Amish Wedding Foods
The Amish in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania have a traditional wedding meal that gets served at every wedding.
Amish in other areas do not necessarily have the same traditions. But if you attend an Amish wedding in Lancaster, you will be served basically the same Amish wedding food each time for lunch.
Traditionally they serve Amish Roast (PA Dutch turkey stuffing - commonly called roasht), mashed potatoes, gravy, creamed celery, and peas, along with buns, salads, and desserts.
An Amish wedding meal is amazing and so delicious!
Amish Wedding Chicken recipe
Amish Roast is simply chicken or turkey meat that has been roasted, removed from the bones, and cut into small pieces. It is then added to a big bowl of stuffing.
So you have the chicken/turkey and stuffing served together instead of separately, as most of us do for Thanksgiving. (It helps to stretch the meat so the meal is not as expensive.)
My mom used to stuff her turkey with some of the dressing before she roasted it. When the turkey was finished, she removed the stuffing and the meat and added more stuffing to make a big roaster full of Amish roast.
They typically prepare the chicken/turkey roast the day before the wedding. And then it just gets reheated before serving.
Amish Food Lancaster, PA
The Amish in the Lancaster area has some food that is unique to them.
We never ate the traditional American turkey and stuffing meal for Thanksgiving. We always ate Amish turkey roast at Thanksgiving and Christmas, as well as numerous times throughout the year.
But my brother got married to an Amish girl from Holmes County, Ohio. And she never had Amish Roast until she came to our house.
So this Amish turkey stuffing recipe is unique to the Pennsylvania Amish.
Amish Wedding
I grew up as New Order Amish, and we did not have a traditional meal that got served at every wedding.
But most of my cousins are with the Old Order Amish. So every time we went to one of their weddings, we always got served the same Amish wedding food.
I wrote a post about the Amish wedding customs and traditions (you can read that here).
Amish turkey recipe
You can use chicken or turkey to make this Amish stuffing. My mom always used turkey for her roasht, but she was usually feeding a crowd of people and needed more meat.
The recipe I am sharing with you today asks for a whole chicken, but this is a small recipe to feed your family.
Roast a whole chicken until done. Click on this link if you need instructions on how to roast a chicken. Or you can use any cooked turkey or chicken meat. You will need about six cups of cooked meat.
When the chicken is finished roasting, set it aside to cool a bit. Then remove the meat from the bones.
If you will not be serving your chicken roast right away, go ahead and chill the meat before adding it to the stuffing. Then cut it into small bite-sized pieces.
How to Make PA Dutch Stuffing
Cut a whole loaf of bread into small bite-sized cubes. Spread your cubes onto a large baking sheet and toast them in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the onion and celery by cutting them into very fine pieces or pulsing them in a blender/chopper. I use my Ninja chopper.
Add the egg, milk, salt, pepper, and parsley to the celery and onion. Pulse it all together to mix.
Brown the salted butter by cooking it until it appears caramel in color and smells nutty.
Pour the celery and onion mixture over the toasted bread cubes. Pour the brown butter over the top and mix.
I use my Ninja chopper all the time, here is an affiliate link...
Amish stuffing recipe - Amish wedding food recipe
To make the Amish stuffing (Roasht), mix the stuffing and the cut-up pieces of chicken.
Place it into a greased roast pan or any baking dish. Cover and bake it for 1 1/2 hrs. or until heated through, at 250 degrees. Stir occasionally.
And if it seems too dry, add a bit of hot water or chicken broth. Although you don't want it too wet either.
Save the broth from the chicken to make gravy. And serve the roast with gravy, mashed potatoes, and creamed celery.
This is one of the best Amish meals, in my opinion. It's amazing!
Amish Wedding Recipes - Make a complete Amish wedding meal with more of my recipes...
Creamy Amish Mashed Potatoes Recipe
Amish Coleslaw dressing recipe
Vanilla Cornstarch Pudding recipe
Amish Wedding Chicken Roast
Ingredients
- 1 6 - 8 lb. chicken about 6 cups of cooked chicken or turkey cut into small pieces
- 1 loaf bread about 1 gal. of cubes
- 2 c. celery, chopped fine
- 1 small onion, chopped only about 1/4 c.
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 c. milk
- 2 sticks browned butter 1/2 lb.
- 2 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- 1 tsp. parsley flakes
Instructions
- Roast the chicken and remove the meat from the bones. Cut chicken into small bite-sized pieces. Set aside.1 6 - 8 lb. chicken
- Cut a loaf of bread into small cubes. Place the cubes onto a large baking tray and toast them for about 20 - 25 min at 350°.1 loaf bread
- Finely chop the celery and onion (either with a knife or in a chopper). Add, eggs, milk, and seasonings. Mix.2 c. celery, chopped fine, 1 small onion, chopped, 2 eggs, 1/2 c. milk, 2 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. black pepper, 1 tsp. parsley flakes
- Melt butter and continue cooking until lightly browned.2 sticks browned butter
- Pour toasted bread cubes into a large bowl, pour the celery and onion mixture and brown butter over the top. Mix. Add the chicken and mix well.
- Place in a well-greased roast pan and cover.
- Bake at 250° for 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Stir occasionally. If it seems too dry, add a little bit of hot water or chicken broth.
Ann S Waskom
I want to do this for about 50 homeless people but our chicken is cooked. Can we use it. Or do I have to buy raw chicken.
Anna
Using cooked chicken will be just fine.
Sandra
I live in Lancaster County and have attended many Amish weddings, yes the meal is so delicious. If your lucky and in Lancaster while a firehall is doing a Amish wedding meal benefit you can enjoy the meal without attending a wedding.
Wade
When I visit Lancaster County, I always have to make sure I stay over a Friday night. The Hometown Kitchen (18 Furnace Rd, Quarryville, PA) is an Amish owned and operated restaurant (nothing fancy) where a lot of Amish come in and take-out their meals. Friday's Special has always been "The Amish Wedding Dinner" and it is like you've died and gone to heaven. I usually order two specials. I eat one at the restaurant so that I can observe the locals coming and going. Then I take a meal back to my hotel. Did I forget to mention how wonderful their pies are? 😎
Anna
It's been awhile since I attended an Amish wedding, but I always enjoyed the food a lot!!
Debra
Totally agree, this Amish Wedding meal is fantastic at the Hometown Kitchen!
Dorothy
Wonderful recipe! I am wondering if this can be frozen and if so should it be baked before freezing?
Anna
I know we used to freeze this sometimes as leftovers, so it would already have been baked. But I don't see any reason why you couldn't freeze it before baking either.
Linda Vargas
This is wonderful. Had “The Threshers” meal in Napanee Indiana, at an Amish restaurant. Oh my gosh, their chicken and noodles were AMAZING!!! If you have the recipe, would you be able to share it? Thank you.
Anna
I have some chicken and noodles recipes. But I don't know if they are like what you had?? Did you ever try the Pennsylvania Dutch chicken pot pie? It's made with homemade pot pie noodles. Recipe is on my blog.
Beatrice
love Amish food