7 Days Of Recipes From An Amish Kitchen
Ohio Amish church member Rebecca Miller takes us inside the Amish recipe book with seven meals, one for each day of the week.
Of course I got hungry just reading these, and I predict the same will happen to you. Below you’ll find ideas for breakfast, dessert, “quick and easy” meals, and a Saturday night family favorite.
Which of these sounds best to you? Do you plan to try any of them? Let us know in the comments!
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What’s For Supper?
I’m sure most parents hear this frequently, so I created a week’s worth of suppers along with some recipes.
I’m one of those cooks who usually cooks without a recipe, but I looked some up for you here.
Keep in mind we also eat a lot of simple meals – soups, salads, sandwiches, veggies, fruits, etc. and leftovers, can’t forget those. You don’t have time to spend an hour in the kitchen each evening.
This isn’t exactly what we had all week, but a few of them are. Like last Sunday evening we had a family reunion and we actually had haystack. It’s a great crowd-pleasing supper.
And since each person fixes their own stack the picky eaters can choose what they want. Typically our Sunday suppers are much more simple – maybe popcorn and an apple with peanut butter , for example.
I also enjoy trying different foods such as Mexican or Asian dishes. I love Deep South Cajun cooking, Jambalaya, gumbo, beans & rice, and other spicy foods.
So here’s what might be cooking in an Amish kitchen this week.
Sunday – Haystack supper, Brownies & Ice cream w/ Fresh Chopped Peaches for Dessert)
Here’s the order we layer our food for haystack. You can pick and choose what you put on. Not everyone does theirs the same, so feel free to come up with your own add-ons.
Saltine crackers (crushed), lettuce (chopped), hamburger sauce, rice (cooked), spaghetti (cooked), shredded carrots, chopped onions, diced green peppers, shredded cheese, sweet & sour dressing, sour cream, cheese sauce, Doritos (crushed).
Hamburger Sauce
2 lb. Hamburger (browned)
1 package taco seasoning
1(14 oz.) can pizza sauce
Cheese Sauce
1 small onion sautéed in 1/2 stick butter
add 1 qt. milk (scalded) Lower Heat
Mix 1/2 c. flour and 1 c.milk (use to thicken) add slowly
Add 1/4-1/2 lb. velveeta in slices. Keep stirring to avoid scorching. Add salt & seasoning to preferred taste. Turn off heat, stir well after velveeta has melted.
Or for a quicker option use Nacho cheese from a can and heat up. Enjoy!
Monday – No Fuss Lasagna, Salad, Quick & Easy Fruit Slush
No Fuss Lasagna
12 uncooked lasagna noodles
Mix: 1 1/2 lb. hamburger (browned)
2 t. oregano
2 1/2 c. pizza sauce
3/4 t. garlic powder
Sauce: 1/4 c. milk
1/2 c. onions (chopped)
1 c. sour cream
1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
Layer lasagna noodles and meat mixture. Pour 2 1/2 c. water on top, then spread with 1/2 c. pizza sauce. Cover with foil and bake @ 350 degrees for 90 min. Top with sauce and cheese, put back into oven till cheese is melted. Enjoy!
Quick & Easy Fruit Slush (make ahead of time and freeze)
1 1/2 qt strawberries (chopped)
1 can crushed pineapples (or 1 1/2 qt. frozen peaches)
3 bananas (mashed)
1 (8 oz.) cool-whip
1 can sweetened condensed milk
Mix all and freeze.
Tuesday – Breakfast Time! Breakfast Casserole, Peaches over Chocolate Cake
Quick and Easy Breakfast Casserole
4 slices bread, torn in pieces
2 cups milk
1 lb. sausage (browned)
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 c. shredded cheese
1 tsp. salt
6 eggs beaten
dash of pepper
Put bread in baking dish, top with sausage, and cheese. Beat eggs, milk, and seasonings together and pour over top. Bake @ 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serves 5.
Moist Chocolate Cake
2 c. flour
1tsp. soda
1 c. milk
2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 c. cocoa
3/4 c. oil
1 c. hot coffee
2 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs beaten
Sift dry ingredients together. Then add liquids, all but coffee. Last add hot coffee. A very moist cake. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
Served with chopped, sweetened peaches, and milk or ice cream. Or frost with chocolate icing.
Wednesday – Chicken Supreme, Sauteed Carrots, Peppers, & Onions, Jello Salad
Chicken Supreme – fix night before and refrigerate
2 c. cooked chicken
2 c. uncooked macaroni
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
2 c. milk
1 1/4 tsp. onion powder
1 c. grated cheese or Velveeta
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
Melt cheese in soup. Combine all ingredients. Bake for 1 hr. @ 350 degrees.
Sauteed Carrots, Peppers, and Onions
First slice 3 or 4 carrots and cook until almost tender. Drain off water, splash in some olive oil, add 1 bell pepper (cut in strips), 1 small onion (cut in thin slices) Add spices and salt to suit taste. Saute till tender.
Orange/Pineapple Jello Salad
1 container cottage cheese
1 container (8 oz) Cool Whip
1 can crushed pineapples
1 can mandarin oranges
4 oz. orange Jello (dry)
Stir everything together. This is a light, refreshing dessert.
Thursday – Chicken Ranch Pizza, Salad, Grapes and Cottage Cheese
Jiffy Pizza Crust
2 c. flour
2/3 c. milk
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/3 c. oil
1 tsp. salt
Mix all together and knead for a few minutes. Makes 2 12-inch pizzas.
Top with ranch dressing, cooked,cut up chicken, mushrooms, peppers, onions, bacon pieces, and cheese.
*meatloaf
Friday – Meatloaf, New Potatoes, Cucumber Slaw, Melons
This a very summery supper. 🙂
Meatloaf
1 egg, beaten
1/4 c. onion, chopped fine
2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp.pepper
1 c. rolled oats
1 Tbsp. ketchup
1 c. milk
1 1/2 lb. hamburger
Mix all together and put in baking dish. Bake @ 350 degrees for 1 hour. Halfway through, cover with sauce, leave uncovered.
Sauce:
1/3 c. ketchup
2 Tbsp. mustard
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
I love ketchup so I’d be likely to just spread lots of ketchup on top, instead of using recipe.
Cook new potatoes whole, unless too big. Mash on your plate, top with cucumber slaw and salt. I don’t like cukes, so I put butter and salt on mine.
Cucumber Slaw
Slice 2 or 3 cucumbers and 1 small onion, layer in bowl. Cover with sauce, refrigerate before serving.
Sauce:
2 T. sugar
4 T. vinegar
2 T. mayonnaise or sour cream
Saturday – We like to do cook-outs Saturday night. Pizza Hobos, Grilled Mushrooms, Peppers & Onions, Bananas, and Custard Pie
You need: Hobo Irons (pie irons), bread, your favorite pizza toppings, a stick of butter, a hot fire, iron skillet, olive oil, sliced mushrooms, onion slices, pepper strips.
Butter both sides of pie iron, lay a piece of bread on 1 side, top w/ sauce and toppings, other slice of bread, slide into hot coals and let it toast. Check frequently, unless you like charred edges. 😉
Set skillet on grilling rack, allow to heat, splash in a little oil and saute mushrooms and vegetables til slightly browned.
Custard Pie (do earlier in day)
1 qt. milk, scalded
1 1/2 c. sugar
3 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs yolks
3/4 c. evaporated milk
4 egg whites, beaten stiff
Place sugar and flour in a bowl, add enough milk to make a paste. Add egg yolks and beat well. Add rest of milk, scalded milk, and vanilla. Mix well, fold in beaten egg whites. Pour slowly into prepared pie crusts. Makes 2 pies. Bake @ 375 degrees for 10 minutes, then turn down to 325 until done.
We’d be likely to build up our fire again and go finish our Saturday evening chores. Then do s’mores later. We like snack crackers, peanut butter, Hershey Chocolate bars, and of course marshmallows. Or try soft Chip Ahoy cookies, vanilla wafers, or gingerbread cookies.
So happy cooking everyone! Rebecca
P.S. If anyone wants gluten-free options for any of these recipes, let me know.
Image credits: Cutlery- w00ter/flickr; lasagna- fritish/flickr (note: lasagna is a stock photo and not the recipe)
Yum! All these recipes look delicious!! Thanks for sharing, Rebecca!
The Jello Salad
OH MY!
The Jello salad is a holiday special in our family and it is AMAZING!!!!!
My girls don’t want the cottage cheese in it, but otherwise it is delicious!
Jello Salad!
I thought that Jello Salad was our family recipe! (We’re not Amish.) We leave out the oranges and use cherry Jello, and call it “Pink Fluff.” Go figure.
Thanks Rebecca!
This is making me hungry, and I just read the titles!
Oops ! The Hamburger-Cheese Sauce for haystack is actually supposed to be 2 separate sauces & recipes. Sorry, Erik, the way I had it set up was kinda confusing.
The hamburger sauce should end with the taco seasoning. The Cheese Sauce should start with the scalded milk.
Oh and checking further both recipes are mixed together so I’ll just give both on here.
Hamburger Sauce
2 lb. Hamburger (browned)
1 package taco seasoning
1(14 oz.) can pizza sauce
Cheese Sauce
1 small onion sautéed in 1/2 stick butter
add 1 qt. milk (scalded) Lower Heat
Mix 1/2 c. flour and 1 c.milk (use to thicken) add slowly
Add 1/4-1/2 lb. velveeta in slices. Keep stirring to avoid scorching. Add salt & seasoning to preferred taste. Turn off heat, stir well after velveeta has melted.
Thanks Rebecca, just fixed it in the post as well.
7 Days of Leftovers
I was reminded of an old Pennsylvania German folk song “Unser Deitsche Brüder” where the days of the week are recited with a different food for each day-and warmed up leftovers each day. And the end of each verse, “I can’t eat anymore!” is said.
Monday is Katzekraut (not sure of it’s meaning), Tuesday-green beans, Wedensday-sauerkraut (one of my favorites), Thursday-gael riewe (turnips? I don’t know this word in my dialect), Friday is fish day, Saturday is cherry pie (kashe boi) and Sunday is G’mee (church) day.
And every day you get leftovers.
Better variety than in the old Yiddish folk song about having potatoes every single day.
Nicholas, Katzekraut is catnip tea, anyway according to my Mom, Don’t know how you’d make a dish out of it though. Gael-Riewe are carrots.
Danke vielmal, Rebecca. In our dialect, we say “Mohrrübe” or “Karrote” for carrots. Am I correct in thinking kasha boi is cherry pie (Kirschtorte or Kirschekuchen auf unserer Dialekt)?
Ya, Nicholas, kasha boi ist “cherry pie”. Was ist der deutsche dialect das du sprichst ?
Yes, Nicholas, “kasha boi” is cherry pie. What is the German dialect you speak ?
Ich wollte lieva sauva kasha boi als yude kasha boi. Got that ?
Ya, ich glaube, Rebecca. Hast gesagt, “I would prefer sour cherry pie to sweet cherry pie?”
Kasha boi gleich ich nett. Nir eine Sort Kasha boi gleich ich, die Sorte gmacht mit DUNKELE Kashn!
Unser Dialekt ist schon Hochdeutsch. Mama lehrt Deutsch in der Schule. Ihre Kusine hat mich ä bissli Schwyzerschwätze g’lehrt und ich hat Yiddish gelernt weil ich gedacht hat, dass die Yiddishe Sprache mich Hebräisch helfe zu lernen. Ich hatte unrechts. Awwer es hat Spass gmacht zu lernen und schwätze!
I only like one kind of cherry pie, the kind made with DARK cherries!
Our dialect is just High German. Mama teaches German in school. Her cousin taught me a little “Swiss chatter” and I learned Yiddish because I thought the Yiddish language would help me learn Hebrew. I was wrong. But it was fun to learn and speak!
Thanks for the fun recipes. They sound good, easy, and very similar to our cooking in the Brethren.
Until later,
Mach’s gut!
Nicholas, Du hast es nachst recht. Yude kasha sin “ground cherries’ Mei mommie heiszt sie so. Ich kann gut hoch deutsch lesen und verstehen aber nicht so gut es reden. Dasz Schwyzerschwatze geht mir nicht gut zu verstehen. Die Schwyzer Amische (von Indiana und Ontario) ihre sprach ist ganz anders als unsere. Wann wir einander sehen, dann sprechen wir nur English, dann das Deutsche verhuddelt uns zu sehr. Hab ein Guten Tag !
Nicholas, You have it nearly right. “Yude kasha” are ground cherries. My Grandma calls them that. I can read and understand high German well, but I can’t speak it as well. The Swiss German I can’t understand as well. The Swiss Amish (from Indiana and Ontario) their language/dialect is totally different from ours. When we meet we only speak English, because the German confuses us too much. Have a good day !
John Schmidt sings this on one of his discs- it’s a favorite of mine!
And yes, that does mean ‘beets’.
Are you talking about “Gael Riewe” ? They’re carrots. “Rot Riewe” are red beets. “Gael” is yellow, “Rot is red in our dialect.
Thank-you, Rebecca …
… for the overview of a week!
It’s funny, most of these aren’t the kind of dishes I pictured as my mom’s Germanic/Pennsylvania Dutch cooking, and yet they kind of are in a way I didn’t realize growing up.
I expected specific dishes that my mother always told us were from that background, like meat with noodles (cooked all day) or roast beef (cooked half the afternoon until it crunchy outside). But I also grew up on various dishes clearly influenced by other ethnic groups but with a hearty, stick-to-your-ribs, easy-cooking twist. The Haystack is basically a taco salad. Well, we used to have hard shell tacos practically every week. Italian pasta? Oh, yeah, that was a weekly event, too, whether spaghetti, mostacioli, or occasionally lasagna. Yeah, my mom made meatloaf, all right! We often made homemade pizza with crust mix, though we mostly used canned pizza sauce rather than ranch dressing. (Interestingly, I did find myself “inventing” miniature ranch pizzas using corn tortillas as the crusts, after tortillas became commonly available. You might want to try that, Rebecca!)
Macaroni and cheese was a staple at our house, too, and that sounds like it would right into this meal plan.
It’s funny the food traditions that stay with us, culturally, without realizing it, even as we adapt new influences.
My mother’s been gone for twenty years as of this last week, but these recipes were a pleasant reminder of her cooking. Thanks, Rebecca!
Trish, I know a lot of people might think we’re eat a lot of fried chicken and mashed potatoes and rich puddings, but that is usually a company or wedding meal. So, I did this to give ya’ll a taste of what we’re actually cooking on a regular basis. Many people would be surprised at how American our everyday meals are. You won’t find too many microwave meals though, but we do order in pizza as a special treat sometimes. Some families do about every Saturday eve, while for others it’s very seldom. Maybe to celebrate a birthday or so. And we also go out to eat on occasion. In fact tomorrow night some of us cousins are going to town for supper to celebrate a few birthdays.
I’m now officially starving…and I can’t cook. Cereal and milk for breakfast and I’m thinking frozen microwave pizza for lunch. Thanks for the food fantasy. 🙂
Carolyn, Once Erik figures out the technology that will allow us to send meals through the internet, I’ll set up an E-restaurant. That would probably be a pretty lucrative business. Maybe I’ll call it ” The First Amish E-lishous Café”. LOL
You’ve got the name, if only the technology were so easy. It would rank with the car, telephone, and light bulb in terms of game-changing devices 🙂 Just think about how many moms would be sending meals cross-country to their hungry adult kids.
Just think how much money YOU would be spending on pies, Erik!! Ha!!
Yep, maybe it’s better we don’t have anything like this yet!
Miss Rebecca, thank you. I’ll be looking forward to that great idea. 😉 Of course I’m supposed to be cutting calories. Heaven knows I’d cheerfully add calories with your wonderful food. God bless!
Thank you
Thank you so much for all these recipes. I’m going to make all of them ! I love Amish recipes !
Rebecca, I was talking with an Amish neighbor lady while taking her shopping this afternoon and was telling her about your week’s worth of recipes. She was telling me the Holmes County ladies make the absolutely best noodles and hers never taste quite as good. So what is this noodle dish she is talking about and how is it made?
Kate, I’m guessing she was talking about the noodles served at funerals or other large groups. I could only find large recipes so here’s the smallest of the large ones. You could probably use 1/2 the ingredients for a smaller batch.
NOODLES
1 stick butter 1/4 c. chicken soup base 2 qt. chicken broth
1 qt. water 3-8 oz. pkg. noodles salt to taste
1 can cream of chicken soup 1/4 c. Velveeta (in slices)
In a 6 qt. kettle brown the butter, add water, broth, and chicken base. Bring to boil then add noodles. Cook on low heat about 15 min. Add soup and velveeta slices, heat and turn off, cover and let set for a while.
There are various noodle recipes and options. You could add bits of cooked chicken, too.
Here's my Mom's "recipe"!
I still think nobody’s noodle dish compares with Mom’s, and hers was easy:
Place in a large pot (not necessarily stock pot, just the big size that comes with a standard pot-and-pan set):
one 16 oz can of canned pork, chicken, or beef (If not available, you may buy stew meat or cut up a pound of meat into cubes. It’s all right to use a cheap, tough cut of meat, because you will be cooking it long enough to become tender.)
one or two pounds of very high quality dried egg noodles, wide and thick (If you live in an area where “Amish” noodles are available, use those. Be prepared to spend about $4.50 per pound for good noodles; the 99¢ brands will fall apart with prolonged cooking.)
Salt and pepper liberally, like a couple of tablespoons of each. (Don’t rely on seasoning after cooking. It’s just not the same.)
Plenty of water to cover the meat and noodles
Turn on high heat long enough to bring to a rapid boil, then reduce to low heat for a slow simmer.
Simmer all day long. Keep an eye on it every half hour or so. Make sure you add water from time to time to keep the pot full. When yo add water, stir gently; don’t mash the noodles. Do NOT let it cook dry!
The last hour or so before dinner, let it cook down to a consistency of stew rather than soup, again being careful not to let it boil dry.
That’s it! Some people serve them over mashed potatoes, but Mom just scooped them into a bowl or plate with a slice of buttered bread. To make a balanced meal, serve with a glass of milk and a salad or a cooked vegetable on the side, or my Mom’s favorite, cantaloupe wedges for “dessert.”
Great for a family where somebody is around all day but every individual schedule is different. Everyone can eat when they’re ready all evening long, and though the ingredients can seem a bit pricey, for the cost it makes plenty of food that will fill up a large family and still leave leftovers that freeze and microwave wonderfully.
Delicious!
Thanks for the recipe, Rebecca! I made the noodles this afternoon and we’ll be having them for dinner. (For some weird reason I’m not as hungry as usual – could it be the two helpings of noodles I had already? :)) They are fantastic! I took a dish over to Mrs. Peachey and when I told her what they were she laughed and quickly sampled them. “Yep, that’s it!” she said. So thanks again! I’ll be sharing that recipe.
That is exactly how we always ate new potatoes (with ‘gummara salat’) and how I still eat them any chance I get!
gummara salat
That’s my Dad’s favorite way to eat it. I don’t care for it personally.
No Fuss Lasagna
Help! (please)
The ingredients list 2 1/2 cups pizza sauce but the directions say 2 1/2 cups water and 1/2 cup pizza sauce. What are the correct amounts?
Marilyn, Sorry, The directions should also say 2 1/2 c. pizza sauce. The water is extra. For some reason it just wasn’t mentioned in the recipe.
Lasagne
Hi Rebecca,
Seeing your recipes reminded me that I recently found a great use for leftover lasagne. If you chop it up into half-inch squares and add a tin of curried spinach and chickpea soup, the end result is rather like goulash – delicious!
Best wishes,
Verity
Verity Pink,
mmm, that sounds good!
I like both those dishes.. lasgne and goulash
(I haven’t had a nice goulash since before my father died, he used to make a really great one – the only ones I ever ate, but it was great)
Yummy !
Every one of these recipes sound yummy !! I’m now starving !!
By the way….what is a pie iron ?
Some call it a hobo iron. You can find them in any grilling section.
Pie irons
Anna you can see a photo/description on this post, just scroll down to #5 (Mountain Pies).
Mountain Pie Irons
Erik, I don’t see it. Can you explain more or give a link?
Whoops! I guess it would be helpful to actually include the link 🙂
https://amishamerica.com/5-favorite-amish-foods/
pies and grains oh my
from a wiki article: “[…] kasha for the pseudocereal buckwheat. In Central and Eastern Europe, especially Russia and Ukraine, kasha is a dish made of any kind of grains boiled in water or milk, possibly with additives, i.e., a porridge.”
so yeah, if I where at an Amish dinner and someone brought me a pie saying it was kasha I’d be more than a little confused. Unless there is a different pronunciation from how my family said the word “kah’sha” for ‘buckwheat/grains”
All so tasty though.
pies and grains oh my
SHOM, I was confused as well seeing as I pronounce the word for cherries in German “Keer-sheh” and know the term “kasha” for buckwheat groats. Traditional East European Jewish Kasha is made with “shmaltz,” that is, fat, particularly chicken fat. Never had any type of kasha, but it sounds like something I’d enjoy.
SHOM and Nicholas, Yeah I guess the difference is just how we pronounce it in our dialect. You’re correct that the true German word would be keer-sheh. In PA Dutch it has almost a short o sound (ka-sha) ending with a schwa sound. Isn’t the Kasha as a grain an English word ? It’s something I’m not familiar with, though I’ve heard of it.
Thank you, Rebecca
Hey Rebecca. I tried your recipe for chocolate cake yesterday. It is WONDERFUL!!!! Thank you for publishing it. My neighbor lady ate two pieces of it, loved it and that is saying a lot since she is a professional cake baker!! Thanks again.
Rebecca, you are correct that kasha as a grain is an English word. I looked it up (in the same article as you, SHOM) and it is used for some kind of buckwheat in English. I did not know this. I assume, though, that it entered English by way of the Russian, Ukrainian, and Yiddish languages where it seems to denote the dishes made with the grain.
I may have to try this type of cereal someday.
Mach’s gut!
Kasha
Funny enough, I just had kasha for lunch 🙂 It’s popular in Polish dishes (Polish spelling is “kasza”) and there are a number of varieties, some finer grain and some much chunkier for lack of a better word. It can be a little dry so it usually needs sauce when I’m eating it. I enjoy it as a “potato alternative” 😉
https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasza