Graceful Little Honey Bee

7 Frugal Cooking Tips from The Great Depression

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Check out this list of Frugal Cooking Tips From the Great Depression for some old-fashioned money saving advice!

Basket of colorful eggs and several shelves full of home canned food.

Frugal Cooking Tips From the Great Depression

I don’t know about you, but I’m fascinated with cooking habits from the past and I love hearing how things used to be, especially from my grandpa who lived through the depression.

He grew up one of nine children on an 80 acre farm in Arkansas and recalls a life full of hard work, plentiful food and close-knit community.

When I asked him if he thought food was better back then he replied, “Oh lord yea, it was straight out of the ground and fresh.”

So I asked him several questions about his diet and eating habits through the depression and came up with a few tips for eating well during hard times. If you like this article then you will also want to check out 8 Lessons Learned From the Great Depression.

Grow Your Own

   Growing your own food was basically the only way anyone could afford to eat during the Depression. My grandpa’s family had 80 acres so they were able to grow enough food to feed eleven people for a year. I think everyone should grow at least something since it connects you to the food that you eat and the people who came before us. If you are new to gardening then you may want to check out 5 Tips for the Beginner Gardener.

Eat From the Wild

   My grandpa recalls eating a lot of greens, herbs, fruit and meat from the wild. I’m sure a significant part of his diet came from foraging and I think it’s a great skill to have today. He said that they ate a lot of rabbit and squirrel and when I asked him about deer he said people didn’t hunt it much then. I’m sure they had more to choose from in the way of wild food during the depression, but you can still find edible wild food if you know where to look and hunting is still a great way to get fresh meat.

Barter with Neighbors

   My grandpa didn’t mention bartering during the Depression, but I imagine it went on a lot back then. If one family kept chickens and one had a dairy cow then it would only make sense to trade. I think bartering is a skill that should be revived today.

Use What is Available to You

   When talking about the depression, the main theme was to make the most of what you had. My grandpa said they didn’t eat beef because they didn’t have enough pasture to keep cows, but they ate a lot of pork and chicken because they raised them themselves. While I’m glad that we have options in our diet today, I sometimes wish that things were more limited because it would help me to simplify, be creative and appreciate food more.

Let Nothing Go To Waste

   When times are hard you make the most with what you have which means NOTHING is wasted. Wastefulness was probably somewhat of a dirty word during the Depression because resources were so scare. Everything was used and reused and all scraps were fed to the animals or composed for the garden. Considering the average American wastes a quarter of their food per year we could learn a lot from the resourcefulness previous generations. If you want to learn how to reduce your food waste, then you may want to read 20 Creative Ways to Use Kitchen Scraps or 10 Steps to Reduce Waste in the Kitchen.

Preserve Everything

   When you can’t go to the store you learn to make use of anything you can get. During the depression women used to can anything and everything including fruit, vegetables, meat and lard. I think it would serve us well to think in this manner today and try to make the most of what comes our way by preserving it. Plus, if you can get food for a good deal or even free it’s a great money saver!

Eat Lots of Corn and Potatoes

   My grandpa said they ate fried potatoes three times a day all year-long because they were filling and cheap. They also grew their own corn and ground 100 lbs of it per week to make cornmeal. These cheap, filling staples are what sustained them and kept them going through hard times. These two food items have a bad rap today, but I’m of the opinion that if it comes out of the ground then it’s probably full of nutrients and is way better for us than anything processed.

   I hope you’ve enjoyed these tips and I would love to hear any that you might have about Depression Era cooking. What did your family eat? I’d love to know!

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Want more old-fashioned money saving tips? Here are some of my favorites:

8 Lessons Learned from the Great Depression
Frugal Lessons Learned From the Amish Lifestyle
10 Forgotten Money-Saving Skills that You Need to Learn
30 Old-Fashioned Frugal Tips from Grandma

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  1. Judy says

    One article you wrote you said your grandpa lived on an 80 acre farn in arkansas and another article you said it was oaklahoma. which is it. There alot of space between the states. Both articles were on the dreression.
    Reply

  2. Sarah says

    Fantastic tips. I'm always fascinated with how things were done in the generations before. People are always complaining about how tough times are, but to be honest, we have it easy compared to our ancestors. We need to learn how to make do with what we have and drop the "want, want, want"
    Reply

  4. Janeen says

    I can't get enough stories from my grandma. She was a child of the depression too and has so much wisdom to share. Glad to hear that you value your Grandpa's wisdom!
    Reply

  6. Debra Gunter says

    My Grandmother was raised in Arkansas also, this sounds familiar. Also my parents were borned in 1926 and 1930 so I was raised do not waste!!
    Reply

  7. Nikki @ Growing Up Mom says

    I love the idea of growing your own. We don't have a lot of land, but my husband is working on building a garden on the side of our house where it looks like the old owners used to have one. We tried it last year but the dirt was too dry, so he is trying again this year and learning from our mistakes from last year. I also agree with using up what you have, there is no need to waste when the internet is here to tell you just how you can use up about anything. We are trying to teach our daughters these simple, but meaningful life lessons as well.
    Reply

  9. Leocea says

    My grandparents were in MD during the depression. They taught me to make due with what you have. With 7 kids, we do! Our oldest son,21, and my husband went crabbing today. They caught 36 crabs. Yum. Almost free food!
    Reply

  10. Lisa says

    If you look at old recipes, you often find that there are no measurements, only ingredients, like flour, baking soda, apples, etc. It was assumed and understood that the one cooking would know how much to use. I just loved that.
    Reply

  11. Annalisa says

    Today, a great alternative to canning is freezing. My parents used to save old yogurt cartons (with lids), wash them, and then fill them with chopped onion or whatnot. Not only did it cut down on prep work when it was time to cook, but it also allowed them to save what they grew. (My mother also did some canning, but sometimes I feel that the cost of canning today isn't as cost effective as it was 80 years ago.) The freezing option works quite well if you have a large chest freezer, not just a small one with the fridge.
    Reply

  12. Hemster says

    I enjoy reading and sometimes using baking recipes from the depression and the war era. They have quite a bit less sugar and often less butter or shortening than today's recipes. Probably because they were expensive ingredients, and during wartime they would have been rationed.
    Reply

  13. katie Kent says

    Your blog is everything I've been looking for online. Thank you so much for taking the time to record this information!
    Reply

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