Lancaster County is located in the heart of Keystone State. It’s a quiet region with many farms, bed and breakfasts and traditions. Lancaster, America’s largest home of Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine, is well-known for its Amish community. These dishes are known for their comfort food taste and seasonal, local produce. Find traditional recipes that will keep your ribs warm, keep you satisfied, and eat you up.
PA Dutch Side Dishes
Pennsylvania Dutch folklore says that 7-sweets-7 sours refer to the addition of sweet and sour dishes to balance out the flavors. These traditional PA Dutch side dishes will help you keep a balanced meal.
Scrapple
Scrapple is made from the leftovers and trimmings from pork or other meats, combined with cornmeal, and then shaped into a loaf. The loaves can then be sliced and either fried or frozen for storage. Although some people claim it is an acquired taste, true Pennsylvania Dutch and Pennsylvania pork lovers consider it a standard breakfast. You can pair it with sweet condiments like maple syrup, grape jelly, and applesauce. You can also make it savory by adding mustard or ketchup to the dish.
Chicken Corn Soup
This side dish is a heartier version of America’s traditional chicken noodle soup. It compellingly uses fresh produce. Lancaster’s rolling cornfields produce a large quantity of sweet, fresh corn at the peak of summer. Corn is combined with egg noodles, rivals or small dumplings in this dish.
Red Beet Eggs
Pickled beet or red beet egg is the perfect picnic or lunch pairing. This recipe uses hardboiled eggs and combines cider vinegar, sugar, salt, and beet juice to give it a distinctive flavor. The deep red color adds visual appeal to your dish by adding color.
Warm Bacon Dressing for Dandelion Greens
The springtime is a wonderful time to enjoy dandelion greens. The dandelion greens have a bitter taste. However, the warm bacon dressing adds sweet and sour flavors.
Apple Butter
Lancaster County is known for its traditional Pennsylvania Dutch apple butter. The perfect autumn dish is this creamy, flavorful spread thanks to the addition of seasonal spices like cinnamon and cloves and crisp apples, sugar, honey, and apple cider. This sweet, thick spread can be paired with sandwiches, sweet potatoes, cottage cheese and biscuits.
Dutch Entrees in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Dutch Entrees are a great way to enjoy balanced, flavorful meals.
Chicken Pot Pie
There are two types of a chicken pot pie: one is PA Dutch chicken potpie, the other is chicken pot pie. What is the difference? The crust on traditional Pennsylvania Dutch pot pie does not have a crust. This comfort food is more like a soup or stew. This comfort food is packed with large, flat noodles, chunks of chicken, and hearty vegetables like onions, potatoes, carrots, and potatoes.
Schnitz un Knepp
Schnitz refers to dried apples, and Knepp is a type of dumpling. Combine them, and you’ll have a traditional dish that is perfect for winter or fall. This dish can be made with either pork shoulder or ham and includes dried apples and dumplings. This dish, a sweet and sour pairing of tart apples and sweet brown sugar, creates the perfect balance in flavors.
Spaetzle
Spaetzle is a delicious and intriguing mix of small noodles and mini dumplings. Spaetzle is an egg-based pasta that often contains a lot of butter and a pinch of nutmeg. It is traditionally fried in butter and boiled before being served.
Gumbis
Gumbis is a filling casserole made of cabbage, meat, dried fruits (apples) and onions. Some mix the ingredients while others make layers that look like lasagna.
Ham Balls
This dish has a very similar concept to a meatball. These meatballs can be made from ground ham or ground pork. Ham balls are often topped with sweet pineapple glaze to achieve the perfect balance between sweet and sour.
PA Dutch Desserts
There are plenty of sweet desserts for ending a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch meal, provided you and your guests have saved some room.
Whoopie Pies
There are many flavors of whoopie pies, but the classic one is made with two small cookies or cakes that are pressed together with a cream filling. Traditional flavors include outer chocolate cakes and a white frosting filling. However, there are many modern options:
- Red velvet cakes
- Marshmallow cream filling carrot cake
- Chocolate cakes with peanut butter filling
Shoofly Pie
This dish is now a desert, but it was traditionally eaten at breakfast. This PA Dutch pie has a molasses base and is topped with a pastry crust. Although it is called a pie, the dish looks more like a crumb cake than a pie with traditional crust.
Apple Dumplings
Flaky dough and crisp apples make for a delicious dessert. This autumn favorite uses apples that have been peeled and cored. Then, they are cut in half and mixed with brown sugar, cinnamon, butter. The delicious, gooey mixture is then wrapped in dough and baked to a golden brown. You can serve it alone or drizzle it with caramel sauce.
Church Spread
Church spread was traditionally served at Amish gatherings and after church services. It is a dessert condiment used to top biscuits, cakes, crackers, and bread. This spread combines sweet brown sugar, corn syrup, marshmallow creme, and peanut butter. They create a spreadable mixture that is perfect to pair with other dishes.
Fasnacht’s
Fat Tuesday is the day before Lent begins. It’s celebrated all across the country by eating cookies or, in Pennsylvania Dutch, Fasnacht. Fasnacht’s were traditionally made to burn any fat in the home in preparation for Lent. The German term Fasnacht means “night before fast.” You can also stick to tradition and cut these doughnuts in half, spreading molasses on top.