Terry and Tammy Bradshaw’s New Cookbook Makes Mealtime a Touchdown

The book features time-honored recipes from both sides of the family, including Tammy’s signature fried green tomatoes, peach cobbler from Terry’s grandmother (whom he affectionately called “Hoodie Baby” and to whom the book is dedicated), plus ones that are appropriate for just about every type of gathering. The Bradshaw Family Cookbook was born out of the reality of how the family spends their time together. “It’s always for a meal,” says Tammy. “We’re all cooking, and food becomes the center of it.”

Terry loves the idea of food bringing people together, just like it did for him growing up in Louisiana. “My mother was a housewife, and she cooked every meal. We got together, and it was all the women in there, cooking, and men playing dominoes and checkers and telling stories,” he recalls. “I used to sit on a grease bucket and listen to them. I was fascinated by it, but it was all centered around food. With everybody’s busy lives today … people grab something [to eat] on the way home, so food at the family table is kind of nonexistent.”

The couple hopes their cookbook will inspire others to gather around a meal, no matter the occasion.

Terry shared publicly in 2022 that he had bladder cancer and Merkel cell carcinoma but that he was cancer-free. “A lot of people would say once you’ve gone through that, you look at your diet and what you’re putting in your body, but as long as I’ve known Terry, he’s been the healthiest eater I’ve ever known,” says Tammy. “He doesn’t do fast foods, and he always cooks lean chicken and vegetables. So I don’t think it necessarily changed the way we eat.”

For his part, Terry credits his good health outcome to divine intervention and his wife. “God got me through the cancers. Thank God for regular checkups, because if it hadn’t been for Tammy, who comes from the medical profession, forcing me to do things that I did not want to do, I may be dead,” he says. “I would tell everybody, ‘Get your checkups.’”

While Terry works in front of the camera on any given Sunday during football season, appearing as one of the key commentators on Fox Sports, no game day in the Bradshaw home would be complete without his signature “Bradshaw beans,” a recipe shared in the cookbook. “It’s a complete meal or it’s a side dish,” he says of the three kinds of beans gussied up with bacon, bell peppers, ground beef and homemade bourbon barbecue sauce.

Beyond comfort food favorites such as gumbo, meat loaf and buttermilk fried chicken, the recipes reflect each family member’s taste. “This book is so eclectic. It’s for every kitchen,” says Tammy. “You don’t have to be a chef to be able to make these recipes. They’re simple, with easy ingredients. It’s biscuits and gravy for breakfast, or orzo salad for dinner. We’ve got everything in between.”

Longtime Terry Bradshaw fans may see a new side of the football legend in the personal stories shared as intros to the nearly 100 recipes. “A funny thing that Noah snuck in the book is called ‘Pappy’s Spoon,’ because the grandkids call [Terry] Pappy,” says Tammy. “It’s a joke around the house. When everybody stays overnight, at like 2:00 a.m. you’ll hear a click, and it’s the sound of the spoon dropping on top of the kitchen counter. Pappy gets up in the middle of the night and grabs his spoonful of peanut butter or ice cream, and then denies it the next morning.”

The ingredients for the Pappy’s Spoon “recipe” simply read: “1 heaping tablespoon peanut butter or whatever flavor ice cream is in your freezer.”

Staying active is an important component of the Bradshaws’ lives. “We literally don’t sit down,” says Tammy. “We’re big walkers. I just ordered weighted vests for us to walk with. My philosophy is movement. You don’t have to go to the gym and pump iron or run on the treadmill, but you have to keep your body moving to stay healthy. Moving your body keeps your mind moving.”

Terry’s one regret from producing the book? “I’m not Photoshopped! I’ve lost about 45 pounds, so if I could do those pictures over, I’d be happy,” he says.