Grocery costs and meat costs keep rising but we can look back and get advice on saving on meat from WW2 rationing.
In an effort to keep the country and the troops fed during World War 2 rationing was implemented. While rationing lasted longer and was more intense in Europe we did deal with it in the US as well.
Hopefully rationing isn’t something we have to deal with again but we can learn a lot about being frugal and making do with less from the homemakers during WW2.
With grocery prices continuing to rise finding more ways to save is essential for many families. And with the current war in Iran (at the time of sharing this) food prices are likely to go up a lot more.
To help us deal with this I pulled out a 1944 pamphlet I have called Health for Victory Meal Planning Guide. These guides were put out by Home Economics Institute and contained recipes and articles to help families with rationing and other wartime problems.
Today I wanted to share some of the advice given on making the most of meat rations. While not all meat was rationed, chicken, eggs, and fish were free of rations, it was still important not to waste food and many still were struggling financially.
Some of the tips are no longer very helpful as how we shop for meat has changed but let’s talk about the tips that are still very helpful today.
How to Save on Meat Using WW2 Rationing Tips
And before getting into to these tips, cutting out meat is of course the best way to save on meat costs and is a sustainable option. However, if you are still choosing to eat meat these tips can help get the most out of it.
Don’t Lose Meat to Spoilage
This was something stressed a lot. Wasting food was not only bad for your budget at this time, it was also considered un-patriotic and would lead to your family doing without that rationed food.
While some of their tips for storage are outdated one really good tips was, “always plan to use the most perishable meat first, if you have several types on hand. Ground meats and variety means – particularly brains or sweetbreads – must be used within 24 hours, fish too, unless it’s frozen.”
We may not eat a lot of organ meat anymore but the advice in general is still sound. Make yourself a note if needed to help you remember what to use first.
Meal planning also helps with this and you can use my Retro Meal Planner to track all of these kinds of things.
Stretch Your Meat
Beans or peas were suggested as a meat alternative. You can still use these to make meals more filling and stretch your meat. It will also add fiber and protein.
The other tip given for stretching your meat was to add soy flour, grits, or whole grain cereals like oats or corn meal. This is still a good way to bulk up a meal and use less meat.
Even the Smallest Meat Leftover Must Count
Once again, food waste was something that just didn’t fly during WW2. Homemakers of the time got very creative with how to use every bit of the meat they had. These are some of the tips shared in the pamphlet.
- Add bits of meat to gravy. They suggested serving the gravy on pancakes, waffles, toast, or even potatoes. I have a cheese waffles with creamed ham recipe here on the site that is a great example of one way to do this.
- Make hash browns better. “Even a few tiny bits of meat will add flavor to the hash browned potatoes.” As a potato lover, this is a tip I want to try!
- Make soups and sandwich fillings. Sandwich fillings were a big thing in the mid-century and it was a good way to use up leftovers. You can find some examples of sandwich fillings in my 1950s Back to School Lunch Ideas post. Soups are also a great way to use all kinds of leftovers. You can also just keep a container in the freezer to put leftovers that will work for a soup in and pull it out when you are ready to make the soup.
- Make vegetables grand. “Sausage, ham, or bacon are wonderful on green beans. Good with canned corn as well!”
- Use in pancakes or potato cakes. Sausage, ham, ground meat, chicken, bacon, and other meat can be delicious in pancakes or potato cakes. You’ll find a ham and cheese pancake recipe here on the site, it’s one of my favorite vintage recipes.
- Make a chef’s salad. They recommend slicing up any leftover meat and throwing it in a salad. Considering people were encouraged to have a victory garden this would be a really useful suggestion.
- Try meat muffins. Savory muffins may not be something we think about as much now but they are seen more during the mid-century. This tip recommended using bacon or ham. They said this was especially good when made with corn meal. You can find a vintage bacon cornbread muffin recipe here on the site.
Save Your Fats
Oil and butter were also rationed so homemakers got creative with fats. They would often even render their own fats. And while that is a smelly and big job you may not want to do there are some ways you can save fats and save a little money that don’t involve a lot of extra work.
Saving your drippings to use with veggies was a common suggestion. I love to use bacon fat for veggies as it adds a lot of flavor without adding any actual meat. You can also use bacon grease to make some delicious stove-top popcorn!
One thing I really love about so much of the advice from WW2 is the focus on minimizing waste. That is truly the best way to save money and to be more sustainable.
They got really creative and that’s something for us to do now while things are tough. Creativity can be an outlet while also helping us “make do.”
More WW2 Frugal Resources
Want to learn even more from the homemakers during WW2 to help you save money and also be more sustainable? I’ve got you covered, check out these articles next.
Deanna Piercy says
Great ideas! I especially love to use small amounts of leftover meats in soup. A couple of weeks ago I had one leftover cooked pork chop. I diced it up along with the leftover gravy and rice, added chicken broth and made a very easy and delicious soup the following night.