35+ Soul Food Sunday Dinner Ideas Your Family Will Love

These Soul Food Sunday dinner ideas are made up of southern family recipes passed down through my family. You can mix and match them to make a whole year's worth of special Sunday suppers that bring everyone around the table with love, laughter, and plenty of flavor!

And if you enjoy this collection, you'll love my Black family Thanksgiving dinner ideas, too!

The Roots of Sunday Dinner in Black Families

In America, the tradition of Black Southern Sunday dinners spans centuries back to the time of chattel slavery, when enslaved African Americans were permitted to cook and gather. In the present day, Sundays are still a day for slowing down, as they typically offer more time to prepare and enjoy a meal than a busy weeknight.

The humble beginnings of this weekly ritual have evolved to become more elaborate, but many of the old-fashioned Soul Food recipes and cooking methods persisted. And, as back then, it is still a time for joy, fellowship, and nourishment.

Now, let's get into over 35 Black southern Sunday dinner ideas, starting with mains and sides, followed by breads, desserts, and then drinks!

1. Southern Baked Chicken

Starting with one of the most traditional African American Sunday dinner ideas: Everybody in the family will be pleased with juicy chicken with golden crisp skin that's perfectly seasoned!

That's what my southern-style baked chicken delivers, plus buttery roasted potatoes and onions that sop up all the flavor so you have a whole meal in one pan.

2. Tender Pot Roast

My Dutch oven pot roast is braised low and slow with vegetables like carrots, mushrooms, and potatoes, so it comes out perfectly fall-apart tender every time. It's so easy to make, and y'all probably won't have any leftovers if you put it on your Soul Food Sunday dinner menu.

3. Glazed Ham

We often associate ham with holiday dinners for Easter or Christmas.

But when you want to get fancy on a Sunday night, this spiral-sliced smoked ham with bourbon peach glaze will do it every time. It's literally dripping with flavor!

4. Roasted Turkey Wings

My old-school turkey wings are a long-standing Black family meal idea. They're cooked low and slow for succulent, fall-off-the-bone texture and lip-smacking flavor, made even better with easy pan gravy.

5. Crispy Catfish

Nobody will believe you baked this catfish at home instead of frying it--and I won't tell on you either! My oven "fried" catfish has that satisfying crunch on the outside with flaky fish on the inside, and it's perfectly seasoned.

Serve it with a lil' remoulade sauce, and all you'll hear is the sound of chewing.

6. Crab Cakes

Another baked seafood dish that pairs well with Louisiana remoulade is my Creole-spiced crab cakes. Crab cakes might not immediately come to mind when you think of Southern Sunday dinner ideas for the family, but they're very customizable.

Each one is filled with lots of crab meat and flavor, and you can adjust the size to make minis, standard, or jumbo cakes!

7. Lemon Pepper Shrimp

Lemon pepper seasoning has a firm spot in Soul Food canon, though we usually use it on chicken or when frying, depending on your location.

These juicy lemon pepper shrimp skewers are quick and easy and full of that signature bright, peppery flavor everybody loves, so they definitely need a spot in your rotation of Soul Food Sunday dinner meals.

8. Black Eyed Peas

It gets no more comforting than braised black-eyed peas with smoked turkey! This simple recipe is full of flavor and works wonderfully on a budget--you can even make it vegetarian or vegan.

Serve them with rice, cornbread, and collard greens, and there's really nothing else left to do but eat.

9. Chicken & Sausage Gumbo

Gumbo is a labor of love specific to Louisiana as well as southeastern gulf states like Alabama, Mississippi, and parts of Texas (like Houston, where I'm from). And y'all will taste the love in every bite of this chicken and Andouille sausage gumbo made the proper way with okra and a dark, chocolatey roux!

10. Shrimp and Grits

Bring breakfast (or brunch) for dinner vibes to the table with Third Coast shrimp and grits: creamy, cheesy grits, spicy Gulf shrimp, and crispy sausage. I promise you, there will be no leftovers from this quick dinner idea!

11. Soul Food Power Bowls

If you have picky eaters in your family, my Soul Food power bowls are a creative, modern southern Sunday dinner menu idea that allows each person to build their meal based on what they like most--quick and easy!

Everybody can adjust the amounts of lemon pepper shrimp, fluffy yellow rice, okra and tomatoes, quick-cooked greens, and caramelized sweet potatoes to their preference.

12. Pinto Beans with Ground Beef

My grandma used to make a giant pot of pinto beans and ground beef for Sunday dinner, and we'd happily enjoy leftovers every day until it was gone. This is high-protein comfort cooking that comes together in one pot and tastes amazing!

13. Blackened Chicken Tenders

No need to order Popeye's when these homemade blackened chicken tenders can be ready in just 20 minutes! They're juicy, full of classic smoky flavor, and kid-friendly.

14. Collard Greens

It's not a good Soul Food Sunday dinner without classic collard greens! These are braised in a pot liquor that's layered with savory, sweet, smoky, and bright flavors. In my family, the adults and the little ones all tip their bowls up to slurp it down.

15. Mustard Greens

Or you can do mustard greens and ham hocks! The same rules apply to the pot liquor, so you know the flavor is there for real.

16. Green Beans and Potatoes

Ok, one more pot likker side dish for good measure: Soul Food-style green beans and potatoes with ham. Like many of our classic Soul Food side dishes, it can technically be a meal all by itself!

17. Mac & Cheese

Of course, no old-fashioned Black family dinner menu is complete without a good mac & cheese. My baked mac and cheese with roux is classic Soul Food goodness with three cheeses, a gooey middle, and a golden brown top.

You'll also love baked bacon mac & cheese, roasted garlic mac & cheese, and baked mac & cheese bites!

18. Yellow Rice

I don't know about you, but yellow rice was an extra special addition to the dinner plate when I was growing up. And we usually had the kind in the yellow foil bag from the grocery store, but this scrumptious yellow rice recipe is from scratch and ready quick, fast, and in a hurry!

19. Grits

Grits are not just for breakfast in Southern households! Serve them as a side, especially with fish dishes. You can't go wrong with my spiced sweet potato grits or easy cheese grits!

20. Seafood Dressing

If y'all love seafood, you won't be able to resist this seafood cornbread dressing! The dressing recipe is my granny's southern cornbread dressing, and it stands on its own, but you can take it to another level with tender shrimp, crab, and lobster, so you get a lil' something in every bite.

21. Okra and Tomatoes

Stewed okra and tomatoes is one of my most popular side dishes because it's simple to make and tastes so satisfying. It pairs best with chicken or seafood, but truly goes with any main!

You can keep it as a side with no meat or make it with sausage, with shrimp, or another protein you like to make it the star.

22. Black Eyed Pea Salad

Have you heard of dense bean salads? This is a dense bean salad with black-eyed peas and plenty of southern flavor and flair. Light, healthy, and perfect for summertime suppers!

23. Fried Cabbage

Everybody always asks for seconds of my fried cabbage and sausage. It's a Soul Food classic with layers of fresh, savory, smoky, and subtly sweet flavor that even cabbage-haters can't deny.

24. Candied Yams

It's simply not a Soul Food dinner without sweet potatoes, and southern candied yams are the peak option. Slow-cooked in the crockpot with butter, brown sugar, and spices, until they're syrupy sweet--but not one note!

25. Praline Sweet Potatoes

Or you can take it to the southeast with praline candied sweet potatoes! These are sliced thin for a scalloped au gratin style, except they're sweet with a crunchy finish instead of savory and cheesy.

26. Potato Salad

Nobody makes potato salad like my Auntie Kim, and her cookout potato salad is guaranteed to have zero leftovers. Tangy, fresh, and bright, it's fantastic for smoky BBQ ribs or other heavy mains.

Check out my balsamic potato salad with red potatoes, too!

27. Cast Iron Cornbread

Add a hunk of sweet honey cornbread to complete most any meal, but especially your braised dishes like beans, greens, and stews. Of course, it's a quick recipe!

28. Sweet Potato Cornbread

Or make sweet potato cornbread! It's infused with roasted sweet potato and warmly spiced, so it makes so much sense to add to your Fall family meals.

29. Smoked Cornbread

And when you fire up the grill on a hot summer day, this hot honey smoked cornbread reigns supreme! It's surprisingly easy to make, and the hot honey butter glaze takes it over the top.

30. Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls

I bet you didn't know you could enjoy sweet potatoes like this! My sweet potato yeast rolls are so soft and fluffy that you'll probably have to monitor them in the serving line to make sure no fights ensue.

31. Buttermilk Biscuits

Last but not least on the bread tip: good ol' fluffy buttermilk biscuits. Whether you want to serve them with pot roast or use them on top of your chicken pot pie, they'll rise to the occasion. See what I did there? 😂

32. Sweet Potato Pie

My bourbon sweet potato pie has a spiced sweet potato custard inside a flaky, buttery crust--it gives exactly what it should. And it works for anything from a family reunion to a Juneteenth party to a restaurant-style function.

See also: sweet potato and pecan pie, sweet potato pie stuffed cookies, no-churn sweet potato pie ice cream, and sweet potato cheesecake!

33. Pound Cake

If you need a pound cake, let my Grandma's sour cream pound cake recipe be the one. It comes out perfectly every single time.

New to making pound cakes? Use all my pound cake tips and tricks for flawless results!

34. Red Velvet Cake

People debate whether red velvet is really Soul Food, but I'm not going back and forth. I'm just setting down this old-fashioned red velvet layer cake and letting the flavor do the talking. And, yes, it has cream cheese frosting from scratch!

35. Banana Pudding

Put the Cool Whip and Jello pudding packets away. My southern banana pudding is made from scratch and will put any recipe--including Paula Deen's--to shame. Don't sleep!

Want the flavor without having to make pudding? Try my banana pudding ice cream.

36. Peach Cobbler

You know I had to put a peach cobbler on the table, and of course, you've got options: bourbon peach cobbler, classic peach cobbler with pie crust, or peach cobbler ice cream!

37. Bread Pudding

Bread pudding is a staple sweet treat, and the options are endless. There's sweet potato bread pudding with praline sauce, apple cranberry bread pudding, and cinnamon roll bread pudding, just to name a few.

38. New Orleans Pralines

I had to add homemade pralines to the list because they're kid-friendly and easy to pack with to-go plates--not that I think you'll even have enough left by then. 😊

39. Butter Pecan Ice Cream

Black families and butter pecan ice cream go together real bad. My no-churn butter pecan ice cream recipe captures all that buttery, brown sugar goodness without an ice cream maker!

40. Southern-Style Sweet Tea

No matter which dishes you pick for your meal, I recommend you wash it all down with a glass of Southern sweet tea. Take your pick of Georgia peach sweet tea, earthy hibiscus sweet tea, or coconut iced tea.

Or keep it classic with my homemade sweet tea concentrate!

More Soul Food Recipe Collections

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I hope these old-fashioned southern Sunday dinner ideas will bring you and your family plenty of joy. And sharing is caring, so be sure to pin this post for later and follow me over on Pinterest. Thanks for reading!