27 Kwanzaa Recipes For Your Holiday Celebration

Our top secret for the most flavorful catfish fillets? Buttermilk and hot sauce. We know, it may sound odd, but the result is an extra-flavorful catfish that, once coated and fried, is a crispy, satisfying dinner that'll rival even your favorite seafood restaurants.

Get the Fried Catfish recipe.

Jollof rice is a traditional African rice dish featuring a tomato-based stew. It's a true standout Kwanzaa dish, thanks to its perfect balance of heat, sweet (from the tomatoes and peppers), and spice.

Get the Jollof Rice recipe.

Gumbo is a true melting pot dish. Originating in Louisiana, it combines the cuisines and ingredients of several cultures including West African, French, German, and Choctaw. It's a perfect addition to a Kwanzaa feast that celebrates diversity and growth.

Get the Shrimp & Sausage Gumbo recipe.

Celebrate Kwanzaa in style with these festive and easy-to-make red, black, and green crinkle cookies. With just a simple white boxed cake mix as the base, these cookies come together quickly and effortlessly, giving you more time to enjoy the holiday season with family and friends.

Get the Kwanzaa Crinkle Cookies recipe.

Baked macaroni and cheese is a quintessential Southern side dish. Though it may sound wild, don't skip the eggs! Whisking together eggs and milk and pouring it over the mac & cheese will make it extra creamy, saucy, and decadent.

Get the Southern Baked Mac & Cheese recipe.

Not only does this cornbread involve less cleanup, but it promotes the ideal texture of crackly crust around moist, decadent corn cake. Pouring the batter into a preheated cast-iron creates a sear to the batter and speeds up the bake time. Wins ALL around.

Get the Skillet Cornbread recipe.

Jamaica's most famous dish has to be jerk chicken, making it perfect for your Kwanzaa feast. Don't eat chicken? The subtly sweet and spicy jerk marinade goes well with everything from tofu to seafood too.

Get the Jerk Chicken recipe.

Southern cooking can sometimes appear intimidating or too involved, but this recipe is anything but. All you need are a couple of hours, a handful of staple ingredients, smoked turkey, and your collard greens (the star of the show) for an easy side (or meal on its own!).

Get the Southern Collard Greens recipe.

This stew is made by thickening a flavorful, tomato-y soup base with ground peanuts and root vegetables. The result is a creamy, nutty, spicy, earthy meal that will warm you from the inside out.

Get the West African-Inspired Chicken & Peanut Stew recipe.

Fun fact: Hummingbird cake is actually from Jamaica! It was originally called "Doctor Bird Cake," which is a nickname for a type of Jamaican hummingbird. People say the cake earned its name because it was sweet enough to attract hummingbirds. It tastes like a mix between carrot cake and banana bread, and you're gonna be obsessed.

Get the Hummingbird Cake recipe.

Similar to shrimp étouffée, but with a tomato-based sauce, this recipe will transport you to the balcony-lined streets of New Orleans. Aromatic onion, green bell pepper, and celery form the holy trinity of flavor on top of which you'll build this saucy little number.

Get the Shrimp Creole recipe.

Similar to the soul food classic Hoppin' John but without the rice component, these black-eyed peas are cooked with a little bit of onion, garlic, spices, and a hunk of fatty salted pork for depth of flavor and a hint of smokiness.

Get the Holiday Black-Eyed Peas recipe.

Brown stew chicken might seem like a snooze of a name for a recipe, but don’t be fooled—Jamaica’s signature marvel of a dish offers a galaxy of flavors that explains its massive fan base on the island and among the country’s expats.

Get the Brown Stew Chicken recipe.

Sweet potato pie might get sidelined to other holiday pies, but with this forever favorite recipe, we’re bringing her into the spotlight and making her shine. Mounds of roasted sweet potato combine with dark brown sugar, vanilla, and spices inside a golden flaky crust for a pie that rivals all other contenders.

Get the Sweet Potato Pie recipe.

If you've never had Jamaican oxtail stew, you're in for a major treat. It's rich, SUPER-flavorful, with fall-off-the-bone-tender meat and creamy butter beans. It's a true special occasion dish and takes some finesse, so check out our top tips before you jump in.

Get the Jamaican Oxtail Stew recipe.

There's a lot of richness going on here. Bacon! Butter! Cheese! To cut all the fat, you need some acid. Enter: freshly squeezed lemon juice. It brightens this shrimp dish up BIG TIME—so don't skip it.

Get the Shrimp & Grits recipe.

Your sweet potatoes are tired of being baked. Give them the chance to become something much more exciting and turn them into sweet potato gratin. Just like the OG potatoes au gratin, these sweet potatoes are layered with plenty of cheese and herby cream sauce and baked until golden brown and bubbly. 😍

Get the Sweet Potato Gratin recipe.

Fluffy and moist, this rice and bean (not actual peas!) dish has a savory creaminess that comes from the use of aromatics like garlic and onion, in addition to coconut milk. It's a perfect match for the classic dishes like curry chicken or oxtail stew you might find on a Jamaican Kwanzaa table.

Get the Rice & Peas recipe.

This vegan recipe is a bit of a culinary road trip through some Jamaican staples: sweet plantains, aromatic rice and peas, and tofu in a jerk marinade. We top it all off with a simple red cabbage & carrot slaw that's just as delicious on its own (so make extra!).

Get the Jerk Tofu Grain Bowls recipe.

Move over, hush puppies! Corn fritters are our new favorite Southern-fried side. Fluffy and crispy with sweet fresh corn, these make the perfect partner for everything you and your family could possibly dream up for your Kwanzaa feast.

Get the Corn Fritters recipe.