12 Pioneer Day Foods That Will Nourish And Strengthen

Pioneer Day lands on July 24 every year, and Utah treats it like a second Fourth of July. Fireworks, parades, rodeos, and a whole spread of foods tied to the state's pioneer history make up the day. Check out this list of pioneer-era dishes worth trying, put together by the Deseret News:

Buttermilk donuts were one of Brigham Young's go-to breakfasts. The recipe only needs flour, egg, buttermilk, sugar, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and butter. No fancy equipment required, just a pot of hot oil and a little patience.

Johnnycakes were a favorite of Joseph Smith. The recipe mixes cornmeal, baking soda, molasses, cream of tartar, salt, butter, egg, and honey. Some versions have you shake heavy whipping cream in a mason jar to make your own butter first, which makes for a fun kitchen project if you've got kids around.

Fried apples topped with crumbled bacon give you sweet and salty in one bite. Pioneers cooked with what they had, and apples plus pork fat was a common pairing on the trail and at home.

Sauerkraut and noodles comes from the pioneer food blog Plain But Wholesome. The noodles start from scratch with egg, eggshell water, salt, and flour, then get fried up with sauerkraut and bratwurst. It's a heartier lunch than most people expect from a pioneer-era recipe.

Cucumber salad keeps things simple: sliced cucumbers, vinegar, onion, sugar, and salt. It's a light side for a hot July day and pairs well with almost anything else on this list.

Funeral potatoes are the most recognizable dish on this list if you've spent any time in Utah. The cheesy, crunchy-topped potato casserole shows up at potlucks, barbecues, and yes, funerals, across the state. If you want the backstory, Deseret News wrote up a full history of funeral potatoes too.

Hawaiian Haystacks is a build-your-own dinner: rice, chicken, gravy, and a lineup of toppings like pineapple, coconut, almonds, and green onions. It's a Utah potluck standard and works well for feeding a crowd on Pioneer Day.

Fried scones with honey butter are a Utah staple, not the British kind. These are fried dough, closer to a sopapilla, served warm with honey butter on top. Grab a stack at a Pioneer Day parade and you'll see why locals love them.

Hasty pudding was a pioneer dessert made quick, as the name suggests, from cornmeal cooked into a soft pudding. Serve it warm with milk or a little sugar on top for a taste of what pioneer kids ate after dinner.

Applesauce cake was recorded by Emily Partridge Young in the Salt Lake 18th Ward cookbook and tied to John Taylor. It's a dense, spiced cake that keeps well, which made it practical for pioneer kitchens without refrigeration.

Pioneer side pork with Mormon gravy uses cured pork belly, similar to bacon, fried up and served with a simple milk gravy. It's a filling main dish that leans into the practical, no-waste cooking style pioneers relied on.

Brigham's Brew Root Beer is the easy pick if you don't want to cook at all. Grab a bottle to wash down whatever else you're eating this Pioneer Day.

Pick two or three from this list and you've got a solid Pioneer Day spread. Funeral potatoes and fried scones are the easiest starting point if you've never made pioneer food before. Save the applesauce cake and hasty pudding for when you're ready to go deeper into Utah's food history.