The One Food Ree Drummond Avoids Cooking At All Costs

Self-proclaimed 'accidental country girl' Ree Drummond is a master at cooking Southern comfort food dishes. The Food Network star's repertoire of down-home recipes runs the gamut from braised short ribs with collard greens to creamy, cheesy grits and old-fashioned chicken stew. But even though she enjoys churning up all the frontier classics and other types of cuisines, Drummond admits there's one food she's not particularly fond of making: bread.

This may come as quite a surprise to anyone who's ever waded through The Pioneer Woman's torrent of delicious-looking, homemade bread recipes, which includes a selection of country-approved staples like rustic bread and garlic butter bath biscuits. But, upon closer inspection, it appears many of her other recipes actually call for ready-made loaves and slices — no all-purpose flour, yeast, or mixing required.

Take, for example, her brown butter and sage pull-apart bread, which sounds like a degree in pastry arts would be required just to bake it. It's actually made with frozen dinner rolls. Her garlic pinwheels? Made with Pillsbury crescent dough. And her cheesy breadsticks? It uses a pre-made French loaf. According to Drummond, in all of these cases, store-bought bread will do just fine. And the reason why is probably not what you expect. In the Oklahoma-based chef's own words, she's simply bad at making it from scratch.

The television personality made the shocking revelation during a 2022 episode of the "Bougie Adjacent" podcast, which is hosted by design expert and internet personality Amanda Lauren. When asked if there's one thing she's not good at, Ree Drummond promptly replied, "I am terrible at bread. [...] Very bad at it. Embarrassingly bad."

The beloved cooking personality goes on to explain that it takes her about 13 tries just to get one "really good loaf," noting she only shares bread recipes in which she's "cracked the code." These include simple doughy creations like cinnamon rolls and yeast-free quick breads like her signature crispy skillet cornbread — a cherished recipe passed down by her mother.

The same, however, cannot be said for artisan breads, which often require arduous kneading and time spent proofing and rising. "I won't be the host of any artisan bread instructional shows — now or in the future," Drummond quipped.

Homemade bread may be Ree Drummond's arch-nemesis in the kitchen, but she's at least found a sweet spot in banana bread. This is another shocker, considering the Pioneer Woman isn't exactly a fan of bananas. She shared her disdain for the fruit during a 2017 Food Network episode while making banana boats for her family — her version of which featured caramel, chocolate chips, and marshmallows sprinkled with graham cracker crumbles. "I do not like bananas," she declared, adding that she'd never actually eaten a whole banana.

However, it seems as though she'll make an exception for banana bread — another type of quick bread. Drummond recently released a recipe for the sweet treat on her website — another hand-me-down from her mother. In the article, she doesn't mince words about her feelings toward bananas: "I abhor, loathe, and hate bananas," she penned. "Bananas — the flavor, the scent, the texture — make me recoil in pain and fear[,] and if they disappeared from the earth forever, I wouldn't mourn their passing." 

But, if the banana bread is prepared the same way her mother makes it – baked without any nuts and slathered in butter once it's out of the oven — she may help herself to seconds. Or even fourths because her mother's banana bread recipe was so "delicious" that she wound up munching her way through four slices. "That's some mighty powerful banana bread," she wrote.