10 Pioneer Recipes Every Prepper Should Learn (2024)

This post may contain affiliate links.* As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Click here to read our affiliate policy.

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

10 Pioneer Recipes Every Prepper Should Learn (1)

There is a bit of a romantic fantasy about what it must have been like for the pioneers who traveled out west more than a hundred years ago. The idea of land that stretches on for miles without a single building or road was both exciting and frightening to them.

However, they had the skills they needed to fend for themselves without the conveniences of big cities. If a major collapse happens, it will be the people with those kinds of skills who make it.

Article continues below.

If we ever find ourselves in a world that resembles the pioneer days (no electricity, no running water, etc.), people will have to learn how to cook all over again. Cooking over a fire is a lot different than cooking in the microwave or on an electric stove. Certain meals and recipes are going to require a little tweaking.

Want to save this post for later?Click Here to Pin It on Pinterest!

Back in the pioneer days, their recipes were very simple. They didn’t have specialty grocery stores filled with hard-to-find ingredients or things that didn’t store well. They had pantry items and prepared everything from scratch. The lucky pioneers had access to fresh milk and eggs. The unlucky did without.

Pioneers relied a great deal on Dutch ovens to cook their meals on the trail. Recipes didn’t involve specific temperatures. Rather, it was just a matter of putting ingredients into the Dutch oven and letting it cook over a fire.

In this article, I’m going to share some simple recipes from those days. You may want to familiarize yourself with these recipes so you can cook meals when there isn’t any electricity and you only have the ingredients you’ve been stockpiling.

Keep in mind, the staples in a pioneer diet are a bit different than they are for us today.

1. Corn Dodgers

These are essentially round bits of cornbread that can be eaten on the move or served with stew or chili.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups cornmeal
  • 2 tablespoon butter
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1 tsp baking powder

Instructions:

  1. Get your Dutch oven nice and hot.
  2. Use a saucepan to cook cornmeal, butter, salt, sugar, and milk.
  3. Remove from heat and let sit for about five minutes.
  4. Mix in the baking powder.
  5. Use a tablespoon to drop spoonfuls of the mix into the Dutch oven.
  6. Cook for about 10 to 15 minutes or until the edges are brown.

2. Corned Beef

This isn’t something you cook, but without refrigeration, salting meat was the only way to really preserve it. The corned beef can then be used in a variety of recipes.

Ingredients:

  • 10 pounds of beef
  • 2 cups salt
  • 2 cup molasses
  • 2 tablespoon saltpeter
  • 1 tablespoon pepper
  • 1 tablespoon of cloves

Instructions:

Want to prep but not sure where to begin?
Click Here to Get Your FREE One Year Urban Survival Plan!

  1. Combine the salt and remaining ingredients in a small bowl.
  2. Rub the mixture into the beef.
  3. Allow the meat to sit for 10 days, making sure to turn the meat daily.

3. Cornmeal Mush

Easy breakfast that will stick to the ribs and keep everyone full until the midday meal.

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups boiling water
  • 1 cup cornmeal
  • 1 tbsp lard
  • 1 tsp salt
  • Dried currants

Instructions:

Put the currants in the boiling water and let cook for a few minutes. Add in the cornmeal and keep stirring to keep it from clumping. Add in the lard and salt and continue to stir for about three minutes. Remove from heat and serve immediately.

You can add butter and molasses for flavor.

4. Cured Bacon

Cured bacon was an essential food for the pioneers as they traveled out west, often carrying hundreds of pounds worth of it in their wagons. In order to ensure that the meat would not go bad under the sun, it would first be cured and then packed in a barrel to stop the fat from melting.

Ingredients:

  • Ham
  • Brown Sugar
  • Salt
  • Saltpeter
  • Molasses
  • Bowl
  • Barrel

Instructions:

  1. Mix the saltpeter, sugar, and molasses together in a bowl to form a brine
  2. Sprinkle salt over your ham
  3. Pour your brine cure over your ham before placing it into the barrel to cure.
  4. Give the meat at least four weeks to cure all the way

When the time comes to cook bacon, just cut the ham pieces into smaller strips.

5. Hasty Pudding

Also known as Indian pudding, hasty pudding was in use for hundreds of years by the pioneers and the people who came before them and served as a predecessor for the pudding that we’re used to today.

Ingredients:

  • Water (3 cups worth)
  • Salt (half teaspoon)
  • Cornmeal (half cup)

Instructions:

  • Pour the salt in with the water
  • Boil the salted water over a medium to high flame
  • Continue to stir with a spoon so clumps of salt will not form
  • Now add in your cornmeal, doing so with a steady flow
  • Continue to stir for around twenty minutes until the mixture has been cooked

6. Jerky Gravy

Gravy can be poured over soda biscuits, potatoes or even cornbread to help make a meal a little heartier and flavorful.

Ingredients:

  • Jerky chopped
  • Lard/grease
  • Flour
  • Salt and pepper
  • Milk

Instructions:

  1. Heat grease and add jerky until it is nice and crispy.
  2. Remove the chunks of jerky.
  3. In a small bowl, combine the milk and flour to form a paste.
  4. Pour the paste into the grease and slowly stir until smooth.
  5. Add back in the jerky bits and season to taste.

7. Mormon Johnnycake

A take on the standard pancake, but made with cornmeal for a fluffy, filling addition to a soup or stew.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups cornmeal
  • ½ cup flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 cups buttermilk
  • 2 tablespoon molasses
  • 2 eggs (optional)

Instructions:

Want to prep but not sure where to begin?
Click Here to Get Your FREE One Year Urban Survival Plan!

  1. Mix dry ingredients and then add in the milk and molasses.
  2. Eggs can be added to make the Johnnycake a little fluffier.
  3. Pour batter into a greased 9” pan and cook over high heat for about 20 minutes.

8. Potato Cakes

Potato cakes were essentially the predecessor to modern-day pancakes, and the pioneers relied on them extensively just like they did the cured bacon.

Ingredients:

  • 6 potatoes (ensure they are grate and peeled first)
  • Salt (two tablespoons)
  • Milk (half cup)
  • Eggs (two)
  • Flour (one cup’s worth)
  • Bowl

Instructions:

  1. Wash your potatoes by rinsing underwater.
  2. Mix the flour, eggs, milk, and salt together in a bowl.
  3. Take a mid-sized spoonful of the mixture and pour into a pan.
  4. Add shortening to the mixture if you so desire.
  5. Cook the cakes as if they were pancakes and become golden brown on both sides.

9. Soda Biscuits

Quick and easy and can be eaten alone or dipped in a little grease for flavor. Dipping the biscuits in syrup is also a way to add a little sweetness to a breakfast meal.

Ingredients:

  • 3 1/3 cups of flour
  • Milk
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt

Instructions:

  1. Pour the flour into a bowl and slowly add one tablespoon of milk at a time to form a stiff dough.
  2. In a small dish, dissolve the baking soda in about a tablespoon of milk.
  3. Mix it into the dough.
  4. Add salt and mix again.
  5. Roll out the dough until it is nice and thin.
  6. Cut circles out of the dough.
  7. Cook in a Dutch oven or standard oven until the sides are brown and the biscuits are no longer doughy.

10. Spotted Pup

Rice with some sweet flavoring can be served as breakfast, dessert or dinner.

Ingredients:

  • Cooked rice
  • Milk
  • Eggs
  • Salt
  • Sugar
  • Raisins
  • Nutmeg
  • Vanilla

Instructions:

The amount of rice you cook will depend on the number of people you are feeding.

  1. Put the rice in a Dutch oven and add in the rest of the ingredients to taste.
  2. Heat until the eggs are cooked thoroughly.

Some of these recipes will take practice. You’ll have to be familiar with your Dutch oven, cook things slightly longer or shorter, and increase or decrease ingredients to improve the taste.

Like this post? Don’t forget to Pin It on Pinterest!

If you want to learn more about pioneer skills and recipes, watch the video below.

10 Pioneer Recipes Every Prepper Should Learn (2)

You May Also Like:

  • 9 Pioneer Foods We’ll Be Eating After SHTF
  • How To Make Homemade Beef Jerky
  • 50 Substitutes for Baking Ingredients
  • 9 Survival Recipes That Are Easy To Make
  • 18 Survival Breads to Make in an Emergency

10 Pioneer Recipes Every Prepper Should Learn (3)

10 Pioneer Recipes Every Prepper Should Learn (2024)

FAQs

What are the top 10 survival foods? ›

  • Meats & Beans. Canned meat, chicken, turkey, seafood. and other protein-rich foods, such as. ...
  • Vegetables. Canned vegetables and vegetable juices. ...
  • Fruits. Canned fruits and fruit juices. ...
  • Milk. Canned, boxed or dried milk and shelf- ...
  • Grains. Ready-to-eat cereal, crackers, pretzels, ...
  • Water. Enough for 1 gallon per day.

What is the best food to stockpile long-term? ›

Dried beans, peas, lentils, etc. provide an inexpensive alternative to meat and are easy to store in glass or plastic containers tightly covered. Those purchased from the grocery shelf are normally the highest quality. Open food boxes or cans carefully so that you can close them tightly after each use.

What was a typical pioneer meal? ›

Breads, potatoes, rice, and starchy foods put backbone into a meal and the hungry souls who ate it. The mainstays of a pioneer diet were simple fare like potatoes, beans and rice, hardtack (which is simply flour, water, 1 teaspoon each of salt and sugar, then baked), soda biscuits (flour, milk, one t.

What are the best prepper items? ›

Items like tarps, rope, stakes, and twine are endlessly useful in a multitude of situations. Consider nuts, bolts, screws, and nails as well. If you sew, you very likely do so with a sewing machine. Be sure to keep fabric, thread, and needles available for hand sewing, too, in case there's a long-term loss of power.

What 2 foods can you survive on? ›

Grains and legumes constitute the cornerstone of any survival diet. They are essential for providing sustainable energy and nutrients in challenging situations. They are packed with essential nutrients and can be stored for long periods, making them ideal for survival food storage.

What is the number one food for longevity? ›

In fact, a 2022 research review found that diets with moderate to high levels of carbohydrates were associated with longevity—but only if they were unrefined carbohydrates (think: whole and minimally processed plant foods like vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains).

What single food can you survive on the longest? ›

What Is the Most Complete Food? It is argued that the single, most complete food a human needs to survive is human breast milk. Other foods may be nutritious but inevitably lack certain vitamins, minerals, etc.

What is the cheapest long lasting food? ›

10 Cheap (and Healthy) Foods that Last a Long Time
  • Dried Beans and Lentils. Average Price: Under $2 for a 1-pound bag. ...
  • Brown Rice and Other Whole Grains. Average Price: About $2 (depending on where you purchase) for a 1-pound bag. ...
  • Frozen Vegetables. ...
  • Peanut Butter. ...
  • Canned Tuna. ...
  • Eggs. ...
  • Whey Protein. ...
  • Apples.

What foods will be short in 2024? ›

Staple crops like rice, wheat, and corn are among the most affected by food shortages in 2024. Extreme weather events, such as droughts and floods, have significantly reduced yields in major producing regions. Additionally, geopolitical conflicts disrupting supply chains exacerbate these shortages.

What did pioneers eat for breakfast? ›

Beans, cornmeal mush, Johnnycakes or pancakes, and coffee were the usual breakfast. Fresh milk was available from the dairy cows that some families brought along, and pioneers took advantage go the rough rides of the wagon to churn their butter.

What did the pioneers drink? ›

Many 1800s pioneers traveled in covered wagons. Since there were no stores along the wagon trails, they had to pack all everything they would need for the journey. Water would be carried in canteens, and they would often drink coffee as well.

What did the Mormon pioneers eat? ›

Poor families gleaned wheat from fields. Pioneers in 1847 learned about local foraging from indigenous tribes like the Goshutes. Pioneers ate wild sego bulbs, rose hips, berries, onions, nettles, amaranth, dandelion greens, wild mushrooms, and artichokes.

What is the longest lasting prepper food? ›

Soft grains include things like oats, rye, and quinoa. They are stable for about 8 years on average, but this can be increased to 20 years in ideal conditions. Hard grains include buckwheat, corn, flax, mullet, wheat, and more. These grains can last from 12 years to 30 or more!

What are the top 7 survival items? ›

These 7 basic survival kit components are: food, water, first aid, warmth & shelter, sanitation & hygiene, lighting & communication and other survival gear.

What food should preppers stock up on? ›

Ready-to-eat canned meats, fruits and vegetables. Canned juices, milk, soup (if powdered, store extra water) Staples " sugar, salt, pepper. High energy foods " peanut butter, jelly, crackers, granola bars, trail mix.

What are the top 10 foods you can't live without? ›

10 Foods I Couldn't Live Without
  1. Natural Yogurt. For a long time I did not have milk at all in my diet and so I relied on yogurt as my main source of calcium. ...
  2. Bananas. ...
  3. Apples. ...
  4. Nakd Cereal Bars. ...
  5. Oats. ...
  6. Rice. ...
  7. Garlic. ...
  8. Chilli.
Aug 28, 2019

What are the 4 super foods? ›

So although there's no such thing as a “superfood”, we've put together a shortlist of four foods that have substantial evidence behind them.
  • Garlic. ...
  • Dark berries. ...
  • Spirulina. ...
  • Leafy greens. ...
  • Don't listen to the hype.
Jan 31, 2023

What single food would you survive on? ›

In short, it's biologically impossible to survive on one food. Regardless of whether you opted for a protein-heavy diet and choose steak as your food of choice, or aim to maximize your green veggie intake by consuming spinach for the rest of days, your body would eventually fail you.

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Lakeisha Bayer VM

Last Updated:

Views: 6107

Rating: 4.9 / 5 (49 voted)

Reviews: 88% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Lakeisha Bayer VM

Birthday: 1997-10-17

Address: Suite 835 34136 Adrian Mountains, Floydton, UT 81036

Phone: +3571527672278

Job: Manufacturing Agent

Hobby: Skimboarding, Photography, Roller skating, Knife making, Paintball, Embroidery, Gunsmithing

Introduction: My name is Lakeisha Bayer VM, I am a brainy, kind, enchanting, healthy, lovely, clean, witty person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.