Top 5 Authentic Old-Fashioned Pennsylvania Dutch Recipes

The Pennsylvania Dutch are known for their great old fashioned food. A lot of time, love and effort go into their meals. I was born and raised in Lancaster County and my fondest memories are at my Nan's house eating her wonderful homemade from scratch meals such as, chicken pot pie, chicken and waffles and chicken corn soup. There were many others and my other favorites included shoo fly pie and Amish potato salad! Now I am a mother myself and I enjoy cooking these same meals for my family. Here I will show you the top 5 Pennsylvania Dutch recipes that you can make in your own home.

Amish Potato Salad

8 medium sized potatoes

4 hard boiled eggs

1 medium sized onion

2 small grated carrots

1 cup of diced celery

1 1/2 teaspoons of salt

Dressing:

1 tablespoon flour

2 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup vinegar

1 teaspoon mustard

1 1/2 cups waters

2 tablespoons water

1/2 cup mayonaise

Serves 8 - 10

Cook potatoes whole in boiling water until soft. Once cool, remove the jackets, then dice the potatoes, eggs, onion and celery. Add the grated carrots. Now you'll make the dressing by mixing together the dry ingredients, then add eggs, vinegar and the water. Melt butter in a saucepan, then add the dressing mixture. You will cook this until thickened. Once the dressing is cooled, add the 1/2 cup of mayonaise. Then pour over the potato mixture and lightly mix.

Chicken Pot Pie

This is not a baked chicken pot pie, it's made in a pot and is known as "wet" or "slippery".

1 chicken

1 teaspoon salt

4 medium sized sliced potatoes

2 tablespoons minced parsley

Dough for the potpie noodles:

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

2-3 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon shortening

Cook the chicken until tender and meat is falling off bones. I like to make mine in a crockpot during the day, just make sure to keep the broth for the potpie. While the chicken is cooking, make your noodles:

Make a well with the flour and add the eggs and salt. Work the mixture together until it forms a stiff dough. If it is too dry, add a little bit of water or milk. Then roll out the dough as thin as you can, 1/8 inch is ideal. Cut the dough into 1 inch squares.

Once chicken is cooked, remove all bones. Add the cooked chicken back into the broth, then add the sliced potatoes. When the broth is boiling, drop the noodles in the noodles and cook for 10-12 minutes. Add the chopped parsley and serve!

Chicken and Waffles

1 chicken

1/2 cup diced celery

1 small onion diced

3 tablespoons of flour

Waffles

Cook the chicken with the celery and onion until tender and meat is falling off bones. I also like to make mine in the crockpot for this recipe too. Remove the meat from the bones and cut or shred into small pieces. Remove all of the celery and onion from the broth, then bring it to a boil. Mix the flour with some water in a seperate cup, then add to the broth. Stir until it thickens, you can add slightly more flour and water if needed. Once thickened, add the chicken and mix together. Then you can pour the gravy with chicken over hot waffles!

Chicken corn soup

1 chicken

1 chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped celery with leaves

2 1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn

2 hard boiled eggs, chopped

Salt and pepper

Cook chicken until tender (use that crockpot again!). Remove the chicken from pot and strain the brother. Remove the meat from the bones and cut or shred into small pieces, then set aside. Add the corn to the broth and bring to a boil. Add chopped celery, then season with salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes, then after chicken and chopped eggs.

A lot of recipes call for dumplings or egg noodles, but I never remember eating chicken corn soup with anything like that added. If you like it that way or would like to try it, feel free to add whatever dumpling recipe you like or egg noodles.

Shoo Fly Pie

"Wet" part of pie or bottom:

1 cup dark mild molasses

1 beaten egg

3/4 cup boiling water

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

"Dry" part of pie or top:

1 1/4 cups flour

2 tablespoons shortening

1/2 cup brown sugar

and your favorite pie crust recipe

First, dissolve the baking soda in the boiling water, add the molasses and beaten egg. Combine the sugar and flour, then rub in shortening to make crumbs and set aside. In your unbaked pie crust, pour 1/3 of the molasses mixture. Add 1/3 of the crumb mixture and continue to alternate the wet and dry mixtures and ending with the crumbs on top.

Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes.

I hope you enjoy making these authentic Pennsylvania Dutch recipes for your family, as much as I do. You'll truly feel like you're back in beautiful Lancaster County surrounded by the rich farmland. Once you make these, they're sure to become a favorite with your family and passed down for generations!