<p>Returning plant residues to agricultural soils is an effective strategy to enhance soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks, yet how soil texture interacts with residue composition to regulate microbial priming and residue-derived carbon (C) formation remain poorly understood. Here, we disentangle how the interaction between biochemical composition of residues and addition rate influences soil microbial communities and affects SOC formation across three soil types. We applied ¹³C-labelled residues of wheat [carbon to nitrogen ratio (C/N) = 42.5], pea (C/<i>N</i> = 25.5) and crimson clover (C/<i>N</i> = 15.6) at rates of 1, 2 and 6 Megagrams (Mg) C ha⁻¹ and incubated them to three soils with different clay content (17, 19 and 25% clay) for 2 and 12 months. In the three soils, a significant and positive impact of addition rates on residue-derived C was observed (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.001). Legume, especially clover residues, stimulated early microbial respiration, which was followed by an increase in fungal abundance (3.22 10⁷ copies of 18&#xa0;S kg^–1 soil) and residue-derived C (2.06&#xa0;g kg^–1) compared to wheat (1.05 10⁷ copies of 18&#xa0;S kg^− 1 soil and 1.52&#xa0;g kg^–1, respectively). These results may be explained since legumes had lower C/N and higher soluble compounds content compared to wheat. Wheat residues enhanced the decomposition of native SOC (34% vs. 25%, on average) compared to legumes. However, a similar contribution (average of 1.99&#xa0;g kg^–1) to SOC formation was found across plant species at high addition rate. After 2 and 12 months, 25% clay soil presented greater residue-derived C in the soil than coarse-textured soils. The strong correlation between enzyme activities with microbial respiration and residue-derived C in the soil 17% of clay highlights the high carbon turnover and explains the lower residue-derived C. These findings demonstrate that microbial priming and derived SOC formation are soil-dependent processes that are jointly shaped by residue composition and addition rate.</p>