10 Great Depression Era Recipes for Cheap Meals (2024)

FAQs

What was a typical meal during the Great Depression? ›

Celery soup mixed with tuna fish and mashed potatoes. A salad of corned beef, gelatin and canned peas. Baked onion stuffed with peanut butter. Those are just some of the recipes Americans turned to during the Great Depression, when many families struggled to eat enough nutritious food.

Soup kitchens and bread lines were methods of feeding the neediest people in the country during the Great Depression. Run by charities, private companies, and the government, many soup kitchens and bread lines served thousands of people a day.

Perhaps one hobo acquired a few carrots from a charitable person, while another stole an onion off a box car, while another had a few potatoes from a farm he worked on briefly… From this concoction, a “hobo stew,” also known as “Mulligan/Mulligatawney stew” was born and became the traditional food of the hobo.

Not only was access to food limited by rationing, many people had to turn to soup kitchens, which are places where people can go and get a free meal, or food stamps, which are booklets of stamps that could be used to buy food, cleaning supplies, and other necessities, to get enough food to feed their families.

But back in the 1930s, inexpensive parcels of meat such as beef necks or pork liver would have been part of the frugal fare for African-Americans, especially in Chicago with its many stockyards. And, oh yes, there was chicken - as in chicken feet, he said. Both beans and greens of various descriptions were popular.

At this time popcorn was often a breakfast food, eaten from a bowl with milk just as we eat cereal today. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, popcorn's popularity as an everyday snack food started to grow. It was a fun and thrifty snack for families who could afford few luxuries.

Potatoes were also inexpensive and used extensively. Some meals even used both. One of these meals was called the Poor Man's Meal. It combined potatoes, onions, and hot dogs into one hearty, inexpensive dish, which was perfect for the hard times people had fallen on.

Nuts and seeds.

Walnuts offer high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, which support brain health. Other nuts and seeds such as pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, peanuts and almonds are also beneficial because they contain magnesium. This nutrient has been shown to boost levels of serotonin, the “feel-good” brain chemical.

During the Great Depression preceding the passage of the Social Security Act, "soup kitchens" provided the only meals some unemployed Americans had. This particular soup kitchen was sponsored by the Chicago gangster Al Capone.

What unusual dessert became popular during the depression? ›

Depression cake is a type of cake that was commonly made during the Great Depression. The ingredients include little or no milk, sugar, butter, or eggs, because the ingredients were then either expensive or hard to obtain.

A new set of wheels would set you back $860, a movie ticket was just 25c, gas was 10c per gallon and a postage stamp was 3c. Sugar cost 59c for 10 pounds, vitamin D milk was 50c a gallon, ground coffee cost 39c per pound, bacon was 32c per pound and eggs were 18c a dozen.

They included: Kool-Aid powder drink, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, Bisquick, Spam (precooked canned pork), Twinkies, Ritz Crackers, Lay's Potato Chips, cereals of Cheerios and Chex and Three Musketeers Bar. Maybe the most favorite item coming from the 1930s was the new Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies developed in 1938.

Town families could not produce their own food. Many city dwellers often went hungry. Sometimes there were soup kitchens in larger cities that provided free meals to the poor. Winters were an especially hard time since many families had no money to buy coal to heat their houses.