Soul Food Dinner Recipes
A traditional soul food dinner includes pork chops, fried fish, chicken, collard greens, black-eyed peas, cornbread, and candied yams.
Some of our favorite old fashioned soul food dinner recipes are collard greens with ham hocks, smothered pork chops, red beans and rice, butter beans, and smothered oxtails!
Popular Soul Food Dinner Recipes
Classic Soul Food Side Dishes
Soul Food Chicken Dinners
Creole & Cajun Food
What’s the Difference Between Soul Food and Southern Food?
- Soul food is a style of cooking that comes from African Americans in the United States. This type of cooking started with enslaved Africans in the South who had to make the most of the little food they were given, like cheap cuts of meat and basic vegetables. They made delicious, filling dishes from what was available. Over time, these recipes were passed down through generations and became an essential part of Black culture in America.
- Soul food is known for being full of flavor, using a lot of seasoning, like salt, pepper, garlic, onion, and cayenne pepper. Many dishes are also flavored with smoked meats, hot sauce, and vinegar to make them taste even better.
- Fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, collard greens, candied yams, cornbread, barbecue, gumbo, and sweet potato pie all qualify as soul food.
- Southern food includes some of the same dishes as soul food, but it covers a wider range of cooking styles from all over the South, for example, Lowcountry cuisine from South Carolina, Creole and Cajun cooking from Louisiana, and barbecue from places like Texas, North Carolina, and Tennessee.
- Not all Southern food is soul food, and not all soul food is Southern!
Explore Our
Recipe Index
Here you’ll find a growing collection of our favorite comfort food recipes – updated weekly! We’ve got soul food, Southern barbecue, and Creole and Cajun dishes. There’s something here for everyone, so pull up a chair and welcome!
More Dinner Ideas
These dinner ideas are perfect for Sunday dinners, busy weeknights, holidays, and other special occasions. For a Friday night, try our Southern fried catfish. Craving a Southern classic? Grab some sweet potatoes for candied yams. We can’t forget about Southern collard greens with smoked ham hocks for soul food Sunday.
