Seeing what people ate in the past is fun and can give us a lot of insight into the time. This 1950’s meal plan was designed around chicken and can give us ideas for today as well.
Women from the 1950s may seem so different than us but a quick read of some of the magazines of the time will show us that they were facing many of the same challenges as us.
Recently I found an article talking about chicken dinners. The meals are different than what we tend to eat now but it’s so interesting to look back. You can sometimes get some good ideas that will work with our modern tastes.
The article only gave the recipes for the chicken so I have searched and found as many of the recipes for sides as I could. Some seem to largely have disappeared but I will keep search and add them if I find them later. And of course many are just simple recipes that we still use today.
No matter if you are looking to live a more vintage type life or are totally modern, be sure to check out my meal planning printable pack. It makes meal planning so much easier, I’m sure there are some 1950s housewives that wish they had been able to use a planner like this.
1950s Meal Plan Featuring Chicken
Golden Broiled Chicken Dinner
This chicken recipe is quite simple. Just a broiled chicken with salt and pepper. It did call for MSG but I’d skip that and use some fresh herbs instead.
- Broiled Chicken
- Fluffy Mashed Potatoes
- Buttered Brocolli
- Stuffed Celery
- Cranberry Jelly and Pineapple Slices
- Poppy-seed Rolls
- Lemon Sherbet and Cookies
Crusty French-Fried Chicken Dinner
This is a fried chicken using pancake mix. Any fried chicken will due for this meal.
- Fried Chicken
- Baked Potatoes
- Butter Asparagus
- Minted Fresh Pear Salad
- Corn Bread
- Spiced Crabapples
- Butterscotch Pudding
Chicken Salad Dinner
The recipe they shared is a pretty basic chicken salad recipe but with crushed potato chips which could add a very interesting flavor. They simply call for you to place the chicken salad in custard dishes and top with grated cheese and potato chips and bake.
- Chicken Salad
- Cream of Mushroom Soup
- French Fried Sweet Potatoes
- Chilled Relish Platter
- Clover-Leaf Rolls
- Apple Dumplings
Chicken Curry in Rice Ring Dinner
This is one recipe I’m sure I won’t be recreating. They use a pretty mild chicken curry and place it in rice that’s been put in a mold with hard-boiled eggs, onion, almonds, raisins, and coconut. Let me suggest sticking to a good chicken curry and some regular rice.
- Chicken Curry and Rice
- Buttered Green Beans
- Tomato Salad with Yogurt
- Dressing
- Chutney
- Melon Platter
Fried Chicken Staccate Dinner
This is just a marinated and then fried chicken. They sure did like to fry things in the 1950s!
- Fried Chicken
- Buttered Yellow Hominy
- Tiny Lima Beans
- Hot Biscuits
- Tossed Green Salad
- Peach Pie
Roast Chicken with Corn Dressing
This is a simple roast chicken with basically a corn casserole type dish.
- Roast Chicken with Corn Dressing
- Buttered Peas
- Waldorf Salad
- Hot French Bread
- Chocolate Sundaes
Savory Drumsticks
These are very simple buttered, seasoned and baked drumsticks.
- Savory Drumsticks
- Succotash
- Baked Tomatoes
- Rolls
- Molded Lime-Fruit Salad
- Spice Cake
I don’t know about you but that seems like some pretty intense meals. We don’t eat dessert with every meal and usually we have only 1-2 side dishes.
There are some fun ideas here. The hot chicken salad for one sounds interesting to me. Also having a meal plan with one type of protein, even if you don’t use it all in one week seems like a great idea.
They may have eaten a lot of Jello and other less than healthy things in the 1950s but there is a lot of produce in these meals. At least one veggie and fruit in each meal. That is something we all need to be sure to aim for. I also love how many desserts high light fruit which is better than just pure sugary treats.
Another thing to keep in mind is portion sizes were so much smaller back then. Just look at vintage plate sizes some time. It’s amazing how much are dishes have grown, this is likely one big reason weight is more of an issue these days.
If you try any of these meals be sure to come back and let us know what you thought. Also if you have any recipes that I missed from this menu, let me know.
More 1950s Meal Plans
Looking for this full meal plan and all the details? Check out the Better Homes and Garden archives and the September issue from 1952.
Sherry
These all look like Sunday dinner. Daily meals would be much different and most likely be pretty basic. I live in the South, but my family is from Nebraska.
Lisa Sharp
I was thinking the same thing. However, with all the meals and meal planning resources I’ve read from the 50s, it seems a lot of families had big dinners like this many weeknights. Of course what resources suggest and what people do is different. It’s not like we all have homes and lives like the ones we pin on Pinterest. ha!