Vintage Comfort Food Recipes

November 26, 2019

Get ready for some down-home, vintage, Americana comfort food! These throw-back recipes from all over the country will give you a taste of tried-and-true dishes that some might call old-fashioned and others generational homeruns. From New England Apple Brown Betty, to Two Lucky Spoon’s Old-Fashioned Pot Roast and Vintage Recipe Project’s Salmon Patties, these authentic eats are nostalgic, culinary treats.

Vintage Entrees

Jodie and Blaine are home cooks and culinary bloggers for Two Lucky Spoons and their Old-Fashioned Pot Roast takes time to make, but the flavor and tenderness of the beef and vegetables are worth it! Jodie says there’s a reason she never makes pot roast in a crock pot but rather prefers to use a heavy Dutch oven: it’s so the liquid doesn’t evaporate out into the ether. Choose a chuck roast with lots of marbling, she advises, to give the meat flavor — and be sure to cut your veggies (potatoes, carrots, onions) big and chunky.  

Yankee Red Flannel Hash is a classic diner dish and one you can make at home with beets, pastry, and potatoes, topped with eggs — pan-fried to your desired level of doneness. 

Easy Chicken Corn Chowder  is a Taste of Home favorite from the Reader’s Digest collection of recipes “like Grandma Used to Make,” which uses cooked chicken, onion, red pepper, celery and creamed corn plus a can of evaporated milk. The prep time is only 30 minutes and you can add cheddar cheese and top it with bacon for a little more yum.

These Vermont Johnnycake Muffins from In The Vintage Kitchen are a little bit sweet, like Northerners like them, but not so sugary that they taste like cake. Although Southerners prefer their cornbread without sugar, these are a meet-in-the-middle compromise. The sweetness comes from maple syrup and they are still the perfect accompaniment for soup – either that bowl of corn chowder or steaming hot chili.

Vintage Desserts

Averyl Hill’s love of the simple life in Portland, Maine spawned a blog where she reprints a recipe for New England Apple Brown Betty. It’s an easy one adapted from her copy of the 1936 Boston Cooking School Cookbook and it’s a thrifty way to make use of leftover or stale bread (nothing goes to waste in Averyl’s cottage!). Butter, breadcrumbs, apples, sugar and nutmeg are the key ingredients, and the recipe can be used for peaches or rhubarb, too.

Pull out your electric mixer for this Chocolate Truffle Pie with Amaretto Cream, which sounds exotic but is easy to make whether you’ve been doing it for 50 years or just want to try! It’s a combination of semi-sweet and bittersweet chocolate chips melted in your microwave plus butter, brown sugar and eggs plus vanilla and almond extracts. While it only takes about 30 minutes to bake, you’ll need to chill it for an hour while you make the Amaretto Cream topping!

This Classic Southern Buttermilk Pie always keeps ‘em coming back for seconds, so cut small pieces for the next round of servings! This creamy custard dessert is a throwback to an era when ingredients were rationed during the Depression and World War II. Southern women worked with things they had on hand and this recipe gets its signature tang from the buttermilk, lemon juice and a hint of vanilla. 

Vintage Fish Dishes

If you lived in the Pacific Northwest, you’d know there are six types of salmon and you’d probably be acquainted with a lot of them! Salmon Patties are a throwback all the way to the 1950s and while this recipe uses canned salmon, there’s no reason you can’t use filets from Costco and flake them up! Billie Hillier started the Vintage Recipe Project, because she loves family traditions and wanted to “save” recipes from the past to prevent them being lost forever.

Flounder with Shrimp Stuffing is worth the prep and blends two fishy favorites with a bevy of flavorful ingredients, from beef broth (or clam juice) and pimentos, to Worcestershire sauce, dill, chives and cayenne. Serve it with roasted veggies and rice, for an all around perfect meal.

All Around Southshore

Home chefs in the master-planned community of Southshore have their own vintage recipes they love to make this time of year. Join this close-knit community of friends in new homes from Century Communities, Richmond American Homes and Toll Brothers for a taste of Life at the Lake. These ranch and two-story designs are priced between the $400s and the $700s, are close to everything you might need – but away from it all!