Soul food was never just about the meat. The greens, the beans, the sweet potatoes, the cornbread: the heart of the plate has always grown out of the ground. That is why so many Black home cooks who go vegan or vegetarian end up asking the same question. How do I keep the flavor of Grandma’s kitchen without the smoked turkey and the pound of cheese?

The good news is you do not have to figure it out alone. A group of Black creators on YouTube have spent years testing, re-testing and filming exactly that. Below are six worth your time, what each one does best, and the dish to try from each of them first.

Why YouTube is the best vegan soul food classroom

A cookbook tells you to “cook until tender.” A video shows you what tender looks like. Soul food is a cuisine of feel: how dark the roux gets, how the greens look when they have given up their pot liquor, how thick the cheese sauce should coat a spoon. Watching someone do it is the fastest way to learn.

If you are looking for more Black creators across every niche, not just food, see our roundup of Black YouTube creators to watch in 2026.

6 Black YouTube cooks for vegan soul food

1. Jenné Claiborne, Sweet Potato Soul

Jenné Claiborne is an Atlanta native who started Sweet Potato Soul on YouTube and her blog in 2010, according to Essence. Her first cookbook, Sweet Potato Soul, came out in 2018, and her second, Sweet Potato Soul Vegan Vibes, arrived in February 2025, per Forks Over Knives.

• What she does best: Southern classics with a clean, weeknight-friendly approach.
• Start with: Her smoky Southern collard greens, the video at the top of this page. The written recipe uses smoked paprika, tamari, garlic and tomatoes, and it takes about 40 minutes.

She told Essence something worth keeping in mind as you start: “All of our food has always been traditionally plant based.”

2. Tabitha Brown

Most people know Tabitha Brown for her warmth before they know her recipes. She went viral in December 2017 with a review of a Whole Foods vegan BLT, then exploded on TikTok in 2020, according to her Wikipedia biography. Her books include Feeding the Soul and the cookbook Cooking from the Spirit, and she won a Children’s and Family Emmy in 2023 for hosting Tab Time.

• What she does best: Short, encouraging, no-pressure cooking. Her clips make beginners feel like they can do it tonight.
• Start with: The cheesiest vegan macaroni and cheese, which she calls her daughter’s favorite.

Her channel these days mixes quick food clips with a Fridays with Tab and Chance series with her husband, so use the search bar on her page to find the recipes.

3. Chef Joya, Say What! It’s Vegan?

Chef Joya, whose name is Adjoa Courtney, is a Charlotte, North Carolina, vegan chef who does catering, private dining and cookbooks, per her website. Travel Noire reported that she grew up vegan and that her mac and cheese has won multiple awards. Her channel, Say What! It’s Vegan?, is where she shares her cooking videos.

• What she does best: Holiday and Sunday dinner food. Big flavor, rich sides, nothing that tastes like a compromise.
• Start with: Her soul food sampler below, which walks through mac and cheese, greens, “fried chicken,” yams and cornbread in one video.

Watch: VEGAN SOUL FOOD RECIPES | MAC & CHEESE | GREENS | FRIED CHICKEN | YAMS | CORNBREAD from Say What! It’s Vegan?

4. Brooke Brimm, Vegan Soul Foodie

Dr. Brooke Brimm is an Atlanta-based counselor, author and entrepreneur who has eaten plant-based in some form since 1992, Cuisine Noir reported. She grew up in a Seventh-day Adventist household where her grandmother was vegetarian for 50 years, and she has published several Vegan Soul Foodie Recipe Guide books.

• What she does best: The “meaty” centerpieces: ribs, oxtails, roast, pot pie. Her YouTube channel is full of them.
• Start with: Jackfruit and mushroom ribs. Once you learn to rinse and shred jackfruit, BBQ sandwiches and cookout plates are open to you.

Watch: Easy Vegan Ribs Jackfruit Mushroom from Brooke Brimm, Vegan Soul Foodie

5. Andrew Bernard, The Nard Dog Cooks

Andrew Bernard’s channel is built around comfort food and family recipes, including a Jamaican dish from his mom’s kitchen and budget-friendly pantry meals. His chicken and dumplings video takes a comfort classic and veganizes it, which is the whole spirit of this list.

• What he does best: Close-up, step-by-step tutorials of vegan comfort food.
• Start with: Vegan chicken and dumplings. It is the dish that proves soul food comfort does not depend on the bird.

Watch: The ULTIMATE Comfort Food: Vegan Chicken and Dumplings! from Andrew Bernard | The Nard Dog Cooks

6. Rachel Ama

London-based Rachel Ama has a Saint Lucian father and Sierra Leonean and Welsh roots on her mother’s side, and she started posting vegan versions of Caribbean dishes in 2017, per Wikipedia. Her books include Rachel Ama’s Vegan Eats (2019) and One Pot: Three Ways (2021). She has since opened a plant-based Caribbean food truck and documented it on her channel.

• What she does best: The Caribbean side of the diaspora table: rice and peas, stews, jerk flavors, bright sauces.
• Start with: Any of her Caribbean feast videos once you have the Southern basics down. It is the same family tree, a different branch.

Your first week of vegan soul food

Do not try to cook all of this at once. Pick one new dish every day or two and lean on leftovers. Here is a simple plan.

1. Sunday: Smoky collard greens with Jenné Claiborne. Make a big pot. Greens are better on day two, and the pot liquor is great over rice.
2. Monday: Mac and cheese with Chef Joya or Tabitha Brown. Watch both and pick the style your family likes: baked and firm, or creamy stovetop.
3. Tuesday: Cornbread from Chef Joya’s sampler. Serve it with the leftover greens and you have a full plate.
4. Thursday: BBQ jackfruit ribs with Brooke Brimm. Pile the leftovers on buns for Friday lunch.
5. Saturday: Chicken and dumplings with Andrew Bernard. It is a slow Saturday kind of pot, and it freezes well.

A few shortcuts that help in week one:

• Stock a flavor shelf first. Smoked paprika, liquid smoke, nutritional yeast, vegetable bouillon and a good hot sauce do most of the work that pork and cheese used to do.
• Season in layers. Every creator above builds flavor at each stage instead of dumping it all in at the end.
• Keep one familiar dish on the table. Sweet potatoes, rice or a family salad make new recipes feel less like an experiment.

If you are making a big change to how you eat, especially if you manage diabetes, blood pressure or kidney health, check in with your doctor or a registered dietitian so your plan fits you.

Keep cooking, keep sharing

The best way to support these cooks is simple: subscribe, make the recipe, and leave a comment telling them how it went. Views and comments are how creators like these keep the lights on, a topic we dig into in our guide to making money on YouTube.

Then make the greens again next Sunday. That is how a new habit becomes a family tradition.