14 grandpa meals young people should learn to appreciate

There are so many grandpa-style meals out there that look old-fashioned at first, but when you sit down to eat them, they taste a whole lot better.

The diner plate that disappeared

Liver and onions is the kind of meal that really suffers from a reputation problem. Part of that is because, yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like, liver and onions. It’s not trying to hide that fact. But cooked properly, liver tastes both soft and rich.

The onions turn sweet around the edges, and they can cut through that stronger flavor pretty easily. Try adding in some mashed potatoes and gravy, maybe even bacon, and you’ll have a dish that makes a lot more sense. You don’t have to rely on the same animal cuts all the time.

Sunday dinner without the fuss

You can’t deny it. There’s something so satisfying about a meal that doesn’t try to reinvent itself, and meatloaf is a great example of that. There are plenty of people who still eat it, sure, but there are also so many young people who hate it.

They’d rather have ground beef in hamburgers or tacos. But maybe they should try a slice of good old-fashioned meatloaf. Pair it with mashed potatoes and pour gravy over both. Then, you’ll have soft, savory comfort food with very little showing off. The cold leftovers also make for some excellent sandwiches the next day.

Yesterday’s dinner becomes breakfast

Leftovers don’t have to be boring. Just get some leftover corned beef and potatoes, then turn them into corned beef hash with fried eggs. All you have to do is chop it all up with some onion and throw it into a hot skillet. Leave it alone long enough for the bottom to get crispy.

The fried eggs go on top, and the yolk runs into all those browned bits. That’s exactly what you want. It’s a great meal for young people because it’ll stop them from wasting food, and it doesn’t taste like leftovers, either.

A ham bone still has work to do

You might’ve eaten the ham and finished dinner. Yet there’s still a bone sitting on the cutting board. Older people know it’s still useful, as you can make split pea soup with ham using the bone.

You simmer it with dried peas, onion, celery, and stock, right until the peas almost melt into the broth. This helps the scraps of meat come off the bone along the way. It might not be glamorous, but it sure makes for an easy, cheap meal that’ll fill you up on a cold day.

One pot handles the whole dinner

Too many young people look down on pot roast. They’re used to making meals that take 20 minutes to cook, so they’re often turned off by something that takes hours to make. But most of that time involves patience, not actual work.

You just have to leave the beef inside an oven for several hours to make it really tender. So tender, in fact, that you can pull it apart with a fork. Once you add in the carrots, potatoes, and onions right beside it, you have a deliciously hearty meal that requires very little.

The cabbage has something inside

So many young people assume that cabbage rolls are disgusting. They look like dinner wrapped in a leaf, after all. But once you cut one open, you’ll find that the inside is much tastier. It’s usually a mix of ground meat, rice, onion, and seasoning, all tucked into softened cabbage.

The tomato-based ones are probably the best, although each older person has their own spin on it. The cooking process completely changes the taste of the cabbage. It gets tender and slightly sweet in all the best ways.

The military breakfast that came home

The name ‘creamed chipped beef on toast’ is enough to put most young people off. But they shouldn’t let that happen. The actual plate is a lot better than the name suggests, as it’s made of thin pieces of dried, salted beef, covered by a creamy white sauce.

You spoon the whole thing over crisp toast. It’s a dish that the U.S. Army served over a century ago, and honestly, it’s not hard to see why. The meal is comforting and filling in all the best ways.

Dinner really did get boiled

People really did call it boiled dinner, and yes, that does sound pretty unexciting. But young people should give it a chance. The meal itself is better than it sounds, and it’s made of corned beef or another cut of meat, cooked in a big pot with vegetables.

All the flavor comes from the cooking liquid, especially the potatoes and cabbage. There have been versions of it around in New England for generations. While it might not be crispy or fancy, it sure will make you feel good after eating.

The cut that asks for patience

The toughest part of selling tripe stew is, well, the tripe. It comes from a cow’s stomach. Yes, really. But even though the origins might be a little gross, many older cooks have made excellent tripe stew from it.

Leaving the meat to simmer for a long time completely changes its texture, from something chewy to something way softer. It does take hours to make, and that’s probably why many young people aren’t interested. They don’t have the patience for anything other than fast food.

Fish belonged at the breakfast table

Not every breakfast has to be sweet, and kippered herring is proof of that. Kippers are herring that have been split, salted or brined, and then smoked. It gives them a strong salty flavor that works really well in the morning, especially alongside eggs and toast.

The dish might seem like a lot for anyone raised on cereal, pancakes, and granola bars. But give it a minute. Bacon is salty and smoky too, the difference with herring is that it comes from the sea.

The fruit bowl wasn’t always fresh

It’s easy to take fresh berries for granted these days, as we get them year-round. Older breakfast tables didn’t have that opportunity, so they had to work with what kept well, and dried fruit was way more practical for them. Stewed prunes with breakfast were one popular option.

You simply simmer the dried plums until they become soft and juicy, almost jammy. You can also add some sugar and spices, but you don’t really need to. A serving of warm prunes with some oatmeal or toast is actually a pretty nice dish.

Toast once came with a spoon

Milk toast isn’t something you really get anymore. It’s a shame, really, because the meal itself is quite easy to make. You just cover some toasted bread with warm milk, and then finish the whole thing with butter or cinnamon. You can use salt, too, if you want to.

The bread tends to soften in the milk and also keeps a little texture around the edges. People used to serve it when someone wasn’t feeling well. Cereal is just grain floating in milk, and nobody questions that, so there’s no reason to question toast in milk either.

Beans could carry the meal

Don’t look down on beans and cornbread. It may not seem like much, but then, when there’s a steaming bowl in front of you, it looks a lot different. You cook the beans for hours with a ham hock or bacon and leave the broth to thicken. It’s also salty and full of smoky bits. 

The cornbread comes next, and it’s probably the best part since it soaks up the broth immediately. Quite a few Appalachian tables added chopped onion and tomatoes to it. It’s definitely humble food, but there’s a lot going on for something made mostly from pantry staples.

Pancakes used to taste nuttier

No, buckwheat pancakes aren’t like those pale, fluffy diner kinds that you’re used to. They’re much darker and a lot nuttier, too. Buckwheat cakes have been a pretty popular dish in West Virginia for quite some time.

You can have them with sausage or eggs, maybe bacon or even maple syrup. The combination of savory-sweet tastes a lot better than it sounds, and you can’t knock it until you’ve tried it.

Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.

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