Many people associate soul food with Southern comfort food and the South.
But soul food goes way beyond Southern cooking, enough so that Black people have donned Sunday as a special day of the week to honor soul food meals. The reason why I’m sharing soul food Sunday dinner ideas.
What is soul food Sunday?
Soul food Sundays are a heartwarming family union in Black American households. A time-honored tradition of gathering around the family table to catch up on each other’s lives and enjoy favorite African-American food. It’s Black people food. Soul food for Sunday dinner.
What is the meaning of soul food?
‘Soul’ is the word used to describe the swag and unique style of African-American cuisine. You know. The flavor.
What is soul food?
Soul food, in essence, is African American traditional food.
Why is soul food so good?
Cooked from the heart, and also obviously from the soul. Soul food is consistent with the classic Southern cooking techniques of frying, simmering, sautéing, and smoking.
Dishes like fried chicken, Southern mac and cheese, cornbread, and chitterlings are traditional African American foods that were once considered only soul food.
I’ve rounded up favorite Black folks’ soul food Sunday dinner ideas that’ll help you master the art of comfort food in no time!
Most Instant Pot easy enough for anyone to make and everyone to love!
What’s your favorite soul food African American recipe?
Soul food Southern Sunday supper classics can include dishes like Southern-fried catfish, soul food chicken and cornbread dressing, soul food sweet potato pie, Southern peach cobbler, or soul food banana pudding.
These soul food recipes will also inspire you to master innovative cooking methods like Instant Pot pressure cooking to have a delicious and filling Southern homecooked meal on the table in less time than ever.
With these best soul food Sunday dinner ideas, you’ll always know what to make for dinner!
What are the best recipes for Sunday dinner?
The South has always been synonymous with hospitality and home-cookin’! Tender, juicy meats, flavorful gravies and sauces, and vegetables seasoned so deliciously that you forget they’re good for you. And don’t forget the Southern sweet tea!
That’s what the best Sunday dinners are made of. Soul food. A legacy of Southern cooking the Black way.
So I’ve brought you a curated list of top-notch classic Southern dinners for your sacred Sunday reunions. The best soul foods menu.
You don’t have to be Black to love these Black folks’ soul food Sunday sinner ideas. You just have to love to eat!
Black soul food recipes for Sunday dinner ideas
Want a thirty-minute investment for a soul food dinner idea?
Good, because many of these iconic African-American recipes (Black folks’ food) are reimagined via Instant Pot contemporary cooking. They’re easy enough for anyone to make and everyone to love!
The best soul foods menu for soul food Sunday dinner ideas
Soul food Southern corned beef and cabbage
What can you have instead of a pot roast dinner?
Rich and delicious, soul food corned beef and cabbage! It’s keto-friendly, protein-infused, and a veggie-packed meal.
If you’re looking for a meaty meal that will fill you up, this recipe is for you! As with most soul food recipes, leafy greens like collards and cabbage are the heart of the soul food dish.
Thanks to the Instant Pot functioning as a slow cooker and a few simple ingredients. This corned beef and cabbage recipe is the ultimate comfort food.
It’s a whole meal in itself so that you can follow it with a simple dessert.
Black folks Southern soul food meatloaf recipe
This Black folks’ soul food Southern-style meatloaf recipe is packed with chopped celery, onions, garlic, and peppers. So you don’t need to add any additional ingredients!
And like most Southern-style meatloaf, it’s topped with seasoned ketchup meatloaf glaze.
Southern chicken and dumplings
What’s better than a comforting bowl of homemade tomato soup?
Chicken and dumplings! A classic dish hailing from the Southern U.S. It can be a main dish or tasty accompaniment to other Southern favorites like Southern fried chicken.
Chicken and dumplings the Black way is a thick soup comprised of boiled biscuit dough (the dumplings) and chicken served together in a creamy broth seasoned to perfection! And when you invoke the Instant Pot, this recipe becomes one of those quick magical meals in minutes!
Southern chicken and dumplings is a great meal to warm you up on those cold winter days. Make a pot of comfort for yourself or feed a hungry family using this recipe.
Soul food lobster mac and cheese
Soul food lobster mac and cheese is one of the most soulful ways to satisfy a seafood craving. This popular soul food dish is Southern comfort food meets the delicacy of the sea.
More than macaroni and cheese. Delicious sweet lobster meat is folded in for the ultimate baked pastry for a special Sunday meetup.
And, yes, you can use frozen, pre-cooked lobster meat if you can’t catch your own and you’re in a hurry!
Soul food smothered chicken
This one-pot soul food Sunday dinner idea will have everyone thinking it came straight from your grandma’s kitchen!
What makes a delicious soul food smothered chicken recipe?
My family’s smothered chicken has a perfect blend of seasoning with a touch of heat. Slow-cooked and smothered with rich, creamy gravy. This recipe can serve as a main dish or side dish. A savory blend of soul food and Southern cuisine.
Southern tea cake recipe
Southern tea cakes are a slightly fancy little Southern dessert.
Cute little round cakes. Light, airy, and sometimes compared to soda bread or pound cake. Crafted with 100% African American love, care, and soul.
They are deemed a “tea cake” because they are typically served with hot tea at gatherings like weddings, christenings, and family events. Or any other pomp and circumstance dress-up occasion (which Black folks love).
Perfect for us to embellish with butter, sugar, honey, or jelly, or grab and eat them as is. Or slice and serve as a traditional part of a tasty tea party.
But as with any of these soul food Sunday dinner ideas, you don’t have to be Black to love these Black folks’ Southern tea cakes. You just have to love tea cakes!
Southern chicken spaghetti
Southern chicken spaghetti has an amazingly creamy taste and texture to comfort your taste buds. A Southern spin on traditional spaghetti with ground beef.
It’s chock-full of succulent shredded chicken and spaghetti noodles, blended with delicious cream cheese and sour cream sauce, tomatoes, and cheddar cheese.
This Southern recipe is simmered in savory broth and seasoned with onions, garlic, salt, and black pepper to make a meal exploding with yummy flavors you’ll love. Featuring Southern Italian influences, this will become one of your favorite comfort foods!
Soul food chicken yock recipe (yock-a-mein)
Classic soul food meets Chinese comfort food in a big bowl of chicken yock. A beloved soul food dish, chicken yock is a dish where the meat is braised before being chopped up and added to a noodle soup.
But what makes chicken yock different is the richness of the braising liquid from the chicken combined with either ketchup or soy sauce. It’s the secret to its deliciousness, folks!
With a wide assortment of flavors, aromatics, and spices, you can be sure that this meal will be stand out at your next soul food Sunday dinner. Or Sunday night comfort meal.
Soul food Southern homemade Hamburger Helper
Hamburger Helper is a mom’s dream! An easy and all-time favorite box meal of pasta and seasoning for you to just add ground beef for a quick and easy meal in under 15 minutes!
This is my soul food Southern Hamburger Helper recipe. Loaded with tender pasta and juicy, lean ground beef in a heavy whipping cream and shredded cheddar cheese sauce, sautéed with herbs and seasonings like oregano, parsley, and paprika. Along with onions and garlic to make it an official soul food Southern dinner.
Soul food hoppin John recipe
Hoppin’ John is a traditional dish from the Southern United States, probably South Carolina, served on New Year’s Day.
Throughout the region, this dish has also become a symbol of good fortune and prosperity on New Year’s.
Featuring Southern soul food black-eyed peas, collard greens, and rice, this dish will make you smile. Warming your soul during the colder months, this dish is filled with herbs and Creole seasoning.
Black Southern deviled eggs recipe
A Black Southern deviled eggs recipe is Southern soul food at its finest. Made without sacrificing any of the inner egg. A rich, creamy, and flavorful taste every time.
If you’re looking for something easy to grab on the go and you’re tired of boring old vegetables, this Southern soul food recipe is the solution you’ve been dreaming of.
Deviled eggs are perfect for celebrating the holidays and other special occasions. When your guests try them, they’ll insist that you’ve spent hours preparing this Southern specialty.
But this recipe is simple to prepare and features traditional ingredients. The filling is made from hard-boiled eggs that have been mashed. The eggs are then stuffed back into the whites, and the eggs are spiced with paprika, salt, pepper, and dijon mustard, served beautifully on a platter to enjoy one by one!
Soul food lamb chops
Ready to cook lamb chops, right?
This Black folks lamb chops receipe is air fryer quick, easy, and delicious!
All you need are simple ingredients for the perfect flavor. Rosemary, olive oil, salt and pepper to season, and a rack of lamb. Then, get your air fryer to cook the meat to perfection in just 20 minutes.
Serve with vegetables, mashed potatoes, or white rice. Or pair lamb chops with a salad for the perfect soul food meal.
Black folks soul food BBQ ribs recipe
African Americans even include ribs in Sunday dinner line-ups when watching the game, enjoying a well-seasoned flavorful BBQ bite with each play.
The homemade favorite BBQ sauce is the perfect balance of sweet and sticky, so you’ll be licking your fingers clean and begging for more.
Black folks Southern fried chicken and waffles recipe
This delicious and soulful chicken and waffles recipe from Black folks is perfect for a soul food Sunday breakfast, brunch, or family dinner.
This recipe has a unique spicy honey sauce with sriracha, ginger, and garlic flavors. A dish with a hint of sweet heat and fried chicken and buttery waffles. A spicy Southern kitchen!
Serve it on a lazy Sunday at brunch with your loved ones, or whip it up for a particular date night. Either way, this dish is the stuff of daytime and nighttime dreams!
Southern soul food BBQ chicken
Is BBQ chicken considered soul food?
Chicken, especially fried chicken, is a food thrown on the doorsteps of Black people as a way to identify us.
But, of course, you know, African Americans didn’t invent the chicken, LOL! We just perfected seasoning it!
This is the same for a soul food BBQ chicken recipe.
A legacy of making chicken – fried, BBQ, or perfectly seasoned any other way. It’s a soul food specialty.
Southern chicken salad recipe
A favorite Southern-style snack is chicken salad. Especially when it’s this soul food infused and flavorful fruit and veggie combined with chicken dish!
Simple, creamy, and full of flavor. Lots of nutritious fruits and nuts add a healthy punch and texture. Serve on bread, with crackers, and also delicious alone!
Black folks cornbread dressing recipe
Are you tired of the same old, bland side dish every Thanksgiving?
Try this soul food favorite instead. Black folks cornbread dressing, a Southern staple cooked with plenty of butter, eggs, fresh herbs. And, of course – cornbread!
It goes great next to a plate of turkey, chicken, or even pork and makes a great side dish with mashed potatoes.
This traditional cornbread dressing recipe is bursting with herbs and veggies, adding sweetness and savory flavor that will pique anyone’s taste buds for Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas! Or simply for soul
food Sunday dinner.
Soul food Southern creamy mashed potatoes recipe
You’ll whip up the party with this family favorite mashed potato recipe. Meet the best-mashed potatoes you’ll ever have, hands down! Because there is nothing better than mashed potatoes whipped with cream and butter.
That’s it! Nothing more, nothing less. And it’s fluffy like a cloud. Indulgent and why we wait so anxiously for a soul food Sunday dinner!
Black folks brown sugar-glazed ham
When you need a festive ham for the holidays or a special occasion, Black folks pineapple glazed ham is your go-to!
A Black folk’s pineapple glazed ham is seasoned to perfection!
With natural sweetness from pineapple and a heaping cup of cinnamon and brown sugar, the taste will have you convinced that this recipe should be served year-round.
Black folks Southern turkey recipe
Black Folks Southern turkey is a soul food treat that will have your mouth watering from the first bite.
It has all the qualities of a great soul food dish. Especially for a soul food Thanksgiving menu or a fantastic Christmas dinner feast. And bonus – this Southern turkey is easy to make!
Black folks smoked turkey legs
Next time you think, “What am I going to do with all that turkey that I have to defrost?”
Instead of the whole turkey, try just a portion – the turkey legs!
Black folks smoked turkey legs are boiled in a salt and vinegar brine, then cooked in the Instant Pot for a roasted, smokey flavor…Don’t knock it ’til you try it!
With so many African American recipes, which one will you try first?
Do you have 10 minutes to spare on a lazy Sunday afternoon?
Then try these Sunday soul food side dish ideas. Most are made instantly in under 10 minutes!
Soul food Sunday dinner sides
What’s the easiest thing to cook for dinner?
Any of these easy soul food Sunday dinner sides.
Soul food Sunday cornbread
Soul food Sunday dinner desserts
When you think of traditional soul food desserts, banana pudding is the first dish that comes to mind.
But how did a traditional English country dish become one of the most beloved soul food recipes and Southern dishes?
Pure bliss, and also known as soul food – banana pudding has a Southern identity that stretches back more than half a century.
This dish became quintessentially Southern, probably due to the source of where it was primarily being prepared, providing the South with a more extraordinary claim to the dish!
Black Southern banana pudding is an elevated version of the Americanized English trifle. This layered homemade custard dish was reimagined to perfection by African-American cooks in the South.
Black folks Southern soul food carrot cake recipe
Black Folks Southern soul food carrot cake is the perfect dessert to bring to your next special occasion, family gathering, or potluck. The recipe includes the classic homemade cream cheese frosting, which perfectly complements the carrot cake.
Some people call this recipe a Southern carrot cake, while others call it soul food carrot cake. Either way, the soul-satisfying taste and aroma are the same. This delicious Southern dessert is garnished with chopped pecans or candied walnuts and decadent whipped cream cheese frosting.
Serve soul food Southern carrot cake warm with vanilla ice cream or alone as a delicious after Sunday dinner dessert treat.
An Easter Sunday dessert favorite!
Soul food Sunday dinner ideas FAQs
What is a good soul food Sunday dinner?
Pick any of these favorite soul food Sunday dinner ideas! But, of course, everybody has a different take on African American soul food.
A traditional soul food Sunday dinner is meant to be super filling.
So what’s a soul food Sunday without Black folks’ baked macaroni & cheese?
How about soul food buttermilk fried chicken?
And what about greens?
Or maybe a traditional Southern seafood feast. It can include fried oysters in an oyster dressing, gumbo, shrimp and grits, or a Southern seafood boil.
What’s the difference between gumbo and jambalaya?
Gumbo and jambalaya are both soul food Cajun dishes from Louisiana. Jambalaya is a rice dish with tomatoes, onions, celery, green peppers, and ham.
Gumbo is a stew that can contain any combination of the following ingredients: okra, onion, garlic, red or green bell pepper, black pepper, or chili pepper; seafood (shrimp or crab), smoked sausage (such as andouille), tomato sauce; thyme leaves; bay leaves; cayenne pepper and black peppercorns.
What is a soul food collard greens recipe?
Soul food collard greens are the signature dish of traditional Southern food and soul food cooking. Sometimes referred to as “the poor man’s greens,” these dark green leafy vegetables are cooked with the addition of a variety of meats for that unique soul food flavor.
Do you have to make collards with pork fat?
A staple of Southern cooking, soul food collard greens are typically cooked with fatback (pork fat) or bacon.
But that’s not a must, especially if you want to make vegan soul food.
To give Southern greens an authentic soul food flavor, Black folks like to cook them with smoked ham hocks, black-eyed peas, or smoked turkey legs.
What is the secret to good fried chicken?
The answer is soul food Southern fried chicken. A recipe that Black folks created and perfected! Because there’s no denying that chicken with a balance of tender meat on the inside and crispy seasoning on the outside is a soul food specialty.
At what temperature do you cook soul food fried chicken?
The temperature to maintain the hot oil when deep-frying this Black folks’ soul food Southern fried chicken recipe is 350 degrees F.
What sauce goes with Black folks’ Southern fried chicken?
There are so many good options for dipping your chicken that it’s hard to pick one! But most Black folks will tell you hot sauce, BBQ sauce, or or ranch dressing are their preferred sauce for fried chicken.
Do air fryers work for soul food Southern fried chicken?
Yes, they do. Air fryers use less oil than a traditional deep fryer. This is because air circulates evenly around the food in the basket, allowing the oil (in this case, sprayed onto the chicken) to be evenly heated.
Air fryer cooking gives your food a crispy, fried exterior, but you don’t get all the fat you usually would if you were to deep fry.
What should you serve with a whole chicken?
There are various ways to serve whole chicken. For example, you can serve it with brown rice or white rice.
You can also serve the chicken with vegetables like carrots or soul food fried cabbage.
How do you make a Southern comfort food chicken pot pie?
What makes a Black folks’ Southern soul food chicken pot pie recipe?
To get that fresh-from-the-oven taste, Southern staple pantry ingredients are used to create a savory pastry with seasoned to perfection flavors.
Cooked chicken, savory gravy, mixed vegetables, vegetable broth, heavy cream, pie dough for a buttery, flakey crust, chicken bouillon. Plus a handful of hearty soul food seasonings and heavy cream.
How do you get your grits super creamy?
Make grits with 100% white ground corn. It’s similar to the taste of cornmeal that’s been cooked just right to get the most creamy grits with a soft texture.
And I recommend cooking Southern grits in the Instant Pot.
What are the most popular soul food dishes?
Of course, the most popular soul food dishes are the above list of soul food Sunday dinner ideas!
Some of the most famous soul food dishes are baked chicken, greens, smothered chicken, smothered pork chops, Southern cornbread, black-eyed peas, fried chicken, okra, gumbo, macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes, creamed corn, peach cobbler, fried catfish, and even soul food seasoned lobster tails.
Answers the question, “What can you feed a large group for dinner?”
What do you think of these soul food recipes?
With so many African-American soul food recipes to choose from, what’s your favorite?
Have you had soul food?
Would you make these recipes?
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