Top 11 Depression Era Foods That Are Making A Comeback!

Top 11 Depression Era Foods That Are Making A Comeback!

Foods that were once popular in the Great Depression are making a comeback as people have been forced to get creative and back in the kitchen. Dinner couldn’t get simpler than old-fashioned baked beans. Beans are low-cost, filling, and can be bought in bulk. Baked beans are also super easy to make on the stovetop. Navy beans are a staple at barbecues, but are great year-round when you’re looking for a simple home-cooked meal. Celebrate Boston explains baked beans go back as far as the first Pilgrims, cooked the night before the Sabbath to avoid cooking on the holy day.

The secret to truly flavorful 1930s Boston-style baked beans is the addition of bacon, honey, and molasses. The beans aren’t fussy, so you can soak your own and start from scratch or use canned beans. You can even put your own spin on the Depression-era food if you don’t have the sweeteners, or if you run out of bacon or fatback. You can add spices such as cayenne or a splash of beer.

Or? You can add hot dogs. In the 1930s, vegetable stands started offering the “Depression sandwich”: a hot frankfurter on a roll with fries and a rotating selection of vegetables on top. This working-class hot dog also made its way onto dinner plates at home as a cheap meat that many could afford at the local butcher.

Home cooks paired wieners and beans as a hearty meal that could flavor the meat and fill up the whole family. Mixing in vegetables, seasonings, and onions are also easy ways to stretch out the humble dogs into a more filling main dish. Keep watching for more Depression-Era Foods That Are Weirdly Making A Comeback.