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    Food » Entrees » 7 Cheap Recipes Straight From The Great Depression

    7 Cheap Recipes Straight From The Great Depression

    Posted: 10/08/2019 | Last updated: 05/01/2023 by Erin 14 Comments
    Post may contain affiliate links via Amazon Associates or other programs. (Disclosure)

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    PHOTO CREDITS: All credit for photos included in this round-up goes to the original bloggers who created these incredible recipes. No recipes have been reproduced here. Please click through to the awesome blogs who shared these posts and leave them some love in the comments if you try their recipes or if you just love their ideas!

    During the late 1920's and early 1930's when funds were tight and food was expensive, families had to get a little creative and a lot more frugal when it came to making meals to feed their families.  Many of those recipes have continued to be passed down to current generations, and here's a list of the few of the more prolific meals that were made during that time.  Have you tried any of these?

    1. Poor Man's Meal

     

    Image and recipe link from The Baltimore Snacker

    Hey, if we had fallen on hard times, I'd feel totally fine feeding this simple dish to my family.  Onions and potatoes get cooked together and mixed with chopped up hot dogs.  Nothin' wrong with that.  You've got the fat from the cooking oil, the protein in the hot dogs, and the carbs in the potatoes - the gang's all here. For the remaining oil from your recipes, you can store them and do a bulk cooking oil recycling pick up once in a while.

    2. Creamed Chipped Beef

    Image and recipe from Spicy Southern Kitchen

    Though my parents are too young to have lived during the Depression, my mom used to make this all the time when I was a kid.  And I hated it.  As an adult I can see the appeal and I'd like to give it another goal, but there was just something about the texture and the combo of the gravy and the dried beef that just didn't sit well with the kid version of myself.

    3. Depression Bread

    Image and recipe from Crazy Simple kitchen

    Did you know you can make a loaf of bread using as little as 3 simple ingredients?  I can imagine Depression-era families would spend lots of time in the kitchen preparing many loaves of this basic staple to last the week.

    4. Chocolate Depression Cake

    Image and recipe by The Kitchen Magpie

    Also known as Crazy Cake or Wacky Cake, this recipe is still popular today because of its sheer simplicity.  The lack of eggs, milk, and butter is what makes this cake so unique, as such items were in short supply during the Depression.  Some recipes call for lemon juice instead of vanilla extract, if it wasn't available.

    5. Ham Hocks and Beans

    Image and recipe by My Turn For Us

    I totally still make this recipe (though I use salt pork) on the regular, and it's amazing.  I just made it this past weekend with a big ole cast iron skillet of cornbread, in fact!  It's easy, inexpensive, and I can see why it was a popular dinner choice when funds were tight.

    6. Leftover Potato Pancakes

    Image and recipe from Taste of Home

    Potatoes are cheap and easy to store, so it's no surprise they showed up on menu home meal plans during the Depression.  This recipe jazzes them up a little bit.

    7.  Mulligan Stew

    Image and recipe by 12 Tomatoes

    This is the classic whatever-is-in-the-fridge-and-pantry stew.  While 12 Tomatoes has refined it to an actual recipe you can follow, the stew whipped up during The Depression contained literally whatever was available - vegetables, any kind of meat, onions or other spices, etc.

    If you liked this, don't forget to pin this post or share with your friends, please and thank you!!

    Cheap and easy recipes from The Great Depression that are still just as tasty today!

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    3. 15 Simple Delicious Recipes Using Pasta, Rice, or Beans
    4. Easy Brunswick Stew
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    About Erin

    Erin is a mom of two human babies and two fur-covered babies. She loves comfy clothes, eats too much peanut butter, and watches excessive amounts of Netflix. Make her day and toss her a like on Facebook or follow her on Instagram. Post may contain affiliate links including those via the Amazon Associates program

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Diana

      December 28, 2022 at 8:17 am

      How do I get the bread recipe? It doesn't want to open to the recipe from the link.

      Reply
      • Beverly

        March 20, 2023 at 12:37 pm

        I can’t pull it up either. Where do we go to get it?

        Reply
    2. Noniblue6

      November 07, 2022 at 6:59 pm

      I grew up eating all of these foods. My Grandmother was a depression era newlywed and grew up with 7 siblings and my grandfather raised himself from 14 yrs of age due to the death of his father on a cattle drive. My mom was a very functional cook and could make something out of nothing. She made mulligan stew often but called it clean out the refrigerator soup. My mother in law introduced me to chipped beef on toast, I loved it! She was an army wife with 9 children .Travel all over USA and Europe. Giving birth where ever they were stationed. Very frugal cook, but a very good cook. She made the best fried chicken. I went in to home economics and learned all the tricks from my teachers. I married at 17.5 and can cook almost anything.

      Reply
    3. Elbert

      September 16, 2022 at 10:37 pm

      I prefer using lean ground beef to make chipped beef. you could also add uncooked rice to the ground beef. Make meat balls with it. cook them. Then add white sauce. You can also use ground turkey.

      Reply
      • Erin

        September 17, 2022 at 8:07 am

        Yum! Love those ideas!

        Reply
    4. Deb

      June 12, 2022 at 7:36 pm

      Love these easy and inexpensive recipes! Use half with my family. Will be trying the other half thank you!!

      Reply
      • Erin

        June 13, 2022 at 5:23 pm

        Awesome! Thanks for sharing, Deb!

        Reply
    5. Esilot

      March 15, 2022 at 10:25 pm

      My family loves fried hot dogs, potatoes, and onions. I use bacon grease instead of vegetable oil. We call it redneck hash.

      Reply
      • Erin

        March 19, 2022 at 10:07 pm

        Sounds delish!

        Reply
      • Sandy

        November 13, 2022 at 10:50 am

        My family used Italian sausage and hot dogs we called it depression dinner

        Reply
    6. Leslie

      January 24, 2022 at 10:19 pm

      I grew up with every one of these meals and more. I never realized until I was an adult that they were very frugal meals and depression meals. I love potato soup and SOS and still make many of these. Soup is a great frugal meal in it's many forms.

      Reply
    7. Kim

      March 22, 2020 at 11:39 pm

      I love cheap and easy meals they now a days it's worth it.

      Reply
      • Erin

        March 23, 2020 at 7:30 am

        I know! When I created this post, I had no idea it'd actually serve a real purpose due to current events. Sheesh! Hope you and yours are doing well in these weird times!

        Reply

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