Welcome to Amish Country: 16 Easy Amish Recipes from Mr. Food (2024)

FAQs

What is a famous Amish dish? ›

Shoofly pie is a traditional sweet breakfast dish in Amish communities. It's made from molasses combined with water, baking soda, and flour poured into a pie shell and topped with a layer of crumb comprising flour, butter, sugar, and spices like nutmeg and cinnamon.

Lunches usually include sandwiches made with bologna or leftover meat from dinner, such as beef roast or meat loaf. Peanut butter and jelly, pizza, or other leftovers may also be eaten.

Amish food is renowned for its deliciousness and wholesomeness. Most people who have tried Amish dishes describe them as sweet, rich, and hearty. Why is Amish food so good? This food has been around for centuries, with recipes that have been handed down from generation to generation and have been perfected over time.

Characterized by communities that eschew materialism and avoid modern conveniences and technology, many Amish bake bread in wood-burning stoves, preserve pies in iceboxes and beat their eggs without the aid of electricity.

Grains, dairy, and locally sourced meats play a pivotal role in the Amish diet. These ingredients are staples cultivated, harvested, and processed within their communities. In a world where farm-to-table is a luxury, for the Amish, it's simply a way of life.

Popular Amish Foods

There's a variety of local shops around Lancaster, Pennsylvania, that sell Amish specialties such as shoofly pie, smoked cheeses, Dutch apple dumplings, and much more.

According to the Amish 365 website, pizza is a favorite for Amish families. “The Amish have had a long love affair with pizza,” the site, which focuses on Amish and Mennonite recipes and culture, states.

Their resources shaped their diet, which is why we still see delicious bread, hearty vegetables, creamy potatoes, and large variations of meat in their traditions today.

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 diet often consists of traditional Amish foods – home-cured ham from their own pigs, rivel soup, meat from their cattle, green tomato pie, and stink cheese. The Amish diet is also heavily influenced by contemporary foods – salads, casseroles, chow-chow, meatloaf, bologna, even pizza.

Do Amish people have good teeth? ›

Only 11 children were caries free. The typical Amish child had 6.8 untreated decayed primary or permanent teeth and 36.2% of the parents (76/210) reported the child had a toothache in the last 6 months. Across age categories more than 88% of children have untreated decayed teeth.

Values. The Amish are honest and ethical in everything they do, even in the smallest business transactions.

It's no surprise that outsiders are often curious about Amish everyday life, and their eating habits. Do the Amish drink coffee? The answer is yes, they certainly do! However, they don't use electric kettles or coffee machines as we do.

The Amish are best known for their plain clothing, most of it self-made, and nonconformist lifestyle.

Moist breads, heartwarming casseroles, sweet bakes, and more delicious goodies fill the Amish breakfast table. So we rounded up 13 of our favorites, from Amish Friendship Bread to Herman Biscuits to Mennonite Fritters, to showcase the sweet, tangy, and savory recipes our home cooks love.

Rachel: Yes, nine times out of ten we sit down for a family dinner. We usually eat around 6:00–7:00 p.m., do dishes, and do something fun with the kids, and sometimes Daddy has office work. Liz: What does your family enjoy doing together? Rachel: Our one-week vacation in the summer is the ultimate family bonding time.