I’ve done plenty of cool things in my time as a food editor, like tasting every cheesecake at The Cheesecake Factory and ranking every fast food chicken sandwich under the sun, for starters. But speaking with the Dolly Parton (virtually, but still!) is hands-down the coolest. I had the pleasure of talking with the country music star about her newly launched line of frozen dinners, but we also chatted about food in general. Most iconically of all, I asked her for her favorite condiment…and her answer was oh-so Dolly.
I Asked Dolly Parton What Her Favorite Condiment Is and Her Answer Was Straight-Up Iconic
Dinner at Dolly’s?
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Published Jun 6, 2025
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“It would be butter,” Parton said with confidence. “Cream. It would be bacon grease, or…that kind of stuff. But certainly, I have lots. Lots of butter, salt and pepper. Yeah, that’s what makes anything taste good.”
I’ve never thought of butter as a condiment, but who am I to argue? Merriam Webster defines “condiment” as “something (such as a seasoning, sauce, garnish or topping) that is added to food usually after the food is prepared and that enhances or adds to its flavor,” so yeah, there are plenty of instances in which butter qualifies.
This pick is also on brand based on what I learned about Parton’s taste preferences and eating habits. “I’m a good Southern cook,” she told me. “I don’t do gourmet dishes. My sister, Rachel, who I wrote a cookbook with last year called Good Lookin’ Cooking’; she’s a great cook. She can cook any kind of food, the Southern food or she can do the gourmet-type things. But for me, I pretty much like basic country stuff. I don’t do, like, real fancy things.”
For instance, her typical breakfast is what you’d imagine having at a Southern diner on a Sunday. “I’ll have sometimes just eggs with some bacon or some toast, or sometimes I’ll just fry up some sausage and biscuits,” Parton explains. “If I’m on a diet, I’ll have poached eggs, and I’ll have fruit or whatever, but I hate diet food. I’ve got to have some real food, I gotta have some grub. That’s when I start pulling stuff out and heating it up, and then I’ll just eat, and that’s a cheat meal or a cheat day.”
Amen to that. I’ll start my cheat day with your shrimp and grits, TYVM.
