The Texas Highways collection of

Essential
Texas Recipes

A collection of images of the recipes featured in this guide

Welcome to the Texas Highways recipe page. Food is known for bringing people together, whether physically or ideologically (see: no beans in chili). It’s both sustenance and pleasure, with dashes of history, culture, and family. Because of this, recipes are much more than a list of ingredients and step-by-step directions—they’re a reflection of who we are and where we come from. We hope that this compendium of classic Texas recipes published in our magazine and on our website not only nourishes you, but also informs you about the foodways of our great state.

In this guide, you’ll find recipes from the Texas Highways archives. See something you like but aren’t quite ready to cook? Enter your email address in the “Save for Later” box at the top of each recipe, and we’ll email you the recipe to reference later.

Side Dishes

A picture of pimento cheese and crackers

Pimento Cheese

Mattie’s at Green Pastures in Austin

Ross Coleman slicing food

Black-Eyed Peas

Ross Coleman, Houston

A picture of fruit-filled kolaches on a plate

Kolaches

Dorothy Kubena, longtime participant in Caldwell’s Kolache Festival

Campechana cocktail in a glass surrounded by chips

Tookie’s Campechana Cocktail Recipe

Tookie’s Seafood in Seabrook

Chile peppers, garlic and tomatoes

Fire-Roasted Hatch Chile Salsa

 

A platter of barbecue along with cup of bright purple sauce

Prickly Pear Barbecue Sauce

Evan LeRoy, Chef, Pitmaster, and Co-owner of LeRoy and Lewis Barbecue, Austin

 

Main Courses

A brisket on butcher paper

Brisket at Home

Hutchins BBQ, Dallas

biscuits and gravy

Biscuits and Gravy

Jacoby’s Restaurant and Mercantile, Austin

 

tamales and ingredients

Tamales

Pork or Pineapple/Pumpkin/Rasin

 

barbecue, brisket, table, butcher paper

Tex-Mex Enchiladas

From the Texas Highways Cookbook (UT Press)

a bowl of beef fajita soup

Beef Fajita Soup

Meagan Wied, azestybite.com

 

Breakfast tacos

Potato-and-Sausage Breakfast Tacos

Veracruz All-Natural, Austin

 

A plate of chiliquiles topped with an egg

Chilaquiles

Jessica Dupuy, United Tastes of Texas

Chili in a bowl

Texas-Style Chili

Eric Pohl

A platter of chicken fried steak with carrots

Locke Family Chicken-Fried Steak

Salina Locke, Hungerford, Texas

Desserts

A picture of a pecan pie with sorbet on the side

Chocolate Pecan Rye Pie with Chocolate Pecan Sorbet

Steve McHugh, chef and owner of Cured in San Antonio

An overhead photo of a buttermilk pie

Buttermilk Pie

Stockman’s Steakhouse, Crockett

A photo of peach crisp with a dollop of ice cream

Peach Crisp

Cabernet Grill’s Vogel Orchard

 

A jar of mesquite flour

Mesquite Cookies

Cappadona Ranch

 

Lavender pecan crisps

Lavender Pecan Crisps

Chappell Hill Lavender Farm

 

Peach ice cream in a dish

Peach Ice Cream

Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson

 

Drinks

A bourbon smash in a glass next to a bottle of bourbon

Bourbon Smash

Marsha Milam

Limes, tequila and Topo Chico

Ranch Water

Capri Bar and Restaurant, Marfa

 

christmas punch in a glass with cinnamon sticks

Christmas Punch

Melissa Guerra

 

A grapefuit wedge hanging off the side of a paloma

Paloma

Desert Door Sotol

A steaming cup of gluhwein with a cinnamon stick

Glühwein

German-Texan Heritage Society member Petra Mueller

A peach bellini in a glass

Peach Bellini

Matt Church, Hye Market in Hye

The March 2024 cover of Texas Highways Magazine

Get the Magazine

Save up to 62% off the cover price

Subscribe

Sign Up for Our Newsletters

Sign up for magazine extras, upcoming events, Mercantile specials, subscription offers, and more.