Food, glorious food, we’re anxious to try it… Okay, okay, I won’t sing anymore, but this is going to be fun and drool-inducing! I’ve been cooking since I was about 10.
As a cub scout, I had to cook three meals for my cooking badge (yes, that is a thing). These three meals had to be baked, cooked on a stove, and cooked over an open fire. With that in mind, I made a cake (lemon if you want to know) for my mom’s birthday, spaghetti, and meatballs for the stove-cooked meal, and the barbeque was steak, sausages, and corn on the cob.
Now, while the barbeque didn’t quite go according to plan (I burned the potatoes), I very quickly came to enjoy cooking. In a time full of complicated, messy recipes, I wanted to look at some simpler ones that are easy to make. I couldn’t do modern recipes though, that’d be more than a little bit boring, wouldn’t it? Instead, I’m going to share the easiest pioneer recipes to replicate.
Who’s hungry?
1. Potato Cakes
Potatoes were somewhat of a luxury for the pioneers during their overland journeys in the 1850s. This is because most veggies (this one includes) did not keep well during long journeys. I used the word luxury on purpose because that’s what Peter Burnett, a leader of a wagon trail, said:
I have never tasted a greater luxury than the potatoes we ate on this occasion.
Recollections and Opinions of an Old Pioneer (New York, 1880)
Of course, once the pioneers established roots in the Wild West, the humble potato became a mainstay staple crop for them.
Potato cakes are easy to make and are a popular meal and snack. The recipe can be found here if you want to try it yourself.
2. Skillet Hasselback Sweet Potatoes
Pieces of sweet potato baked in melted butter and coated in a mixture of herbs, shallots, parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, garlic, salt, and pepper. Sweet potato with a slightly salty flavor, a bit weird but it sounds pretty good to me. Here’s the recipe for you.
3. Johnny Cakes
Deep-fried cornmeal gruel results in a flat cornmeal bread or cake made from cornmeal, milk, flour, is and sometimes salted. The gruel is made by mixing cornmeal, salt, and hot water or milk. These delicious cakes are a popular pioneer treat, and a recipe can be found here.
We actually have evidence that they were eaten with bacon in a recollection of the foods eaten on the Oregon trail. The cakes themselves were deep-fried in bacon fat.
4. Molasses Stack Cake
You might think this was a luxury food judging by the name, but it seems the opposite was true: ingredients such as molasses, shorgum, and apples were easy to come by. Yet, this pioneer treat was saved for special occasions such as weddings. It’s a group effort of friends and family where each person brings a layer of the cake.
Each layer is stacked on top of the other with layers of either apple slices or apple butter in between each cake layer. You can get a recipe here.
5. Corn Pancakes
A mixture of white cornmeal, bacon fat/lard, and buttermilk make for a fluffy pancake which you can top with whatever you like. You can get the recipe here.
6. Jerky
The pioneers were heavily reliant on their cattle for meat, milk, and cheese. Jerky is dehydrated, sometimes cured meat and it’s a tasty treat that is popular all over the world. A recipe can be found here; make sure you dry it at at least 160F to take care of all the harmful bacteria…
7. Chocolate Caramels
Who doesn’t like chocolate? Sweets were a major luxury item as they were rather expensive to make. The pioneer recipe mixed molasses, sweet milk, and vanilla to make this sweet treat.
8. Norwegian Fruit Soup
A Scandinavian version of tapioca pudding, Norwegian fruit soup is basically a dessert made with very basic ingredients like water, a few prunes, and some dried currants (along with seasonings like cinnamon and sugar). This is the kind of recipe that would survive long wagon trips with no issues, because the ingredients have a longer shelf life than, say, fresh veggies.
I imagine this recipe came to America around 1825 – 1840, particularly in Iowa and Minnesota, when the bulk of Norwegian immigration began. Here’s the recipe.
9. Corn Dodgers
A deep-fried or baked mixture of milk, eggs, cornmeal, and wild onions among other things give us a tasty corn cake. This is a popular snack that can also be the main course of a meal.
They could have easily been stored in one’s pockets, which makes them very convenient. There are many recipes for these, with or without eggs, with or without milk, sometimes the recipe was as basic as having just cornmeal, salt and some fat. You can find a recipe that was pretty close to what they used back then over here.
10. Native American Fry Bread
OK, so this one might not seem as a pioneers recipe at first glance, but we do know that Utah’s fried scones are very very similar in terms of ingredients and preparation with the Navajo version. It is said that the recipe was spread because of the Mormons who established settlements around the Salt Lake Valley.
Anywho, this is a deep-fried bread which can be eaten either plain or with honey or jam. A good recipe can be found here.
11. Tola (similar to Pinole)
A high energy food, pinole can be filling without eating a lot of. It’s super tasty and you can have it as a cereal. It’s documented under the name of tola in Joe Palemer’s 1846 emigrant guide, though if we want to be fair, Pinole and Tola are different foods. Whatever you like to call it, if you’d like to make it yourself, here’s the recipe.
12. Dumplings
Dumplings are made by wrapping pieces of dough around an optional filling of your choice – either sweet or savory – and either frying, steaming, baking, simmered or boiled.
You may be wondering: did the pioneers really make these? Yes, according to Oregon Historical Quarterly:
(…) into the boiling kettle I dropped from the wooden spoon the batter I had made. It did not take long to thus get a dinner of soup and drop dumplings.
Oregon Historical Quarterly/Volume 2/Reminiscences of Experiences on the Oregon Trail in 1844, Part 2
If you want to make dumplings yourself, here’s a recipe for you.
13. Pemmican
A Native American method of preserving meat for extended periods, pemmican is made with ground, pounded meat, rendered fats, and, if you want some extra flavor, you can add berries. This is a classic recipe of many indigenous communities, but it became widespread with traders and explorers, including European ones. You can get a good pemmican recipe here.
Pork and gravy, that’s a common, and popular food at Christmas and New Year’s. This recipe, however, uses bacon instead of a pork roast.
The meal also used up all the bacon fat – they really wasted nothing, didn’t they? I’m not a huge fan of bacon fat, but if it gives us a nice gravy then I’m not going to complain. Try it yourself, here’s the recipe.
14. Dutch Oven Roast Chicken
Cooking in a cast iron Dutch oven is a classic pioneer skill, and this Dutch oven-roast chicken recipe really lets you embrace that lifestyle! Just keep in mind that cooking meat was done mostly on festive occasions, this was not a staple that they would eat every day. And they would mostly rely on beef, venison, and buffalo, not necessarily chicken – not in the early days, at least!
Now, the Dutch oven was used a lot on a day-to-day basis on the Oregon trail and in other parts – but mostly to cook plant-based meals, gamestew, or bacon. They started cooking chicken later on, once they’ve established homesteads and would start raising backyard birds.
Once you master the basics of roasting a chicken in a Dutch oven (be it on the stove or an open fire), you can get creative and experiment with this recipe however you’d like. You can add some cloves, nutmeg, and brown sugar for a sweeter brown sugar chicken bake (which goes great with a side of sweet potatoes!), or you can add more fat and protein by wrapping the bird in bacon first. The choice is yours! Whatever you choose, get started with this basic recipe first.
15. Hardtack
Hardtack is a type of biscuit that was made from a mixture of flour, water, and salt. These were used commonly in the military from the 17th to the 19th century and in long sea voyages. This was due to its really long long shelf-life, and it could be used when perishable foods would’ve gone bad. A recipe for hardtack can be found here.
16. Mashed Potatoes
Mashed potatoes are easy to make and can be mixed to taste with cream, butter, and salt. They’re very, very easy to make and there are many ways in which to make them. They taste great, especially with sausages and gravy! Here’s a good recipe for you.
17. Hasty Pudding
Hasty pudding gets its name from how quickly you can make it, but the name can be a little confusing because it was used both in the newly established colonies and Britain. The two versions were pretty different, though. The British version used flour or oatmeal, but the American one was based exclusively on cornmeal.
While it’s usually topped with whipped cream, you could probably change it up a bit and experiment with different toppings (say, strawberry jam for instance) until you find one you like. This was so good, there’s even a poem about it, titled unsurprisingly, The Hasty Pudding:
Dear Hasty Pudding, what unpromised joy
The Hasty Pudding, by Joel Barlow
Expands my heart, to meet thee in Savoy!
And we have lots of other references to it tying it to the pioneers. For instance, reports of an emigrant diary say he ate “mush and milk” for supper. Here’s the recipe for you because I know now you’re dying to try it.
18. Rusks
Portions of bread dough are baked, then separated into smaller portions and baked again to give us a dried-out bread/biscuit which goes well with tea and coffee… just don’t try it with hot chocolate – trust me, it won’t end well.
You want to make your own rusks? Give them a try with this recipe.
19. Potjie
What, is this a trick? I mean, Potjie is a South African stew that’s typically made in a cast-iron pot. Well, this is a pioneers.recipe, but it belongs to the Sotuh-African colonizers, not American. The Dutck-Afrikaner colonizers from the 1830s are literally called “pioneers”, so you can’t accuse me I mislead you with the title. ha!
Anyway, you can use any type of meat for potjie; beef and lamb are comm, but a particular favorite is oxtail. If you want to try it yourself, here’s a recipe for you.
20. Vetkoek
Another South African favorite, vetkoek is basically deep-fried bread dough which is then filled with whatever you like – mincemeat, jam, and syrup are some commonly used fillings – nowadays at least. This one was popularized by the Voortrekker pioneers, though it is believed to originate from the Dutch oliebol, which are basically old-fashioned Dutch doughnuts. Try it yourself with this recipe.
21. Spotted Pup
Spotted pup is a dessert made from a mixture of rice, sugar, vanilla, and raisins. It was usually made from leftover rice as wasting food was a big no-no back on the Oregon Trail. You can use this recipe to make it yourself.
22. Soda Biscuits
Soda biscuits are biscuits which were baked using baking soda instead of the usual baking powder. They’re easy to make and were typically eaten with either syrup or jerky gravy. You can get a recipe here.
23. Cornmeal Mush
A breakfast meal, is essentially a porridge-type meal and is both light and filling. You can try it with this recipe, it’s super easy to make and you can add whatever you like to it.
24. Jerky Gravy
This is used as a substitute for meat, it’s a gravy made from jerky – obviously – and can be spread over soda biscuits, potatoes, and cornbread. You can get a recipe here.
25. Rice and Beans
Okay, so I’m sure we’ve all seen a few westerns and one of the common things you’ll see is a cowboy eating beans out of a pot. That’s not just cinema funny business either, beans and rice are both full of carbohydrates and provide a very filling meal.
They’re also super easy to make and have an impressive shelf-life. There are many recipes just like this one which you can try yourself.
26. Venison Stew
Hunting was a major part of the pioneer lifestyle, a successful hunt meant that you had a lot of meat to last the winter. You could use that meat and any vegetables you may have with you or on your homestead and make a stew.
27. Pan-Fried Pork Chops
It seems pan-fried pork chops have been around longer than I thought. This dish was typically served the day after Thanksgiving. Pork chops were a treat for special occasions, with the rest of the meat preserved as salted pork or bacon. You can get a recipe here.
28. Basic Bread
Bread was a big part of the pioneers’ diet, it’s rich in carbohydrates and very easy to make. If done properly, it has a great flavor. You can get a great recipe here.
29. Classic Apple Pie
Apple pie is a classic dessert that’s popular all over the world. It has a sweet, spicy taste with a crisp crust and filled with apple slices.
It’s not hard to see why apple pie has remained a popular dessert – it goes especially well with whipped cream. I’ve always liked homemade apple pie more than the store-bought ones.
Of course, it helps that the crust is always crispier, and the filling is sweeter. You can get a nice recipe here.
30. Cured Bacon
Bacon was a huge part of the pioneer diet with the average family of four consuming 400 pounds of bacon. Of course, bacon doesn’t last long so the pioneers had to find a way to preserve their bacon.
They did this by curing the bacon – using salt to draw out all the moisture from the meat. You can cure bacon yourself with this recipe.
31. Apricot Oat Bars
Apricot oat bars…these are a healthy, sweet treat that can last a while – assuming you don’t eat them too fast. I’ve always liked oat biscuits so when you make a bar…well, now you’ve got my attention. These bars can be frozen if you like and kept for later. You can make these with this recipe.
32. Cherry Pie
I’m a huge fan of pies, and I love cherries. Unfortunately, real cherries aren’t exactly easy to find in South Africa and even when you do find them, they’re ridiculously expensive. With that said, a cherry pie is definitely worth the effort. Sweet, crispy, and utterly delicious! You can make this yourself, with this recipe.
33. Currant Bread
A Welsh Christmas recipe, currant bread is a loaf of bread with currants in it. The reason for using currants was that, at the time, raisins weren’t available to the pioneers during the Christmas season. You can get a good recipe here.
34. Fried Apples
Fried apples are a popular pioneer dessert because apples last much longer than other fruits. These are easy to make and have a variety of uses and recipes. Try them yourself, here’s the recipe for you.
35. Native Currant Whirligig
An English dessert that’s made with wild currants, the native current whirligig is a baked sweet treat with a spiral appearance (hence the name ‘whirligig’). If you don’t have wild currants on hand, you can use cranberries. You can get the recipe here.
36. Swedish Jam Cake
This is exactly what it sounds like, a Swedish cake with a jam filling. You can use any jam you like which makes this a versatile recipe and a sweet treat for the whole family. You can get the recipe here.
37. Side Pork with Mormon Gravy
Who’s Hungry?
I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starving! These lists of foods are mouth-watering, and I hope you guys and gals enjoyed the article. As always, thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time. Until then, take care!
Get your gift and learn things like:
- how to make this really quick pest spray
- how to prevent egg waste
- two cheap automation devices that will make your life easier
Greg is a South African farmer and homesteader who’s been around animals ever since he can remember. He’s also an avid camper and hiker.