Have you made some pioneer recipes that your ancestors made many years ago? They didn’t have the ingredients we have today, so they had to make do with what they had. And make do is what they did for sure. They had to fill their bellies because they were traveling in covered wagons, in most cases, with limited access to the General Store, back in the day.
Whether it was the Oregon Trail, the Mormon Trail, or other destinations as a goal, times were tough regarding meal planning.
Plus, even when they reached their destination, it could have been months or years before regular food supplies or merchant stores were readily available to purchase ingredients to make their favorite dish.
I sometimes think we’ll make these recipes again if and when we have a grid down, additional disasters, or whatever you believe will happen. And they will happen, trust me.
For example, our power grid in the US is so outdated that it will take several years, if it can even be replaced. Power outages are reported almost daily somewhere in the US.
These pioneer recipes are well known, but I want to put them in printable form so you, my readers, can print them now before you need them. This is a post I wrote some years ago, but I felt the need to update it now based on the challenges I’m reading about on social media and hearing about on TV.
Of course, if you cook from scratch, you know several recipes to get you by if the grocery stores are shut down for days, weeks, or months.
Kitchen Items Needed:
- Danish Whisk
- Dutch Oven
- Skillet
- Cast Iron Griddle
- Mixing Bowls
- Spatula
- Measuring Spoons and Cups
- Biscuit Cutter
- Cookie Sheet
Typical Ingredients:
- Cornmeal
- Salt
- Baking Soda
- Molasses
- Buttermilk
- Eggs
- Rice
- Raisins
- Vanilla
- Cinnamon
- Baking Powder
- Oil/Lard
- Flour
- Brown Sugar (1/4 cup molasses per one cup white sugar)
- Potatoes
- Milk or Cream
Pioneer Recipes
Mormon Johnny Cake
Bread is a staple in every era we read about. We all love bread as comfort food, which we know will fill us. If you have an iron pan or skillet, you can cook various meal options at home or out in the open.
The batter mixture for this recipe is pretty simple and easy to throw together if you have a small bowl, a spatula, and all the ingredients available.
Mormon Johnny Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups cornmeal
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 2 tablepoons molasses
- 2 eggs (optional for fluffy cake)
Instructions
-
Combine the dry ingredients and add the buttermilk and molasses.
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Add eggs if desired. Cook in a hot greased cast iron pan for about 20 minutes on high heat.
Spotted Pup
Breakfast is an important meal, no matter who you are and where you live. I love using a Dutch oven to cook meals; this is a great example. The ingredients in this recipe make for a flavorful and sweet meal option everyone will enjoy!
Spotted Pup
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked rice
- 1-1/3 cups milk
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 2 eggs, slightly beaten
Instructions
-
Preheat a seasoned Dutch oven and add ingredients as stated.
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Stir the eggs in quickly or you will have scrambled eggs. Cook until the eggs are cooked through.
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This was served for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. This recipe makes a bowl of sweet rice and fills the belly.
Soda Biscuits
My family always made soda biscuits. There is something awesome about making homemade biscuits. Did you grow up making them? I sure did. We would lather them with butter and homemade jam.
We would also make bacon or chipped beef gravy to pour over biscuits a few times weekly for dinner. As long as you have some flour available, you can mix up a bread of your choice, and family members of all ages generally like biscuits.
Soda Biscuits
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 cups flour
- 1/3 cup oil
Instructions
-
Combine the ingredients, and roll them out onto a floured board. Cut with an un-floured biscuit cutter.
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Bake in a Dutch oven or on an ungreased cookie sheet bake at 425 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
Honey Candy
My church group used to pull this honey candy all the time. Those were great times when people socialized with one another. I miss those days. Having something sweet to look forward to is always welcome after a hard day on the trail or in the office.
This recipe is fun to make as a family team, whether around the kitchen table or the back of a covered wagon.
Honey Candy
Ingredients
- 2 cups honey
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup cream
Instructions
-
Combine the ingredients and cook to a hardball stage.
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You can test the syrup for a hardball stage by drizzling a small amount into a cold cup of water. If a ball forms quickly it's ready.
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Pour onto buttered platters.
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Let it cool until your greased hands can start pulling it in sections to a light golden color. Cut into pieces.
Potato Cakes
One of the recipes my family made all the time. It’s genuinely a cheap and filling meal. I grew up drizzling honey on mine. How did you eat yours? Life is so good with good friends and delicious food.
Potato Cakes
Ingredients
- 6 potatoes, peeled and grated
- 1/2 cup milk or cream
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 1 cup flour
- 2 eggs, slightly beaten
Instructions
-
Combine ingredients and scoop a 1/8 cup onto a greased hot griddle.
-
Turn the potato cakes halfway through cooking so each side browns.
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Bake until light and golden brown in a greased cast iron pan. I grew up serving honey over my potato cakes.
Norwegian Lefse
Lefse is one of my favorite recipes, made by my great-grandmother, Danny, one of my pioneer ancestors from Norway. I love my Lefse spread with butter and brown sugar, but my family prefers white sugar. My mouth is watering right now.
It’s all about memories, right? My husband hadn’t heard of Lefse until I introduced him to this recipe. We’d make it on weekend mornings when our kids were young, and they loved it! My Lefse Post
Norwegian Lefse
Ingredients
- 4 cups mashed potatoes
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1/2 cup sweet cream
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 cup flour (approximately-enough to roll lefse thin)
Instructions
-
Boil the peeled potatoes, and mash very fine and fluffy.
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Add the cream, butter, sugar, and salt. Beat again until light and fluffy. Add flour just before rolling out.
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Roll a piece of the dough as for pie crust, rolling as thin as possible.
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Bake in a frying pan until light brown, flipping to cook both sides. When baked, place them on a plate with a cloth between them to keep them from drying out.
Bacon or Sausage Gravy
Biscuits and gravy are a favorite; I probably eat more than I should. This combination is one I grew up with because they were cheap to make, and my mom could stretch a meal with more flour and milk.
I actually went to several restaurants with a friend when we lived in Southern Utah to see who made the best sausage and biscuits. We decided it was a restaurant called Black Bear Diner. They were awesome!
Bacon or Sausage Gravy
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 gallon of milk
- 1 pound bacon or sausage
- sugar to taste (optional)
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
-
Grab a frying pan and brown the bacon or sausage. Set the meat aside.
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Add the butter to the same pan and let it melt.
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Add the flour to make a roux with the butter and bacon grease. When the roux is smooth, add the milk and stir until completely cooked through.
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Add the bacon bits or sausage pieces. Salt and pepper to taste. I add a little sugar which is optional.
Some other old-time recipes you may want to research and make are hasty pudding, cornmeal mush, hard tack, Mormon gravy, corn dodgers, beef jerky, pemmican (dried meat), and apple pie, a US favorite. How To Make Hardtack.
Final Word
I feel strongly about learning to cook inexpensive meals because I believe hard times are coming. Please teach your family how to cook from scratch. Learning how to cook these pioneer recipes would be an excellent start for any family wanting to be thrifty and self-reliant during tough times, as all preppers do. Thanks for prepping. May God bless this world. Linda
Copyright Images: Corn Bread Depositphotos_144909879_S By urban_light, Potato Pancakes Depositphotos_32744069_S By artcasta, Lefse On A Plate AdobeStock_73840057 By alkerk, Honey and Honeycomb AdobeStock_84586165 By BillionPhotos, Dinner Biscuits with Butter Depositphotos_3014825_S By rojoimages, Sausage and Biscuits Depositphotos_2705980_S By rojoimages, Rice Pudding In Bowl Depositphotos_139499888_S By studioM
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