Amish Recipes to Recreate at Home | Discover Lancaster (2024)

FAQs

What is a traditional Amish dish? ›

Traditional Amish food includes dishes like tasty roasted chicken, creamy mashed potatoes & gravy, seasoned vegetables, fresh bread, and homemade jam. The Amish are also known for excellent baked goods, especially pies, cookies, breads, cakes, and fry pies.

The beauty of Amish dishes lies in their simplicity. There are no long lists of exotic ingredients and no intricate culinary techniques. Instead, there's a focus on freshness and quality. Butter is churned at home, bread is baked fresh every morning, and vegetables are plucked straight from the garden.

The Pennsylvania Amish of Lancaster County are America's oldest Amish settlement, where tens of thousands still live a centuries-old "Plain" lifestyle. Always a vital part of Lancaster County culture, the PA Amish are involved in agriculture as well as an array of businesses and cottage industries.

Doughnuts, long johns, sticky buns, whoopie pies, and pies are just some of the succulent treats you can purchase at bakeries in Lancaster County. Whether passed down for generations or simply inspired one day, baked goods in Lancaster are always nothing short of delicious.

The Amish Have No Dietary Restrictions

Having no dietary restrictions means they can eat whatever their heart desires. While many Amish stick to a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch diet, we've seen Amish dine at Olive Garden and take their buggies through the Burger King drive thru line.

The Amish sometimes boil coffee in a pot, but also may use a french press to brew their coffee. Then toast two slices of homemade bread fresh out of the bread-serving basket until they're golden brown. Place the toast into a large bowl and then pour the coffee over it.

Alcohol consumption isn't prohibited in all Amish communities, and neither is it encouraged. It doesn't play a big role in Amish youth culture, either. However, it often becomes more of a feature during Rumspringa.

Do Amish drink coffee? They do. In fact, coffee soup is a common breakfast dish in Amish country. It's made of coffee and generous amounts of cream and sugar.

Can Amish drink soda? ›

That said, some Amish, especially New Order, like Gloria and family, tend towards healthier diets where soda pop of any kind is a rarity. But among certain Old Order groups, “pop” has become a mainstay. This recipe comes to us from a Mennonite in Canada. You can bake the chicken in the recipe or baste it and grill it .

There are plenty of Amish leaving Lancaster County, mostly heading for other communities with cheaper farmland and less traffic and development. Some also leave for a more conservative lifestyle and to get away from some of the “worldly” influence.

Gardening, hunting, and fishing are all doubly enjoyable pastimes for Amish men, women, and children as they not only provide food for their families, but they also allow for a deepening connection with nature and with the God who they believe is present in it.

Arriving in Lancaster County in the 1720s, the oldest and largest Amish community in the country is the Amish of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

A traditional Amish wedding meal consists of a chicken and stuffing casserole, mashed potatoes, creamed celery and more. There is the big meal at noon and also a dinner is served at the end of the day. Typically guests eat in shifts, with the newly weds and their families eating first.

Processed foods just can't compare with the homemade, natural quality of Amish foods. Comforting, simple and filling, Amish foods often include hearty items such as potatoes, noodles, meats and farm fresh milk and eggs which make many of their dishes rich and creamy.

Russian Mennonites also commonly participate in a late-afternoon lunch called faspa, which usually consists of zwieback, deli meat, raisin buns, pickles, and cheese (especially cheese curds). This meal is easy to prepare and intended to give farmers a mid-afternoon lunch and Mennonite women a rest on Sunday.