Get ready for recipes with a whole lotta heart, heritage, and flavor because in Black culture cooking, Thanksgiving isn’t just a meal… It’s a memory in the making! And when it comes to a soul food Thanksgiving, every dish tells a story. From the creamy mac and cheese baked with love to the collard greens simmered slow in a savory pot likker broth, these recipes are traditions served on a platter.
At The Soul Food Pot®, we celebrate Thanksgiving the Southern soul food way, with recipes passed down through generations, full of flavor, family, and soul. Whether you’re hosting your first holiday dinner or carrying on Grandma’s legacy, this collection brings together the best comfort food classics. From my family’s signature Black folks’ sweet potato pie™ to Southern cornbread dressing, all with modern, time-saving twists like Instant Pot magic and oven-baked perfection.
So grab your apron, cue up the holiday playlist, and let’s make this Thanksgiving one to remember. Soulfully, deliciously, and joyfully!
A soul food Thanksgiving menu celebrates Southern comfort and Black heritage, featuring a dinner table filled with traditional soul food entrées and recipes passed down through generations by Black families.
As older Black folks like to say, “from the rooter to the tooter!” Meaning that nothing goes to waste and every dish is made with love, flavor, and seasoned with soul.
How to make a Thanksgiving soul food menu
It’s easy to create your own soul food Thanksgiving menu… Just follow the tried-and-true Southern recipes in this holiday roundup! Start by choosing the dishes your family loves most, then build from there.
This post brings together my best soul food recipes and traditional Southern sides. The kind that make lasting family memories and nostalgic moments (the delicious kind you eat!).
What to serve
Whether your family is hosting a big traditional feast or a cozy potluck, you’ll find all the soul food flavors everyone expects right here. From creamy mac and cheese to savory greens and sweet potato pie, this guide walks you through each recipe to help you serve up a Thanksgiving feast that’s flavorful, soulful, and unforgettable!
Best African American Thanksgiving recipes
Thanksgiving, but make it soul food. Forget dry turkey, bland gravy, and boring stuffing. This is the kind of meal that’ll have your family singing before dessert even hits the table (cue Mariah Carey, please!)
Use this Thanksgiving guide and step into the kitchen with confidence, because you’ve got this holiday handled… Soulfully!
My Black folks’ Southern turkey recipe is a juicy, flavor-packed holiday classic! Easy to make, soulful to taste, and always the star of the table. It's a soul food twist on Southern turkey, brined in homemade apple cider for bold, juicy flavor you won’t find in the usual Thanksgiving turkey roast.
My Black folks’ cornbread dressing is rich, flavorful, and never dry, made with homemade cornbread seasoned to perfection. My version stands out on the Thanksgiving table with cubed cornbread for enhanced taste, texture, and a beautiful, non-mushy presentation that’s as visually appealing as it is delicious!
At the heart of Thanksgiving is my featured Black folks' chicken and dressing recipe, which is cornbread dressing elevated with tender, shredded baked chicken. The ingredients are simple yet soulful: cooked poultry, flavorful Southern seasonings, cornbread, celery, onion, parsley, chicken stock, and egg. It's a favorite at Thanksgiving, not to be missed!
Southern cornbread dressing with gizzards is a savory Southern Thanksgiving classic made with golden cornbread, tender gizzards, onion, celery, and soulful herbs, carrying on a soul food tradition where no part of the bird goes to waste.
Southern soul food liver dressing blends tender, seasoned beef liver with golden cornbread and classic herbs for a hearty, earthy flavor. A humble dish turned pure Thanksgiving comfort!
Oyster dressing is a Thanksgiving classic featuring golden cornbread baked with fresh herbs, tender veggies, and briny oysters. It's crispy at the edges, soft and savory inside, with a seasoned richness and that soulful, ocean-kissed flavor in every bite.
My Southern air fryer turkey legs have crispy skin and juicy, tender meat inside. Bold soul food seasoning, big roasted flavor, and a modern shortcut that brings Sunday-dinner vibes any day of the week!
These succulent turkey wings are smothered in an apple cider brine, flavor-infused, air-fried to crisp perfection, and served with a seasoned soul food side. Your taste buds will gobble-gobble with joy!
Perfectly seasoned, juicy, and golden brown, these soul food Cornish hens are an elegant twist on Southern comfort. Packed with deep roasted flavor and seasoned with a soulful blend of spices, this easy recipe delivers Sunday dinner perfection in every bite!
Originating from the kitchens of skilled soul food cooks, an authentic Southern fried chicken recipe is characterized by seasoning both the chicken and the flour, incorporating more than just salt and pepper to achieve a rich flavor. This is what gives Black folks' fried chicken an exceptionally bold taste with every bite, making it a dish often enjoyed on Thanksgiving!
Every Thanksgiving star needs a supporting cast, and these top soul food sides steal the show! Think creamy mac, buttery cornbread, tender greens, and all the soulful fixin’s that make the meal sing.
You probably recognize the turkey as the star of the Thanksgiving dinner. However, I'm bringing attention to the Thanksgiving yams, a buttery-rich brown sugar mix of sweet potatoes with soul food spices. Is it even an authentic Thanksgiving meal without candied yams on the table?
Black folks’ collard greens are a soulful Southern classic seasoned to perfection and simmered with love, honoring African American roots and timeless flavor traditions.
A Black folks’ mac and cheese recipe isn't any ol’ mac and cheese recipe. It's baked, never boxed, and always loaded with soulful seasonings. This is that creamy, cheesy, soul-hugging masterpiece that gets baked until it’s bubbling around the edges and golden on top!
Get ready for an unforgettable Thanksgiving Day with this soul food inspired Southern old-fashioned Thanksgiving dressing recipe. A delicious casserole dish everyone around the dinner table loves!
This savory, Thanksgiving corn pudding has a sweet corn flavor with onion and garlic for a rich, savory, soul food taste. Add sour cream for a creamy melt-in-your-mouth pudding and parmesan cheese for the cornbread crust.
Soul food cornbread balances crispy edges, a moist interior, and flavorful sweetness. This Southern Thanksgiving, made from-scratch recipe creates the ultimate harmony of savory and sweet!
This recipe captures the essence of a Thanksgiving holiday aroma, featuring beautiful notes of cinnamon, brown sugar, nutmeg, and vanilla, combined with fresh apples to create a soulful baked apple recipe.
The soul food cabbage difference is all in the legacy, the layers, and the love. Regular fried cabbage is just… cabbage. But Black folks’ cabbage? That’s comfort, culture, and collard greens’ close cousin all wrapped into one well-seasoned, soulful side dish!
Black people don't typically make green bean casserole for Thanksgiving. Instead, we make tender, savory, well-seasoned green beans steeped in Southern tradition!
Experience the rich taste of soul food through a simple yet flavorful Thanksgiving side dish. Red beans and rice is a dish that will make your mouth water when you smell the aroma of savory seasonings and spices as the red kidney beans soak in the rich flavors of this dish!
Savor the sweetness and nutrition of glazed carrots for a standout holiday side dish. From Easter to Thanksgiving, these buttery carrots have a distinctive, soulful, sweet, and savory flavor.
This isn’t your average Thanksgiving creamed corn from a can! I’m sharing my family’s Southern creamed corn recipe made faster in the Instant Pot, but still full of that slow-cooked, buttery flavor you remember from Grandma’s table. It’s sweet, savory, and silky-smooth with a touch of soul.
A Thanksgiving staple, this soul food recipe is rich, creamy, and seasoned far beyond just butter, salt, and pepper. It’s all about layering flavor with creamy texture.
A Black folks' Southern potato salad is not just a side dish, but a whole vibe. The kind of dish that makes people smile before they even take a bite, because they already know what time it is. And yes, this dish is a must from Thanksgiving to cookouts and Christmas!
Sweet potato pie holds a special place as the official Thanksgiving holiday dessert in Black culture. It’s the grand finale of any soul food Thanksgiving table. And of course, no celebration’s complete without desserts like peach cobbler, banana pudding, or pecan pie. Sweet traditions baked with love and soul!
The heart of the Thanksgiving dessert table, my Black folks’ sweet potato pie recipe is the creamy, cinnamon-kissed, vanilla-scented slice of heritage.
New twist on a Thanksgiving classic: Introducing my Black folks' purple sweet potato pie recipe! Same but new. Still featuring incredible soul food flavors, now with a fitting warm and regal purple hue!
This recipe is specially dressed for Thanksgiving with a thin layer of homemade cream cheese frosting spread on top, to savor the sweet taste of the holidays!
A Thanksgiving dessert favorite and an old-fashioned African American soul food classic that yields an abundance of sweet flavor with each bite. Brown sugar is combined with a decadent, syrupy pecan filling, caramelized, and then baked.
While a regular cobbler might taste one-note sweet, a Black folks’ peach cobbler sings in harmony: sweet, spiced, tangy, and buttery. The peaches are lush and syrupy, kissed with brown sugar and a soulful blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, and a hint of ginger. Great all year, from New Year's back to Thanksgiving!
Southern bread pudding is a warm autumn classic, a soul food favorite among African Americans, and an easy-to-make recipe made with simple pantry staples.
Southern red velvet cake is a slice of pure indulgence, not just reserved for Christmas; it's also expected at Thanksgiving. It's a standout cake that's velvety, smooth, and holiday-rich, making it unforgettable!
Soul food carrot cake is a Southern dessert specialty cherished by many African American families, often enjoyed as a sweet holiday tradition from Thanksgiving to Easter.
Whether served with hot tea or stacked high on a holiday dessert table, these iced tea cakes are more than a treat. They’re a taste of Southern holiday legacy!
Wash down all that soulful goodness with a little Southern sippin’! Sweet tea, holiday eggnog, moscato, or Hennessy. These soul food drinks keep the good vibes flowin’.
Creamy and sweet, soulful, homemade eggnog boasts a flavor profile reminiscent of cinnamon, coconut, and rum, making it a standout among Thanksgiving's finest!
A creamy, exotic, and delectable drink awaits you on Thanksgiving! Step up your cocktail game with this beverage, featuring a creamy texture and a rich flavor profile that adds a soulful swag to your holiday feast!
We remixed sangria for Thanksgiving with a touch of Black flair, transforming that bottle of wine into Black folks' Moscato sangria. So good you can taste the vibe!
What is soul food? Soul food recipes are African-American recipes full of flavor! A legacy of Southern cooking the Black way. Check out this collection of the best soul food recipes!
Wow! Lots of black folks soul food menu to choose from!