30 Good Old Recipes from Grandma's Kitchen
Explore our list of vintage recipes your grandma used to make. We're sure you'll see an old family recipe you forgot on our list.
There's nothing quite like old fashioned recipes to get you excited about sitting down to dinner. These comforting dishes might be staples in our homes and are likely to evoke memories from our childhood. From days spent with our moms in the kitchen to nights sitting down to the table with the whole family, food-centered nostalgia is a powerful thing. Prepare for a yummy and comforting dose of nostalgia when you scroll through the tasty recipes straight from my (and your) grandma's kitchen. We love old family recipes and tried to include as many as we could below.
So much quality time is spent over delicious meals in fact, that we wanted to share some old fashioned recipes we remember fondly. We've gathered 30 vintage recipes that have been the cornerstone of so many American dinner tables. With these classic old recipes (some of which are even better than you remember), we hope you'll be able to recreate some of the nostalgia you remember from your youth and recreate that for your family. Take a stroll down memory lane, indulge in some comfort food, and introduce a vintage favorite to your family.
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And to start, take a look at our test kitchen recipe for Grandma's Old Fashioned Aspic:
Table of Contents
Old Fashioned Dinner Recipes
These old fashioned dinner recipes will bring back those memories of what it was like gathering around the dinner table as a child. From classic recipes Mom used to make like tuna casserole and meatloaf to recipes you might remember from the diner, like chicken fried chicken and Salisbury steak, these old fashioned meals are bound to please.
Start with this recipe for Comforting Tuna Noodle Casserole!
The fluffy potatoes and hearty filling in this vintage shepherd's pie recipe will have your family running to the table. It's one of grandma's recipes that we think she's happy to let us steal.
Southern Chicken Fried Chicken
The fluffy potatoes and hearty filling in this vintage shepherd's pie recipe will have your family running to the table. It's one of grandma's recipes that we think she's happy to let us steal.
This comforting casserole is one of those old fashioned meals that will never go out of style. It's easy to make, full of yummy ingredients like bacon and tomatoes, and perfect in just about any season.
You're going to want to go back for seconds of this recipe. Complete with hearty beef and tender egg noodles, this goulash is exactly what we picture when we think of classic German cooking.
Vintage Hoppin John in a Slow Cooker
This recipe is hearty, delicious, and couldn't be easier to make. Just let it hang out in the slow cooker and enjoy a delicious meal in the evening.
Meatloaf can be a polarizing meal, but we're sure that you're going to love Paula Deen's take on old fashioned meatloaf.
This easy Amish casserole is perfect for enjoying on any weeknight. It's a snap to make, and everyone will want to go back for seconds.
Classic Salisbury Steak Recipe
When we talk about old fashioned cooking, salisbury steak is always a recipe that comes to my mind. It's rich and flavorful, and it's a classic that I turn to again and again.
Old Fashioned Beef and Noodles
This old time recipe is comfort food at its best. Rich roast beef and gravy flood over tender egg noodles. You'll pick up your fork for the first bite and find it difficult to put it down at the end of the meal.
Old-Fashioned Southern Macaroni and Cheese
Baked mac and cheese is a classic, and we're happy to share this Civil War era version with you! It's got everything you love in a good macaroni and cheese recipe.
We're love taking old recipes and making them new again, which is exactly what we've done here. Chicken pot pie soup has tons of flavor, but you don't have to worry about pie crust.
This is proof that food from the 1930s is worth bringing back again! Discover our24 Classic Great Depression Era Recipes
Old Fashioned Dessert Recipes
What's better than delicious old fashioned desserts? We can't think of much. Pound cake, cookies, pie, and cookie bars... the treats below are things you might remember seeing in your grandmother's cookbook. Mom may have been passed a few of these vintage recipes over the years, and now it's your turn. Pour yourself a tall glass of milk and get ready to take a trip down memory lane with these great desserts.
Start with this delicious recipe for Grandma's Magic Cake!
If you're looking for a good old-fashioned German recipe, this may be one of the best. German Butter Pound Cake is a cake recipe from scratch that makes the most moist, delicious pound cake you'll ever eat.
Little Old Lady Lemon Pound Cake
This is one of our top old fashioned dessert recipes! It just doesn't get any better than this fluffy, flavorful lemon pound cake.
Pecan pie is another recipe that reminds us of yesteryear. But these pecan pie bars make whipping up an old fashioned pie recipe easier than ever.
Vintage Chocolate Chip Cookies
Who doesn't love a good old fashioned chocolate chip cookie recipe? These are our favorites, and we think they will be yours too.
Did you know that during the war, carrots were often used in baked goods because they were easier to get than sugar? This yummy recipe is inspired by the creative cooks at the time, and we're so pleased with the results.
This isn't exactly my grandma's recipe for divinity, but it's pretty close. She made this delicious candy at Christmas every year, and it always brings back fond memories whenever I eat it.
Bread pudding is one of those old time recipes that we're glad has never gone out of style. This one is gooey, spicy, and just what we want after dinner.
Do you remember this cake? Classic Tandy Cake is made with chocolate and peanut butter, proving that old fashioned cooking is among the best there is.
TEST KITCHEN RECIPE! Pink stuff, also known as pink fluff or pink salad, is an old-fashioned recipe that is actually pretty yummy. This frozen treat has that colorful, weird look of other vintage recipes, but actually tastes sweet and tasty. Check out our full test kitchen recipe to learn where the pink hue comes from (hint: you use a specific jello flavor).
COOKBOOK RECIPE! This minty green cake has all the style of 1950s chiffon and all the taste of a family-favorite pie. Our vintage pie recipe can be made in 20 minutes and chilled overnight. Right out of our cookbook series, this is one of chef Addie Gundry's favorites!
Loving this? Check out these Old-Fashioned Ginger Molasses Cookies!
Note: This recipe is from RecipeLion Cooking Club. Non-members can access 3 free recipes every month. Subscribe to the RecipeLion Cooking Club for unlimited access to their entire recipe archive, featuring hundreds of exclusive recipes!
Other Classic Vintage Recipes & Old Fashioned Snacks
What do sour cream doughnuts have in common with chicken pot pie? Not a lot, thankfully! But they are both delicious old fashioned recipes and they can both be found in the list below that includes a few more of our vintage favorites. We just couldn't leave these old time recipes off the list, so we hope you enjoy!
Start your feast with this recipe for Grandma Frances' Wisconsin German Potato Salad.
Old Fashioned Sour Cream Doughnuts
These Old Fashioned Sour Cream Doughnuts will take you back to a simpler time and remind you just how good breakfast can taste.
Just Like Mom's Old Fashioned Stuffing
This is one of our favorite old fashioned side dish recipes. We don't just make it on Thanksgiving, we make it all year long!
These crab puffs remind us of cocktail parties from years gone by. But they don't have to be a thing of the past, because this recipe is so quick and easy to make!
Our Famous Ambrosia Salad Recipe
Fruity, fluffy, and bursting with flavor, this ambrosia salad recipe is one that we just can't get enough of.
Slow Cooker Green Bean Casserole
Have you ever made green bean casserole in the slow cooker? If you haven't, you should! It saves so much time, and the results are just as delicious and flavorful as ever.
Who doesn't love this old fashioned appetizer? Serve it with crackers for a snack that will disappear almost as soon as you set it out.
The 1950s were a great time for food, and we are excited to bring some of the recipes back! Check out these delicious old fashioned food recipes.31 Old Fashioned Recipes from the 1950s
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Eugenia
Oct 27, 2017
I have a soft spot for mashed potatoes. My mom would make them slightly chunky and not too buttery!
aketch
Feb 19, 2017
My mother always made apple strudel from scratch. It turned out perfectly every time and was sprinkled with icing sugar. Sometimes mom would add a dollop of whipping cream and it would all just melt in your mouth.
Demelza
Feb 18, 2017
My Grandpa would make me peanut butter honey sandwiches on homemade white bread. The sandwiches were so thick I could barely open my mouth wide enough to eat them.
zeldabell
Feb 17, 2017
My gran's yeasted maple bars and donuts. Oh my. She made huge batches after someone harvested a hog (yes ladies, she rendered pig fat to fry the donuts in and it was a stinky project.) bars, donuts and donut holes covered our counters and tables, proofing before frying. She topped the bars with maple frosting and the donuts with chocolate frosting or powdered sugar. Some of them she froze for use later and would top them after they defrosted. And uh yes I considered fresh maple bars a wonderful Meal! And yes, I was a chubby kid!!
FoodLover
Feb 17, 2017
I will never forget my mom's soup She used to start it when winter was on its way We used to call it stone soup after the legend of the traveler who got people to donate ingredients for him to make some soup when he had nothing but a stone and in the end he shared it with everybody It was a soup that was most definitely shared My mom's office was at our home and her staff used to come in daily then go about their chores They would always pop into the kitchen for a cup of that soup before going on their way My mom's soup was an everlasting pot on the stove and she just kept adding to it If there was ever anything left over from a meal into the pot it went The Soup tasted better and better as the days passed and we continued…Read More to add to it Now my mom is a retired pensioner but she is still making that soup except now it is made in the slow cooker I have the recipe and I will be posting it soon Watch this space
fshore 3717045
Feb 16, 2017
Every winter my Mom made a delicious sweet and sour stuffed cabbage. I learned the recipe from her and made it for my family. After Mom died, I would invite him for dinner and send him home with what remained. The year after he died, l made it for my family and as I wrapped up the remains and burst into tears as memories flooded in.
bertfl69 6231778
Feb 16, 2017
My favorite dish as a child was my mom's goulash. It's the only dish that I can't make like she did.
shortiewarren 4666 257
Feb 15, 2017
It would have to be my mom's homemade potato soup, for the life of me I can't make it come out the same
steventalerico 812 4505
Feb 14, 2017
Home made from scratch, chicken pot pies my Mom would make on cold winter days growing up in Upstate NY when I would go home for lunch, since my school was very close to m house.
len10pin
Feb 14, 2017
Eating dinner at my Grandmother's house after church o Sunday. My favorite part of the meal was her homemade yellow cake with homemade chocolate candy icing.
amatlin
Feb 14, 2017
I used to stay overnight at my Grandma's and she would let us have Eggo waffles with piles of powdered sugar! Waffles still make me think of her.
butter 2120908
Feb 10, 2017
My fondest food memory is Thanksgiving when I was small. My mother was cooking the turkey of course, but my German Grandma and Grandpa both helped. They made a German dish called "Filtzel" which my father absolutely LOVED. The "Filtzel" called for chopped potato and bacon (not masked) plus parsley and raw egg. I have never found any recipe in print but I have an old card that my Aunt developed from her memory. But I can still see Grandpa chopping the potatoes in a big wooden bowl with a circular chopper.
bambakes7
Feb 10, 2017
Funeral potatoes. My mom would only make them for family gatherings or holiday parties. I was of the opinion that they should be made on a weekly basis. Unfortunately I did not win that fight.
KathrynAllison
Feb 10, 2017
My grandma always made angel food cake with peanut butter frosting. The cake was light as air. It was incredible! Now I think of her every time I see that cake.
EditorLP
Feb 10, 2017
My very best food memory is of a few different time when my Grandpa picked me up from middle school, with fresh-baked, warm chocolate chip cookies and chocolate milk in the car for me to have as an after-school snack on my way to a play rehearsal. None of my family members seem to know what chocolate chip cookie recipe my grandpa used, but they were definitely the best ever!
KLC
Feb 10, 2017
My family's version of a German pancake. It was our go-to weekend breakfast. It was the first recipe I ever learned and it's still the only one I have completely memorized.
Jim Moriarty
Feb 10, 2017
My dad used to work in an Italian restaurant growing up, so he took all of those cooking skills he learned and incorporated them into our regular food regimen. With that in mind, I developed an interesting palate pretty early on. Even though I was a wee one, I had the spirit and cravings of a middle-aged Italian guy. I loved linguine and clam sauce. LOVED. IT. Unfortunately, my mom hated it, so I'd have to wait for those days when my mom was out of town visiting our aunt who lives in Florida. When she left, I'd be swimming in linguine and clam sauce. Oh man.
CScarnegie
Feb 10, 2017
I remember going to Disney World when I was in kindergarten. My parents bought a few sticks of rock candy for us to try for the first time. It rocked!
Sara R
Feb 10, 2017
My fondest food memories are usually when my sister and I try to make something and then over-complicate it and then fail. One time we decided to make a smoothie. But we started adding so many things to it that it turned a disgusting green color and it looked like steam was coming out of it. We ended up putting the blender outside because it smelled so bad.
ashleroo
Dec 23, 2016
This is a fantastic go-to link for classic recipes that are sure to be crowd-pleasers. There is nothing like a classic tummy warming shepherd's pie to make your family (and yourself) very happy! I highly recommend that one. Magic Cake is a really fun one to try, especially if you have little ones that like to cook. That will think that it's so fun seeing how the layers separate as the cake cooks, although I would recommend adding a touch of lemon juice as a stabalizer, so the layers separate properly. The goulash is a nice one on a cool fall or winter day that will warm you up nicely. It's definitely worth trying out these delicious classics.
Crafter 19342
Oct 10, 2014
When I clicked on the link to come to the site I thought this link for 325 charming Old-Fashioned recipes and 19 Vintage Recipes were going to be eBooks. Instead they were separate recipes and I was really disappointed.
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