The southern Black American cuisine of fried chicken, collard greens, cornbread, and slow-cooked pork, born of West African roots and plantation-era ingenuity.
What it is
Soul food is the cuisine of Black Americans, rooted in West African cooking and shaped by what was available in the plantation South — offcuts of pork, the leafy greens that grew in summer, dried beans, and stone-ground corn. The Great Migration of the 20th century carried it from rural Mississippi and Alabama into the cities of the North.
How it tastes
Salty, smoky, and slow-cooked. Pork — smoked hocks, fatback, neck bones — flavors nearly every vegetable. Sugar in the cornbread (debated), molasses in the baked beans, and hot sauce on the table set the sweet-and-spicy balance.
Signature dishes & techniques
Fried chicken, buttermilk-brined and skillet-fried, is the global ambassador. Collard greens slow-simmered with smoked pork are eaten across the South. Mac and cheese, baked thick with sharp cheddar and egg custard, and Hoppin’ John for New Year’s luck round out the table — closed by sweet potato pie or peach cobbler.
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American Soul Food starts with A and ends with D. Browse other cuisines along the same letter.
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