Emma Miller's Amish Mock Turkey

The Thanksgiving of 2021 will likely see more people gathering and celebrating. But food prices are really high this year. The price of turkey has gone up by 68 percent compared with two years ago. So if you are not having a big gathering and you don't feel like shelling out big bucks for a bird, perhaps you could try a "mock turkey." This is where Emma Miller's Amish Mock Turkey comes in.

By the way, "mock" recipes are popular among the Amish. Why? Because, historically, they've been a very isolated people (not so much anymore), so cooking was very much based on what you had on hand. So there are more mock recipes below. For instance, lemons were often in short supply in Amish communities yet lemon pie is still popular. So some creative cook came up with "vinegar pie" which really is a mock lemon pie.

I remember when I was a children, my Dad would love opening up a can of "mock turtle soup" for us. I think it's a Cincinnati thing.

Jump to:

• 📋 Instructions
• 👨‍🍳 More Amish "Mock" Recipes
• 🖨️ Printer-Friendly Mock Turkey

This recipe comes to us from an Amish woman in Montana, it's a loaf-type concoction that's made of some soup, ground beef, and bread and it firms up. Thanks to Jessica for making it for us last-minute last night.

It does kind of resemble a mock turkey in look and taste (meaning not a ton of flavor, turkey usually doesn't, which is why ladling some gravy over this would probably be super)

Observations

A few observations from Jessica about Amish Mock Turkey. You might want to use a thicker bread, perhaps a broken loaf of artesian bread to better soak up the liquid as it bakes, because there isn't really much instruction on whether to drain the hamburger or not. I'm inclined to say don't drain (since it is telling us to brown the hamburger in butter). Jessica split the difference and partially drained and that seemed to work OK.

We used fresh hamburger from Aldi, but Amish cooks would have their own home-butchered beef to use.

Use a loaf of bread like this or, perhaps, something tougher and crustier like an artesian bread loaf.

Hamburger is the mock turkey. Granted beef prices aren't any picnic either this year, still, it's easier on the bank account than a whole turkey.

The mock turkey pairs well with a fresh vegetable like green beans and maybe make some gravy to spoon over the "turkey", which kind of slices like a loaf.

Now, let's check out the recipe!

🦃 Mock Turkey Ingredients

2 pounds hamburger, brown in butter

4 cups milk

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 can cream of celery soup

1 loaf of bread, broken

salt and pepper to taste

📋 Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl, mix together everything and pour into a 9 X 13 casserole dish.

Bake for 1 hour at 350.

👨‍🍳 More Amish "Mock" Recipes

Nothing like a good imposter recipe, the Amish are great and concocting some!

Gloria's Mock Mashed Potatoes

You'd never know these are not real!

Mock Lemon Pie

Tastes like the real thing!

Mock Ham Salad

Ham salad using hot dogs

Mock Pecan Pie

Oatmeal pie sure masquerades well as pecan pie!

🖨️ Printer-Friendly Mock Turkey