Prince Harry Roasts Meghan Markle's Cooking in New Netflix Special

Meghan Markle might've hoped her cooking would be the way to Prince Harry's heart ... but, he roasted her as hard as a turkey on Thanksgiving -- claiming her mom's is so much better!

The Duke of Sussex made a brief appearance on the "With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration" Netflix special which dropped Wednesday when MM -- along with Chef Tom Colicchio -- made a gumbo Harry tucked right into.

While at first effusive, Harry undercuts Markle's achievement by claiming it's not as good as his mother-in-law's ... leaving Markle totally shocked.

Meghan laughs it off and notes her mother will love Prince Harry even more for making the comment ... easy points for the Brit to win in this case.

Also in the ep, Markle cooks up a beet salad with red onion, celery, artichoke hearts, cherry peppers, with fennel, black olives, anchovies, parsley and garlic ... even though her man absolutely can't stand beets.

Harry calls it an "anti-salad" ... and Markle laughingly explains since they have guests coming to their home, she can actually make the salad -- a rare treat since her husband won't eat it.

It's all good-natured ribbing ... in fact, Markle later kisses Harry and thanks him for coming to her event. He's was noticeably absent from "With Love, Meghan" during the second season of the show which dropped on Netflix in August.

Harry and Meghan's kids -- Archie and Lilibet -- didn't make a physical appearance in the episode either ... though Meghan referenced them a couple times during the run. The couple's tried their best to keep their kiddos out of the public eye while raising them in Montecito.