Miranda Lambert Doesn't Think Food Should Be “Instagram-Perfect”
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Texas-born country music sensation Miranda Lambert has always been a storyteller. From her songwriting to her poetry, Lambert has made a career out of sharing the unique tapestry of narratives that make up her life, her loved ones, and the American experience in general. But Lambert’s latest collection of stories won’t be hitting Spotify or record stores. For her new project, Lambert took on a different type of challenge: a cookbook.
“It felt like such a right time to do this book,” Lambert says. “I'm a storyteller. I'm a songwriter. And…food also tells so many stories."
Y'all Eat Yet?: Welcome to the Pretty B*tchin' Kitchen reads a bit like a night at Lambert’s “redneck riviera” home trailer park: Lambert’s many Texas-inspired dishes merely set the scene for conversation to flow, as chapters weave through personal anecdotes, hard-earned wisdom, and more.
From her mother’s “famous” meatloaf (“Well, she calls it famous,” Lambert laughs), to dishes like a sun-dried tomato cheese ball, Y'all Eat Yet? offers recipes that tell stories in themselves. But, more than this, Lambert’s greatest hope is that these recipes will offer an approachable and fun way for readers to create their own memories while cooking and hosting.
“This cookbook is permission to not make it perfect,” Lambert says, emphasizing quality time over presentation. “That's why we use the instant box pudding—so we can spend more time together and less time at the stove.”
Ahead of Y'all Eat Yet?'s release today, Lambert sat down with Delish to share her favorite stories about the women who raised her, her favorite hosting tips, and much more.
In Y'all Eat Yet?, Lambert Is Unprecedentedly Personal
While Lambert might wear her heart on her sleeve in her songs, she says her fans will discover a never-before-seen side of her in Y'all Eat Yet?.
“I have not ever really talked a lot about my personal life or how I grew up that much, and so I think this is a little bit more inside as to why I am the artist I am,” she says. “And not only that, but why I'm the woman I am today.”
For Lambert, the “house that built her” was what she describes as an “open-door home” where her parents welcomed any and all visitors for meals. And this didn’t just influence her as a cook and host; it directly inspired her as a young songwriter. Lambert says that when she started writing songs at 17, she didn’t have quite enough life experience to draw from just yet. So, she borrowed from the rich well of stories that she heard at her family dinner table.
“A lot of the songs that I started writing about were either stories I had heard from sitting around the dinner table with my parents, who were private investigators,” she says. “And then just sitting around the table with the ladies in the book.” For instance, Lambert says that she based one of her first big heartbreak songs on the breakup of her close family friend Vicki—one of the many women featured in the cookbook.
Y'all Eat Yet? Is By (And For) The Ladies In Lambert’s Life
The cookbook is a tribute to Lambert’s “inner circle.” And, more than anything, it’s an ode to the women who raised her. In fact, the first chapter introduces the many women who make up the “Bitchin’ Kitchen”; their recipes and stories are featured throughout the book.
“We spent hours and hours rehashing,” Lambert says of the writing process, noting that her co-writer Colleen Gleason was crucial in getting their many stories onto the page. “It was really fun to go back through the recipes and go back through the stories. And we laughed just as hard when we were hashing them out as we did the first hard time around.”
Lambert says that compiling these stories didn’t just feel like sharing her Bitchin’ Kitchen stories. “I feel like this is so many people's stories,” she says. “It's just about sisterhood and support and fun and memories.”
Among her favorite stories to share were their “all-female glamping trips.” “We all had Airstreams and would go on at least one or two girl camping trips, and that's when the stuff would get real,” Lambert says, “sitting in the woods around a campfire and hashing out life.”
Lambert credits the ladies in her life with teaching her how to create moments in which one can “hash out life” in this way while also providing home-cooked meals. “My favorite way [to cook] is just for everyone to do it together and bring something and so we can all enjoy, and it's not stuck on one person,” she says.
Lambert says that she might count on her friend Gwen to bring her best tater tot dish “because she's from North Dakota, and that's where you learn that,” while knowing that her friend Tiffany will bring the best guacamole, her friend Cam will bring her poppy seed chicken casserole, and so on. “I learned all that from these ladies,” she says. “Everybody doing their specialty so everybody gets to spend more time together.”
Lambert’s Key To Hosting: “Make Yourself At Home”
It’s no secret that Lambert takes serious pride in her Texas roots, and part of this pride means honoring the virtue of Southern hospitality. Lambert says that she has continued the tradition of her mother’s “You all come on in” hosting vibe, even if it means bringing a rolling bar on tour with her.
“I feel like I just grew up in a very welcoming environment and come-as-you-are type of thing without judgment…and that's what I've carried out into my adult life,” Lambert says. “You can ask any of my friends. You come over to our house, I've got drinks ready and some kind of snack to offer. That's how we roll.”
Being prepared to host whoever arrives at your door on a moment’s notice can sound like a pretty daunting expectation. But, with the help of her “Bitchin’ Kitchen,” Lambert has learned that the key to hosting is keeping things laid back.
“I have a lot of pressure in my life. I have a very public job and I'm expected to deliver when I'm on that stage and when I'm in the studio, and I do,” Lambert says. “So at home, I feel like less expectation, the better.” For her, this means making sure that her guests feel welcome to show up and help themselves.
“As people walk in your home, ‘Make yourself at home’ is something I say every single time,” she says, “I don't even have to say it anymore. My friends just know. They just know where everything is and they just come in.”
Instead of a scheduled, sit-down dinner with perfectly garnished cocktails, Lambert usually opts for buffet style where guests can come and go as they’re hungry and serve themselves at the bar. That way, everyone can spend less time worrying about an “Instagram-perfect” dinner setting, and focus on what really matters: enjoying the moment.
“I hope [Y'all Eat Yet?] reminds people to slow down a bit and to really spend time and focus on the joy versus the appearance,” Lambert says. “I want this book to remind people to be yourself. And it's okay if it's a shit show sometimes.”
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