T.I.'s First Day of Freedom -- Bring on the Southern FEAST!!!

It's only been a few hours since T.I. was officially declared a free man -- and his family is already throwing together a "welcome home" party for the ages ... filled with mountains of Southern-style cooking.

As we previously reported, T.I. was released from an Atlanta halfway house early this morning -- and we're told his aunt and wife whipped up a bomb-ass celebration dinner ... featuring a family-recipe mac 'n cheese, fried and BBQ chicken, fish, ribs, collard greens, salad, and RED VELVET cake.

It's going down any minute now -- and we're told the entire to-do will be potluck style ... with all of T.I.'s close friends and family bringing over even more food.

Consider this feast round 2 -- T.I. celebrated with a similarly soulful meal about a month ago on his way to the halfway house ... before he was thrown back in prison.