This post originally was in homage to my grandma who died at the age of 91 in 2016. Wow, she'd be 99 today if she were alive. Grandma was a great cook and enjoyed baking. She wasn't the type of person that did a ton of scratch baking, she didn't make loads of yeast breads or anything fancy. She tended to stick more to apple and custard pies and the occasional pumpkin. But if she didn't make those she would always have a bowl of Jell-O in the fridge. The most wonderful part of her Jell-O would be her slicing plump slices of banana into it. So you would eat her Jell-O and then encounter a cold, soft piece of banana. Delicious food memories! But what about the Amish and Jello?
🥄 Do The Amish Eat Jello?
First of all, it can be Jell-O or Jello, I think i am going to switch midstream go to jello. Jell-O is the brand name from Kraft, but there are a billion knockoffs that now go by the genericized "jello", so that is perfectly fine as a spelling. Oh, and we can throw in the word "gelatin": jello, Jell-O, gelatin, they are all being used interchangeably!
Anyway, jello is a relative newcomer to Amish culinary culture. I remember meeting an Amish woman about 30 years ago who was in her 60s at the time who had fond and vivid memories of trying jello for the very first time a few years earlier.
Jello was - and still is - slow to catch on among the Amish because of the lack of good refrigeration. But as more and more Amish get conventional refrigerators, jello has gained in popularity.
🍮 Amish Uses For Jello
Now that Jello is catching on among the Amish, they use it probably pretty much like anyone else, but here are some uses:
- Cakes and muffins
- Refrigerated jello desserts
- Salads
- Refreshing beverages
❓ FAQ Amish and Jello Questions
Yes, boxes of jello are available in Amish bulk food stores and the Amish increasingly shop in mainstream non-Amish stores too.
Beverages and dessert type salads seem to be the most popular use among Amish cooks, but you also find it baked into breads and cookies as well!
📋 5 Favorite Amish Recipes With Jello
So, in tribute to my Jell-O loving grandma here are 5 Amish recipes that use Jell-O or jello.
HOMEMADE STRAWBERRY PUDDING: This recipe is not in an easily printable format, one of the older posts I am trying to revamp. My apologies for its clunky format. But the recipe itself is super. Try this spring classic. Yum!
REFRESHING LIME JELLO SALAD: This is called a "salad" but I kind of use that term loosely, it's more a dessert. This recipe comes to us from The Amish Cook and it is a delicious, refreshing summer recipe. I love it, but if you are thinking like a salad with lettuce or something, it is not that kind of salad. Check out Lime Jello Salad! This is similar to a grape jello salad that is popular at Amish weddings.
STRAWBERRY JELLO CAKE: You'll find this at almost any Amish gathering, it's an old standby, underrated but it is a workhorse dessert that is a crowd-pleaser. Click here for the recipe. Again, this is an old format recipe.
HOMEMADE RHUBARB JUICE: Really good stuff, one of the most refreshing non-soda beverages I've ever had! I sampled this at an Amish home on a hot summer day, and this bright, soothing, refreshing rhubarb beverage just quenched every trace of thirst I had. This is a popular recipe among the Amish who love their rhubarb patches in the spring!Click here for the recipe.
JELL-O COOKIES: Bought these at an Amish bakery in northern Ohio. A delicious, soft cookie, click here for the recipe.
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