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 the use of seasonal, local produce. Find traditional recipes that will keep your ribs warm and satisfied and eat you up.
PA Dutch Side Dishes
Pennsylvania Dutch folklore says that 7-sweets-7 sours refer to adding sweet and sour dishes to balance the flavours. 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 served fried or frozen. Although some people claim that 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 savoury 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 corn fields produce a large quantity of sweet, fresh corn at the peak of summer. This dish combines corn with egg noodles, rivals or small dumplings.
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 flavour. The deep red colour adds visual appeal to your dish by adding colour.
Warm Bacon Dressing for Dandelion Greens
The spring season is a great time to enjoy dandelion greens. The dandelion greens have a bitter taste. However, the warm bacon dressing adds sweet and sour flavours to the dish.
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 pot pie, and 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 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 flavours.
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 are a filling casserole made of cabbage, meat, dried fruits (such as 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 flavours of whoopie pies, but the classic one is made with two small cookies or cakes that are pressed together with a cream filling. Traditional flavours include outer chocolate cakes and a white frosting filling. However, many modern options exist, such as red velvet cakes or peanut butter-filled chocolate cakes.
Shoofly Pie
This dish is now a desert, but it was traditionally eaten as breakfast. This PA Dutch pie has a molasses base and is topped with a pastry crust. Although it is a pie, the dish looks more like a crumb cake than a pie with a traditional crust.
Apple Dumplings
Flaky dough and crisp apples make for a delicious dessert. This autumn favourite uses apples that have been peeled and cored. Then, they are cut in half and mixed with brown sugar, cinnamon, and 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.
