20 Unconventional Meals People Actually Ate During The Great Depression

Mulligan Stew

The Great Depression wreaked havoc on the United States between 1929 and 1941, leaving millions of people without jobs, money, and resources. The growing needs of the American public led to the emergence of some unique and even strange recipes. To put food on the table with what little they had, families turned to unusual ingredients as some of them were not available. Check out the unusual foods people ate during the Great Depression, and you'll never complain about your mom's cooking again.

Although many people call it mulligan stew, some also know it as hobo stew due to its early roots. Food historians can trace it back to the early 1910s, when migrant workers known as "hobos" began eating it with whatever they had on hand or could find. This dish also became known as community stew because groups of people shared their limited ingredients to make a large soup that could feed a crowd. Mulligan stew evolved from the idea that combining resources could produce a dish that was better than anything any person could make on their own.

Since mulligan stew has changed depending on who makes it, there is no specific recipe. It usually includes root vegetables such as potatoes and carrots and some meat. While today's recipes call for chuck roast or other larger pieces, during the Great Depression, squirrels and possums were quite common.

Creamed Chip Beef

You can go to any grocery store today and find ready-made packets of Creamed Chip Beef, but it was not so readily available during the Great Depression. The military began making this dish in the early 20th century because it was cheap and easy to make. Military cooks could easily make a batch large enough to feed a crowd. The 1910 "Manual for Army Cooks" also included a recipe that made 60 servings. Once the soldiers returned home, they began requesting it from their wives and mothers. The soldiers named the dish SOS.

Also known as creamed chipped beef, this is a simple and filling dish consisting of salted and diced beef cooked in a thin, white gravy. Usually made from round or similar pieces of beef, it is one of the cheapest cuts of meat used. Great Depression cooks often cooked meat at home and used milk from farms.

Bologna Casserole

When it comes to cheap meat, few are as cheap as bologna. Made from leftover parts after processing other cuts, it was prominent during the Great Depression. It contained enough preservatives even without refrigeration to become a staple of the migrant diet. Although you might throw a few pieces between two pieces of bread and call it a day now, it used to be often the main part of a meal.

Bologna casserole originated in the 1930s as a way to combine cheap and simple ingredients in a new way and put a complete meal on the table. It also helped cooks create pulao based on ingredients they already had in their pantries. The original recipe used canned beans, bologna, and onions. While the bologna provided the protein, the beans added more protein and worked with the onions to fill out the dish.

hoover stew

Another dish that included a lot of inexpensive ingredients was Hoover Stew. Named in honor of President Herbert Hoover, it was a common food in Hoover Town. People struggling during the Great Depression had no place to go, so he developed shanty towns named after them. This dish became popular because it required only a few ingredients and was easy to make. Migrants and homeless people can build it directly over the fire.

A legend associated with the dish claims that women in Seattle came together to share the ingredients, which later became Hoover Stew. In other parts of the country people called it Great Depression soup or poor man's soup. The original recipe calls for hot dogs, boiled tomatoes and elbow macaroni. Boiled tomatoes were readily available as many people canned them themselves while elbow macaroni and hot dogs were quite cheap.

litter tray

The history of the trash plate dates back to Nick Tahoe Hots, a restaurant that opened in 1918 in Rochester, New York. Alex Tahou opened the restaurant, which he named after his son. Tahoe designed the Trash Plate as a way to provide diners with a lot of calories and food for less money. They started with two patties made from ground beef and topped with fries made from cheap potatoes. Tahoe will then add side dishes to fill it up.

Tahou wanted to ensure that the local people had enough food to get them through the difficult times. Based on a customer's request, Nick came up with the idea to add something to the plate. On top of the hamburger patties, Nick's allows diners to add macaroni salad, beans, fried potatoes, fries, or a combination.

Fake Apple Pie

Apples were a luxury during the Great Depression. In the 19th century many people dried apples at home for large supplies during the cold months. When they didn't have dried or fresh apples, but still craved pie, they needed to get creative, which led to the creation of mock apple pie.

Although people already knew about mock apple pie, we can attribute its popularity to the Ritz. In the early 1930s, Ritz added pie recipes to the back of its cracker boxes and shipped them nationwide. This recipe sounds unusual and may even seem a little strange to some people. This requires adding crackers to the pie crust. Then you make a sugar syrup, boil it and pour it over the crust. The result is a pie that tastes like apple pie but does not use apples.