‘Why Not John Legend?’ The ‘Breakfast King’ Shares All the Meals You Deserve to Have This Holiday Season

Whether you were introduced to him in the early 2000s through the release of his debut album Get Lifted or through more recent projects like his role as a coach on The Voice, there’s no denying John Legend is a household name. Responsible for numerous hits including “Used to Love U,” “Ordinary People,” “P.D.A. (We Just Don’t Care),” and “All of Me,” the singer — who has also dabbled in acting — is now taking on a new venture: being the face of timeless appliance brand LG Signature.

If you’re familiar with John’s legendary track record, this collaboration makes perfect sense. Of course, the fact that he has an always buzzing wine brand named LVE is one factor in making this a match made in food heaven, but knowing that he and his wife Chrissy Teigen both pride themselves in spending time at home with close family and friends sets this up for anyone to ask, “Why not John Legend?”

To commemorate the new partnership with LG Signature, the undeniable star — who recently released the dance-heavy visual to his soon-to-be holiday classic “You Deserve It All” featuring a number of LG Signature products including their top-tier Wine Cellar — gave Kitchn the opportunity to chat with him about holiday entertaining, his favorite foods, and much more.

We tested your favorite pancake recipe a while back, but is there another go-to meal that you can’t get enough of?

I love to make breakfast. I’m like the breakfast king at home. I make pancakes, I make omelets, I love breakfast quesadillas, breakfast sandwiches … all of that. I’m usually in charge of breakfast and then I help Chrissy with dinner a lot of times as well, but she’s usually in charge of dinner.

What is your favorite meal for breakfast outside of those stellar pancakes?

Oh, I love omelets. I love to make omelets for myself. I love to eat them and make them [laughs]. I did a good broccoli and cheddar one for Chrissy’s book.

If you could compare your new song to a dish, what would it be and why?

Oooh … it’s festive, it’s joyful, it’s about luxuriating, and the finer things in life. I would compare it to my wine more than anything [laughs]. But here’s another one. I love Chrissy’s French Onion Soup. I think that’s a good analogy to the song as well. It’s so good. The difference is the buttery croissant on top; that makes it special.

Why was this collaboration with LG Signature important to you, and do you have a favorite appliance out of the new lineup?

I think LG Signature makes really beautiful products that are really great for entertaining and really make your home look beautiful. Honestly, the holidays are all about coming together for all of us, so we love entertaining, love having our family over, and we love having our friends over and these LG Signature products just make it easier and more fun to entertain. We’ve got the world’s first and only rollable TV, which is beautiful, and you see that at the beginning of my music video “You Deserve It All.” The wine cellar — of course, I’ve got my own wine brand, LVE — so I love having that. They’ve got some really great appliances and they’re just the highest quality and I’m proud to be a part of this campaign.

Speaking of your wine brand, is there a particular cocktail you’ll be making this holiday season using your wine?

I do love a sangria! I think it’s actually great for the holidays. I like the cinnamon tones and things like that for the holidays, so that’ll be great. You can make sangria with any red wine, but you might as well get LVE to do that [laughs]. I also love a mimosa, a Bellini … a lot of sparkling cocktails. And of course, you can make that with my sparkling white wine. I’ve also got a sparkling rosé and a still rosé, all of which I’m truly proud of.

A few weeks ago, I interviewed Rick Ross. One of the things he mentioned is that he’s never had a mimosa day in his life. If you could say one thing to get him to have a mimosa with you, what would it be?

[Laughs] Well, he definitely likes sparkling wine because he has the Belaire brand. I feel like throwing a little orange juice in there isn’t going to make it worse; it makes it pretty good [laughs]. I feel like it shouldn’t be that hard to convince him. I don’t know what his aversion is — maybe he doesn’t like orange juice? Maybe he just needs a different juice in there? Just a different juice [laughs].

If you could eat one dessert for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?

Ooooo … Chrissy’s sweet potato pie with the streusel is like my favorite thing right now. I love it. I also love anything with chocolate and peanut butter, but right now in the midst of the holiday, I’m going to say Chrissy’s sweet potato pie with the streusel on top. It’s truly amazing.

Since you like chocolate and peanut butter, did you get the opportunity to nab yourself one of those big ol’ Reese’s pies they had last month?

I did not, but I will [laughs]! That sounds like it’s right up my alley [laughs].

What is one recipe that you hold near and dear to your heart from your childhood?

My mom always made a great baked mac and cheese and I love to make it myself as well. I’ve kind of modified the recipe, but I love that dish. I love fried chicken — I love soul food in general — my granny’s collard greens … I like to make all of that stuff. I made the collard greens and mac and cheese for Thanksgiving for my family and I love doing that.

I know you mentioned that you love a lot of Chrissy’s recipes, but is there one dish and/or cocktail you’re looking forward to the most this holiday season?

Well, we love to do beef Wellington for Christmas. We literally only make it once a year, but it’s really good and I look forward to that for sure.

Are you a person that has to have the kitchen completely clean before you go to bed?

Um, you know, Chrissy’s actually the cleanest person in the kitchen. I’m actually a little messier than she is, but she’s influenced me quite a bit. So, I’m actually a little better than I used to be. I used to be kind of haphazard. Chrissy likes to clean as she goes. The only thing she doesn’t do is do dishes as she goes, but all the mess of preparing and all that stuff, she wants all of that stuff cleared off the counters as she goes. So, she is very clean and the only things left are the dishes usually.

I know you and Chrissy throw a lot of small parties and have a lot of friends over, so if you had the opportunity to invite five friends over and have them bring a specific dish, who would it be and what would they bring?

[Laughs] I feel like I needed to prep for this and do my homework! That’s a good one because that means I would only want to bring people that can cook. That changes everything [laughs]!

You know, I love David Chang. I think he would bring something fun and interesting. I love Kitchenista — Angela [Davis] — and she’s always making something good. Is Chrissy ineligible for this conversation [laughs]? She could be one of my five. I feel like they would all have great stories to tell and would be entertaining guests as well. I would also invite Oprah because I feel like she would bring great conversation and she can cook.

That’s how I feel about Patti LaBelle!

Oh, yeah! Patti LaBelle! That’s a good answer! That’s my five [laughs]! Patti can sing, Oprah can host the whole thing, and Kitchenista could cook!