In the 1960s, cooking at home got a whole lot easier. Thanks to the explosion of convenient and pre-packaged foods and the new accessibility of kitchen appliances, it was easier than ever to skip a restaurant and make dinner.
Did you grow up in a middle-class house in the ‘60s? If so, you probably remember these 15 dinnertime staples.
Pork Chops
Pork chops had a big moment in the ‘60s, usually served alongside some mashed potatoes and gravy, or maybe a fruit glaze if somebody was trying to be fancy. You’d see pork steaks at BBQs and county fairs all over the place, too.
Swedish Meatballs
In the ’50s and ’60s, Scandinavian design and culture became popular in the U.S. Part of that was the popularity of Swedish meatballs, which were made far easier by the accessibility of cream of mushroom soup.
True story: I have gone to IKEA to eat Swedish meatballs for lunch without any intention of shopping at IKEA on more than one occasion.
Tunnel of Fudge Cake
There have been many famous desserts that were born at the Pillsbury Bake-Off, an event that has been going since 1949. In 1966, however, it wasn’t the first-place winner that became a sensation. It was the one that took second place: the Tunnel of Fudge cake, which not only popularized the dessert, but also helped sell a whole lot more bundt pans.
Pot Roast
Any beef on sale from the grocery store and some canned veggies were an easy kickoff for pot roast in the ’60s. This was more of a labor of love than a lot of meals around this time, but thanks to modern (for the time) ovens, pot roast still didn’t require too much energy.
French Onion Dip
French Onion Dip was a primo thing to have on the dinner table, especially when you wanted to make it seem like you did a lot more work than you did. The recipe was simple: Mix sour cream with some garlic, dill, salt, and pepper; and if you really felt like going for it, you’d fry some onions and mix them in.
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Macaroni Salad
It was popular to make “salads” out of many things in the ’60s by mixing them with mayo, but macaroni salad really blew up in popularity at that time. Common in Hawaii as well as on the mainland, that perfect, goopy pasta salad has remained in our hearts and minds for 80 years.
Jell-O Salad
This stuff is extremely not for me, but boy oh boy, did Jell-O’s popularity continue to increase around this time, not to mention more people making aspic after it was popularized by Julia Child. This was either your favorite or least favorite part of the meal.
Steak Diane
Sauce Diane, a creamy steak sauce made from cognac, mustard, and Worcestershire, isn’t too hard to make, especially if you’re cleaning almost-empty bottles out of the fridge to make it. In a nice restaurant, you would have seen sauce Diane served over a filet mignon or other upper-tier cut, but at home on the middle class dinner table, there were no rules.
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Wedge Salads
Some people are against wedge salads; personally, I think they help you craft a perfect bite every time you take one, so I’m all for ’em. In the 1960s, it was extremely common to find them as part of a power lunch or steakhouse situation. And with crisp enough lettuce, you could easily to fake a cheap version at home.
Meatloaf
Meatloaf is really just a big, meaty, hamburger casserole if you think about it. The key was, everybody did it a little bit differently. How much ketchup? What kind of spices are in the beef? Are you making a sandwich out of it, or serving it like a steak? Choices, choices.
Pudding
This stuff came in a box, thanks to Jell-O. Chocolate pudding was essentially the casserole of the dessert table, making it the easiest dessert you can feed to your family.
Casseroles
Casseroles are still popular today for the same reason they were popular in the 1960s: They’re the easiest dinner you can make. Grab some stuff, stick it in the oven, bake it up, and enjoy.
Canned Pastas
Canned spaghetti and meatballs! Canned ravioli! Chef Boyardee was the only chef needed in the kitchen in the 1960s, and those easy-to-cook cans made it all the better.
Fried Chicken
Maybe you were getting a bucket for some take-out, but usually fried chicken happened at home. Chicken was cheap (like 29 cents per pound cheap) and so was oil. No reason to head to KFC when you can do it at home.
Burgers and Dogs
Things aren’t too different today in this regard, though it’s probably a lot more common to grab fast-food these days. Hamburgers and hot dogs will always be a blue collar meal in this country.
