Recipes From the Oregon Trail

One of the first things I did when I began researching life on the Oregon Trail was look up the recipes they cooked on the trail. Since they had limited ingredients and limited supplies to cook with, the food had to be simple to make yet still filling. Sometimes the men were successful in their hunting and they would bring back meat. Bacon, potatoes, and corn were important staples while molasses was often used as a sweetener. Flour was brought along for the journey, as were beans and rice since they were easy to store in the wagons. Bacon fat and lard were used as flavorings. Other popular dishes cooked along the trail were bison, oxtail soup, vegetable pie, dumplings, and various cakes and pies.

Here are some recipes from the Oregon Trail from homesteading.com.

Johnnycake

Ingredients:

2 eggs2 cups buttermilk1/2 cup flour2 Tbsp. molasses1 tsp salt2 cups cornmeal1 tsp baking powder2 Tbsp. butter

Recipe:

Beat eggs, then add buttermilk and molasses.Mix the cornmeal, flour, salt, and baking powder.Add butter.Bake the cake mixture in a dutch oven until done.

Potato Cakes

Ingredients:

6 medium potatoes2 teaspoons salt1/2 cup milk2 eggs1 cup flourShortening

Recipe:

Wash and peel potatoes, then grate medium fine.Combine with salt, milk, eggs, and flour.Drop mixture by spoonfuls into hot shortening in skillet and fry until golden brown on both sides.

Leslie J. Whipple shared some of the more popular recipes from the Oregon Trail in her The Oregon Trail Cookbook, which was published in 1992. According to Whipple, “At the heart of this [difficult] journey was the daily struggle to feed the family.” You can read more about Whipple’s cookbook here.

And here’s a modern-day recipe for bread pudding from True West Magazine since I’m pretty sure they didn’t have ovens on the Oregon Trail they could set to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. But you get the general idea.

Ingredients:

stale bread

Warm water

butter

4 cups milk

4 eggs, beaten

sp. salt

1 cup light brown sugar

sp. grated nutmeg

currants or raisins, optional

1 tsp. vanilla (Sherry’s suggestion)

sp. cinnamon (Sherry’s suggestion)

Recipe:

Cut the bread into cubes and place it in a bowl. Add enough water so all the bread is soaking and covered. Allow to sit for 10 minutes, drain and then squeeze dry.Add the butter and stir to combine. Next, add all the remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour into a 9″ x 12″ pan and bake at 350° for about 45 minutes. Allow to sit and cool before serving.

If you’re looking for a list of websites with food from the Oregon Trail, you can find it here on findrecipeworld.com.

With the exception of freshly hunted meat or milk from the cows that were brought along the trail, cooking on the Oregon Trail was largely about using what was brought along the 2000 mile journey. Despite the limited access to fresh foods, the meals were hearty. That is, as long as the family had enough to supply them for the entire journey.