Willie Nelson's Favorite Southern Food Is An Absolute Classic

When it comes to longevity, you could do worse than to take advice from 92-year-old country music legend Willie Nelson. Though his dietary advice is far from conventional wisdom for a long life, admittedly, it does sound pretty great. In a 2017 video interview with "Southern Living," Nelson spoke about his music career, lifelong philosophy, and even food, revealing which same three foods he eats every single day, as well as his favorites. When asked about his favorite Southern food, the dual-feted Country Music and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer answered confidently — chicken-fried steak.

Though the exact origins of chicken-fried steak aren't much clearer than the creamy country gravy it's smothered in (which is what differentiates it from country fried steak), an argument can be made that chicken-fried steak may be the most Texas food there is. A fitting choice given that Nelson himself was born and raised in south-central Texas in a little town called Abbott. A simple dish at its heart, chicken-fried steak has stirred up its share of confusion, causing some to wonder why it's called chicken-fried steak if it's made with beef.

This fried-chicken-inspired dish consists of cube steak (often made from inexpensive cuts, pounded thin with a meat tenderizer, leaving those tiny cube-shaped indentations behind), dredged in flour and egg, and then deep-fried. Though a truly crave-worthy one can take some practice to perfect, heeding these tips for ultimate chicken-fried steak will have you well on your way.

While chicken-fried steak may have been the first dish on the tip of the iconic country crooner's tongue, it wasn't the only favorite he listed. Nelson, a cookbook author himself (2024's Willie and Annie Nelson's Cannabis Cookbook), added two more popular Southern staples to his roster: classic fried chicken and biscuits and gravy. 

The 12-time Grammy Award winner (currently nominated for two 2026 Annual Grammy Awards both with and against his sons, Micah and Luka Nelson) seems to favor the deeply fried and gravy-laden flavors of his southern roots, but notes that he tries to "eat pretty sensible," before ultimately confessing that, ". . . about all I really eat is oatmeal in the morning and bacon and eggs in the evening and that's about it." When it comes to how he likes those eggs cooked, though Nelson isn't too picky, "I don't think you could fix them any way where I wouldn't like 'em," adding, "soft-scrambled, scrambled's good." 

And Nelson's easy-going philosophy doesn't just apply to eggs. It turns out he's a fan of omitting worry from his life, too. In that same interview, he shares his outlook, "I think worry will make you sick . . . I've never seen worrying about anything change it. So, I decided not to do it." For Nelson, this simplicity in food and thought has fueled over 150+ albums, a film career, a cookbook, activism, and a life perpetually spent "On the Road Again."