Sometimes the simplest recipes are the best and if you want to get ‘back to basics’ with your cooking, Depression era recipes can be a great starting point.
Depression Era Recipes
For so many of us, cooking every day has become a chore. From the one kid who is ultra picky and won’t eat anything that has ‘green’ in it, to the spouse who is a fan of meat and potatoes and little else, finding ways to remain inspired in the kitchen can be tough.
And it can be expensive too. Organic this and free range that starts to add up, so if you think back to the Depression era, when kids were plentiful but money was not, how did they feed their families creatively and not end up with scurvy?
Look for different protein sources
A good way to cut the budget, however, is to limit your family’s intake of meat. Beans and cheese were two well used sources of protein during the Depression. Of course, this was the era of cheap hot dogs, Spam and fried bologna too, so you don’t have to go far to find creative ways that meat was included as part of, but not as the main staple, of a dish.
Weiners and Beans
Whether you opt for hot dogs, as would have been done during the Depression, or perhaps some nicer sausages from your local butcher, plating them with baked beans gives your family the protein and fibre they need that will fill them up nicely! Add a little onion to the beans too, for some extra flavour. And it’s a GREAT option for camping out!
Staple Foods: Hot Dogs and Potatoes
Hot dogs and potatoes: two staples in the Depression era cooking. They were cheap, plentiful and filled you up.
Poor Man’s Meal
Fry a cubed potato with onions, and when it’s all softened and browned a little, add slices of hot dog. That’s dinner! A more modern take on this might be to use ham steak instead of hot dog and add a little tomato sauce for flavour, and a side of smothered cabbage (see later on!)
Creamed Chipped Beef on Toast
Creamed Chipped Beef on Toast is one of those recipes that is typical of the era and that you couldn’t get me to eat for love or money, but since it was ubiquitous in the 30s, I’ve included it here.
Potato Soup
With potatoes being a staple item, potato soup was almost inevitable! The Depression era version involved boiling four chopped up potatoes in two cups of water with two tablespoons of bacon grease and some salt and pepper.
Take this recipe up a notch for today’s standards and add a chopped medium onion, celery salt. Bring that the the boil and mash the potatoes slightly when they’re cooked through. Then add two cups of cream (half and half will do) and simmer until heated through. You can serve it with cheese on top to make it extra tasty!
Use up leftover mashed potatoes in a snap!
The very idea of throwing out leftovers was just unheard of. So finding creative ways to make them palatable was essential like this recipe for Mashed Potato Cakes.
A little bit of everything
When it came to Depression era cooking, it was often best to use up whatever was available in new ways.
Hoover Stew
Named for the era’s US President, Herbert Hoover, this was served at soup kitchens across the country: Cook noodles like macaroni until almost done, drain then return them to the pot and add hot dogs, canned stewed tomatoes, and canned vegetables like corn or peas. Bring the whole lot back to the boil and then simmer to heat through and finish cooking the pasta.
Spaghetti with Carrots and White Sauce
Apparently touted by Eleanor Roosevelt as being a simple and accessible meal, the idea was to mix cooked spaghetti with boiled carrots and a basic white sauce (milk, flour, salt, butter and a bit of pepper). Put it in a casserole and in the oven to bake.
Don’t forget the side dishes!
Adding bulk to a meal didn’t always involve potatoes. Other vegetables also made an appearance on Depression era tables, including cabbage in this recipe for Smothered Cabbage.
What? No dessert?
While dessert wasn’t a priority in Depression era eating, there were occasions to celebrate and there is a uniquely Canadian dessert that fits the bill: Pouding Chômeur (otherwise known as Poor Man’s Pudding)
This French-Canadian staple from the Depression era is still on menus today. It’s a classic and so easy to make!
Check out a few of the vintage recipes I’ve shared here: Cracker Pudding, Oatmeal Pie, Wacky Cake and Radio Pudding.
Do you have any recipes passed down from grandparents that are typical of the Depression era? Any favourites that you still cook today?
free ebook!
The Best of Simply Stacie
When you subscribe to the newsletter for the latest updates!
FAQs
Celery soup mixed with tuna fish and mashed potatoes. A salad of corned beef, gelatin and canned peas. Baked onion stuffed with peanut butter. Those are just some of the recipes Americans turned to during the Great Depression, when many families struggled to eat enough nutritious food.
How did people cook during the Great Depression? ›
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, homemakers stretched their food budgets with soups, rice and pasta–but beans were the commodity no household went without: cheap, high protein, and no refrigeration required until cooked.
What are some depression meals? ›
Dietitian-Approved Suggestions for Nutritious “Depression Meals”
- A cheese quesadilla with salsa and guacamole.
- Grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup.
- A chocolate smoothie made with milk, protein powder, blueberries, and cacao.
With the limited amount of ingredients families had, they developed their own recipes, which spread like wildfire to poor people in need of something to eat.
- Peanut Butter Bread. ...
- Mulligan Stew. ...
- Poorman's Meal. ...
- Dandelion Salad. ...
- Hoover Stew. ...
- Prune Pudding.
Potatoes were also inexpensive and used extensively. Some meals even used both. One of these meals was called the Poor Man's Meal. It combined potatoes, onions, and hot dogs into one hearty, inexpensive dish, which was perfect for the hard times people had fallen on.
What was the most used ingredient during the Great Depression? ›
It was not uncommon for households to not have enough money to buy food. During the Great Depression, honey became an important ingredient because it was versatile, cheap, available, and could be used in many different kinds of dishes.
What did hobos eat during the Great Depression? ›
Perhaps one hobo acquired a few carrots from a charitable person, while another stole an onion off a box car, while another had a few potatoes from a farm he worked on briefly… From this concoction, a “hobo stew,” also known as “Mulligan/Mulligatawney stew” was born and became the traditional food of the hobo.
Was popcorn and milk during the Great Depression? ›
At this time popcorn was often a breakfast food, eaten from a bowl with milk just as we eat cereal today. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, popcorn's popularity as an everyday snack food started to grow. It was a fun and thrifty snack for families who could afford few luxuries.
What was the food line during the Great Depression? ›
Bread and soup lines were run by charities like the Red Cross. They provided bread, soup, and hot beverages for those who could not afford to buy their own food. They served hundreds of people a day.
What served free meals during the depression? ›
During the Great Depression, soup kitchens were essential facilities that provided free meals to those in need, particularly the urban poor grappling with unemployment and poverty. These soup kitchens were often organized and run by charitable organizations, including religious groups, and community initiatives.
Depression Cooking is a zine of easy recipes designed to make mealtime a little easier, in the no-nonsense sense of the word, for depressed humans like me. It demonstrates one of the many lessons that I've learned during COVID: that we can care for one another without being physically present.
What to cook when you are sick of everything? ›
What to Cook When You're Tired of Everything: 40 Easy Recipes to Get You Out of a Dinner Rut
- 15-Minute Herb-Crumbed Fish. ...
- Hot Honey Chicken Thighs. ...
- Easy Green Chicken Enchiladas. ...
- 50-50 Buttered Noodles and Greens. ...
- Teriyaki Salmon Bowls. ...
- Smashed Chickpea Salad Sandwich. ...
- Slow Cooker Green Chicken Chili.
Poor man's meal is a quintessential Great Depression-era food. Featuring onions, hot dogs, and potatoes, it provided exactly what people wanted during this time: A cheap, hearty meal. The dish is made by frying up cubed potatoes with slices of onion, and slices of hot dog.
What did the average person eat during the Great Depression? ›
A typical Depression-era breakfast consisted of a piece of seasonal fruit, milk and cereal, and eggs or toast with butter. The noon meal was usually a sandwich with salad or some soup. Dinner was meat and veggies, followed by dessert.
What was the only way some people could get food during the Great Depression? ›
In larger cities, breadlines and soup lines became a common sight. At one count in 1932, there were as many as eighty-two breadlines in New York City. Despite these efforts, however, people were destitute and ultimately starving. Families would first run through any savings, if they were lucky enough to have any.
What was hunger like during the Great Depression? ›
As unemployed workers and their families struggled to get by on scanty savings, dwindling credit, or emergency relief rations, they cut meat, milk, and fresh vegetables from their diets; the food they could not afford piled' up in warehouses or rotted, unharvested, in the fields.
What did African Americans eat during the Great Depression? ›
But back in the 1930s, inexpensive parcels of meat such as beef necks or pork liver would have been part of the frugal fare for African-Americans, especially in Chicago with its many stockyards. And, oh yes, there was chicken - as in chicken feet, he said. Both beans and greens of various descriptions were popular.
What served free meals during the Great Depression? ›
Soup kitchens and bread lines were created as a place where people who could not afford to eat could get a meal.
What food was served at a 1930's dinner party? ›
Including ingredients like lobster, squab, oysters, tongue, crab, fruit punch, prunes, peaches, pineapple, honeydew melon and orange marmalade in the menu helped gentrify the meal and add that touch of elegant refinement that was so important.
