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Our recipes listed in the DEPRESSION ERA COOKING category are from the most frugal era in history: The Great Depression.  With all the comparisons between the current Recession and the Great Depression of the 1930s, it makes sense that we research Great Depression recipes.  Jobs are shaky and income uncertain for many people right now, so making the most of our household grocery budget is an absolute must.

We do have a definite advantage over the homemakers of the Great Depression in that we have many more resources available to us today.

Great Depression cooking focused on cheap food, substitutions, and making do with what you had. We can learn a lot from the great homemakers of the past by finding original Great Depression recipes, recorded and passed down the generations, and even adapting them to make some of our own.

I’ve started a category as mentioned above of recipes from the Depression Era in the category of the same name.  Here is a partial index of what I’ve compiled as of the date of this writing.

Depression Era Cooking Recipes:

Depression Era Corn Chowder Recipe
Depression Era Mexican Rice
Depression Era Tuna-Mac-Cheese Casserole
Depression Era Mock Filet Mignon
Depression Era Soul Food

Menu plan/shopping list for the aforementioned recipes:

Meats/Proteins:
__ 2 chicken breasts
__ 1-1/2 lb bacon
__ 1/2 lb ground pork
__ 3 lb ground beef
__ 3 – 15 oz. cans kidney beans
__ 1 – 15 oz. can pork and beans
__ 1 – 15 oz. can butter beans or lima beans
__ 14 oz water packed tuna
__ 1 cup American Cheese

Vegetables/Fruits:
__ 2 – 15 oz. cans whole kernel corn
__ 6-1/2 onions
__ 1 large can whole tomatoes
__ 2 lbs + 8 potatoes
__ green pepper
__ 1 – 15 oz. can stewed tomatoes

Liquids:
____ 2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
____ 3 1/4 cups milk
____ 2 (12 fluid ounce) cans evaporated milk
____ 1 tbsp. vinegar
____ Worcestershire sauce

 Spices: 
____  Salt
____  Pepper
____  3 tsp. chili powder
____  Paprika
____  Garlic powder

Other:
____  2 bottles of ketchup
____  1 cup butter
____  1/3 cup chili sauce
____  1/4 tsp dry mustard
____  1 tsp. mustard

Grains / Baking:
____ 4 cups of cooked macaroni
____ 3 tablespoons of flour
____ 2 c. uncooked rice
____ 1/2 c. brown sugar

As my research and list of depression era recipes grows, I will be updating this page to pass along some great information for today’s frugal homemaker/cook.

Thank you for reading!