181 grandpa recipes

Old-fashioned Southern chicken and dumplings with rolled flat dumplings (not drop biscuits). Whole simmered chicken, onion broth, and a splash of milk for silky pot pie texture.

Seven layer salad with crisp iceberg, water chestnuts, peas, and a sweet parmesan-mayo dressing, finished with bacon and hard-boiled egg. A make-ahead potluck classic that chills overnight.

Grandma Rampke's easy rhubarb pie with a custard layer poured over fresh rhubarb in a single crust. Just eggs, milk, sugar, and cinnamon on top. No thickener needed.

Grandma's sweet and sour chicken simmered on the stovetop in a homemade pineapple, vinegar, and brown sugar sauce with crisp-tender peppers and onion. A from-scratch take on takeout, over rice.

Grandma's chocolate layer cake: a classic two-layer butter cake with melted chocolate and a tender crumb. An old-fashioned scratch cake for birthdays and celebrations.

An old family recipe, from Josephine Bowles Shepard, 1894-1966.

Grandma's New England pickles: whole cucumbers pickled in a vinegar, salt, sugar, and dry mustard brine for 30 days. Tangy, addictive, old-school homemade pickles with a bite.

Old-fashioned currant pound cake with mace, lemon extract, and 9 eggs folded in as stiffly beaten whites. No leavening needed. Dense, buttery, and studded with dried currants.

Great-Grandma's lemon cake with real butter, lemon zest and juice, and beaten egg whites folded in for a light crumb. A heirloom loaf cake recipe that makes two freezer-friendly loaves.

Grandma's flaky pie dough, made with both cold butter for flavor and shortening for tenderness. Pea-sized butter bits and ice water are the secret to a shatteringly flaky, foolproof homemade crust.

Quick chicken vegetable soup with potatoes, carrots, zucchini, and fresh basil. Made from scratch in one pot with low-sodium broth in under 40 minutes.

Grandma's chicken and dumpling soup with hand-made broth, cream of chicken and mushroom soups, vegetables, and feathery drop dumplings. A Midwestern comfort-food classic built for big gatherings.

Spatchcocked roast lemon chicken with white wine pan gravy, basted until deep golden brown. A classic whole chicken dinner with homemade gravy from the drippings.

Grandma Hilda's apple pie: an old-world sheet-pan apple pie with a tender egg-rich dough, piled with grated apples, brown sugar, and a cinnamon-sugar crust on top.

Grandma Murphy's Irish soda bread with buttermilk, raisins, and caraway seeds baked in a cast iron skillet. No kneading, no yeast, just mix and bake for a crusty, tender loaf.

Grandma's Ohio farm chili made with ground beef, hot Italian sausage, kidney beans, and condensed tomato soup. Served the Midwest way: ladled over mashed potatoes in a big bowl.