Featured Image: Jeremy Ryan Photography
The Hannah Dasher cookbook is coming.
“Stand by your pan,” country artist Hannah Dasher croons to the tune of the famous Tammy Wynette ballad “Stand by Your Man,” as she stands in her retro kitchen that looks like it smells of Sunday lunch at your grandmother’s house. Dasher begins most of her TikTok cooking videos with this clever wordplay. When her dedicated followers — all 1.6 million of them — hear the familiar melody in Dasher’s signature alto, equal parts sultry and soulful, they know the Nashville starlet is about to impart some bona fide, old-school cooking wisdom.
“I’m splitting my time right now between Fender and frying pan,” Dasher quips, referring to the constant balance between her two passions: music and cooking. She goes on to tell me that she’s even cooking as we talk, while her videographer waits downstairs to shoot a music video in her home’s honky-tonk bar.
With more than a million streams on Spotify and recognition as a CMT Next Women of Country honoree, fans can’t get enough of the Savannah, Georgia-born artist’s vintage country sound and larger-than-life personality. Now, with the release of her cookbook this month — aptly named “Stand by Your Pan” — Dasher’s cast iron is getting a turn in the spotlight.
Named after her viral TikTok series, in which she demonstrates tried-and-true Southern classics from cathead biscuits to “Getchyo’ Man Beef Roast,” “Stand by Your Pan” showcases all the recipes her fans salivate over. True to her unique charm, Dasher puts a modern twist on classic dishes and features flavors that are so good, as the book proudly states, “they’ll hurt people’s feelins.” Taught by her mother how to hold her own in the kitchen when she was 10 years old, and shaped by her Lowcountry roots in Savannah, it wasn’t until Dasher left home to tour the world as a musician that she learned the sanctity of a home-cooked meal.
“All soul food isn’t created equal,” she says. “[I realized] it’s just really hard to beat what I can make in my kitchen in my own home.”
Dasher’s finesse in the kitchen, much like her music, is influenced by the nostalgia of years past. She cites female country music forces like Tammy Wynette, Patsy Cline, and Loretta Lynn as major influences — wives and mothers who were expected to cook dinner for their families as well as they could perform on the Opry stage. Dasher aims to inspire women and men alike to take a page from these country legends’ playbook and be rock stars in and outside the kitchen. Throughout the cookbook, Dasher encourages readers to find empowerment in their inner domestic goddess, whether it’s through cooking dinner for a loved one or hosting the perfect Southern soiree. Because, as Dasher declares, the kitchen is sexy.
“Your food is love, and anyone who knows how to hold their own in the kitchen is very attractive,” she says. And the number one tip to making the kitchen more seductive for this chef? Keep it clean.
“Because you never know where you may wind up,” she says cheekily.
But perhaps even more alluring than a clean kitchen or achieving the perfect meringue is staying true to oneself, something Dasher also happens to be a pro at. Preferring a homey kitchen with retro oak cabinetry to any modern luxury kitchen, never leaving the house without her signature retro-chic style — often featuring bell-bottom jumpsuits and perfectly hot-rolled hair — and exuding a warmth that makes you feel like she is your favorite glamorous auntie, Dasher is always authentically herself, a quality she credits to her faith and her love for people.
“I’m me 24/7, and God anoints us with different gifts — and I think my love for people is evident on screen, and I hope it continues to show through my work.”
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