15 Survival Recipes From The Great Depression

During the Great Depression, cooks scraped meals together from whatever was available. By mixing bits of food with a little creativity and ingenuity, women across the country kept their families fed and alive.

Meals were simple, made from staple ingredients and whatever the family could grow, forage, or hunt. Many of these meals endured the test of time and got passed down from one generation to the next as a frugal way to feed the family.

Here are 15 recipes from the Great Depression you should learn to prepare. By adding them into your meal plan rotation now, you’ll help reduce the grocery budget. You’ll also have a stockpile of recipes using basic supplies you can prepare when disaster strikes, and you can’t get to the grocery store like you normally do.

1. Potato Pancakes

Potatoes stored well and were inexpensive, making them a staple. These potato pancakes use leftover mashed potatoes, helping families avoid waste.

Ingredients:

2 cups leftover mashed potatoes

1 egg

¼ cup flour

Salt and pepper to taste

2-3 TBS bacon grease or oil for frying

Mix all ingredients except the oil in a bowl. Heat the grease in a skillet until hot. Carefully add heaping tablespoons of potato mixture to the hot oil.

Push batter down with a spatula. Cook for a few minutes, until browned, and flip. Brown the other side and remove from heat.

Serve with syrup, applesauce, or leftover gravy.

2. Fried Cornmeal Mush

Known for its versatility, you can enjoy items made with cornmeal for any meal. Fried cornmeal mush was common on the breakfast table during the depression.

Ingredients:

1 cup cornmeal

1 tsp salt

4 cups water (divided)

Small amount of oil, butter, or lard for frying

Boil 3 cups of water in a kettle. In a bowl, whisk the cornmeal, salt, and remaining cup of water together. Mix until smooth.

Slowly add the cornmeal mixture to the boiling water, stirring to avoid lumps. Bring back to a boil, stirring constantly.

Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir several times while simmering.

Remove the pan from the heat and pour the hot cornmeal mush into a greased loaf pan. Cool overnight in the fridge.

Remove from pan and slice into slices (about 3/8 of an inch each).

Heat skillet with a small amount of oil, butter, or lard on the bottom. Fry the slices until golden-brown on each side.

Serve plain or topped with butter and syrup. You can also try it with ketchup.

3. Rice Pudding

Here’s a great recipe to use up leftover rice.

Ingredients:

¼ to ½ bowlful of cooked rice, warm

Milk to taste

A small dab of butter

A bit of sugar or honey to taste

Combine all ingredients. Add milk until the mixture is the consistency you enjoy.

4. Ham Hocks & Beans

You can let a pot of this simmer most of the day for a delicious, inexpensive meal. The beans don’t need presoaked when prepared this way.

Ingredients:

1-pound dry pinto beans

3-4 ham hocks

Chopped onion

Pepper

Rinse your beans and sort out any bad ones.

Place the beans, ham hocks, onion, and pepper in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat, to keep beans simmering. Cover.

Let simmer for several hours, stirring and checking on it as it cooks. Add more water if needed, just enough to cover the beans.

It is ready when the beans are tender and the sauce around them thickens a bit. Remove the ham hocks and get any meat off the bones. Stir meat into beans and serve.

5. Chipped Beef over Toast

Also known as s**t on a shingle, this meal is filling and simple. If you don’t have dried beef, substitute ground venison, hamburger, or any other available meat.

Ingredients:

2 TBS butter

2 TBS flour

1 ½ cups milk

8 ounces dried meat (typically canned, chipped beef)

6 slices of bread, toasted

Salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour, creating a roux. Slowly mix in the milk and stir until it boils and gets thick.

Add in the meat and cook until heated.

Place a toast on each plate. Scoop gravy over the top of each.

6. Creamed Peas over Mashed Potatoes

Here’s a filling meatless meal using potato water instead of milk in the gravy. This water has many uses and is nutritious. Make sure to save it each time you boil potatoes.

Ingredients:

2 TBS butter

2 TBS flour

2 cups potato water (water you boiled potatoes in)

Mashed potatoes

2 cups peas – frozen, fresh, or canned

Salt and pepper

Melt butter in a saucepan. Whisk in flour until smooth, making a roux. Slowly add in potato water, whisking constantly to avoid lumps.

Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer until thick. Stir in peas, salt, and pepper.

Serve over hot mashed potatoes.

7. Simple Fish Chowder

During the depression, many people fished regularly. The fish they caught varied based on their location, but they ate them all. Here’s a simple chowder you can use your fish in. It uses evaporated milk instead of fresh, making it pantry friendly.

Ingredients:

1 large onion, chopped

½ cup butter

6 cups water

6 cups potatoes, peeled and diced

2 pounds fish, deboned and cut into chunks

3 TBS lemon juice

2 cans evaporated milk (12 ounces each)

2 tsp salt

2 tsp pepper

Melt butter in a soup pot and sauté the onion. Add water and bring to a boil.

Toss with a little vinegar and olive oil right before serving. Add salt and pepper to taste.

11. Simple Homemade Bread

An inexpensive filler item, you could find homemade bread on the table for nearly every meal during the depression. By baking a large batch like this each week, you’ll always have bread ready to slice.

Note: This is a basic recipe, using minimal ingredients. If butter and eggs are available, add in 1 egg and ½ cup butter with the water for more flavor.

Ingredients:

16 2/3 cup flour (5 pounds)

5 TBS yeast

6 tsp salt

5 cups warm water

Combine 10 cups flour, yeast, and salt. Add water and stir well with a wooden spoon.

Continue adding flour, a cup at a time, until dough is thick. When you can no longer stir, begin kneading. Knead the bread until smooth and no longer sticky.

Surviving the Depression

These simple recipes kept people alive throughout the depression. But, it wasn’t just these recipes. It was innovation and the ability to use everything. Waste not, want not wasn’t just a cliché saying, it was life.

And this same attitude will help you survive whatever crisis you find yourself in.