Dolly Parton was a singer, an actress, and a “really, really good cook“. Parton, who passed away at the age of 80 on August 25, 2026, shared her love for food with her fans throughout her career.

Parton told PEOPLE that growing up, she learned to cook “out of necessity” to help feed her 11 siblings and parents.

“We’d have to climb up on the chairs to peel potatoes, turnips or whatever. We were really helping out when Mama was not well, or in bed with a kid or having a new baby or whatever… so my first [lesson] came out of just really being a necessity of us helping mom as the older girls,” she said.

@dollyparton All that matters is that it tastes good! #DollyTok #berrypie ♬ original sound – Dolly Parton

All that matters is that it tastes good! #DollyTok #berrypie ♬ original sound – Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton loved to cook

Cooking was also another creative outlet for Parton. She told Allrecipes, “Cooking is like writing a song. Some of my best songs I came up with while cooking my best food, and vice versa. The better I write, the better I cook.”

She described her cooking to Wired, explaining “I’m not a gourmet cook. My food is not pretty, but it’s good. I cook like my mom, my grandmas and my aunts. I’m still one of those people that really can cook, like the old days. That soul food cooking.”

Parton released her first unofficial spiral-bound cookbook in 1986 titled Tennessee Mountain Home Cooking, and went on to release more cookbooks: Dolly’s Dixie Fixin’s: Love, Laughter, and Lots of Good Food (in 2006) and Good Lookin’ Cookin’: A Year of Meals – A Lifetime of Family, Friends, and Food (in 2024, co-authored with her sister, Rachel Parton George)

The “Jolene” singer also shared with Food Network that she is........

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