Not sure what to make for dinner? Try these vintage dinner Ideas that your whole family will love and ask for again and again.
I’ve shared a 1940s homemaking routine and one thing that the routine talks about is how time was taken for meal planning. And the routine also talked about at lunch going ahead and prepping for dinner.
These tasks help to prevent the panic of figuring out last minute what you want to have for dinner. They are tasks however that the modern homemaker often loses track of in the busyness of life.
If you need more help with meal planning I do have a full course called Meal Planning for Everyone where I go into a lot of deal of creating successful meal plans no matter your stage of life or situation.
So hopefully you are reading this because you are meal planning and not because you need last-minute dinner ideas, but either way these are some dinner recipes your family will love.
Vintage Dinner Ideas
These dinner recipes have been passed down through families and are still delicious and perfect for adding to your meal plan this week.
This casserole recipe comes from the 1940s and is frugal and family friendly. You can easily sub sausage for the hot dogs and change up the veggies to make it work for your family.
This is a very easy and family-friendly pasta recipe from the 1950s. It uses just a few ingredients but you could also add chicken or other things to it and make it even better and more filling.
They loved to add cream to things in the mid-century. You can find a "creamed" version of a lot of foods. And while it can sound weird creamed ham over cheese waffles is actually delicious and a great way to use up leftover ham.
Another vintage hot dog dish, yes hot dogs were pretty popular in vintage recipes, is this mashed potato stuffed hot dogs dish. It's actually really good and a fun recipe.
This is one of my favorite vintage recipes and I make them fairly often. it's a very kid-friendly recipe and another one that is great of using up leftovers. You can even use lunch meat and make this a very frugal recipe.
This is a bit of an updated chicken pot pie recipe but still has a lot of the classic flavors plus it uses Bisquick (or my homemade version) for a delicious crust and they LOVED Bisquick in the mid-century.
This is a more kid-friendly way to serve fish. It's also a frugal recipe as it uses canned salmon.
Ham and scalloped potatoes are a favorite of mine, either mixed like in this dish or also just having ham with a side of scalloped potatoes. Either way is delicious.
This is a depression era recipe from my mom's website. It's a frugal and easy recipe that can help you stretch your food budget.
Can you talk about vintage dinner ideas without talking about tuna casserole? It's another great way to use canned fish.
Meatloaf is another classic recipe that has to make this list! While I'm personally not a fan I know it's a hit for most families and it's an easy to dish to prep ahead of time for a busy day.
Since I'm allergic to mushrooms this isn't a dish I've had or could have so I'll let the creator describe it, "tender cubed steak slow-cooked in savory tomato gravy with mushrooms, peppers, and onions - budget-friendly and perfect for cozy family dinners."
Another dish I can't eat because of my mushroom allergy but anything with a rich creamy sauce is going to be comforting!
Not a fun of tuna? Try this chicken noodle casserole instead!
More Delicious Vintage Recipes
Once you add some of these vintage dinner recipes to your meal plan be sure to check out more of the vintage recipes on my site. You should also add some of these vintage side dishes to your meal plan.
- Bacon Cornbread Muffins
- Broccoli with Parmesan Cream Sauce
- Cheesy Potato Casserole
- Deviled Corn Casserole
You can also join the Retro Homemaker’s Club to get new vintage meal plans and recipes every month! (Plus a lot more!)
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