77 Best Soul Food Recipes For Black History Month Food & Facts
This post may contain affiliate partner links. View our privacy statement HERE.
Soul food best recipes for Black History Month – Many people associate soul food with Southern comfort food and the South. But soul food goes way beyond Southern cooking. Soul food is a story of African American ingenuity and the legacy of what Black people eat.
What do you eat in Black History Month?
You can enjoy notable recipes like collard greens, cornbread, baked macaroni and cheese, chicken and dressing, sweet potato pie, and banana pudding – just to name a few soul foods menu favorites.
These recipes are part of the authentic soul food family. Recipes passed along through generations and a legacy of African Americans. Black folks’ food!

What makes soul food soul food?
What makes a dish authentic soul food?
‘Soul’ is the word used to describe the swag and unique style of African-American cuisine. You know. The flavor. Many people associate soul food with Southern comfort food and the South. But soul food goes way beyond Southern cooking. Soul foods are hearty homecooked meals, which you can point out by dishes with plenty of seasoning and rich flavor. A significant part of African American food culture.

What is Black folks’ food?
Black folks’ food is a legacy of how African-Americans make soul food. People have asked me, “Why do you call it Black folks food?”
Because these are Black folks’ recipes. And I’m so proud to share them! I’m deliberate and intentional about giving credit to our community of talented chefs, cooks, and creators. No more apologizing or hiding our Blackness and its beauty.

My mission is to remain standing on the right side of history. Doing my part to honor the ancestors as one of the gatekeepers protecting the legacies of African-American culture. With my hand on the sacred urn of tradition, vowing to protect and preserve Black culture and generations of blessed soul food recipes.
And the fun part of all of this?
Every time you make and share Black folks’ food. You stand with the ancestors, too!

“I am using my platform to draw attention to Black excellence.”
— Toni Tipton-Martin (High On The Hog, Netflix history of soul food)
🎙 Listen to The Soul Food Pod episode: Black History Month Food
Check out the episode recap for Black History Month Food HERE!
What’s the difference between Southern food, soul food & Black folks’ food?
Soul food often gets lost in translation and grouped in with Southern food. While most soul food is Southern. Not all Southern food is soul food. That’s why it’s important to distinguish when a recipe or dish is Black folks’ food – made the African-American way.
Black folks’ soul food recipes represent Black culture. A perfect example of soul food is a Black folks’ fried chicken recipe. Chicken, especially fried chicken, is a food that’s been 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! There’s no denying that chicken with a balance of seasoned tender meat on the inside and flavorful skin on the outside is a soul food specialty.
A legacy of making it this way. Recipes handed down from generation to generation. That’s Black folks’ food.

Ready to take your recipes beyond Southern?
You’re in the right place for the best Black folks’ food and recipes! Start here!

“The entire passion that I have about this is to use food as a tool to elevate the conversation about what it means to be African-American and to cook African American food… It’s a celebration. We’re celebrating our food!”
—Toni Tipton-Martin (High On The Hog, Netflix history of soul food)
77 best Black soul food recipes for Black History Month
What is traditional food for Black people?
These recipes – my best examples of Black folks’ soul food recipes for Black History Month. So plan your next meal with these best Black folks’ food recipes, honoring a legacy of what Black people eat with this Black History Month soul food menu list and recipe guide.
Soul food main dishes
Soul food appetizers
Soul food sides
Soul food desserts
Southern soul food drinks
Soul food cornbread recipes
Black folks’ soul food history
Today there is a long, colorful, and flavorful history of Black folks’ food – a soul food history and legacy that continues beyond slavery and the Emancipation Proclamation in the 1860s.
Soul food began as Black folks “making something from nothing” with the leftover scraps we were given. Today, soul food has new meanings and multiple identities within the Black community.
Meals made to stretch for impoverished families are now celebratory food, comfort food, and often times culinary delicacies and expensive cuisine! We now recognize these Black folks’ dishes as soul food!

What are some Black history food facts?
Check out the recipes below and their interesting stories and facts that help make up the tapestry of Black American food history.
FAQs about Black History Month food facts
Why is it called soul food?
In the 1960s, the word “soul” was commonly used to describe African-American culture. The same way young folks identify Black culture today as “swag!”
Thankfully, the word ‘soul’ organically came first. Or else we’d be eating “swag food” today!

Who invented soul food?
What is soul food? The term “soul food” may have first been used in the 1960s during the civil rights movement.
In 1962, Sylvia Woods opened her iconic soul food restaurant Sylvia’s, in Harlem, NY. Sylvia is known by many people today as “the queen of soul food.”
What does soul food symbolize?
African American food culture is something First We Feast describes soul food as a term that “brilliantly captures the humanity and heroic effort of African-Americans to overcome centuries of oppression and create a cuisine.”
“Cooking with love provides food for the soul.”

“We nourished a nation through our cooking and baked our traditions in the cuisines that would define America.”
—Stephen Satterfield (High On The Hog, Netflix history of soul food)
Poet and civil rights activist Amiri Baraka calls on Black people to embrace the slang terms introduced by Black people for soul foods.
He impresses that keeping the original name will make people easily remember these delicious dishes. Ultimately preserving the history of African-American food as an integral part of America’s history.

“When you understand your history and understand where you come from, that understanding gives you purpose. And the purpose to carry on their (Black ancestors’) story I think is such a huge honor.”
—Jerrelle Guy (High On The Hog, Netflix history of soul food)
Check out the ultimate guide to soul food recipes:
Like this post? Pin the below picture to your “Soul Food Recipes” Pinterest Board!


Equipment
- Instant Pot Omni Plus oven
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter divided – 1 tablespoon & 3 tablespoons
- 2 tablespoons flour
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese shredded
- 1 cup Colby-jack cheese shredded
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ tablespoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon mustard dried
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 3 cups water
- 4 ¼ cups milk divided – 1 ¼ cups & 3 cups
- 8 oz. macaroni noodles uncooked
Instructions
- Turn the Instant Pot on the sauté setting for 25 minutes (although you may not need this entire amount of time).
- Fill the Instant Pot stainless steel inner pot with 3 cups of milk, 3 cups of water and 1 tablespoon of butter.
Pro tip: For baked mac and cheese the Black way, use milk to coat the macaroni and give it a smooth, silky texture. Perfect for layering on cheese!
- Once the liquid begins to simmer, add the macaroni and cook according to the package directions, stirring occasionally to make sure the macaroni does not clump & stick.
- Drain the macaroni and set it aside.
- Add the 3 tablespoons of butter to the empty inner pot and turn it back on the sauté setting.
- When the butter is melted, add the flour, 1 ¼ cups of milk, and seasonings (salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, dried mustard and paprika) and whisk until smooth.
- Change the Instant Pot cook setting from sauté to slow cook for 1-hour (although you will not need this entire amount of time).
- While the cook setting changes from sauté to slow cook, allow the ingredients to simmer for about 3 minutes until the mixture thickens slightly.
- Stir in the cheeses (reserve some for topping when baking).
- Close the Instant Pot with the lid and let slow cook for 5-10 minutes until the cheeses are blended.
- Open the lid to add the cooked pasta and the heavy cream to the inner pot, stirring the mixture to blend evenly.
- Transfer the pasta mixture into an 8-inch cast iron skillet or baking pan.
- Top with the remaining shredded cheese.
- Bake in the Instant Pot Omni Plus oven at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes or until golden and bubbly. Or bake in the conventional oven for 25 minutes or until mac and cheese is golden and bubbly.
- Optionally, garnish with a sprinkle of dry thyme or 4-5 fresh thyme sprigs.
- Serve and enjoy!
Video
Notes
