Meat-and-three
Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 4.0

History

The meat-and-three is Tennessee's great contribution to the American lunch, born in workers' cafes where a rotating meat came with a chalkboard of vegetables cooked long and seasoned with pork. Chattanooga's version survived the drive-in era; Wally's on McCallie Avenue opened in 1937 and converted from burgers to homecooked meats and vegetables in the 1970s. The vegetables are the point, and mac and cheese counts as one, which is the correct position.

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Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy

Make it at home

Yield Serves 4Hands-on 50 minTotal 1 hr 30 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 4 pork chops or 8 chicken thighs
  • Plain flour for dusting
  • 1kg collard or turnip greens
  • 1 smoked ham hock or 150g smoked bacon
  • 600g potatoes, mashed with butter and milk
  • 300g macaroni
  • 200g mature cheddar
  • 300ml milk
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • Salt, black pepper, cider vinegar, hot sauce

Method

  1. Simmer the greens with the ham hock in salted water for 45 minutes to an hour until silky; finish with a splash of cider vinegar.
  2. Bake the macaroni with a quick sauce of melted butter, milk and most of the cheddar at 180C for 25 minutes, topped with the rest of the cheese.
  3. Dust the chops or thighs in seasoned flour and pan-fry in a heavy skillet until deeply browned and cooked through.
  4. Mash the potatoes loose with butter and milk; season firmly.
  5. Plate one meat and three vegetables per person with the pot liquor from the greens on the side and hot sauce on the table.

Tip from the editors. Cook the greens past any northern instinct for crunch; the pot liquor they surrender is the best spoonful on the plate.

Where to eat meat-and-three

Meat-and-three in Chattanooga

Wally's Restaurant ★ 4.2

$ SouthernMccallie

Wally's Restaurant keeps a 1937 Chattanooga routine alive on McCallie Avenue, a meat-and-three the highway generation built and locals kept.

Why locals goMid-McCallie is commuter territory; without a downtown address it stays a locals-and-regulars room.

TipBreakfast from 06:00 on weekdays; Saturday closes at noon and Sunday is dark. Cash-friendly, counter-fast service.

Directions

All Chattanooga signature dishes →

Meat-and-three in Nashville

Arnold's Country Kitchen ★ 4.6

$ Soul foodThe Gulch

Arnold's meat-and-three lunch in Nashville delivers a protein plus three vegetables and tea for under $15. Located in The Gulch. At 605 8th Ave S.

TryMeat-and-three plate

TipLunch only, Monday to Friday 10:30-14:30; cafeteria line moves fast. Cash and card.

Directions

Monell's Dining and Catering ★ 4.5

$$ Meat-and-threeGermantown

Monell's family-style Southern dining in Germantown, Nashville has run since 1995, seating strangers at communal tables in a Victorian house north.

OrderThe full family-style spread: fried chicken, country ham, mac and cheese, greens.

TipReservations available; tables seat ten. Sunday brunch is the marquee meal, books a week ahead.

Directions Book

Elliston Place Soda Shop ★ 4.2

$ Soul foodMidtown

Elliston Place Soda Shop near Vanderbilt in Nashville plates a meat-and-three lunch for $11 and a hand-dipped milkshake for $5. Since 1939 in Nashville.

TryMeat-and-three with milkshake

TipHand-dipped chocolate milkshake plus a meat-and-three plate keeps the lunch bill under $15.

Directions

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