Traditional English Recipes
Dinner and Supper
Every English family has their own traditional recipes for savoury steamed puddings, roasts, casseroles and pies. Some are warming winter fare, while others make delicate starters for a dinner party or a light mid-week lunch or supper. And cookery and lifestyle magazines resurrect old favourites or come up with tasty variations on traditional recipes to cheer us all.
Casseroles, puddings and pies have always been the thrifty cook's means of stretching ingredients to feed a few more hungry mouths. Even when cooking for a small family rather than a crowd, these recipes come in handy.
Roast potatoes, crisp on the outside and fluffy in the middle, are a typical English side dish, while the famous Yorkshire Pudding can double up as a main course dish at lunchtime.
So if you're stuck for a dinner party starter or mid-week supper, check out this page of traditional English recipes.
Roast Potatoes © john shepherd | Getty Images canva.com
Traditional English Recipes for Dinner and Supper
© essentially-england.comYorkshire Pudding
An indispensible part of a
traditional Sunday lunch, Yorkshire pudding is also often served as a
lunch dish, or even a maincourse dinner. That's mainly in Yorkshire,
mind, but if you look at this tasty image, you can see why it works.
© Monkey Business Images | fotolia.comLancashire Hotpot
Lancashire Hotpot is the original slow cooker food. It's said that the Lancastrian millworkers dropped the pot off at the local bakers on the way to work and collected it hours later on the way home perfectly cooked. Use your oven or a slow cooker if you don't have a baker's oven handy.
© Paul Cowan| dreamstime.comSteak and Kidney Pudding
A pub lunch classic, this. But very good all the same. The filling creates its own gravy while the pudding steams and cutting it open to serve releases the most wonderful aroma...
© Monkey Business Images | dreamstime.comCottage Pie
Minced beef in a rich gravy, covered by mashed potatoes and baked
until golden and bubbling... wouldn't you love to come home to a cottage
pie on a cold and wet night?
Toad in the Hole © JoeGough | Getty Images canva.comToad in the Hole
Toad in the hole or sausages baked
in Yorkshire Pudding batter is a firm favourite with children. And if
you're adventurous with your selection of sausages, you'll score a hit
with the adults, too. Toad in the hole is a dinner that takes care of itself. All you need to serve alongside are green peas and a big jug of gravy.
© Monkey Business Images | dreamstime.comShepherd's Pie
Another classic dinner recipe,
this time based on minced lamb. Serve it with peas and maybe some spicy
chutney and you'll forget that it's raining cats and dogs outside.
© essentially-england.comCheese Pudding
The ultimate in bread and cheese
for chilly autumn evenings, Cheese Pudding may once have been a thrifty
nursery food, but these days it can be a tasty heaven for grown-ups,
too. Just serve with a salad of bitter leaves and a large glass of red wine.
© CBCK-Christine | Getty Images canva.comDevilled Whitebait
Devilled whitebait, beloved by the Victorians, is still a wonderful, tasty treat whether you enjoy it by the seaside or make it at home.
© bhofack2 | Getty Images canva.comAngels and Devils on Horseback
Whether as a tasty appetiser or the perfect end to a perfect meal, Angels and Devils on Horseback top the list of England’s most beloved traditional snacks and savouries.
Onions, Garlic, and Herbs © pixelshot | canva.comThere are plenty traditional English recipes for tasty family dinners or suppers and every time I open a cookery book or talk to friends and acquaintances, I'm bound to find more. So far, this is only a very small selection, but I'm going to be adding others all the time, so please check back.
There's lots going on in an English kitchen between breakfast and supper.
Return to the traditional English recipes page for more ideas about what to cook.
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