Soul food meat-and-three plate
Photo: Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · CC BY 2.0

History

The meat-and-three plate-lunch format runs across the South but Black-owned Atlanta restaurants codified the soul food version. Paschal's (1947) and Busy Bee Cafe (1947) on the West End ran the format through the civil rights movement. Mary Mac's Tea Room (1945) added the white-tablecloth version. Sides typically include collard greens, mac and cheese, candied yams, black-eyed peas and cornbread. Most rooms still serve lunch only and run cash-and-card under $15.

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Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Pork

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 1 hrTotal 3 hrDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • For collard greens: 2 bunches collards
  • 250g smoked turkey wing
  • 1 onion
  • 2 tbsp cider vinegar
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • For mac and cheese: 250g elbow pasta
  • 60g butter
  • 60g flour
  • 700ml whole milk
  • 400g sharp cheddar
  • 1 large egg
  • For candied yams: 1kg sweet potatoes, 100g butter, 200g brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon
  • For black-eyed peas: 400g dried black-eyed peas, soaked overnight, 200g smoked ham hock, 1 onion
  • Protein: 4 pieces fried chicken (see fried chicken recipe)
  • Cornbread to serve

Method

  1. Soak black-eyed peas overnight; drain. Simmer with ham hock, onion and 1.5L water for 90 minutes until tender.
  2. Wash and stem collards. Saute onion in 2 tbsp oil, add greens, smoked turkey and 1L water. Simmer 1 hour, finish with vinegar and brown sugar.
  3. Roast sweet potatoes whole at 200C for 50 minutes. Peel, mash, mix with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.
  4. Boil pasta until al dente. Make a roux: melt butter, whisk in flour, slowly add milk and cook until thick. Off heat, stir in cheese and beaten egg. Combine with pasta; bake at 180C for 20 minutes.
  5. Fry the chicken (see fried chicken recipe).
  6. Plate one piece of chicken with three vegetable sides; serve cornbread alongside.

Tip from the editors. All the sides except mac and cheese improve overnight. Cook them the day before and reheat; the chicken is the only fresh-cooked element.

Where to eat soul food meat-and-three plate

Soul food meat-and-three plate in Atlanta

Busy Bee Cafe ★ 4.7

$$ Soul FoodDowntown

Busy Bee Cafe in Atlanta opened 1947 on MLK Drive and won the James Beard America's Classics Award in 2022 for its decades of soul food service near the AUC.

OrderFried chicken with two sides; the oxtails on lunch special when available.

TipCash and card. Lunch and early dinner only Tuesday to Sunday; line forms before noon weekends.

Directions Book

Paschal's ★ 4.7

$$ Soul FoodDowntown

Paschal's in Atlanta has served soul food since 1947, when brothers Robert and James Paschal opened on Hunter Street. Located in Downtown. Priced at $$.

OrderFried chicken plate with collard greens, mac and cheese, candied yams.

TipThe current Castleberry Hill location since 2002 expanded with a banquet space; the original Hunter Street site is preserved at Clark Atlanta.

Directions Book

Mary Mac's Tea Room ★ 4.6

$$ SouthernMidtown

Mary Mac's Tea Room in Atlanta opened 1945 and runs Southern Sunday dinner classics in a four-dining-room compound on Ponce de Leon, with the same recipes.

OrderPot likker with a side of cornbread, then fried chicken with three sides.

TipOrder the pot likker as a starter; it comes free with cornbread. No reservations Monday through Thursday lunch; OpenTable for dinner and weekends.

Directions Book

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