some salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and adobo to taste. Mix it up.

Now get a bowl with just plain white flour and another bowl with some eggs and milk. Dip the squash into the flour and then into the egg mixture. 

Then, get some hot oil in a frying pan. Toss those squash in there and fry them till they're nice and beautiful.  

5. Green mater mix

• Green tomatoes
• ¼ cup flour
• 1 cup cornmeal
• Garlic powder
• Salt
• Parsley
• Eggs
• Milk

This is a mixture for green tomatoes. Add a cup of cornmeal and ¼ cup of flour to a bowl. Season it up with some garlic powder, parsley, and salt. In another bowl, mix eggs and milk. In a third bowl, you'll have plain flour.

Do the same thing as you did with the squash and zucchini: flour, eggs, and then the coating. Fry them up the same way you did a squash.

I like to serve my fried squash, zucchini, and green tomato mixes with green beans and taters, homemade cornbread, and fresh cucumbers from the garden.

Tip: Once the cornbread is done, you have to turn it out upside down or it's just not right.  

6. Green mater BLT

• Bacon
• Lettuce
• Red tomato
• Cheddar Cheese
• Buttered and toasted bread
• Fried green maters
• Ranch

For our green mater BLT, I use a can of bacon, which I heat up and crisp in the oven.

Toast up some bread like you normally would for any sandwich. I do mine in a skillet with some butter so it can be nice and soft. Add bacon, cheese, red tomato, and lettuce.

Then, put two or more fried green tomatoes on top. Instead of mayonnaise, you use ranch. Look how beautiful it is!

7. Appalachian cereal

• Crumbled cornbread
• Milk or buttermilk

Now, the last one. You guys might find it weird. You might already do it, I don't know. But you're going to need some leftover cornbread and milk. Some people use buttermilk. Crumble up your cornbread in a mason jar, then pour some milk over top of it.

This is a good old Appalachian homemade cereal, pretty much. There it is. Look how beautiful.

Cheap southern meals

I hope you enjoyed these Southern frugal recipes. They're quick, easy, and budget-friendly. Let me know if you eat any of these Southern fixin's where you live or if you have any cheap southern meals of your own to recommend in the comments below!