Favorite Childhood Meals We Still Crave: Readers Share the Dishes That Taste Like Home

There are certain dishes that live in our bones, the ones that could quiet a whole house with the sound of grease popping in a cast iron skillet, a lid clapping on a pot, or a sweet pie cooling on the counter. We asked our Front Porch Life readers to share their favorite childhood meals that still bring them joy, and your answers felt like a family reunion: from sizzling pork chops to fried chicken with “burnt” gravy, and even red beans and rice on a Monday, they all evoked a nostalgic memory.

Some recipes were never written down; they were simply cooked from the heart, which might be why we have such a hard time recreating them today. Or maybe it’s just that we loved the one who made those dishes for us when we were kids, and nothing can replace it. Pour a cup of coffee, settle in, and enjoy these delicious memories from our community. We hope they bring back the best kind of hunger and nostalgia.  

Comfort Classics We’ll Never Forget

“Pan-fried pork chops and gravy with real mashed potatoes and baked apples (or homemade apple sauce).  I still can’t get those pork chops right!  She did not have recipes—just cooked from the heart.”-Teresa Glass

“My mom used to make the best meatloaf. It was what I requested every year for my birthday dinner. Now she makes a restaurant knockoff, which is good, but it will never be as good as the meatloaf she made when we were kids!”-Angie Hellijas

“My favorite childhood breakfast was fried potato pancakes; my mom always served them with sour cream and jelly instead of applesauce, which most people serve them with.  Mmm! They were so good.-Veronica Liberacki

“My Grandmother sliced ~1 1/2” pieces from the previous evening’s leftover cornbread, placed them in her cast iron skillet & warmed them thoroughly, creating a slight crust all around. She then removed the cornbread to a bowl and made sausage gravy. I am blessed with the memory of “Oh honey, you look starved!”  Mmm GOOD!-Jim Dingus

“Fried cubed steak, mashed potatoes and green peas; fancy beef stroganoff with date nut cupcakes for dessert (company dinner); my mother’s fried chicken (was known for how delicious it was), rice and gravy, and Angel biscuits alongside.”-Denise Howland

My favorite childhood memory of a great meal was my mother’s fried chicken and mashed potatoes and a side of green beans; then a lemon meringue pie for dessert.  Makes my mouth water just thinking about it!-Anne Taylor

“Being from New Orleans, I would have to say Red Beans and rice. As a child growing up, we had that every Monday. I still cook it and all my grandchildren and all the spouses love the tradition.”-Susan Clark

“My Grandmother’s fried chicken and “burnt” gravy.  With mashed potatoes, of course. That’s how I’ve always thought of it.  She browned the flour a lot I think and the flavor was so darned good. I’m 75 now and have never duplicated the chicken or the gravy.” -Donna Houser

“My grandma made the absolute BEST chicken and homemade noodles! For years, while growing up, I remember her rolling the dough out like a jelly roll and slicing it. As an adult, I’ve often tried to make them but to no success. Like my grandma, they are long gone…”-Laurie Bruesch

Sunday Dinners & Family Traditions

“I often think about my grandmother’s day after Sunday pot roast when she would give me leftover pot roast mixed with the gravy and put it over her homemade pancakes. I know it sounds weird, but it was so good.”-Ed Mills

“I always dream about my mother’s apple dumplings, the smell as they cooked and then eating them hot from the oven.”-Denise Yeager

“Some of my favorites are my Mom’s meatloaf, my grandma’s noodles she made for the big holidays, then for our birthdays, grandma would make angel food cake with the leftover egg whites. Sundays in the winter months, mom would put a roast in the oven, and when we’d get home, the house smelled so amazing.”-Bonnie Hajny

“Chicken & dumplings made on my great grandma’s wood cook stove. First, you had to catch the chicken, kill it, clean it, and put it in a pot of boiling water seasoned with onion, salt, and pepper. Dumplings were just flour, butter or shortening, and water rolled out thin, cut into strips, and dropped in the reserved broth from cooking the chicken. Not fancy but just good eating.”-Jim Lee

“I loved my mother’s Liver Dumplings, a recipe handed down through her German mother’s family, which was made with beef meat and liver cooked first, then ground up together. It was time-consuming to make, but she would make it at least once a year–for my birthday. I have some of my grandmother’s “seasonal” recipes that she actually wrote down, but unfortunately, this must not have been one of them.  I watched my mother make it many times before she died in 2014 at 97, but I never thought about asking for a recipe. She never used one, and I haven’t found one in any of her books. She was the last of 18 siblings to pass, so no one is left to ask about it, and I have searched the internet several times. I wish I could taste those dumplings at least once more before I die. (I’m 73)  It was DELICIOUS!!!”-Cathy Abbott Shellnutt

“Every Saturday morning, my mom would cream eggs on toast. It is a very economical and simple meal for 5 kids who were used to eating cold cereal during the week. Every time I make it, I remember her and this “treat”.-Neva Peckham

“Grandpa’s Fried Chicken it was so delicious. He was the cook in the family. He would make Sunday dinner every week. Had a huge table by the potbelly stove, and all the family would come every Sunday. The Fried Chicken was always included. Never once did us kids think about the lot of chicken he had out back. Also, his homemade cinnamon rolls were great.”-Belinda Dignard

“My mother often served macaroni and tomatoes with the fried potatoes and salmon patties. I can still taste that meal, and I will be 70 next month. I have mastered the salmon patties, but my fried potatoes, and macaroni and tomatoes still don’t come close to hers. Perhaps our attempts at perfectly recreating these beloved meals are doomed to never measure up…that love that was cooked into those dishes is the missing ingredient. But, it is also the ingredient that will make our meals difficult for our children to exactly duplicate!”-Josephine Riddle

“My favorite was Mom’s Sunday pot roast. She made it in a Club aluminum Dutch oven. She would salt and pepper a chuck roast, sear it on all sides in melted Crisco at high heat, add cut potatoes and carrots around the side, pour in 1/2 cup water, and quickly clap the lid on and reduce the heat to simmer. Then we’d drive to Sunday school and church! It was a race to get home before it burnt on the bottom – but I really liked the charred bottom. I recently purchased an old Club aluminum pot that looks just like hers.”-Linda Rush

Old Fashioned Recipes

It’s clear from these stories that the meals we grew up with weren’t just food; they were memories on a plate. Whether it was a Sunday pot roast, a skillet of fried chicken, or the smell of apple dumplings, these dishes have a way of staying with us forever. We may never be able to recreate our Grandma’s touch or Mom’s exact technique, but we can keep those memories alive in our own kitchens by continuing the tradition. If you’re craving some of these classics, we’ve shared plenty of our mother’s recipes on The Southern Lady Cooks. You’ll find so many of her favorites like her meatloaf, green beans and potatoes, and old-fashioned banana pudding.

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